Personal Branding Blog
The Personal Branding Blog offers branding and career advice from Dan Schawbel and his team of experts.
|
Convert Your Brand Building Book Into a Blog…and More Profits
Although you may be familiar with the idea of writing a book a little at a time, as a series of blog posts, you may not have thought about leveraging books into blog posts – -and creating new brand building and profit opportunities. Bud Bilanich, the Common Sense Guy, however, provides a template for a Book>Blog>Profit brand-building book publishing action plan. Here are the steps involved: Step 1: Write a “simple” book. “Simple books” are... |
|
Guy Kawasaki’s 5-Point Guide to Personal Branding
If you’ve ever heard the word “entrepreneur,” you’ve heard of Guy Kawasaki, perhaps one of the greatest living writers/speakers on start-ups. His messages are simple, powerful, and to the point. What lessons can we learn from this inspirational guru about personal branding? The following five tips are pulled directly from lessons in his best-selling book, Art of the Start. Let’s see how Guy can jump-start your personal brand. 1. Make Meaning, Not... |
|
Personal Branding Interview: David Brier
Today, I spoke to David Brier, who is a award-winning brand identity designer, author and branding expert. He is the author of Defying Gravity and Rising Above the Noise. In this interview, David talks about brand identity for people and companies, logo’s and slogan’s, and more. What goes into a corporate brand identity? Would this be similar for a personal brand? The basics of “a brand” are largely misunderstood. While aesthetics, design and appearance... |
|
Personal Brands: Craziest Advice Ever
Why do job coaches tell you to EVADE a straightforward answer when a recruiter asks you this simple question? “What do you expect to earn in terms of salary and related compensation, given the role and responsibilities associated with this position in our company?” Job coaches earn money for coaching you to get a job, but lose their income stream if you actually land a job. It’s been a long time since job coaches have succeeded in a job interview, much less held a job,... |
|
Announcing the Launch of Millennial Branding, LLC
Back in 2007, I had a vision of creating a “personal branding world.” A world in which everyone would have the opportunity to stand out and achieve success through the internet. The blue logo compass with the black silhouette, that you still see on all of my websites today, was established to become your guide through this world. The slogan that I came up with when I started this blog was “navigating YOU to future success,” which is exactly what my new... |
|
Personal Branding Interview #2: Dave Ulrich
Today, I spoke to Dave Ulrich, whois as a Professor of Business at the University of Michigan, a partner at the RBL Group, and author of the new book The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win. This is a follow-up to my previous interview with Dave last August. In this interview, Dave talks about what motivates people to work, the abundant organization model, and tips for business owners who want to create meaning in the workplace. Why is it important... |
|
Should You Pay to Get Your Personal Branding Book Published?
It may seem strange to talk about paying to get your personal branding book published, while the media often talks about celebrities receiving 6-figure advances. What’s going on? Celebrities, of course, is the key word in the above. Politicians, their wives, their ex-wives, ex-CEO’s, and television personalities often get big buck advances. But, this only happens after they’ve been in the headlines. (See USAToday story about upcoming celebrity books.) Rachael... |
|
The Reputation Economy: Everyone is Selling Something
The dawn of a new marketplace has arrived that has changed the best practices of just about anything you can think of. We are sitting at the largest inflection point since the industrial revolution with the rise of 2.0 technology, crowdsourcing, the reputation economy, and social media. To be blunt, everything that used to work best, no longer does anymore, and this decline will only escalate in the future. Digest that thought – no, really, let it sink in deep. Real deep.... |
|
Exploring Your Brand Identity
I’ve been fully engulfed in the world of branding lately through work on one of my accounts. Throughout the branding process I’ve observed a fascinating dynamic between how corporate brands try to be more human while personal brands are trying to be more like businesses. While dissecting the core elements of a brand I was intrigued to not only put those pieces back together for the client I was actually working with, but also for myself. I’ve related corporate branding to... |
|
HOW TO: Discover Your Personal Brand
It’s important to have a personal brand. It differentiates you from everyone else, which is what employers and clients are seeking. But, what if you’re still not sure what your personal brand is? Too many people rush into creating a personal brand without first discovering who they are, what they can offer and what they want to do for the rest of their life. Discovering your brand is important because it allows you to visualize your career path and goals all-in-one. Some important... |
|
Personal Branding Interview: Brian Tracy
Today, I spoke to Brian Tracy, who is the Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a bestselling author of over 45 books, including his latest called No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline. Brian is one of the most well-known self-help guru’s in the world. In this interview, Brian talks about the importance of self-discipline, the three areas we should all focus on, why we need to stop making excuses, and more. What is the true power of self-discipline? The practice... |
|
The Surprising Personal Branding Power of Pen Names
At first glance, building the personal brand of a fake person doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, the best personal brands are authentic, based on real people letting their personalities show their uniqueness. Fake personal brands tend to lose all credibility once they’re exposed as fake, because no one likes to be fooled. However, there actually is one powerful way to leverage a pen name for building your personal brand, as a very famous author once showed. Who... |
|
How Much Are You Worth?
