How prominent is your Personal Brand?

If we contacted your target audience, would they know who you are and what you do?

Tonight I had 10 minutes to share 10 tips on raising your profile with an audience of Independent Advisors and Consultants.

The following are the 10 steps I would recommend to increase your profile if your are self employed.

1. Change your name

If your name is common like John Smith, or James Jones, then change it!  Change it slightly, but consider James E Jones or James Jones Jnr or Jimmy E Jones…this will help people remember your name, remember you, and find you on Google when they look you up!

Visual CV’s and visual resumes are really gathering pace at the moment.

Organisations and individuals are starting to see the benefits of including ‘richer’ information about their skills and ‘personal brand’ - and online tools are making this easier…

One of my good blogging friends Meg Guiseppi - who blogs over at The Executive Resume Branding Blog directed me to this article on Visual CV

Another good friend Saranyan created the Virtual Resume on Ning

What are the benefits of these ultimate online personal branding tools?

• Will improve your Google ranking!
• Potentially gives employers a better feel for your skills and ‘persona’
• Allows you to update your skills and talents more frequently
• Allows you to communicate your skills to a wider audience
• Encourages you to experiment with new ‘branding’ tools such as video
• Allows you to tell a little more about yourself other than the norm (employers, titles, hobbies)
• As an employer, it gives you a better insight to a potential ‘hire’

In my opinion, these tools have the potential to change resumes, job hunting and employment in general!  Looking at Virtual CV I notice there are a squillion corporations already behind this concept, as they seek harder to attract the best and the brightest.

So, when was the last time you updated your resume..and if I Google your name, what do I find?

Go on - make a video of yourself, talk about your skills and experiences, build a powerpoint slideshow about why an employer should hire YOU.  I would like to see some of these!

Remember..stay on brand!

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I think what I love most about social media is the ‘fight’. The fight for positioning and success amongst social media companies, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn means that they just keep raising the bar! And the biggest winners here are US (you and me).

Well, LinkedIn has recently landed back on the agenda (especially amongst my network), and so I thought it would be a good time to revisit LinkedIn and how to get the best out of it!

Let’s start off slowly with the ‘40 things you must do on LinkedIn to build your Personal Brand’ (This is a collection of tips and techniques I use with clients to develop their Personal Brand).

LinkedIn - what?

1.  LinkedIn is a social network that includes over 25 million professionals from around the world, representing over 150 industries - with a focus on ‘doing business’

2.  LinkedIn started ‘linking the world’ in Dec 2002.  It was founded by former PayPal Executive Vice Presdient, Reid Hoffman.  The current CEO is Dan Nye, and Hoffman remains the Executive Chairman.  LinkedIn is based in Mountain View, California

3.  LinkedIn achieved profitability in March 2006.  On June 17, 2008 - venture capitalists invested US$53m in the business for 5%, giving it a post money valuation of US$1billion.

But Why?

4.  in 2008, your name is no longer private, it is a conversation!  Clients and prospects WILL Google you.  LinkedIn improves your Google ranking significantly!

5.  Raise your profile - when you create a profile on LinkedIn, and connect with others, your name will come up in search, and this will further enhance your ‘brand’  The more connections you have, the more you show up in search!

6. Great for research - LinkedIn is a fantastic tool to guage the health of an industry or organisation.  ‘Search’ by company or industry to get a feel for new staff members, turnover, recruitment activity or redundancies!  It is also a bit of fun to track startups (search for ’startup) and see how they progress!

OK, I am convinced - how?

7.  Well, firstly you need to register

8.  If you are already on LinkedIn, then let’s move on!

Here’s 10 ways to improve your LI profile right away!

