Personal Branding UK

Boost Your Personal Brand with Social Media - 29th of Feb in London

Jorgen Sundberg — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:14:26 +0000

Welcome to another instalment of the Personal Branding UK meetup on the 29th of February at Ablestoke Consulting in London! This time we will be covering social networking and personal branding.

A recurring question that comes up in our full day training sessions is 'how can I use social media to boost my personal brand?'. We will look at a number of strategies and tactics that have worked well for us and others.

This session will be interactive and we encourage you to prepare questions and fire them off on the night.

The meetup will be co-presented by Jorgen Sundberg and Malcolm Levene of Personal Branding from the Inside Out.

Jorgen and Malcolm met on Twitter => proof that this stuff actually works!

Places are limited, be sure to RSVP now to secure yours.

Is Your Online Personal Brand Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde?

Guest — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:00:56 +0000

Social media sites are often advertised as a place where you can socialize with friends, family and acquaintances. Nobody ever thought they’d find purpose in background checks! But then more and more recruiters and employers are using these sites as a valuable tool when screening potential employees.   So if you’re currently looking for a job, seeking a promotion or jumping into a different career, then you may want to be wary of what your online profiles contain.

Some of the things you post may seem harmless or even funny to you but without context, it can project a different image of you to a very calculating recruiter.   You may not be aware of it, but here are a few things that your online persona can say about you: 

Social butterfly or online lurker?

If you only have two friends on your Facebook account (i.e. your parents) then you may not be considered a good candidate in sales or marketing as this involves a lot of human interaction On the other hand, if you have a lot of followers or friends, you can be perceived as sociable. However, pictures of yourself hanging out with a biker gang or on unruly drunken night outs with your buddies may show that while you’re fun to be with, you may not exactly be the serious type. 

Straight laced or rock star?

 Pictures and comments your friends post on your social page can either be constructive or harmful. You may have been aware that recruiters now look at social pages so you keep your wacky pictures or comments on the wraps but what if your friends aren’t aware of this? You could lose a potential interview spot if a friend comments about how you were running naked on the beach completely wasted. 

Sincere or Full of Crap?

 We all struggle to keep our thoughts and personal opinions to ourselves and put on a pleasant face. But if a recruiter took a quick peek into your Twitter posts and saw exactly what you think about sensitive issues (e.g. race, sexual orientation, creed/religion, color, etc.), would you still be complacent that you will get the job? Being honest is okay; being insensitive and crude is not. 

Reasonably Emotional or an Absolute Moaner?

 It is perfectly understandable for everyone to be completely emotional about some things some times. But then complaining about every other thing all the time can send out an impression that you’re going to be such a pain to work with. Nobody wants to hire a complainer! Make sure your social pages don’t reflect this side of you. 

Good, Bad or Ugly?

 Have you just managed to conjure such a winning masterpiece of a resume filled with all your greatness? Good for you if it gets you an interview. But then too bad if you have falsified some information on your social pages before in your employment, called in sick (when you weren’t), participated in an affair, or worse. 

Conclusion

 Be careful of what you post out there. Be mindful of what your friends do too. Keep things or thoughts that you don’t want to reflect negatively on you in private. Don’t let your personal escapades ruin your career! 

Over the past 10 years, Karen Flowers has assisted thousands of job seekers by providing them with a resume that brought them the confidence and professionalism they needed to get an interview. See more at her site The Resume Chick.

5 Tips to Create a Strong Personal Brand Online

Guest — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:07:05 +0000

Everyone has a personal brand. Do you know what yours conveys to potential employers? When your name is Googled, what comes up? If you haven’t given much thought to your personal brand, here are a few ways to start building it:

1. Sign up for professional networking sites.

You may have been one of the people who thought Twitter was going to go away or that LinkedIn was pointless. But guess what? They’re not going away anytime soon. And the truth is, employers are using these sites more and more to get a feel for how potential candidates could fit in with their organization. So go sign up for an account now! And don’t forget to completely fill in your profile or bio and include a picture. An account with minimal information or that looks fake isn’t going to convey professionalism.

2. Interact and collaborate with other professionals on networking sites.

It’s not enough to just sign up for these sites anymore. You need to use them to meet other professionals and continue growing as a professional. After all, networking is still one of the best ways to land a job. Using these online tools will allow you to grow your network with no geographical limitations.

3. Create a personal website and/or online portfolio.

Make yourself easy to find by registering your own personal domain name, ideally firstnamelastname.com. Utilize your site to display your resume, portfolio items, case studies, accomplishments, recommendations and contact information. Include your website URL on your business cards, e-mail signature and other networking sites to connect with potential employers.

4. Identify what is unique about you.

What sets you apart from the other professionals in your field? What accomplishments do you have that others don’t? These affect your personal brand. In order to nail an interview, you need to have a good grasp on what sets you apart from your competition.

5. Get blogging.

Blogging is a great way to grow your network, sharpen your writing skills and show that you’re a dedicated and capable professional. Identify your interests, passions and expertise and how you can translate that into a unique blog concept.

Bonus Tip: Network anywhere and everywhere!

Don’t limit networking to conferences and events. Talk with people in unusual places, such as at holiday parties or on the train. You never know whom you’ll meet and where it can take you. Don’t forget to bring along business cards wherever you go, and ask for theirs in exchange so you can follow-up later.

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president of Come Recommended.

Build Your Personal Brand on Social Media with Glenn LeSanto - August Meetup

Jorgen Sundberg — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:29:05 +0000

It's time for another Personal Branding meetup i London town, this one is on Tuesday the 30th of August at Ablestoke Consulting, near Farringdon.

Our speaker of the night is Twitter legend Glenn Le Santo, a professional journalist and writer with twenty years experience. He is one of Britain’s leaders of thought in media and is recognised internationally for his insight and expertise into the challenges presented by the seismic changes in media, especially rise of social media.

He will speak about how anyone can build a strong Personal Brand using a content marketing strategy on social media channels such as Twitter.

Glenn has worked for the BBC, World SuperBike (yes he is a petrol head), Yorkshire Post and is a live event reporter blogging and tweeting at business, social media and technology events.

