The best way to stand out is by being yourself. Don’t waste time trying to copy someone else. We all have different personalities, experiences, thoughts, and ideas that are unique specifically to us; so why try to be anything or anyone else? Don’t spend your time thinking about someone elses blog design, their tone in videos, the topic of their blog post, or the content they share. Sure it’s great to have other things and people influence you, but at the end of the day there is only one YOU, make the most of it! People will like you and appreciate you for who you are, not for who you pretend to be.   Link to original post ... read more >>
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Before you can create your personal brand, you have to know what your personal brand is. This post will help you to define your own personal brand through taking a look at your unique personal brand attributes. Once you have your personal brand attributes you can begin sharing your personal brand with the world.  Simply put in a word
Simply put, a personal brand attribute is a word that describes a characteristic or quality that you possess. It can also be defined as how others would describe you if they could only chose a few different words. Let’s take a look at my personal brand attributes so you can get an idea of how this works. A few months ago I won an award at work for my performance — on the award were five words that best described the winner of the award. When I won the award I thought to myself, “these words are my professional personal brand attributes and exactly how I want to be perceived in the workplace.” Here they are: Work Ethic: I have a very strong work ethic and believe in making sacrifices that others won’t. Accountability: I’m believe in my work and others can rely on me to get the job done. Professionalism: I put forth a professional demeanor in ... read more >>
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Today’s legal job market is tough. To succeed, you need to use all the tools you can. Some of these tools require new rules, although all build on old-fashioned approaches, like networking and building a reputation. So here are five tools to bring your job search into the world of online social networking: Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, and JD Supra.  Facebook is a social networking Web site focused on connecting people with each other. Many of us have now experienced the joy (and occasional pain) of (re-)connecting with people from high school, college, or law school through the site.
Many people have decried the negative aspects of Facebook in the job search, primarily the ability of potential employers to find personal information (such as drunken party photos, political/social leanings, etc.) out about you through the service. Although this can certainly be a problem for a naive individual, it should not keep you from using the service, provided you: (1) do not post photographs (or better yet, do not participate in situations) that you would derail your chances of employment (drunkenness, drug use, etc. - this is particularly true for legal professionals) and ... read more >>
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I was recently emailed a thoughtful list of 50 of the most important life lessons compiled by Regina Brett, a 50-year-old (not 90, as many people think) columnist from Ohio, USA. This list has gone on to be the “single most popular column ever written by Regina.” I want to share this list with you and hope that when we reach 50 years of age we’ll be able to look back and share similar words of wisdom: - Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
- When in doubt, just take the next small step.
- Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
- Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
- Pay off your credit cards every month.
- You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
- Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
- It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
- Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
- When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
- Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
- It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
- Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
- If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
- Everything can change in the blink ...
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The One Big Thing you really do need to know about this week is Facebook’s forthcoming feature, real-time activity feed search. The feature will allow users to search in real time the activity feeds of the people in their network as well as anyone person or page that has set their feed to be publicly available. Inside Facebook points out: - Updates from your friends come before updates from everyone.
- All updates contain rich content in-line, from videos to music to thumbnails of shared links.
Visit Inside Facebook’s post to see some screenshots of what this will look like. As I said in my previous post, this will be a vast improvement over Facebook’s current search and will give us at least some capability for monitoring buzz. Right now, the only tool we have to do that is Facebook Lexicon, which is pretty useless except as a crude sentiment measurement tool. With Lexicon you can only see the volume of chatter for a given keyword. With the new activity feed search, we’ll be able to discover conversations and find where they are taking place. And that leads to engagement. And that is what we strategic online communicators call A Very Good Thing.I know I already wrote ... read more >>
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 I'm not a recruiter, HR executive or personal branding "expert". For most of my career I've been either a hiring manager and at times a job seeker. From that perspective I want to share with you some ideas on using social tools to rev up your job search and give you some insight from the hiring side of the desk. No discussion on this topic would be complete without a quick look at personal brand and why it matters in your job search.