9.    Describe your experience and abilities as you would to someone you just met. And write for the screen, in short blocks of copy with visual or textual signposts. Don’t just post up your resume!
10.    Use specific and colourful words and descriptors (consultant is not as colorful as ‘life changing business friend’)
11.    Write your Personal Value Proposition (PVP) under your name. It follows your name in search hit lists. This is a big part of your ‘brand’.
12.    You’ve got 5 seconds to capture a readers attention.  Write a powerful story that captures the essence of who you are and what you do, and use it in the summary section to engage readers. .
13.    Use some humour - and definitely use passion to highlight your skills, abilities and interests.  This makes your profile more personal and interesting!
14.    Use brief stories to say what you have done for your employer or clients…don’t just write out the titles of your past jobs!
15.    Add websites that showcase your abilities or passions. Then edit the default “My Website” label to encourage click-throughs (you get Google page rankings for those, raising your visibility).
16.    Use the ‘answers’ feature in LinkedIn and answer questions to establish your expertise, raise your visibility, and most important, to build social capital with people in your network.
17.    Share some love! Give sincere recommendations to valued connections and seek recommendations in return. (Think quality, not quantity.)
18.    Continue to build your connections. Connections are one of the most important aspects of your brand: your network reflects the quality of your brand.

How can I use LinkedIn to get business - 20 sure fire ways LI will help you sell more!

19.    Spring time clean out - go through your contacts and remove connections you do not  recall, or, send a mail and re-engage those contacts.
20.    Review your profile. Update your picture from 1980! Create a content-rich profile that highlights your PVP.   (There is no Spell Check or grammar capabilities in LinkedIn, so you may want to create your profile in Word and then upload).
21.    Leverage LI with Google News Alerts. Set up a Google Alert on a LI contact in a target company, and gather intelligence to strengthen your approach.
22.    Add your email address to your last name.  This will make it easy for someone to connect to you without directly knowing you.
23.    Promote your profile. LinkedIn provides buttons, HTML codes and e-mail signatures to help promote your presence and drive traffic to your profile.
24.    Update your recommendations and arm your trusted partners and past employers with the appropriate ammunition to illustrate the real strengths you are after.
25.    Update your groups and associations and ensure that you don’t have multiple profiles, as it is sure to create confusion.
26.    Answer relevant questions to establish thought leadership, recommending other experts, and engaging others in productive dialogue.
27.    Scan the ‘Job Ads’ on your home page.  If a company is hiring the types of positions that your solution requires, wouldn’t that be a fair indication that they need your products and services
28.    Play-up your international appeal. If you are headed to London then use LinkedIn search to gain invaluable local, regional and even domestic information.
29.    Identify regional and industry trends. This should highlight for you where you invest in your portfolio of relationships.
30.    Consider Co-Opetition. By identifying, building and nurturing key relationships with other SMEs in this industry, I can easily turn perceived competitors into huge cooperative assets towards delighting a client.
31.    Introduce yourself to people working at companies related to your target prospects.
32.    Link Up with a targeted and tailored introduction, not just a generic “I found you on LinkedIn”
33.    Consider the value of your contacts for others, and refer and introduce them
34.    Pay attention to updates from your network. Network updates are perfect conversation starters.  Don’t ignore any of the above, but leverage them to stay in touch or engage new contacts.
35.    Observe who is viewing your profile. You will gain insights as to where you are getting attention.
36.    Use LinkedIn to notify your contacts by way of a profile update.
37.    Use LinkedIn to understand relationships between people you know and people you want to know.
38.    Connect with your former colleagues.  Tell them what you’re up to and who you’re most interested in meeting, and offer to help them out as well.

What next...

39.  Be persistently consistent.  Keep on top of your network and opportunities, diarise 15 mins each week to update and review.

40.  Do other things! LI and all social networking tools are great supplements to ALL your networking and Personal Branding activity, not a replacement.

PHEW, so, there you go, a large post but I hope there is some value in there for you who use LinkedIn, or who would like to use it more effectively!

Happy networking…and be sure to connect with me here

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I have to thank Dan Thornton for the inspiration for this simple little post..

I met Dan over at Twitter and in between discussing the ethics of Tweeting, I was looking for some blogspiration (inspiration on what to blog about next)…a good video or photo was suggested.