Often now known as an ‘amplifier’, the role of today’s event reporter has developed because of the ability to post live content that’s immediately consumed by a hungry and always-connected audience.

Follow Glenn on Twitter @lesanto and check out his website www.lesanto.com

Please RSVP now at the Meetup Page, spaces are limited for this one. The Twitter hashtag of this event is #pbuk.

Hope to see you there!

Personal Branding Day with Malcolm Levene and Jorgen Sundberg

Jorgen Sundberg — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:04:44 +0000

We're doing it again! Based on the success of previous workshops, Malcolm Levene, previous Personal Branding coach to Tony Blair and adviser to the Head of Production at the White House & Jorgen Sundberg, Social Media expert and founder of Personal Branding UK are back.

They will deliver a full day of Personal Branding from the Inside Out on Tuesday the 28th of June in Central London. There is a 15% discount code available at the bottom of this page.

“The Personal Branding workshop was a massive success”

- Helen Hodgkinson, Head of Talent Management, KPMG

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN FROM ATTENDING THIS WORKSHOP

• A clear understanding of your Unique, Authentic Personal Brand

• Effective Communication and Influencing Skills in business and life

• A high level of E.Q. (the ability or capacity to perceive, assess and manage the emotions from one's self and of others)

• An Ability to Position Yourself for Greater Success in Your Field, or Industry

WHAT IS A PERSONAL BRAND?

Each of us already has a Personal Brand; it’s what others say about us when we are not in the room. Our Personal Brand consists of an Inner Brand: our values, beliefs, and what we stand for, and an Outer Brand: the way we communicate, our level of E.Q. (Emotional Intelligence) and the over-all impression we make. And when these two aspects are congruent and authentically represent us, we become more confident, more compelling and more of who we are.

“Malcolm’s Personal Branding workshops are amazing”

– John Merrell, Leadership & Development Manager, Volvo Cars UK

WHY PERSONAL BRANDING?

In these times, not having a Personal Brand could represent a risk to one’s ability to influence, be noticed, or recognised for one’s unique attributes and contributions. To be successful, one’s Brand needs to be reliable, trustworthy, credible, integrity driven and encourage good word-of-mouth. We all want to do business with someone who has those characteristics. And to be successful in your own unique way, Personal Branding from the Inside Out will provide you with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to achieve that outcome.

THE DAY

This one-day workshop is designed to help you develop a unique Personal Brand. The work we do will enable you to position yourself so that you raise your profile, enhance your career prospects and have a greater sense of well-being. The day will be interactive - full of exercises that will encourage reflection, reveal helpful insights, and bring about opportunities for you to make changes for the better.

TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS WORKSHOP ATTENDEES:

"Many thanks for yesterday's fun and thought provoking event"

- Paul Hillan, Head of Leadership Academy, Tesco

"Whilst I tend to find these workshops challenging as they take me out of my comfort zone (the whole point of me attending this one), I did find the day valuable and took away many tips I will be using going forward"

- Claire Walters, HR Manager, M&G Investments / Prudential

"An excellent day! You covered a lot of ground that was very useful. Overall, you have helped me realize, there's only one person in control at my own destiny. Me."

- Mike Stevenson, Managing Director, MGS London

"I thought the day was very valuable and will certainly recommend it to others"

- Andrew Waller, Partner, Remit Consulting LLP

"Thank you very much for the day yesterday! It was a real eye opener, and I sure got the 'nudge' I was looking for, and I think it may not even have been in the direction I anticipated. Good stuff!"

- Mads Christensen, Director, Eurocom Worldwide

DETAILS

Full details on the booking page for Personal Branding from the Inside Out. If you use the booking code 'previous_attendee' you will get a 15% discount!

5 Steps to Build Your Personal Brand with John Purkiss

Jorgen Sundberg — Sun, 01 May 2011 18:44:08 +0000

The next Personal Branding UK Meetup is on the 21st of June, at P&P in Holborn.

Our speaker for the night is John Purkiss, co-author of BRAND YOU and a top tier headhunter. In order to be successful, your personal brand must be authentic, i.e. based on who you are, what you do and how you do it. You have to know yourself before you can market yourself. The best starting point is to discover your talents, your values and your purpose, and clarify your brand image. This event will help you do all of this.

John Purkiss is the co-author of BRAND YOU –Turn Your Unique Talents into a Winning Formula, the UK’s best-selling book on personal branding. He studied economics at Cambridge University and has an MBA from INSEAD. John recruits chairmen, chief executives and finance directors. In his spare time he meditates, runs, dances, writes and takes photos. A new book is on the way. Connect with John on Facebook. Further information is at www.johnpurkiss.com.

This should be a great evening, please RSVP now on the meetup page and see you on the 21st!

10 Steps to Better Networking for Your Personal Brand with Dave Clarke

Jorgen Sundberg — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:00:35 +0000

The next Personal Branding Club London meetup will be on the 12th of April. Networking is an integral part of Personal Branding and we are pleased to announce that the speaker of the night will be networking expert Dave Clarke, the CEO of NRG Business Networks.

It will be a a light-hearted, punchy, info packed talk on the common misconceptions that lead people to the conclusion that 'Networking doesn't work!'. It is aimed at anyone networking for their career or business, whether they own a business or work for a firm. It will help them to avoid typical mistakes and make sure networking DOES work for them and their business.

Dave Clarke lives in North Wiltshire with his wife, three children and amongst great friends. Community life revolves around the church, the school, the heritage society, the village hall, the golf club & the Pub! The family venture further afield for live music, city breaks and hoildays. Once a year life migrates to the Ski slopes of Europe.

He has been running companies for 20 years and is the CEO of NRG Business Networks where he uses his expertise in relationship based business development to help others build a solid business network as the foundation of their business.

Fore more information, check out Dave's website and follow him on Twitter @DaveClarke

Make sure to RSVP here now and secure a place for the 12th of April!

Storytelling and Your Personal Brand with Alexia Leachman

Jorgen Sundberg — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:02:52 +0000

We all love a good story don’t we? That’s because we are hardwired to tell stories. Did you know that 70% of everything we learn is through stories? Such is the power of storytelling.

