Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Every day I’m blessed that I get to learn from others.  There are many super stars in the world and some “super heroes”.   I am very grateful for those “super heroes” who have touched my life this week.

As you know, I enjoy learning and sharing what others share with me.  This week I want to share a post from City Sylvester.

On June 18 City Sylvester posted “Personal Branding Stars of the Week!” where he shared insightful wisdom from six other inspiring people.  Read and enjoy!

When it comes to using social media for business, yes your job search is business, it is important to periodically assess where you are, what you are doing and if your actions are achieving the results you want.

So often when I talk to top talent about social media they are in one of three camps.  Camp one views social media as threat, silly, and a waste of time. Camp two loves social media, uses tons of different social media sites and activities, they “poke”, “tweet”, “friend” hundreds a times a week without a care, thought, plan, or concern for the benefits or consequences to their brand or reputation.  Camp three views social media a big opportunity and realize the value of the tool.  This camp is looking for smart balanced approaches for using social media and managing its challenges.

Which camp are you in?

No matter which camp you are in you need to grow your social media literacy and realize it is a part of a fundamental shift in the way people interact and business gets done.  It is important for you to have a plan and regularly assess how you use (or don’t use) social media to do business, enhance or build relationships in all aspects of your life.

Here are a few tips smart “top talent” and  top organizations employee when using and planning to use social media:

1.    Listen before you talk.

2.    Invest in training and learn to use the technology.

3.    Know how to communicate and what you want to communicate before you engage in goofy social media schemes or online marketing.

4.    Create a plan and policies for using social media.

5.    Understand the appropriate tone, image and use for the various social media channels.

6.    Build real relationships and connections using authentic conversations.

7.    Use caution if you outsource you social media activities.

8.    Understand the benefits and the consequences of failing to have and follow a plan, current practices and policies for using social media.

9.     Routinely review what you do and the results you get from your using social media activities.

What else would you add to the list of tips?

How are you using social media now?

What are your results?

For years video has been used in career management to help the career minded advance their career.  However, again the Internet is changing how we use video.

Early in 2009, there was an explosion of people recording 60-second video clips and video resumes as local Cable TV groups and others began to help job seekers produce videos designed to grab attention and help people land jobs.

Some of these videos popped and made a great impression and others, well a not so great impression.  This trend was like the early use of VHS tapes mailed to firms by new grads with a goal of landing an interview, some were top quality, well done and others were not.

In December 2009, William Arruda, the Founder of Reach Personal Branding shared his predictions on the top trends for 2010 in Personal Branding.  His top prediction was “Video, Video, Video”.  On Thursday, William Arruda and the Reach team launched personalbranding.TV (PB.TV) if you are interested in how video can help you advance your career and your personal brand you must check this new site out.

I have followed the work of William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson since 2007, when I first read “Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand”.  This is a book I have re-read several times and share with others often.  In my view William is the top expert on Personal Branding and watching his new site and learning from him and team of Personal Branding experts is worth your time.

Instead of just using video to land an interview or to be better prepared to interview by seeing ourselves as others see us, today’s trend is to use video to help communicate your brand.  Are you ready to communicate your brand via video?

We all have a personal brand.  Most of us understand little about how to leverage our personal brand, communicate our personal brand and really build a strong personal brand.  Just as strong corporate brands fair better in economic downturns, so do individuals with strong personal brands.  If you have a strong personal brand and you are clear about your target audience and communicate your unique points of differentiation to the companies you are interested in, it makes a difference in the value proposition.

Check out personalbranding.TV and let me know your thoughts.

What does your brand say about your value in the marketplace?

What do you do to communicate your brand?

To your accelerated success,

Cindy Key

“Regardless of your lot in life, you can build something beautiful on it.” ~ Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar’s point is on target. This quote is one that reminds me that I have many gifts and opportunities and it is up to me to use these to build a beautiful a life to accomplish my purpose. To do this I need to be connected to my purpose and to communicate my purpose. One of the ways I have learned to communicate and achieve my purpose is to build and use my personal brand.

Are you building your personal brand? Is your brand working for you?

It is amazing how building your personal brand, will help you stand out from your peers, reach your career goals and live your purpose. Once you identify and communicate what makes you unique, compelling and relevant in the marketplace, your personal brand helps you connect your purpose, values, strengths and what you do.

Think about Bill Gates who has a stated purpose of a computer in the hands of everyone. His purpose connects to what he does, what he wants to do and he has a strong brand. How does your purpose connect to your career and what you want to do?

Do you need help to explore and live your brand?

What are the attributes that you set you apart?

What are your unique points of differentiation?

Create a list of these and your values. Write down your purpose.

Reflect on your attributes. These are the things that help you stand out and create a strong brand. Strong brands demand a premium.

What are you doing to build a strong brand?

If you want some help to explore your brand you may want to check out 360˚Reach is the first and leading web-based personal brand assessment.

Being known in a job search is critical. Your name, what you do and reputation are intertwined. If people don’t know you are, what you do, what value you add or type of service you provide that impacts your position in the marketplace, within the community and impacts your short term and long term success. Who knows your name? Who knows you?

What are people saying about you? Jeffery Gitomer, president of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer and author says that when someone asks about you or says your name, people are going to say one of five things about you. These things are: something great, something good, nothing, something bad, or something real bad. Gitomer also says that whatever people say about you determines your fate.

Building your name recognition and a great reputation takes dedication, execution and time.

What are you doing to be known?

Social media and social networking are here to stay and tools that can help you build name recognition and your reputation. Using social media to be known is a process, it takes work and to be effective requires systems.

What systems are you using to be known?

“The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts.” ~ Booker T. Washington

Do you have a personal brand? What does your personal brand say about you? Does it tell others what you are able to do? Is a personal brand important?

Yes, you have a personal brand, everyone does. You are a walking billboard. Everyone is!

Usually, we think of this as reputation, how someone dresses or acts. These are all piece of who you are. Components of your brand!

If you are a professional and also looking for your next job, being aware of and communicating your brand is critical to your success now and in the future.

We live and work in a hyper-connected world, so don’t under estimate the power of your personal brand. During a job search a strong personal brand helps build a foundation to engage and connect with others. A strong brand quickly allows others to know who you are, what you do, inspires action and positive communication on your behalf. What is your brand communicating?

Do you have a strong personal brand?

What role are you allowing your brand to play in your job search?

What is the “word of mouth” communication of others regarding your brand?

Have you taken a look at your online and offline persona?

Does your persona engage others, communicate value and touch others in a positive or negative way?

Is it time for you to set aside some time to take a look at your personal brand?

What is preventing you from looking at your personal brand?