Earlier this week, I wrote about the only 3 ways to grow your business, which are;

1. Increase the number of customers,
2. Increase the frequency of purchase, and
3. Increase the number of units sold

Given the current business climate, each of these may seem pretty difficult right now, but with a strong Personal Brand, and some ideas on how to;

• Turn suspects into prospects,
• Prospects into clients, and
• Clients into mad fans…

Then growing your business (or simply maintaining your business) may be a little easier!

 

Turn Suspects into Prospects

Your personal brand is all about WHO KNOWS YOU and not what you know and who you know!

This being the case, then attracting new prospects is ultimately what your personal brand does…and these simple tactics can help you to do this;

• Get your profile online - use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, ecademy, JigSaw, MySpace or Wordpress to get your ‘brand’ in front of as many people as possible,
• Get yourself ‘inline’ - where do your likely prospects frequent?  If they attend trade shows or networking functions - then get yourself along to these same functions and meet new people!
• Give to Get - I wrote about this earlier, but right now, a great way to get free press and get tongues wagging, is to organise a charity event or volunteer you time for a worthwhile cause…people will talk about you, and others will want to know you!
• Advertise - write a clever advertisement that captures YOUR unique attributes, and tells YOUR story.  During the Great Depression, firms that continued to advertise survived..those that stopped advertising did not!
• Be Free - give stuff away…again to a worthwhile cuase, or if you are a service, give up 10% of your time a week to selected ’suspects’ so that they can sample your services and then tell others about them!
• Ask - ask your current clients or prospects who they would recommend your services to.  Ask them who might benefit from meeting you!

Right now, more than ever, the number of people who KNOW YOU may determine your failure or success.  People are seeking more ‘personal’ experiences from the businesses they buy from - so be sure to give your business ‘personality’ - ulitmately, it is YOU they will talk about…not your widgets!

Have fun…and go GROW!

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Phew, this past week has been MADNESS…

Kinda good madness though - with free events, keynote addresses, and discussion galore on the subject of Personal branding, discovering your passion and dealing with change!

The highlight has definitely been the pulling together of a super team to make the RE:THINK concept a reality.  RE:THINK is all about challenging people to RE:THINK their attitude, their brand and their future as we head into uncertain times.

Guys like Raz Chorev, Richard Sauerman and Andrew Roberts have been completely committed to making RE:THINK a success…and what a story it is!

• Most of us met on LinkedIn or through mutual contacts (the power fo the online brand and the connected brand!)
• We all have a passion for our material and the message that RE:THINK is spreading
• We have created a business from nothing in less than one month
• We are having a heap of fun doing it, and will be taking the concept around Australia and overseas in the New Year!

And through our success, the family continues to grow with Susan Farrell helping out in Sydney as our MC, and Julie Nguyen (Little Miss Entrepreneur) adding some spice to help out in Melbourne!

This is a story that pretty much ex amplifies all the concepts we speak about in our 90 minute event!

Anyway, off to make contact with those who attended and looking forward to growing the RE:THINK community further through offering workshops, books, networking events and whatever the people are demanding!

Now onto Melbourne in January 2009!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

1.  Get a Gym Membership! If you already have a gym membership, get yourself along to the gym the very next day!  This is important for many reasons including; it helps you establish a routine (which is CRITICAL during stressful times), exercise makes you feel better, exercise makes you healthier, it is another environment to meet people and network!

2.  Revisit your contact list! Download your list of contacts from your email client, or take out your business cards and work through them.  Discard those who you think are worth discarding, and then make contact with everyone else either through email or a written note to say.  "Hi, I have recently left ABC Pty Ltd, and I wanted to get back in touch to let you know of what I have been up to" Give them a run down of your skills and achievements and what you would like to do next!

3.  Update your resume - NOW You should have already been doing this, but if not, then get to it.  This will serve many purposes, but most importantly it will force you to think about your skills and experiences, and commit you to writing them down.  If you have not had a resume for some time, I would recommend you get a resume professional like Meg Guiseppi.to help you out.  A well written resume can make a big difference.

4.  Get online You should at least set up a profile on LinkedIn, and consider other sites like Facebook, VisualCV, Tasty Nectar and many other social networking sites that will help you meet new people, and communicate your skills and talents to a wider audience in the search for your next opportunity.  For those a little more ‘technically inclined‘ I would most DEFINITELY recommend starting a blog and writing about your passions and interest.  It will act like therapy (writing can be calming) and will introduce you to a whole new world of opportunity (I guarantee).