Via the wonders of Twitter, I got in touch with the lovely Alexia Leachman who is a UK based Personal Branding coach. She will be the speaker at the next Personal Branding Club London meetup on the 25th of January.

Do you know your story?

If you want your personal brand to have impact, a great way to achieve that is to wrap it up in a story. All great brands have stories. A great story can be engaging and memorable. If you want a strong personal brand, you’d better get yourself a great story. So, what’s your story?

“But what am I going to do with a story?”

Think of your story as your personal pitch or your elevator pitch. So, in the same way that you would use those, you story is a great thing to share with people that you meet. It’s a great way to get a conversation going. And conversations are the beginning of great connections and relationships. And who doesn’t want one of those?

You are more than your job title!

Too many people choose to identify themselves through their job title. Seriously. You are MORE than your job! There must be so many things that you’ve done with your life that you could share other than your job title. It’s do devaluing. How can you stand out and be remembered when you used a job title to describe yourself. A job title that zillions of other people have. You’ve just put yourself in a box!

What a lot of people don’t realise is that when they’re asked the question “and, what do you do?” the asker doesn’t actually want to hear the answer. They’re just trying to make conversation. So it’s your job to create the platform on which that conversation can flourish. And while you’re at it, why not make it a memorable one?

Hope to see you at the Personal Branding Club meetup on the 25th! For more details on Alexia, read a full interview of her here.

Personal Branding from the Inside Out - London Workshop

Jorgen Sundberg — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:37:33 +0000

We are proud to present a premium Personal Branding workshop co-presented by Malcolm Levene and Jorgen Sundberg in central London on the 19th of January 2011.

What You Will Gain from this Workshop:

Clarity of Purpose
Exceptional Communication Skills
Greatly Enhanced Influencing Skills
Undisputed Credibility
An Authentic Personal Brand
Buoyed Self Belief
Increased Self Confidence
An Ability to Position Yourself for Greater Success in Your Field, or Industry
Emotional Resilience
A Clear Understanding of the Benefits of Positive Psychology

This one-day workshop is designed to help you develop a unique Personal Brand. The work we do will enable you to position yourself so that you stand out from the crowd, raise your profile, enhance your career prospects and have a greater sense of well-being. Each of us has a Personal Brand; it’s what others say about us when we are not in the room. To ensure your Personal Brand is recognised as you would wish it, we will provide you with the tools, knowledge, know-how and motivation, so you can put into action everything you need to convey a Personal Brand that truly represents who you are from the inside out.

Authentic on the Inside, Compelling on the Outside

The reason we have decided to call this workshop Personal Branding from the Inside Out is because we all have an Inner Brand: values, beliefs, and what we stand for, and an Outer Brand: the way we communicate, our level of E.Q. (Emotional Intelligence) and the outer impression we make. And when these two aspects are congruent and authentically represent us, we become more confident, more compelling and more of who we are. To be able to achieve one’s very own USP via a Personal Brand, both online and offline is imperative in today’s world.

Why Personal Branding?

Some of you might be asking ‘Why Personal Branding?’ Today, particularly in the current economic climate, not having a Personal Brand could represent a risk to one’s ability to influence, be noticed, or recognised for one’s unique attributes and contributions. In order to be someone person who others are willing to follow, one’s Brand, not unlike any consumer brand, needs to be reliable, trustworthy, credible, integrity driven and encourage good word-of-mouth. We all want to do business with someone who has those kinds of characteristics. And to be that person in your own unique way, Personal Branding from the Inside Out will provide you with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to achieve that outcome.

The Day

We intend the day to be interactive - full of exercises that will encourage some reflection, reveal helpful insights, and bring about opportunities for you to make changes for the better. By limiting the attendance to 12 people, we are able to offer a premium event, where each individual will gain a unique perspective about how they would like their Personal Brand to be experienced by others. In addition and perhaps more importantly, each attendee will learn how they themselves can be, perhaps for the first time, authentically who they really are. And with this new found self-knowledge be the Best Version of themselves for all to see and experience.

Follow Up Session

Included in the price is a one-to-one coaching session. This session is designed to add further impetus to areas of your development that you feel will benefit you further. Typically, this follow up coaching session takes place approximately one month after a workshop.

Your Presenters

Malcolm Levene has been a Personal Branding coach for 20 years. He teaches people how they can significantly improve their business skills, their life-skills, and their businesses by developing their very own Personal Brand. His private clients have included Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, Michael Marks CBE, Michael Gove MP and notable individuals from the world of business, politics and entertainment.

"Malcolm has a real ability to connect with people, to help them to understand the inextricable link between their personal authenticity and professional value, and to recognise and confront what's been holding them back"

- Gareth Jones, Director of Human Resources, M&G Investments - Prudential

"Thanks really appreciated. A huge extra thank you for today, the Personal Branding workshop was a massive success"

- Helen Hodgkinson, Head of Talent Management, KPMG

Jorgen Sundberg is the founder of the Personal Branding UK. His strength lies within Outer Personal Branding; he helps position people for career and business success through reputation building and communication strategies. Jorgen consults companies on Corporate and Employee Branding and he blogs and gives lectures at universities on Personal Branding and Social Networking.

"Jorgen recently ran a training session for my business marketing group. What an excellent training Jorgen delivered for us! By the end, we fully understood the importance of branding and had clear and simple tools which we could take away and start using immediately. Fantastic information, delivered succinctly and useable by all. If you need to make an impact with your business, then I recommend you get hold of Jorgen Sundberg PDQ."

- Sian Murphy, Founding Partner, Smart Marketing Warriors

Details

This event will be held on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 from 9:00am to 5:30pm.

The venue is the Leonard Hotel, 15 Seymour Street, W1H 7JW, London.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided at the hotel please let us know in advance if you have any dietary requirements.

Bookings can be made at the Eventbrite page: http://personalbrandinginsideout.eventbrite.com/

Personal Branding Club October Meetup Feat. Marian Schembari

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:43:52 +0000

Announcing the October Personal Branding Club meetup on Wednesday the 6th of October, 7:30pm at Pitcher&Piano in Holborn, London.

Our speaker of the night is Marian Schembari who is a fantastic writer, famous blogger and outspoken online personality from New York.