If you have an online presence (in other words you don't live under a rock in a dark cave somewhere) you have an online brand. It's that simple, things created digitally on the web have a life of their own and can pop up anywhere. You can delete a pic off the social site but how do you know it wasn't replicated somewhere else? You don't. If you don't monitor and manage your online brand you are taking a big risk in your job search. As a hiring manager I will at least Google your name, 100% of the time, and I suspect most companies / managers do this as a matter of course. Depending on what I find on google I also usually try MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You'd be surprised what you can find...or maybe you wouldn't. Honestly none of ... read more >>
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Whether it’s your business or your personal brand, people always connect with people on a personal level. It’s all about engaging in a dynamic relationship. Brands are not logos or commercials, they are the perception and emotion of people built on trust and credibility.  A successful brand cultivates extensive user experience and encourages interaction that creates meaningful dialogues. In order to foster strong relationships you must be trusted. And to earn trust, you need to allow others to become aware of you. This concept also applies to the art of social networking, particularly with the shift from face-to-face communication to more online communication.
There are literally thousands of social media websites on the internet with hundreds more popping up every week. The strategy is to focus on the ones that suit your niche. Setup a blog I recommend setting up a blog if you don’t already have a website. Even if you have a website such as your company or product website, incorporating a blog will enhance your online presence because blogs are typically search engine friendly, and they allow for rapid content indexing on the internet. You ... read more >>
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This weekend, I went to my usual barber shop to get a haircut. When I got done, my barber gave me a customer rewards card for one free haircut after I get nine. Interestingly, I’ve been going to this same barber shop for 10 years and it’s the first time they’ve started a rewards program of any kind. The purpose of such a program is to keep the customers returning. It’s a simple tactic to create stickiness by recompensing the loyal clients. This is a proven marketing strategy that increases the impression of value - the trick is knowing what value means to your customers. What Does Value Mean To Your Customers? Most business owners already understand the importance of continually adding value to their business. Companies must focus on: - Increasing customer retention
- Knowing what value means to their customers
So what does value mean to your prospective buyers? Is it the competitive pricing? The free add-on services you provide? Or is it the customer loyalty program? The answer: focus on customer needs and always demonstrate value through trust. In my article on “How Opinions Disrupt and Transform,” I observed that public ... read more >>
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Last week, I wrote a blog post called “6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Brand Yourself as a Social Media Expert” and it quickly became the most popular post I’ve ever written on this blog (since October, 2006), with over 400 retweets and almost 60 comments. There were a feel people who disagreed with my statements and those that gave me credit for my observations. I wrote the post because I’m perceived as a social media expert at my day job and I believe that title will evolve over the coming years, as we are all pulled into this brave new world and our positions become ubiquitous.
I received a few emails, that will remain anonymous, of individuals who frown at the term “expert.” I, on the other hand, think that it’s one of the most important aspects of personal branding. In fact, if you aren’t an expert, your perceived value diminishes, you won’t get as many opportunities and it will be hard to position yourself for success. Your biggest challenge The title of this post may sound scary, especially to those who don’t feel they are experts in their fields quite yet. Your biggest challenge in life: Finding your passion and connecting it to your expertise, while ... read more >>
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 It’s basic but crucial to your social media presence to have an effective profile. It’s both a snapshot of who you are and often the first impression others will have of you. So how do you get your profile to work for you without boring people to death?
Use a real photo of yourself. Sometimes you see people using their logo as their picture or avatar but I usually advise against this. You want others to relate to you as a real person when they are thinking of buying from you—show us your eyes! :) That is something you really can’t convey through a graphic. (Unless maybe you’re Starbucks.) Oh, and use a professional photo when possible. Your picture should be you alone—no offense to your kids and pets. If you are using social sites for business even a little bit, your photo needs to be somewhat professional. Location, location, location. Include some indication of what area you live in. It may be the world wide web, but you never know when local opportunities will show up. Make it easy for people to find you. Have a well thought-out bio. People will look to your bio in order to get the essence of what you’re about. ... read more >>
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