The Person to See

Personal Brands Are Formed Through Behavior Not Thoughts

Picking a personal brand and building one are two different things.  We pick our brands in a classroom, We build our brands in real life through actions.

It was said by a Canadian poet "Life happens at the level of events not words." 

Henry Ford once remarked "You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."

Are you a person of action?

Every Owner In Every Company Should Worry About Every Employees Personal Brand

I can't tell you how many times I hear from people "Personal Branding is not really important to me because I am not in sales."

This morning I went to rent a truck from Public Storage.  The Company's posted hours for Sunday are  10am-2pm.  I along with several other folks arrived ten to fifteen minutes early.  At varying times we each peered into the window to see if anyone was there.

I can't say I was surprised to find a gal sitting behind a desk just hanging out waiting for 10am to come.  If we want to be sticklers for time she open the doors five minutes late.  But who is counting.

When we went in the gal was equally uninterested in our needs.  It was quite obvious she wasn't interested in serving customers.  Instead she was just logging the hours necessary to collect a paycheck.

What do you think, would working on your receptionist's, clerk's or other non-sales related person's personal brands help?

The Measure Of A Great Personal Brand

As I've said many times in this blog, don't confuse a great personal brand with a powerful one.  Great brands inspire, powerful ones thrive on intimidation.

If you want to know if you have a great personal brand you should be able to answer these two questions affirmatively...

• Do people seek out your advice for guidance beyond what you do for a living? In other words do they trust your judgment as much as your expertise?

• When they seek out your advice do they follow it or are you just another person they want to bounce an idea off of?

If your answers to these two questions is yes than you have, in my opinion, a great personal brand.

Come Join Us Every Monday

Every Monday @ 11:30am (PST) I host a Personal Branding Power Call. Essentially, I pick a topic for the week and talk about how it can improve our personal brands.

The objective is twofold: (1) Get you to focus on your personal branding in an intentional way and (2) provide you with some "pick me up" heading into the week.

I hope you'll join us.  There is no fee so pass this along to your colleagues, family and friends.

The call in number is 712-432-9445. 

SOME DRESSING TIPS FOR THE LADIES

Just a little P.R. from one of our very own Rainmaker's!

Jonathan Fitzgarrald who is the Director of Marketing for Greenberg Glusker, a Century City law firm  Jonathan was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on professional dressing for women. 

Click here to read

Personal Brand Management. It never Ends.

If you think you can at some point rest on your laurels when it comes to personal brand management, you might want to think again.  Don't know if you saw the story on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal about former Federal reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan.

The title of the article is "His Legacy Tarnished: Greenspan Goes On The Defensive."

As recent as three years ago the then 79 year old Greenspan was hailed as "the greatest Central Banker who ever lived."  Now that we are in the midst of some tough economic times, poor old Alan is being scape-goated.

What I like about Greenspan is he is fighting back.  He admits that his reputation matters and he refuses to take this criticism lying down.

Whether you like him or not you have to admire his feistiness and tenacity when it comes to personal brand management.

Ever Heard Of Military Time?

Early is on time.  On Time Is Late.  Late Is Unacceptable.  I don't care how much money you have, how powerful you are or what your title is lateness kills your personal brand.

Romney's Personal Brand Falls Flat

I'm watching Governor Mitt Romney give his concession speech in New Hampshire and I'm thinking to myself, how can this guy not be President...

• He looks the part
• He's a proven success (multi-millionaire businessman)
• He's obviously very smart (JD/MBA Harvard)
• Great character and family man

Yet he could never get traction.  Why?  Because he could not sell his personal brand to America no matter how much money he poured into the race. 

While McCain, Huckabee and Giuliani have very human personalities (whether you like them or not) Romney came across as a technocrat.  Almost like the Stepford Candidate.

I'm telling you everything hinges on a candidate's ability to make the people feel. Look at Barack Obama.

By the way, I predicted many months ago in my blog that Romney would be the nominee and Huckabee his VP.  Shows you what I know!

Kudos To Brad And Denzel

A breath of fresh air in Hollywood at last...

Denzel Washington donates $1M of his own money to Fisher House, a charity dedicated to helping rehabilitate soldiers injured in combat.  It's a great story.  Take time to read it.

Brad Pitt puts his money where his mouth is and donates $5m of his own money to housing efforts in New Orleans.

At last two Hollywood stars who realize it's not all about them!

Beware Of The Brand Killers

The things we do or fail to do which can hurt our personal brand credibility fall into six categories:

• Lack of self-awareness- "I had no clue I was even doing that" or "I didn't know that what I was doing had that impact"
• Lack of knowledge- "I didn't know I was supposed to do that"
• Cheapness-"Penny wise pound foolish"
• Insecurity- "Caring too much what others think as opposed to having the courage of your own convictions"
• Professional arrogance-"I know what I know and there is nothing new for me to learn"
• Lazy-Branding is hard work. No one can do the work for you"

Do any of these apply to you?

We would appreciate it if you could help us get the word out on our blog and pass it along to your colleagues.  Thanks!