Back in 2009, Marian famously used Facebook and her blog to get a job in publishing. It worked like a charm but the 9-5 routine didn't excite her much, she decided to quit her job to focus on social media and blogging for a living.

Fortunately for us, she is currently in London and will give a talk about how you can bring out your own brand and achieve results online.

Marian has been featured in ABC News, Time Magazine, CNN and here is a full interview with her.

RSVP now to avoid disappointment!

Personal Branding Club September Meetup feat. Malcolm Levene

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:50:29 +0000

Announcing the next Personal Branding Club meetup on the 1st of September, at 7:30 at the Pitcher & Piano in Holborn, London.

Very excited to have secured personal branding expert Malcolm Levene to speak at this meetup!

Malcolm Levene teaches businesspeople how they can develop a strong, sustainable Personal Brand and by doing so, significantly improve their influencing skills and personal impact. This, in turn creates an enviable brand and a strong reputation.

Malcolm’s private clients have included Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, Michael Marks CBE, Robert Walters CEO of Robert Walters PLC and Michael Gove MP. Malcolm’s corporate clients include Prudential, Deutsche Bank, Tesco, Citigroup, Robert Walters PLC, Nestle’, KPMG, Old Mutual, Volvo (UK), The Bank of New York Mellon and M&G Investments.

He is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and his own blog, be sure to follow Malcolm on Twitter @MalcolmLevene for more personal branding inspiration.

Don't miss this event, be sure to RSVP asap on the Meetup page.

Social Media Strategy for Business Workshop

Jorgen Sundberg — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:16:14 +0000

Event Details

This workshop is in London on the 18th of August 2010, from 6:30 PM to 9 PM and it's aimed at small and medium sized businesses looking to utilise Social Media for attracting more customers and increasing sales.

We will:

* Analyse your current and future business goals and strategy

* Define your existing and potential customer base

* Learn what LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube can do for your business

* Look at pros and cons of blogging and whether it's right for you and your business

* Develop an effective social media strategy that is aligned with your business goals

* 2½ hours of interactive exercises

Presenter bios:

Laurent Brouat is a career consultant and an expert in social networking (www.laurentbrouat.com)

Jorgen Sundberg is an Internet marketing consultant and blogger (www.jorgensundberg.net)

Venue :

ESCP Europe – 527 Finchley Road

London NW3 7BG – Room G22

Tube station: Finchley Road or West Hampstead

Click here for a Google Map

Details:

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM (GMT)

Cost £49

You can pay and book on Eventbrite directly or book a slot and send an email to contact@laurentbrouat.com or jorgen@j orgensundberg.net

Position Yourself as the Expert in Your Field

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:02:00 +0000

In traditional branding, the goal is to position your product in the premium segment. When you achieve this you can increase the price of the product and the demand will stay constant. In personal branding, you can do the same thing – you can become an expert.

How do you define an expert?

An expert is someone that knows their stuff better than anyone else in their field. When you start a job, you are likely to look up to your seniors and ask them for advice. One of these senior colleagues will be an expert, the person that basically has the best subject matter knowledge and can tell the others how to do things. An expert is not necessarily a people manager, oftentimes they prefer hone their own skills than managing others.

Whenever you see traditional titles like professor, chief architect, field marshal or anything else pompous you can expect the person to be an expert. Nowadays, you get the ‘new’ titles such as ninja or guru to denote an expert. Thought leader is another popular label used liberally across the Internet.

Some would argue that you can only earn your expert status from your customers and peers, never by simply saying that you are one.

What's the point of becoming an expert?

It may sound a bit dull but there are a number of advantages to being an expert. Two of these stand out with clear benefits.

The fist one is that everyone wants to work with or buy from the person who has the reputation, credibility and knowledge of an expert. This means there is an increase in demand but not in supply; the person only has so much time to do their work. The first benefit of being an expert is that with more demand, you can choose which customers to take on as opposed to engaging with everyone.

The second clear benefit of being an expert is one of classic economics. I just mentioned that demand goes up but the supply stays the same; this means the supplier can set a higher price for their product or service. Again, instead of catering for the masses and competing on price like everyone else, the expert can choose who to work with and request a higher fee.

How you can become an expert in your field

There are probably as many ways to becoming one as there are experts out there. Some of these ways keep being mentioned and to me they are the top three. The three activities you have to be doing to become an expert are: listening, communicating and creating.

1. Listening

Listening is the first one, by this I mean picking up information from all corners of your industry. Read blogs, magazines, books, go to seminars and workshops, watch and listen to the right programmes on TV and radio. When you listen and take onboard all that information, you will by default be improving your skills and getting closer to being the expert every day. Information is power as the old saying goes.

2. Communicating

Communicating is all about being out there and talking to the people that matter in your industry. Whether it’s a client meeting, a networking event or you are commenting on a blog – it’s all interaction with your target audience. When you are engaging with the community, you will notice exactly what problems they are looking to solve – allowing you to adjust your service offering accordingly.

3. Creating

Creating finally is where you produce content that secures you that expert status. Choose your channel wisely here according to what fits your audience. You could for instance write blog posts, newspaper articles, record podcast or produce video content. If you are really serious about becoming an expert, try your hand at writing a book. Whatever you choose to do, the results of your creative output will lead to further promotion of your personal brand and increased interest from customers.

The expert's advice

Chris Brogan says that as a rule of thumb, you should listen 50% of your time, communicating and creating each 25% of the time. He produces quality blog content every day that ensures he stays at the top of his game. As a result of his blogging, he provides consulting services to major blue-chip companies, charging top dollar as an expert.

Conclusion

It may sound a bit odd but becoming an expert has many benefits to it. If you are into personal branding, blogging, social media and networking you will have seen that some people enjoy a lot of attention and can exert a great deal of influence. If you are serious about your business or career, becoming the expert is the way forward.

Social Media for Business Success Workshop 7th of July

Jorgen Sundberg — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:20:44 +0000

Event Details

This workshop is in London on the 7th of July, from 6:30 PM to 9 PM and it's aimed at small and medium sized businesses looking to utilise Social Media for attracting more customers and increasing sales.