5.  READ - now is a great time to read all those books piling up on your bedside table.  Visit www.amazon.com or the like and search for the recommended reading under subject areas that interest you.  Seek out the best blogs and websites on these subjects and take time each day to read them, stay informed and LEARN!

6.  Get invited - seek out some interesting events, and get on th einvite list.  Even if they cost good money, these events can be invaluable for meeting new people, starting new relationships, and improving your confidence.  The longer you spend away from social situations, the more uncomfortable you will become - so stay social!

7.  Be Grateful - self help and personal development guru’s like Bob Proctor or Jack Canfield of the Secret talk all about ‘The Attitude of Gratitude" and how it can change your life (here is a good post on the 5 ways to develop and attitude of gratitude! Be grateful for the great skills you have developed and for those dearest to you like your family and friends.  Be grateful for your good health!

8.  Take some time out and work on #1 Don’t rush into your next opportunity (unless you have to).  You may be surprised how easy it is to simplify your life, get rid of some unnecessary expenses, and afford to take little time out to ’smell the roses’  If your past role took a lot out of you, then it would be a good idea to recharge your batteries and take some time to get to know yourself.  This would be a great time to work on DEFINING your Personal Brand, and working out what it is that excites you, and what is unique about you - do you have a Personal Value Proposition?

Notice I did not mention getting yourself in to your nearest search consultant?  This is not that I do not think they can do great work, it is just that this post is about the BEST things to do, and right now, search consultancies may not have too many jobs on offer…your next career step is up to YOU..it is time for YOU 2.0 - reinvented!

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Dan Schawbel has recently finished his book “Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success”

Given the title of the book, I wanted to explain what this means for YOU 2.0.

We have all heard of Web 2.0, and we all know the 2.0 stands for the 2nd version of the web right?  WRONG.  This is part of the story, but the interesting thing to know is that the 2.0 also means there are now 2 people in the conversation.  Web 1.0 was all about direct advertising, and pushing messages at you with little engagement or consultation.  As consumers, we now demand more than this, we want to be engaged, involved, listened to, and asked of our opinion.  Web 2.0 is all about the online tools that allow for this interaction - like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and blogging!  Media now needs to engage others, and involve them in the conversation…if you doubt this, just spend a moment to reflect on Barack Obama’s recent successful Presidential Campaign!

So what does this mean for YOU 2.0?

Not only does the media need to reflect the values of Web 2.0, but so too does your personal brand!  Like any successful web 2.0 and Social Media campaign, you should be considering how your personal brand delivers on the four essential stages of the 2.0 world!

1.  LISTENING - what are your target audience talking about, and what are they demanding from your personal brand.  Do they need you to be available or knowledgeable or to simply respond when they ask a question…either way, you need to be listening to you target audience (this is difficult if you do not know who you target audience is!)

2.  TALKING - do you encourage conversation about your skills, talents, products or services..what are you selling?  How do you encourage this conversation.  Do you take 2 or 3 customers to lunch on a monthly basis, do you introduce your network to one another?  You know your personal brand is powerful when others do the selling for you!

3.  INVOLVING - when was the last time you asked a customer or prospect for feedback on your services and your brand attributes?  When was the last time you asked friends or colleagues to explain you in 3 words or less.  If you ask for this feedback, be sure to thank them for it, and then demonstrate how you have taken this feedback on board.

4.  SUPPORTING - you know your personal brand is super effective when your prospects and customers are now solving one another’s problems, and speaking to one another about your services in a positive light!

5.  ENGAGING - the final stage in the YOU 2.0 process is the engagement of your target audience in the process of product and strategy development.  Who developed your last product or service..your customers or you?

So, how are you going to start listening to your target audience?  Think about these 5 steps and how you can integrate them into you business or life.  You can be assured that by following these 5 steps, you will find your personal brand will engage others, and draw them to you.

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This is a mindless plug for LinkedIn - but I like it!

Channel Nine and Sixty Minutes always makes me wonder at how much the media is to blame for the current decline in the markets and consumer confidence.

The story that Sixty Minutes chose to run tonight focused on the pain of the current crisis and interviewed several people directly affected by the slump.

I genuinely feel for these people - and was astounded that so many of the people interviewed (who had lost their jobs) were in such a difficult situation.  Unfortunately I doubt that many of these people most in need read my blog…so I need your help!

Who has heard of the stories of the many great initiatives that came out of the Great Depression, where good people in need of work, found work by helping people who needed help!  This is a pretty simple business model, and if Social Media, and our talents cannot make something of a similar opportunity to help those in need, then I will be truly shocked!

