Friday, May 13, 2005
Is Your Appearance Too Self-Centered?
On PRWeb you can read about a new tool to check if you website is too self-centered. What the tool really does is checking for words about you (me, I, we, [name], etc.) and words about the customer (you, your etc.).Once again, a tool with little practical use. Rewriting the site to be about the customer can surely improve the appearance of the site in the eye of the customer, but what would really make a difference is considering if the offering is really what the customer wants.
No news there, all companies are reconsidering their offerings on a regular basis, but what about YOUR offering?
What is it that makes you unique in the area where you are focusing your personal brand?
When did you reconsider your offering the last time?
For me, my main focus right now is building my offerings, looking at what I want to be in say ten years from now. You probably thinking that this is a self-centered way to start off with (looking at what I want), but this is the first step in my strategy. Setting personal long term goals.
When the goals are outlined, then it is time to finding the means to reach the goals. Let's say that one of the goals is "Establishing a good reputation as an entrepreneur". One step on the way could be establishing good relationships with venture capitalists. Off course there are many more ways, but let's focus on this one for a moment.
Now we have the target group: Venture Capitalists; and even a goal when dealing with the targeted group: establishing good relationships.
At this point it is the time to start working on the offering. What is it that you can offer the target group? The possibility to invest in your ventures, contacts to other successful entrepreneurs in your network, marketing estimations in your field of expertise, etc., etc.
Doing this with every goal will give you the first draft of your Personal Brand Strategy.
I am going to create my own brand strategy starting with working on the goals this week. In this blogg I will report the progress, thought and give examples from the strategy. Comments on the plan or my way of working with personal branding are appreciated.
posted by
Ola
at
23:24
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Thursday, May 05, 2005
Your online presence
How does one know that the personal brand online is getting the attention it deserves?A group of companies from The Netherlands has put together a site where you can challenge your friends on who is most "popular" online.
"Preople is the ultimate ego booster or perhaps the ultimate ego buster. Preople shows you what you are really worth in the digital age. Get your Preople ranking and let the world know were you stand."
I would not say that this is a very good way to tell if the personal brand online is in good or bad shape.
One has to consider the following:
- are the hits building the brand or are they tearing it apart.
- the mere presence is not necessary a measure of the brand
- the service is based upon search engine results and no one knows how the result is calculated
However, it can be a fun contest if one want to challenge his or her friends.
posted by
Ola
at
02:54
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Monday, May 02, 2005
Extreme Personal Branding Makeover
As seen on TV, extreme makeovers are very popular. In an article about business makeovers, Marcia Heroux Pounds writes about how an organization in Florida helps four businesswomen in improving their businesses via a clearer personal brand."In business, the packaging can be as important as the contents.
Four businesswomen in South Florida have learned that personal branding involves everything from how they operate their business to how they dress.
Taking a cue from TV's makeover shows, the Miramar/Pembroke Pines Regional Chamber of Commerce recently hosted an "extreme business makeover." For more than 10 weeks, four businesswomen worked with personal and business coaches."
(The article)
I think this approach is an interesting approach for business incubators and start-up services. In a newly started venture or in a small business both the internal culture as well as the appearance to the external world is an important factor for how successful the business will be. With a brand-plan for the company's brand synchronized wit a brand-plan for the people in the company, it will be easier to look professional in the eyes of the customers, suppliers and investors.
Another aspect of personal brands of the employees in a company is covered in an article I found via bisonblog (Swedish) by Nicholas Ind about employer branding (The article).
With positive personal brands of the current employees that are inline with the company's brand, it would be easier to attract highly skilled, new employees.
The difficult question is whether the company should inspire the employees to adapt to the company's brand or the other way around. One important part in the progress should be an active development plan for the company's culture.
posted by
Ola
at
09:21
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Personal Branding from an entrepreneurial point of view
This blog will cover the topic of Personal Branding, mainly from an entrepreneurial point of view. I will give my reflections and comments on, in my opinion, interesting articles and stories. I will also describe how I, as an entrepreneur, use the tools of personal branding in my life. posted by
Ola
at
08:29
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