We will:

* Develop an effective social media strategy aligned with your business goals

* Create a strong personal and business brand online, defining your USPs and target audience

* Learn how to get the most out platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

* Look at pros and cons of blogging and whether it's right for you and your business

* 2½ hours of interactive exercises

Presenter bios:

Laurent Brouat is a career consultant and an expert in social networking (www.laurentbrouat.com)

Jorgen Sundberg is a personal branding consultant and blogger (www.personalbrandinguk.com)

Venue :

ESCP Europe – 527 Finchley Road

London NW3 7BG – Room G22

Tube station: Finchley Road or West Hampstead

Click here for a Google Map

Details:

Wednesday, July 07, 2010 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM (GMT)

Cost £49

You can pay and book on Eventbrite directly or book a slot and send an email to contact@laurentbrouat.com or jorgen@personalbrandinguk.com

Workshop:

Maximum of 10 people

Solve Problems and Boost Your Personal Brand

Jorgen Sundberg — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:44:22 +0000

When you create your personal brand it’s integral to look at what value you add to others. A great way to understanding that value add is to look at what problems you solve for others. When you clearly know this, you’ll find it a lot easier to sell your services. People want solutions but they don’t always know what type of solution, only that they have a problem.

Problems are omnipresent

We all have problems, in fact most of us have lists of problems to get through. Some will be easy to solve, like taking out the rubbish or booking a flight, others will be trickier, like replacing a satellite dish or installing a new gearbox in your car.

The person that can come in and says “let me take that problem off your hands” and has the solution ready will be highly appreciated. Once you have done it a few times, you can position yourself as “that guy” that solves problem ‘X’. If you carve in a niche for yourself, you’ll soon be seen as the expert in the ‘X’ field and your personal brand will go up in stock accordingly.

Identifying the problems you solve

Your brand is based on your ability to solve problems and the customer testimonials you have of solving these. Here are three questions to ask yourself about your problem solving:

1. What are the problems that you are very good at solving? How can you become known as the solution to these problems?

2. Who has these problems that you solve? How would they go about looking for help?

3. How do you position yourself as the solution? How will people find you?

Based on your problem solving skills, you should now be able to shape a sales formula. Think about how your potential customers have the need to solve this problem. Where do they look for help? Who do they speak to, what sites do they visit and how do they phrase it?

Call to action

To build your personal brand you have to tell the world about your problem-solving expertise. Make use of the web and start blogging about your topic, write informative how-to articles that position you as the expert.

Be all over social media and answer any questions people pose in discussions and groups. Go to networking events in your city; see if you can book an unpaid speaker slot where you can spread the gospel further. Be “that guy” in your area and you’ll stay booked solid for ever more!

Personal Branding Talk at the London Smart Marketing Warriors

Jorgen Sundberg — Thu, 20 May 2010 11:43:18 +0000

Anyone in London this coming Saturday (22nd of May) that has the slightest interest in personal branding and online marketing – come along to the Smart Marketing meetup!

Event

I am delivering a 1hr presentation on the benefits of personal branding for marketers. It will be an interactive talk looking at the 5 most important action steps for you to take to build your personal brand.

Content

There will be case studies, clear how-to instructions and a questions and answers section at the end. With the inexorable move towards powerful social media don't miss out on this critical information.

Further details

Have a look at the Smart Marketing Warriors meetup page and their website for further information.

Hopefully see you on Saturday!

Social Media & Personal Branding for Small Businesses Workshop in London

Jorgen Sundberg — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:35:31 +0000

For anyone likely to be in London on the 27th of May – check out the Social Media and Personal Branding workshop we are putting on with social media expert Laurent Brouat. It’s a three hour live and interactive session filled with case studies and how-to instructions.

What will you learn?

We will look at your business goals and create an effective online strategy that mirrors these. We will uncover your personal brand, what makes you unique and why clients would want to choose you over the competition.

Once we have established your strategy and brand positioning, we get into the technical side. This will involve social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) as well as blogging to reach out to your target audience.

Who is it for?

The workshop is aimed at freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs, small business owners - anyone that can benefit from having a strong online presence.

Who is delivering it?

Presenter bios:

Laurent Brouat is a career consultant and an expert in social networking

Jorgen Sundberg is a personal branding consultant and blogger

More Information

Venue :

ESCP Europe – 527 Finchley Road
London NW3 7BG – Room G22
Tube station: Finchley Road or West Hampstead

Details:

- Thursday 27/05/2010 – 6.30 pm till 9.30 pm
- Price: £95
- Book your place today at Eventbrite

Hopefully see you there!

Be Yourself; Everyone Else is Already Taken

Jorgen Sundberg — Sat, 08 May 2010 14:01:42 +0000

This is a quote from yet another great British/Irish personal brand, Oscar Wilde. He was a flamboyant playwright, short story author, journalist and poet in the 19th century with a penchant for eccentric outfits.

What did Oscar Wilde do to become such a great brand? Here is a look at his most successful activities:

Writer

He was regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian Era; Wilde wrote and produced nine plays including The Importance of Begin Earnest which still runs in London’s West End. His only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, is widely read even today.

Thought leader

Oscar Wilde was a pioneer of the the aesthetic movement, which was a 19th century European movement that emphasized aesthetic values over moral or social themes in literature, art and interior design. He went on lecturing tours to the United States, Canada and the UK to spread the aesthetic gospel.

Style

He was the quintessential dandy, a Victorian term for a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, language and leisurely hobbies. With the outfits Oscar was sporting, there is little doubt that he had his very own style and personal brand. He obviously didn’t care much what others had to say about him and he did things his own way.

What does this mean today?

Oscar Wilde loved being in the centre of things, he would write and speak for the masses. How would he have coped in the online world of today? For one, he would definitely be blogging as anyone wanting to be a thought leader in today’s society needs a blog. He would probably be working the local meetup circuits, networking and doing public speaking appearances.

There is one contemporary person that could give us an indication as to what Oscar would be up to. The man who has not only depicted Oscar Wilde more than anyone else is Stephen Fry – one of Wile’s biggest fans. Stephen Fry has certainly taken to social media, he has no less than million followers on Twitter, eager to know what he had for lunch.