This video captures a whole heap of the concepts I have been speaking about all week with clients and at presentations - Web 2.0 connects us.  Web 2.0 makes developing and projecting your Personal Brand so much more important; enjoy!

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1.   I have a blog - that is read by others, and I update regularly!

2.   I have an active profile on the biggest and most important social networking sites - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook - and many others!

3.   I stand for something - I make GREAT people POPULAR!

4.   I have a large network offline too, which I keep in contact with!

5.   I have a bio that I keep updated..

6.   I am fit, healthy and bring energy and discipline to all my projects!

7.   I make regular constructive comments on great blog posts that are worthy - on blogs like The Personal Branding Blog, Chris Brogan, Career by Choice, Krishnade, Problogger, and many others!

8.   I come up #1 in Google when you search my name!

9.   I am passionate about road cycling, health, motorbikes and technology - so I ride my motorbike or pushbike to meetings, and always ask for water; not coffee!

10. I regularly give to charities, and commit my time to helping organisations such as Lucca Leadership and my local daycare!

11.  I always try to underpromise and over deliver!

So there you go, now tell me the reasons why your Personal Brand is better than mine?

Image via Wikipedia

Well, this is the final chapter in the 3 part interview with Steve Cary - co author of “How to Get a Job in Publishing”

I trust we have shed a little more light on what it takes to write a book, and have given you some ideas on reinforcing the INTELLECTUAL element of your Personal brand.

Today, the interview series closes with some examples of what being an author has done for Steves’ Personal Brand, and what tips and techniques he would recommend for anyone considering writing a book, and his co-author Alison Baverstock provides a brief video overview of the book!

Q. What examples of the success/branding have you achieved?

This is great fodder for my website. To talk about our latest book to clients and prospects is simply great…Being positioned as a thought leader gives real depth to what you are doing – not just scraping off someone else’s work. Importantly also, this gave us an opportunity to talk to lots of other senior people in the industry – these people were very forthcoming and insightful, and this has really contributed to an expanded network for me and the other authors!

Q. Do you have any tips for technology or other tools you found useful during this process?

I use Google docs and Google suite of products extensively! For version control, and keeping the right version of a master document up to date, there is nothing better. I have become a huge fan of the Google suite of products (Gmail etc). When working with a manuscript or something like this, this is very important. To hear stories of manuscripts going missing or getting destroyed in fires etc really scares me!

Q. What would you say to anyone considering writing a book on any subject?

Do it…there is the option of publishing your material as an eBook. This is also easy and can be done. It is not about selling lots of books. The age old tradition of self publishing v recognised publisher is being broken down, and the opportunity to write and publish your own book now is much greater than it used to be!

Thanks agian to Steve for agreeing to give up some time for this interview.  This interview was a lot of fun for me, and I hope it went a little further to promote Steve’s Personal brand :)  For me the key points were;

• Consider co-authoring
• Do your research - approach a publisher with an idea, not a completed book!
• Consider self-publishing
• Be clear on your aims!  You should not write a book just to make money!, and
• Get started - write a book about a subject you are passionate about!

Over the next weeks, I want to interview a few more ‘doers’ people who are out there strengthening their Personal brand with real actions and intent.  I am really keen to interview and share with you the thoughts and insights from a good friend who is a successful paid speaker; after all public speaking is a GREAT way to develop your Personal Brand.  So, off to prepare for another interview…

Image via Wikipedia

Over the last week, I have been writing about the four elements of Personal Branding that we use when working with clients through the DEFINE, PLAN and PERFORM steps of our brandyou process.  Previously I wrote about the PHYSICAL elements and the PRINCIPLE elements.  Walter Akana over at Threshold Consulting wrote about ‘Shameless Self Promotion” and referred to my previous post on the PRINCIPLE element and integrity.  It was real nice to see this message emphasised, and then reinforced by my friend and Y Gen Uber Blogger Dan Schawbel.