Over the last 3 days I have met or spoken to 5 people who are looking to enter the workforce, or who HAVE to look for another job.  I was surprised that none of these people had resume’s, nor had any idea how to go about writing a good resume, or getting their profile and skills in front of prospective employers.  We take our skills for granted as bloggers and social networkers - but the people who most need the benefits of social networking right now need our skills!

So this is where I NEED YOUR HELP.

Surely amongst my readers there are people who can help here (or know people who can help).  Who out there can produce a good effective resume quickly and cost effectively?  Which of you can help with enhancing the Personal Brand of those in need through help getting them online (LinkedIn or Facebook, or whatever works?), or helping them with appearance and interview techniques?

If we were to combine our resources, and helped these people most in need of employment support - then I KNOW we can help them find work, and we can help employers find great staff.

So where to from here…please comment on this post with your ideas, and forward this post to people you know who can help, or to those who need help and let’s see if we can MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

This is your chance to make a difference to the Personal Brand of those who need it the most!

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You’re GREAT, but are you POPULAR?

Anyone who has followed my blog or my work at buzzle knows about our philosophy that popularity will win out over being GREAT every time.  We do not say that GREAT is not necessary…but we do recognise that in business, and in the workplace, there are a lot of great people (same qualifications, same experience).

So just how do you go about being POPULAR, what tips or techniques make you popular in the workplace?

There are so many tools and techniques available today to help you stand out from the crowd, and increase your fame (social media tools like YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Seesmic)…but do these make you more popular or simply better known?  Both are important, and both are essential ingredients to the recipe that is your Personal Brand, but I would like to suggest the one most significant place to start on your journey to ‘popularity’.

Being popular; hence better liked, and much more likely to get the promotion or get the new job, or hold onto your job when 1000’s of your colleagues are being made redundant; is all about how you serve, and meet other needs…but what are those needs?

According to Organisational Behaviour Guru Chip Heath, and his brother, Uber Consultant, Dan Heath in their book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” there are 8 broad groups of ‘needs’

1. Physical: hunger, thirst, bodily comfort
2. Security: protection, safety, stability
3. Belonging: love, family, friends, affection
4. Esteem: achieve, be competent, gain approval, independence, status
5. Learning: know, understand, mentally connect
6. Aesthetic: symmetry, order, beauty, balance
7. Self-actualisation: realise our own potential, self-fulfillment, peak experiences
8. Transcendence: help others realize their potential

As the basis of this post, and in the interests of increasing your popularity in the workplace or marketplace, these are the needs of others you should look to address.  Meeting these needs in the service of others is virtually guaranteed to develop closer relationships with people and endear them to you..which will result in more people singing your praises and looking to help you to achieve your dreams and ambitions!

And now to the practical - here are the 10 things I would recommend to make your more POPULAR;

• When you enter the office every day, or meet your customers, give them a smile, make them feel significant and that you are happy to see them! (smiles are cheap too)
• The spotlight effect - give your full attention to the people you converse with as if nothing else is important, take an interest in them!
• Regularly look at your list of contacts and network, and you will be reminded of ways to make contact and messages for them (a simple email or phonecall to say hello makes a HUGE difference),
• Always reply your contacts’ emails and text messages; always (and develop your own service levels; respond with 24 hours),
• Praise your colleagues sincerely when they do something good…tell others about their achievements!
• So simple, but remember birthdays and important events amongst your colleagues and customers (even our mothers taught us this when we were growing up),
• Remember your colleagues names and achievements, remember important facts about them, especially the things they really care about; write them down (this shows people you are interested in them!),
• Always look for ways to cross-pollinate your contacts - introduce them to one another for mutual benefit!
• Take the time to ask specific questions about the families and interest of your colleagues and customers!
• If you are genuinely interested in your colleagues and customers, you will know what articles to send them, or books to lend them that are of interest and relevance,
• Talk to them about how you like your other friends. They will think that you may talk the same way about them.
• Mention their names in your conversation with them, and
• Show your creativity, and deep thought for your special friends and customers; give them small and highly relevant surprises every now and then.

There they are (…in the spirit of giving and meeting your needs, I have included a few extra tips). Not your wealth nor your education, the car you drive, the house you live in, but YOU - as a person - is what is truly important. There more you succeed in delivering this message, the more people will like you…you WILL be more POPULAR!

 

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What do employers look for when they are selecting candidates?