7 Benefits of Personal Branding for Solopreneurs and Self-Employed

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:42:23 +0000

Personal branding can certainly be a powerful tool for success. When you market your professional services as a one-man-band (or one-woman-band), you are effectively marketing yourself and having people buy into you. A strong personal brand will draw people and opportunities to you like a magnet; it’s both cheaper and more effective than any Yellow Pages listing.

The personal branding process is about zeroing in on what you are passionate about, carving out a niche for yourself and consistently adding value to others. It’s not about you fighting the competition; it’s about you being a one-stop-shop for your customer's problems.

Seven benefits of personal branding to self-employed and solopreneurs:

1. Staying unique in your marketplace

One of the best features of a strong brand is the sense of individuality and uniqueness it creates in the minds of others. As a small business owner, you cannot hide behind a big corporate logo. Your customers will easily be able to distinguish you from the competition, effectively differentiating your brand by itself.

2. Creating awareness for your services

Selling any product or service is nowadays down to brand differentiation. Try telling the food from Carluccio’s, Bella Italia and Zizzi’s apart – it’s impossible. Your customers no longer see a great difference between products or services, but they do experience a difference in the brand. Just like a restaurant chain uses interior decoration and imagery, your personal brand allows you to influence the perception of others on other levels.

3. Injecting personality into your brand and business

What makes plumber A different to plumber B? By adding more personality into your brand, you will add more common ground to your customers. Your brand is deeply rooted in your authentic personal identity. You aim with personal branding is to be known for who you are, what you stand for and what you do for others. Your personal brand online and offline should be a fair reflection of value you can add customers and people in your network.

4. Providing a roadmap to success

Imagine having a Cicero by your side, always showing you the right path in business. Your brand can become a guiding light for your professional life. The personal brand plan that you put in to place will serve as a roadmap to success and will be there as a reference for you along the journey. Your actions and communications will be fully engrossed in the consistency and authenticity of your brand.

5. Creating a buzz to increase interest from the market

How about having a great reputation that precedes you? If someone said you are having a meeting with Richard Branson, you’d probably be very excited although you don’t know him. You have the opportunity to generate more business and grow your customer base effortlessly by ensuring your personal brand is discussed, read, seen and heard. Once the word-of-mouth marketing machine starts, you will get referrals and leads like never before. Creating the buzz will take a good deal of effort and only a long-term action plan with a consistent message will ensure you edge closer to your goal every day.

6. Becoming an expert or thought leader in your field

Bear your customer in mind when you look to gain name recognition in your area of expertise. Ensure that your name leaves a lasting positive impression that sets you apart from the competition. To have a great brand you not only have to be good, you have to be different. The differentiation typically comes from aiming for a small niche of your field and completely dominating it.

Over time you will gain credibility, respect and even admiration when your name and personal branding statement are repeated to individuals in your target audience. Staying visible online and offline will provide you with the expert status and your strong brand will help you excel in your industry.

7. Achieving more sales from better clients in less time

Making more money in less time sounds like a dream to most people. Yet, most professionals don’t make a conscious effort to promote their own brand. Your magnetic brand will allow you to attract new customers and others opportunities without even picking up the phone. Once you are well positioned and your personal brand is strong enough, you can raise your fees and choose your clients – a luxury for most consultants and freelancers.

Personal Branding: the UK Experience

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:59:06 +0000

In comparison to America and Australia, the UK has been slower on the uptake for personal branding. Is it the British less-is-more approach that’s in the way or are Britons shying away from yet another American fad? This article will look at the history of personal brands in Britain and what the state of play is today.

Great Britain, Great Brands...

If you think about it, this country has arguably churned out more great personal brands than any other throughout history. Sure, other countries have done well but none can match the brands of William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Horatio Nelson, Charles Darwin and Winston Churchill. These people did great things and always knew the value of having a strong brand.

Shakespeare was a playwright, always having to brand himself and being unique is his marketplace. Newton was a scientist, the only way to make a name for oneself in science is to do great research and then publish it. Nelson started his brand journey as a young boy on a navy vessel, his brand was fuelled by the fact that he wore an eye patch and never showed any fear. Darwin chose the difficult path in life and he fought the clergy and establishment by proving the Evolution of Species theory. Churchill was an officer and a reporter, promoting his brand in London newspaper columns. On top of that he published more books than some people have read in a lifetime, eventually earning him the Nobel Prize for literature.

So to sum up, great personal brands by people achieving great things. Did they actively work on their personal brand as we know it today? Obviously not, but they did their utmost to promote themselves using the means of the time.

What about Personal Branding in the UK today?

The act of consciously thinking about one’s brand hasn’t quite firmly landed these shores yet. Unless you are a celebrity and represented by the likes of Max Clifford, there is precious little knowledge out there on how to build and promote a personal brand online.

There is some confusion about the term personal branding; some coaches use it for career or business training. Others will offer colour coding and personal shopping under the personal branding umbrella. This is fine, the term is whatever the beholder wants it to be, however the main use of personal branding is in the online space where an individual can gain maximum exposure in the shortest amount of time.

Technology shy?

You may now think that Brits aren’t into technology; that they prefer to have tea and biscuits, knit woolly jumpers and occasionally watch the X-Factor. Au contraire, the fact is that this country has really taken to social media, the UK usage of Facebook and Twitter is apparently proportionately higher than that of the US. Blogging is fairly big, although nowhere near as big as in North America. Few people have personal websites, typically when they trade under their own names and know that they will be Googled often.

One thing I have noticed when comparing the online presence of Brits vs. other nationalities is that for some reason we people here tend to prefer hiding behind pseudonyms or company names. If I were to ask you to list the top bloggers of the UK, I bet you wouldn’t be able to list their real names, only their blogs.

In spite of the stiff upper lip and less-is-more stereotypes, British people are definitely not introverts. Go down to any local pub on a Friday night and you will see a collection of extroverts that crave attention – perfect for social media in other words. So the seeds for personal branding are there, time will tell how long it will take to break through.

The Solution – if you can’t wait!

As the need to stand out from the competition in one’s market increases, so will the need for personal branding. Customers have little loyalty nowadays and technology makes it simple to shop around for commodity goods and services. The only way you will succeed is to carve out a niche with your personal brand.

