Marketing for a Better Tomorrow

The term branding has long been relegated to companies, but today almost every individual has a personal brand. Not many of us have consciously cultivated these brands, but they exist nonetheless. A digital footprint in the sands of time and space crowd sourced by friends, colleagues, and bosses. According to an AVG study, 92 percent of children under the age of two already have a digital footprint. The question is no longer IF you have a personal brand, but if you choose to guide and cultivate the brand or to let it be defined on your behalf. Here are seven ways to start building an awesome personal brand. Start thinking of yourself as a brand: What do you wish for people to associate with you when they think of your name? Is there a certain subject matter in which you want to be perceived as an expert or are there general qualities you want linked to your brand? Once you understand how you wish your brand to be perceived, you can start to be much more strategic about your ...

Did you know that public speaking is often rated the number one thing people are afraid of? But while getting up on a stage in front of an audience can definitely be nerve wracking, many people find striking up a conversation one-on-one just as intimidating. Maybe it’s the CEO of your company, a new colleague, the guy in the mail room, the girl from IT, or a stranger in the street. Whomever you want to talk to, there’s a way to strike up a conversation. And the best news is that it gets easier with practice.   Try these conversation starters to talk to absolutely anybody: Skip the small talk. “What’s up with this weather?” and “How ‘bout them [insert local sports team]?” are as bad as cheesy pick-up lines when it comes to starting a conversation. Avoid tired topics. Every situation is unique, so you should be able to find a unique conversation starter. Ask for their opinion. Everyone has one! For someone you don’t know well, start with light subjects like th...

Is this actually the resume you’re submitting or you really just don’t want the job. That’s just one of the things you don’t want a recruiter to think when looking at your resume. Yes, the job search process can be very discouraging at times. You find jobs that seem like a perfect match for your skills, but get no callbacks for any of them. The reality is that you have to work harder and smarter to stand out amongst the thousands of candidates who think they’re great for a job too (as well as those who randomly apply for every posting knowing they’re nowhere qualified.) If your resume has been circulating the job boards, but your phone is as quiet as a church mouse, it may be time for a makeover. Find out if you’re guilty of any of these mistakes that will sabotage your personal brand. 1. There are errors on your resume. Having blatant typos on your resume can be worse than saying congratulations on your baby to someone who's not pregnant. Errors on your resume may not al...

Several weeks ago, I shared the above Venn diagram in a status update. With 20k+ likes and comments on LinkedIn and over 2.2k retweets and favorites on Twitter, it's become the most viral update I've shared to date. As a result, thought it might be interesting to provide some additional context on where the diagram came from. It all started in a meeting where a talented team was presenting their plan for a potentially high impact initiative. Midway through, they covered the measurable results they expected to achieve in three years. Granted, they were being somewhat conservative, but their objectives were still way off what I would have expected them to be targeting based on the addressable opportunity and the assets we were bringing to the table. Without hesitation, I challenged the team to increase their long-term goal by roughly 20x. Regardless of whether or not they could hit the target (which I think they can), the point was to get them thinking much bigger, without cons...

Questions can engage and motivate people, but they can also discourage them by seeming confrontational. To engage employees (not scare them), reframe these questions: What's the problem? Rather than fixating on problems and weaknesses, use positive questions geared toward leveraging strengths and opportunities and achieving goals: What are we doing well, and how might we build upon that? Whose fault is it? This focuses on finding a scapegoat when there is likely plenty of blame to go around. To identify weak links without focusing too much on blame, ask: How can we work together to shore up any weaknesses? Haven't we tried this already? This is important to ask, but the wrong tone makes it sound condescending and defeatist. It doesn’t recognize that failure could have been due to bad timing, not the idea itself. Ask: If we tried this now, what would be different – and how might it change the results?