The Identity Architect - Positioning & Personal Branding Blog

Why You Should Be Careful in Taking on More Work, or Promoting Your Best People..

Dane Shakespear — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:55:07 +0000

Think back to the time when you were able to get things done, or when your superstar employee was really making it happen. What changed? Let me guess. You either took on more and more work yourself or you gave your superstar a promotion. In both cases the cause can likely be tracked back to you.

Clarity – The Key to Time, Life & Project Management

Dane Shakespear — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:36:34 +0000

Time Management for Independent Professionals As independent professionals working with many clients simultaneously, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with everything that has to be done. I’ve found that overwhelm is usually caused by two things – complexity and lack of clarity. There are so many time management systems available. I’ve tried everything – literally. I’ve [...]

How to Create a Clear, Compelling and Irresistible Reason for your Prospects and Customers to Do Business With You, and Not Your Competitors

Dane Shakespear — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 05:22:52 +0000

Here’s a simple test you can perform: Ask any business owner, any manager, any entrepreneur or any professional why their prospects or customers should buy from them, and you’ll most likely hear something like, “Because we offer the highest quality products, the best service, the fastest delivery and the lowest prices around.” But really, what [...]

Using Google Alerts to Build, Manage, and Monitor your Identity

Dane Shakespear — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:35:10 +0000

One of the best tools you can use to build, manage, and monitor your identity is Google Alerts. If you don’t already use Google Alerts, you should. It’s a simple, but powerful tool. And even better, it’s FREE. Google Alerts is simply a service that Google provides that will alert you by email daily, weekly, [...]

How to Create a Direct Mail Envelope with an Automatic Pop-up Message

Dane Shakespear — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:58:13 +0000

I’ve had a lot of questions about the video on my website about the envelope with the automatic pop-up mechanism. I used this kind of envelope in a direct mail marketing project about a year ago and made the video demonstration to show my newsletter subscribers how to make one themselves. The biggest question asked [...]

If You Want More Business – Improve Your Image

Dane Shakespear — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:12:26 +0000

The sad truth is that just as people judge individuals at first glance, they judge a business, consultant, or professional the same way. Most business professionals spend many years and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars acquiring the knowledge and experience they need to provide valuable services to their customers or clients. But very [...]

Choosing a Vehicle Without Breaking the Bank

Dane Shakespear — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:23:12 +0000

We’re always sending messages whether we like it or not – and whether we know it or not. What does your car say about you? Just like in every other area of sales, marketing, and positioning, the natural tendency is to take the shortcut and “make a statement”. With vehicles, the biggest mistakes I see [...]

With positioning, you take the Lead – you put yourself where you want to be. The pursuer or the pursued.

Dane Shakespear — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:14:18 +0000

It’s been said that the majority of people on the planet are secretly waiting to be led – waiting for someone else to tell them what to do. I believe it’s true. Why else would there be such a lack of real leaders in the world? Being a leader means taking risks. By that I [...]

Cell Phones, Ringtones & Positioning

Dane Shakespear — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:17:12 +0000

In a recent Positioning workshop, one of the attendee’s cell phones rang quite loudly to the tune of some seriously loud screaming and screeching music of some kind. It was interesting to see the reaction of the rest of the group. Although the ring was loud, it was difficult to tell who the ring belonged [...]

A Book – the New Business Card of Those Who Want to Take the Lead in Their Field

Dane Shakespear — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:08:09 +0000

Do You Have a Book Idea or Want to Become a Published Author? Being a published author gives you instant credibility, leverage, and opens more doors than you ever thought possible. Why? Because writing a book is perceived by most people as a difficult and time-consuming process. They believe that since only a relatively few [...]