Today, I wanted to write about the third element - the INTELLECTUAL.  This element refers to what you know, your education, your experience, your ideas, your innovations and your intelligence.  Many of our clients, or people we talk to are a little uncomfortable working at this element, as they cannot imagine how they can influence this element, or make themselves more intelligent.  There are some great conceptual explanations for this element that I like to speak to people about.  Firstly, think of Google (or Yahoo!).  When people want to know something, they go to these sites.  These sites represent some of the largest and most powerful businesses on the planet - yet they do not provide you answers…they tell you where to go for the answers!  And think of Henry Ford when he was examined by the US government and questioned on aspects of his business. When asked by the State Prosecutor as to why he did not know the answers to all the questions, Ford explained “look, I may not be the brighest employee at the company, and this is why i have 8 buttons on my desk.  I press one of these buttons when I need answers, and the right employee who has the answer comes to my office to provide me with the insight” You see, these stories both highlight the fact that you DO NOT need to know everything.  Your brand could simply represent you as the right person to come to for answers - because you know where to find the answers!  The following are great examples of tips and techniques you can use to develop the INTELLECTUAL element of your Personal Brand;

• Take a course in something you enjoy learning about
• Commit to read a new book every 3 months
• Take time to scan the papers daily
• When you go for a coffee in the morning, ask your local barista what is happening in the world
• Review your resume, and articulate your experience clearly
• Review your experience, and see where you may be light on in experience - then look for work or training to develop this weakness
• Get to know the best places to find information online - your social network, Wikipedia, Google
• Set Google alerts on topics of interest and receive daily updates on these topics
• Contribute to forums and chat rooms on subjects you are passionate and knowledgeable about
• Write a blog on a subject in which you have knowledge
• Create presentations or videos and host on Slideshare or YouTube demonstrating your knowledge and ideas

The key message here, is NEVER STOP LEARNING, and look for ways to demonstrate your knowledge and experience.  You can have a lot of fun developing this element of your personal brand.  People I know who have memorable and strong Personal Brands are committed to lifelong learning!

Jim Killeen does some great stuff..and his latest venture “Google Me’ is a documentary covering the lives of all the other Jim Killeens he found..7 in all!

Watch the trailer - thanks to my friend, the Chief Buzz Agent Maria Elena for bringing this to my attention; way cool!

What a great idea..has anyone considered starting a Google Group, or a LinkedIn group for all the people of the same name, and then gone about tracking these people down around the world…then learn what differences there are between your brands?  Would be a great project…anyone want to start?

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After watching the Shift Happens video the other day for the 20th time, and really marvelling at the speed at which things are moving and advancing; it comes as no surprise that practices we take for granted are simply being ‘reinvented’ and challenged.  Seeking and applying for a job used to be a well proven formula;  you look for work, you update your resume, you send it in to the employer, you wait for the phonecall, and if lucky, you attend an interview, or two or three before landing the job!  I talk about how I have never applied for a job in my Bio, and this is true.  So when I see stories like ‘Take your Resume and Shove it” from the US News, which is an interview with Aaron Strout - a Vice President at Mzinga where Strout has effectively reinvented the recruitment process, I get very excited.  By not asking for resumes, and not wanitng email contact…he simply wanted to hook up with the applicants on Facebook or Twitter to discuss the job first before committing to an interview.  Admittedly, Mzinga is a Social Media business, so it makes sense that they should take this approach, but the approach has some very real application to almost any role.  Strout comments in the interview how he got less applicants; but they were all VERY well qualified, and he had a very good idea on their skills and passions before he spoke with them, by simply learning more about them via their online profiles.  Aaron firmly believes that this process is totally applicable to any employer, by simply asking the applicant to see their blog or online profile as part of the process, an employer can gain a much deeper understanding of the applicant.  Employers are already entering the applicants names in Google, so this is the next natural step!  It is articles, and practices like these that are emphasising even moreso, the importance of an individuals Personal Brand, and how this is reflected online.