Is it your skills and experience?

Do they look up your Facebook account? (great article on this over at the Wired Campus)

Apparently not…

The first thing to understand is that when your resume or application gets down to the last 3-5 candidates, EVERYONE in that list has the skills and experience to do the job! You and the others are all GREAT!

According to by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., and Katharine Hansen, Ph.D over at QuintCareers the following are the Top 5 things employers are REALLY looking for and my Personal Branding tactics to communicate these attributes);

1.  Communications Skills (listening, verbal, written). By far, the one skill mentioned most often by employers is the ability to listen, write, and speak effectively. Successful communication is critical in business.

• Start a blog or write posts for others
• Write a whitepaper on a subject you are passionate about or contribute a column in your local paper
• Improve your public speaking
• Develop a video resume
• Complete a listening skills course (get a certificate with a great result on it!)

• Write a whitepaper on a subject you are passionate about
• Start a blog or write posts for others
• Complete a post graduate course that is relevant to your interests and ambitions
• Contribute to forums
• Interview key leaders in a field of interest and generate a survey or report on the findings

• Start a blog or write posts for others
• Build your own website
• Develop your own online resume or portfolio
• Join LinkedIn and Facebook
• Upload your whitepaper or other presentations to www.scribd.com or www.slideshare.com

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You know who you are, what you stand for and what makes you unique..

And, hopefully you also know how to answer the question…“so what do you do” in a compelling and interesting way?

Now, what are the best ways to communicate your personal brand and get your ‘brand’ out in the marketplace?

The following methods are some great ways to communicate and reinforce your personal brand to your target market;

1.  Register on several key social networking and online resources (be clear on what name you will register also!)- I recommend;

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Slideshare
• Twitter (read Walter Akanas’ great post on why Twitter is so useful for your personal brand)
• You Tube

2.  If you are this way inclined - register with your National Speakers Association. They offer networking events and resources for improving your public speaking!

3.  If relevant to your brand, approach your local paper and ask how you can contribute a column or expertise!

4.  If you have the time and interest - start your own blog! If you do not have the time or interest, research the best blogs that are relevant to your personal brand, and approach these bloggers to seek the opportunity to ‘guest blog’ (Dan Schawbel wrote a super post on blogging)

5.  Research the most relevant networking events, and register to attend (have a plan for the event also!)

6.  Be sure to monitor your reputation and make comments online where relevant (reputation management) - this is a great post also from Dan on this subject.

• Set up a Google Alert for your name
• Monitor your name on Twitter with www.tweetscan.com
• Register for a Yahoo News Alert for your name

7.  Read blogs and forums on subjects relevant to your expertise; comment on these blogs, and contribute to forums!

8.  Update your Signature block on your email to make sure it reflects your personal brand.

9.  Update your busines cards and stationary to reflect your personal brand (visit www.moo.com for some great ideas here)

There are literally 100’s of ways to communicate your personal brand once you are clear on what your brand is!  You can have a lot of fun online and offline communicating your brand…just remember to listen to feedback, adjust your methods if you have to, and stay consistently persistent!

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What does XOBNI stand for…simple it is INBOX backwards?

And what a great little free application it is!

I stumbled upon this little tool way back in its infancy, and then was referred back to it recently by my good friend Craig White

Effectively, “Xobni is the Outlook plug-in that saves you time finding email conversations, contacts and attachments”

For me it does a great job doing just that, but even more importantly, it does help me reinforce my personal brand through;

• Telling me how often I have contacted someone on mail - therefore reminding me to drop them a line and ’stay in touch’
• It shows me our threaded conversations - therefore making it easier for me to get back in touch or follow up on a recent conversation.
• It shows me shared friends or contacts - and therefore makes it easy for me to arrange introductions and share opportunities etc.
• The senders LinkedIn details are displayed (if they are registered) and makes it easy for me to connect or check more about their profile (and hence their interest from which I can gain a common interest and build rapport).
• Xobni displays a photo of the sender - making it easier for me to ‘get to know’ and remember the individual.
• The application also has a ’schedule time’ and request phone number function which acts as a ‘virtual assistant’ for you.
• I also love the ’statistics’ function where it nominates the people you have mailed the most or responded to the quickest - and then sends them an email to tell them so!

In general, it is a GREAT tool that helps me be much more efficient, helps me stay in touch with key clients and prospects, connect with people, and generally stay in touch and communicate my personal brand to my connections!

I would recommed it to anyone…visit www.xobni.com for a look and free download!

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