Anyone looking to create a strong personal brand online should go through a process whereby they ask themselves why they are doing it. Come up with the purpose, the target group, what makes you unique and other pieces of the clarity puzzle and you can begin to establish an online presence. What and how that presence should look like is very much down to the individual and what you are looking to project. Personal branding is there to bring the best out of you online, you deserve to have just as strong a brand online as you do offline.

5 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand

Jorgen Sundberg — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:08:08 +0000

Personal branding keeps growing in importance, you can barely go online without reading about it. We are now at a stage where most professionals and business owners really need to dedicate time and effort to strengthen their own brands as a part of their daily routine.

With business being ever more competitive, your best way of staying ahead of the pack is to stand out and have a unique brand amongst peers. In the end, it’s all about what you are known for. Others should be able to say what your unique promise of value is once they see you or your name.

Here are 5 great reasons for creating and building your personal brand:

1. Expand your network

Expanding your network is hugely important to business success, it opens up avenues you never thought of. When you have a strong brand you will notice that people want to know you and help out any way they can. Your personal brand works like a magnet and it attracts like minded people which can be very useful for your business or career, just like you can be useful to them. Networking is all about karma, help others and they will help you.

2. Attract opportunities

As a result of your expanded network and you having a strong presence online, not only will people help you but some will actually have relevant opportunities for you. This could be a customer referral, a joint venture, co-writing a book, a new job or an investment in your business. Your personal brand demonstrates success and that is what others will be looking to tap in to.

3. Create trust

Your personal brand is your unique promise of value and as long as you add this value to others on a consistent basis, you are gaining trust and credibility. This trust will be your best and cheapest promotional activity, as word travels fast when you do great work. Let your customers be your fans and become your brand ambassadors.

4. Increase your online influence

As you build your personal brand, you will notice that you get a loyal following online. This following will put you in a position of influence, as others listen to what you have to say. You can turn your clout into business as long as you do it in an authentic and trustworthy manner.

5. Security

A magnetic brand will ensure that you keep busy. You and your services will always be in demand, as long as you live up to your personal brand. This is a good comfort in case your workplace is facing downsizing, or one of your biggest clients are in financial distress. There is little you can do about external factors but you can rest assured that your strong brand will help you attract other opportunities instead.

Call to Action

Your name is your greatest asset and will stay with you for the rest of your life. Transforming it into a personal brand that others will recognize and appreciate is your best strategy for long-term success in business. By standing out from the crowd and showing the world how unique you are, you will be equipped to tell your customers why they should choose you instead of the competition. Remember, the stronger your personal brand, the more likely you will be to have a great demand for your services and you will be in a position to charge a premium for it.

Winston Churchill - a Great British Personal Brand

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:15:07 +0000

Britain is a country with a rich and colourful history. And what is it exactly that makes its history so interesting? The folks behind it of course.

Winston Churchill probably has the most iconic British personal brand. Say what!? Winston Churchill was into personal branding? Well not really, but I reckon he would have been if he had known about it.

He went about his life creating and building one of the most enviable brands ever (without reading a single blog post on the topic). Looking at some current day personal branding factors, let's see how Winston Churchill actually did it:

Being a giving person

The theory of reciprocity, karma and what goes around comes around is huge in personal branding. Being a giving person a hundred years ago pretty much meant putting your life on the line for your country, prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice.

Churchill is obviously best known for what he did in the Second World War. It's less known that he served his country in a handful of wars even before the First World War had started. In the Great War, he fought in the trenches and had a few very close brushes with death. He earned a reputation to always put his men first and he would show no fear of death.

As for the next one, he famously pulled the UK through the hardships of the Second World War. In the eyes of many he single-handedly saved democracy and freedom in Europe. He famously said he would do anything for his country, and one cannot argue he didn't.

Staying authentic

Churchill was sometimes a controversial figure. He was one of the first British politicians to flag up the fact that the new Germany was re-arming and so should Britain. He warned of the Nazis and called them the greatest threat to the free world. Nobody would give heed and he was ridiculed and told the country had other priorities.

He knew his call to build up the military wasn't popular but stayed consistent and held his ground on this point. Instead of giving up on is beliefs, he kept chipping away at the public. He finally managed to convince the government to build up the British armed forces, just in time for the war that was about to break out.

His insistence on preparing the country for war put him in 10 Downing Street, so all that authenticity and consistency paid off in the end.

Standing out from the crowd

Winston Churchill had some peculiar habits, such as always having breakfast in bed whilst dictating letters to his four secretaries. He would eventually get up at about 10 in the morning, do some work and then have lunch.

After lunch he would have a snooze and then back to work for the remainder of the day. Throughout the day he smoke cigars like a chimney and would drink enough alcohol to sink a mid-sized battleship.

Whilst these are peculiar habits, Churchill made sure everyone knew about them and it helped to create the legend status he has today. He didn't care much about what others thought, he just made sure to be different.

Bottom line

Winston Churchill was and still is a great personal brand. He didn't know of the term and it doesn't really matter. What matters is that he did all these things right and so can you. Think of how you can be giving, stay authentic and stand out; using today's technology and tools to your advantage.

Four Social Media Outposts You Ought to Have

Jorgen Sundberg — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:22:26 +0000

Where does a person need to be online to get maximum exposure? There used to be a troika of applications you should be on, this has now turned in to a quartet with Google Profiles joining in on the fun. Here are the fab four:

1. Linkedin

60 million professional users cannot be wrong. Linkedin is the prime hunting ground for sales people and where every entrepreneur must be. Once you have signed up and optimized your profile, the next step is to get active in groups and discussions. Raise your personal brand by becoming an expert in your field, perhaps even starting your own group to promote yourself or your business.

2. Facebook

With over 400 million users, Facebook easily dwarfs Linkedin in terms of users. Most people use Facebook for personal use, to share pictures and catch up with friends. With the advent of Fan pages, increasingly people are seeing the professional value of Facebook as well. The real pros will have different privacy settings for different connections. I recommend having a full profile that you can share with ‘real’ friends, and a limited profile which you can use for business. It goes without saying that the limited profile should be completely customer-friendly.

