Wednesday, August 31, 2011

3 Reasons Personal Branding Matters

I was looking at my 'To Do' list and it got me thinking about personal branding:

I promise you that you will never find a more useful explanation of personal branding and why it matters.

3 Reasons Personal Branding Matters:

1. People have 'to do' lists coming out their yin yang. At work. At home. Endless lists of things to get done.

2. They hire products, services and people to help them get them done.

Examples:
I hire eggs and toast to fill my belly in the morning.
I hire my car to take me to work.
I hire my computer to write this blog post.
I hire my financial advisor to help me make the most of the money I make.

The list goes on. And that's my point. So many jobs and never enough time. That is your opportunity.

3. People will hire you to help them get a job done that they can't do (or don't have time or interest to do themselves). The more critical the job the more people will pay to get it done well. The amount that people will pay to have their floors cleaned is far less that what they will pay to have their arteries cleaned of plaque!

This matters for everyone in business

If you are an employee your boss hires you to help them do a job. If you are a business owner or service professional like I am clients hire you to help them get things done too. 

The nugget I want you to remember most

Being known as a trusted resource that helps a certain group of people get a critical job done better than anyone else is the ultimate commercial bottom line reason to invest time, money and energy in personal branding. This applies to employees and entrepreneurs.

But I like this reason too
 
Beyond the commercial value, why I love personal branding so much is that it is a deliberate process that forces you to get clear about and make promises about what jobs you can get done well (ideally better than anyone else).

Making a public promise (either on your Linked In page, resume or a blog or website) should ideally drive you to keep those promises. It will stretch you and challenge you to be a better person and professional. It will result in building a strong reputation (aka personal brand) and future demand for what you have to offer. That is unless you don't live up to your promises. You know where that ends up.

Let me be clear. The intent with personal branding is to be proactive and deliberate about the reputation (aka brand) you are building in the minds of people that matter to you.

So here is how you can start right now:

1. Write down all of the jobs that you love to get done for people. What do you love to help people achieve? What problems do you love to solve for others? What hassles or headaches do you love to remove?

2. Now go through the list and identify the jobs that are most important that you believe are being done poorly by other options out there. Do some research and see who else is trying to do the same job that you want to do and look for opportunities to offer something unique.

3. Go talk to the people you want to help and find out if your assumptions are correct,or not. If so, just simply ask them if they want some help with getting the job done and you are off to the races.Your natural passion and interest to help someone get something done that they are tired of not crossing off their list at the end of each day is money in the bank for you and great value for them.

Personal branding matters and it's your job to define your brand, express your brand and live up to your brand. Go do it. 

Full disclaimer: The concept of 'jobs to get done' comes from a talk I heard a few years back by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. The concept aligns with another model of branding which suggests that our personal brand is a combination of 'identity' and 'utility'. The 'job' concept aligns with the utility piece of the puzzle. I will share more about the identity piece next time.




Monday, August 22, 2011

5 Images to Stimulate Business Breakthroughs

I went on a photo adventure with my two daughters and it got me thinking...

Well really it got me thinking about getting you thinking. Here are some photos I took with my BlackBerry and a question for each one to get you thinking more deeply about your business and life.


1. People crave vision. Where are you taking people?
2. You provide an experience for others. Experiences are what we remember. What welcomes people on the other side of your door? What will they see? say? do? feel? hear? think?







3. Ouch! What are you doing today that is prickly? What beauty is ready to burst forth from a painful patch?






4. Buzz buzz.This hard worker is collecting nectar to produce something sweet that makes my kids happy. What are you working hard on and why will it make people smile?



5. What gems have you been hiding? What do you want to dig up from your past experiences and share with others?






Feel free to share a photo and a question that inspires you to think deeply about life and the meaningful work you are driving to do more of.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

How to stop lying to yourself and others

I saw this flower and it got me thinking...

I have no idea what kind of flower it is, but that's not important.

What is important for you to know is that the women who planted this flower and the lovely garden surrounding her home smokes cigarettes.

I find the disconnect between beautifying her outside world and polluting her inside world interesting, sad and frustrating.

Isn't this living a lie?

This lack of alignment fires up a part of me that seeks to live my truth, to push myself to fully express who I am. It brings up emotions related to feeling like I'm living a lie too.

I feel the weight of the hard truth that I'm the only one that is limiting my potential. I do things that do not align with who I know I want to be.

How about you?

It takes courage to live your truth, to share your opinion and express yourself fully. I don't know that I have the perfect answer to how to stop lying to yourself others.

So...what is the answer?

What I do know is that what is true for me often is not what is easy. It's not what makes me feel comfortable and safe. It's often about pushing through my fears, taking chances and stretching myself beyond what I believe is possible.

On the other side of taking a risk to grow I realize that what I believed to be true was actually not. On the other side a new truth emerges like a flower. Now the trick is to not fall into the trap of clinging to that new truth so tightly that it once again stops you from stretching into the person you are meant to become.

It's okay to stop and smell the flowers and enjoy yourself but when your outside behaviours become too toxic and out of alignment with who you know deep down you want to be it can impact your health, relationships and more.  Let's get working on this together by reflecting on the questions below.


Quiet Reflection Questions:
What parts of my life feel like they are a lie?

And

What is one small step that I can take right now to start living a life that is more true to who I want to be in the world?