Personal branding long before social mediaPersonal branding today is deeply rooted in how you present yourself online. But, a 40-year old brand known as Jimmy Buffett provides some lessons we could all learn about brand building. Read more
Category Archives: Branding
How to change people’s behavior
I have been traveling the past week while also preparing to present at the 2011 Senior Sales Executive Conference. My topic is, “Driving Collaboration and Effective Change Initiatives.” I have been using Tom Kelley’s Advice and thinking like a traveler. When we travel, we open our eyes and see things we may not usually see. I was looking for signs of people driving change. Read more
Brand your ideas
When you give your idea a title, you brand it. Without a title, how will people reference it? You want your listeners to retain the concept and be able to recall specific facts, talk to others about your idea and associate it with you. Titling Retention is associated with the act of titling your initiative, project, story, etc. This increases recall, drives water-cooler conversations and easily associates with you. Read more
What sales people can learn from Sam Adams
You hear ‘Sam Adams’ today and you think beer. But, on a recent Boston Freedom tour, it was clear that he never owned a brewery but rather he was a political and public relations genius; something all sellers can learn from.
What does your personal brand say?
Personal branding is so often today measured in page views, Twitter followers and friend counts. Numbers don’t lie, if your fan base is constantly on the rise, you are saying something that people want to hear. The big question, are those the people that will give you a job? Read more
Personal branding lessons from the Joker
He’s a joker, a smoker and a mid-night toker. The iconic singer-songwriter Steve Miller has no shortage of tokers in his audience. They were all sitting around me at a recent concert. I met people that have been fans since the late 60’s. That is a loyalty any business would covet, and Miller continues to increase the power of his personal brand. Read more
Get the job in 60 seconds or less
What do you do? The infamous question asked over and over again at social gatherings the world over. It’s a simple question and no one expects to hear a line by line account of your three page resume. You have 60 seconds or less to give an inspiring answer. Go! Read more
Personal branding lessons learned from Gulf Spill
After a few Memorial Day get togethers over the weekend, I realized how many oil spill experts I know. The terms of this disaster have become common, everyday topics. From blowout preventers to top kills, everyone knows this deep water nomenclature. Amid this catastrophe, are some lessons in personal branding. Read more
Persuasion takes time and repetition
Minds can change after hearing a single presentation, but more often, it takes significant pre-work and follow-up to convince your listeners to take action. You may have a great story or metaphor that makes your idea “sticky,” but to really change behavior, you may have to think about extending the metaphor. Read more
“Isms” ensure you are remembered and quoted
We all have our favorite sayings. I have a friend, Doug, who says: “Even a blind squirrel can find an acorn sometimes” when talking about someone who just got lucky. It wasn’t skill or ambition – just dumb luck. I have come to know this saying as a Doug’ism. I always quote him when I use it. Read more