Where are you wearing a mask?
No, I’m not talking about face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And I’m also not talking about Halloween masks, although it is that time of year. I’m talking about the masks we put on every day to go to work. So let’s break down a few of the reasons why most people wear a mask to work.
Curating an Authentic Experience
OK all. I want to talk about something that’s super important to me. The curation of authentic experiences. Specifically, of HUMAN experiences. It all comes down to how others are affected by interacting with your personal brand. Are you curating that by design?
What is authenticity?
I’m a fan of dictionary definitions as a place to start a conversation. And this one is going to be GOOD. Because our friends at Merriam-Webster have a plethora of definitions for authenticity. So let’s break it down to figure out what we mean by “being authentic” when it comes to personal branding.
Personal Branding: Theory vs. Practice
Like most things that take ACTION in life, knowing the theory behind personal branding is all well and good, but if it’s not put into practice, it doesn’t become part of your behavior. If you want to become a personal branding Jedi, you must put your personal brand to work. How? Let’s let some Yoda guidance lead us :)
How to align your goals with your personal brand
Living your personal brand. It’s the activity of being yourself. But in a world that’s so good at telling us who we SHOULD be, what we SHOULD want, what our goals SHOULD look like, somehow the concept of just being ourselves gets lost. Here’s how to get it back.
What Your Authentic Brand Voice ISN’T
Like with all things, each individual person has their own definition of a brand voice. But there are some standard things that you should know in terms of what a brand voice ISN’T so you can set your expectations accordingly.
How Your Peeps Impact Your Progress
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” Not once, in the history of time, did one person accomplish what they did without other people. Let’s explore why your business peeps are so critical to your success.
Why collaboration is the best way to honor your personal brand
I’ve met a lot of people with different opinions on collaboration. There seem to be those who believe collaboration ADDS to their genius, and those who believe it TAKES AWAY. It’s interesting to me, from the point of view of personal branding, so let’s dive a little deeper.
What is business culture driven by if not your personal brand?
I keep asking myself questions about how we got to the point in corporate cultures where humans became a RESOURCE instead of people. So today, I dove a little deeper into some research to see if I can get a better idea at what is currently driving business cultures, if it’s NOT personal brands.
You don’t need a “re-brand”…you need brand clarity
I hear a lot of entrepreneurs talking about “re-branding”. As I have seen it, it’s almost 100% related to getting a new logo, updating a business name, or launching a new package. But none of that is truly a re-brand. Why not? Let’s discuss.
What do people have to do with a brand strategy?
In short; EVERYTHING. I’ve heard a lot of definitions of brands over the years. For me, any true definition has to do with feelings. And being memorable. And what makes something memorable? Emotions :)
What makes a Personal Brand Personal?
We so often speak about brands in the sense of huge commercial brands, which can sometimes make it difficult to understand what a personal brand is. And the key to the difference is the word, “personal”. Might seem simple right? But let’s dive a little deeper into what this means.
Personal Brands DON’T come “off-the-shelf”
There is still a lot of mystery that surrounds the concept of personal branding. Probably because they are unique to everyone. Selling them off-the-shelf seems easier for a lot of people. But let me tell you why it’s not.
Authentic Leadership: Fact or Fiction?
I participated in a LinkedIn poll a while back asking people if they were allowed to authentically lead in their organizations. My immediate response was, “NO” (based on my experience in my corporate career). To my surprise, 67% of people said, “YES”. But I wondered if people confused authenticity with authority or autonomy. So, I thought I would address it.
Personal Brands = The SOUL of a Business
We’ve all heard the old saying, “people buy from people”. But while we’re spending so much time on marketing strategy, sales KPI’s, on-boarding procedures, upselling and NPS results, what’s really happening with our employees and the relationships with their jobs?
When to choose a branding resource
There are a whole bunch of people out there who can help you with your “branding”. But how do you know when to choose which resource? This post will address the different types of branding resources commonly available, and when it MOST makes sense for people to choose one.
Leading…By Design
As John Quincy Adams said about leadership, “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” But what does it take for us to inspire this kind of action? Leading…by design.
Be Yourself vs. Be Someone Else
This concept continues to be a struggle in the personal branding space. A lot of people think personal branding is a marketing tactic; an activity in showing up a pre-defined way to achieve what they want. Except it’s not. Let’s explore the concept a little deeper.
Unique People = Stand Out Brands
I’ve been using this header on my website for a while now, and I thought maybe it could use some framing. When a business is new, it starts out based on the foundation of ONE brand…the owners brand. Here are the benefits of doing that ON PURPOSE.
What’s Your Intention?
Do you decide on your actions with a specific intention in mind? I’m not one to always have a plan for EVERYTHING. That’s because plans are usually based on executing a list of things that have been decided based on an intentional RESULT, instead of an intentional WAY OF BEING. But what if we flipped the script?