How do you rate the your value on the marketplace? How do you figure out how much you are actually worth? How much should you charge a potential client? Let’s say you determine this through how much and how you are paid. Is that hourly? Salary? Project to project? I read a blog by Seth Godin where he shared a story about a college professor who saved a potentially multi-million dollar project with one simple solution.They paid him $45,000 because if he succeeded they would... |
|
4-Step Personal Brand Promise Checklist
These four questions are a great way to hone in on the value you provide, and ensure that your network’s perception of you aligns with your perception of yourself. Once they are the same, and you are delivering on your brand promise, I guarantee you will start attracting more opportunities into your life. I believe it because I see this alignment in action every day. Here are some questions I ask myself on a regular basis to make sure my self perception and my network’s... |
|
Personal Brands: Answer This
I imagine there’s some lunatic that we’re calling a “thought-leader,” who is passing out some horrific job-interview ending advice, including: “Never answer a question about compensation.” I did not hire five people in the last week because they would not answer this question: “What are your expectations for salary, bonuses, and other compensation as an employee of our company?” I am hiring up for one of my firm’s business units. It should be easy to find great... |
|
Personal Branding Interview: Ori Brafman
Today, I spoke to Ori Brafman, who is just releasing his latest book called Click: The Magic of Instant Connections. Previously, I had interviewed Ori about his New York Times bestseller SWAY. In this interview, he talks about connecting with other people, what makes people click with others, forcing a connection, and more. How do you know when you click someone? Is it emotional? Yes, you know it on a visceral level. You feel like you’ve known this person forever, like you... |
|
The Quantity vs Quality Debate Revisited
In the past six months, my view on quantity versus quality when it comes to fans, followers, and customers has drastically changed. I’ve written before on the perception of having a large network, and how that will help you secure new opportunities. Chad Levitt, has also penned a post on this blog about the quality and quantity of blog posts. An example of quality blog posts are one’s written by Time Ferriss, who blogs once a month, but has each post be meaningful,... |
|
How to Use Free Video to Build Your Personal Brand
Got video? If you have a microphone attached to your computer, and know how to put together a 5 or 6 slide PowerPoint presentation, you can use free video to build your personal brand and market and sell your book. It’s that easy! I can prove it. I went from 0 to 60 in one afternoon…and didn’t spend a dime to post my videos on Twitter. Want proof? My first video may not be perfect, but it’s up and running! I’ve Tweeted it to my followers, who have... |
|
Death By Facebook: The BP Story
The same website that fostered a social movement bringing Betty White to Saturday Night Live is now bringing BP to its knees, as an ongoing battle with bad publicity is exemplified through the power of Facebook. The oil spill in the Gulf is being called the worst in American history — bringing frequent association with the Exxon Valdez spill. One hindrance that is unique to the BP spill is that this is the first major oil disaster since the popularity of Facebook and other... |
|
HOW TO: Not Burn Bridges When You Resign
As the job market bounces back, top talent is moving on from organizations that treated them less than fair during the Great Recession. Regardless, my policy is to never burn a bridge if you can help it. Is it possible to resign on good terms? Absolutely! Remove emotion from the situation Easier said than done, I know, but your brand is at stake if you don’t. Treat the situation as a business – not personal – decision. After all, life-altering decisions such as resigning... |