3. Twitter

The most viral social media channel of them all. Although not boasting as many users, there are no less than 50 million tweets posted daily in the Tweetosphere. Twitter allows you to follow customers, competitors and see what is happening in your field in real time. Tweet under your name or pseudonym, read and share interesting stories from your industry and build up a following. Some people have almost given up emailing in favour of Twitter, you should at least have a presence.

4. Google Profiles

The latest addition to must-have arsenal. Google recently linked up their Gmail (some 150 million users) and Google Profiles to Google Buzz, which is tipped to rival Twitter for micro-blogging. As it’s a late arrival, I would suggest using Google Profiles as your portal page. You are allowed to list your other online profiles and link to your blog or personal website. A killer feature of Google Profiles is that it’s very SEO friendly, meaning that your properly filled out profile will rank high in search engine results.

Final thought

These four free social media applications will not only help your businss and personal brand, they will also allow you to stay on top of the news feed in your chosen field and keep you enlightened. Knowledge is power they say, so use it wisely now!

Personal Branding for Small Businesses

Jorgen Sundberg — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:46:21 +0000

Some small business owners would say that they have set up a business to get away from the one-man-band identity. By making their business look bigger than it really is, they believe they can sell at a higher level and possibly land bigger and better customers. I would venture to say this way of thinking is not working and it won’t work for your business either.

Why should a small businesses look at personal branding?

People buy from people – not businesses. Unless you’re ordering a book online, you want to know the people behind the business. This is especially true in service and high-end sales environments, where customers only buy from credible sales people with strong brands. Blue chips are giving their managers personal branding training to turn them into better ambassadors for their employer. The trend is growing and personal branding will be part of everyone’s induction training one day.

What about start-ups?

Personal branding is extremely important to start-ups – possibly even more important. Customers buy from a few individuals – not really the business brand, which has to be developed over time anyway. Having people with strong personal brands working for a start-up basically means they lend their credibility to the business. Leveraging your employee’s personal brands is probably one of the most cost effective ways of marketing and promoting your business.

Call to Action

The sum of a company’s personal brands make up the corporate brand and beyond. Start taking action today by reviewing your staff’s brands and look at what improvements can be made. Remember that social media and personal branding are areas that have only just taken off and they will only grow over time.

Blogging and your Personal Brand

Jorgen Sundberg — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:17:40 +0000

What better way to beam out your personal brand than to start a blog? More and more people are setting up blogs and the trend is not going to wane. Some career experts argue a blog is a prerequisite for a successful career, I am not fully convinced of that but I would certainly recommend you look into it. Blogging is simple, quick and most often completely free. This post will give you the reasons why and ways how to get going.

Reasons you should blog

Just like you should work on personal branding right now, a blog will set you up nicely for any eventualities in your career. This is your chance to tell the world what you do and how you do it.

You might already have online profiles on Linkedin and other platforms, you may be featured on your company’s website and think this is enough. That is a great start but what you haven’t got there is full control of your own digital footprint. By having your own blog, you decide exactly what goes up and how it looks. It is your corner of cyberspace and your blog is your castle.

Your blog will increase your online presence and will be how you get found on search engines like Google. Imagine how beneficial it would be when a recruiter or hiring manager runs a search on you and sees your blog which clearly demonstrates your knowledge in a particular field.

Another great reason to blog is that whatever topic you choose to write about, you’ll find that you soon become an expert in the field. You have to come up with new content and you will have do a fair amount of research. Whilst doing this you will read and learn more about your subject out of necessity. Your blog will basically force you to learn (and write) more and in the process this will aid your own personal development.

Furthermore, blogging will lead to opportunities that you could never conceive. As your blog is out on the web, you will become part of an online community of like minded people. This network can lead to all kinds of exciting new ventures for your career. I know people who have been ‘discovered’ from their hobby blog and landed good jobs thanks to their writing.

What to write about

You can write about anything but if you want more readers than your mom, you best pick a topic that is interesting to the reader. Think to yourself, what is the purpose of my blog? What will readers actually enjoy and what will help them solve problems in their daily life? You can write about your hobby or work for instance, something that you want to share information about. A good piece of advice is to write about something you know a lot about as you can then easily come up with new content.

What to call the blog

When you have decided what to write about, you’ll want to pick a name that corresponds nicely to your content, giving potential readers a nice little heads up. Lots of names are taken so you will have to use your imagination. You can also opt for naming it after yourself but this says very little about your blog unless you are famous and your name can pull the crowds.

Keep it going

This can be the hard part. If you want people to come back to your blog, you’ll have to keep churning out valuable content. The key here is consistency, whether you write a post once a week or once a day, your readers should know what to expect and have a reason to return.

What platforms to use

I am not going to get techie on you but I can recommend Wordpress as an excellent blogging platform for anyone with some technical understanding. Wordpress is a bit like Firefox or even an iPhone in that it has lots of add on applications and plugins, allowing you to change things round to your liking.

If you want the simplest form of a blog, go for Google’s Blogger application, which will have you up and writing in less than two minutes. There are a few limitations with Blogger but if you’re an absolute novice it’s the way forward.

These applications are both free by the way. You will also probably want to get your own domain, which will only cost you about $10 from domain registrars such as GoDaddy.

Achieving blogging success

There is no magic formula, silver bullet or quick fix to making your blog a success. In my case, it's been a combination of sweat equity, consistency and the desire to help people that has been the key to success. You will find your own way and as long as you stick to it, you will love every minute of it.

10 Great Personal Branding Articles

Jorgen Sundberg — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

1. Personal Branding 101: How to Discover and Create Your Brand

The personal branding guru himself Dan Schwabel discusses the importance of branding in this web 2.0 world, as well as how to discover and create your brand.

2. Personal Branding 102: How to Communicate & Maintain Your Brand

Dan continues his tour de force and informs us how to communicate our personal brand, using social media tools and proven marketing tactics, and then how to sustain our future growth by performing brand maintenance.

3. Tiger Woods: Seven Lessons on Tarnishing a Platinum Personal Brand

The world’s first billion dollar athlete who until November 25th had a seemingly impeccable reputation that most people and brands admired and envied. To the point article by Hajj E. Flemings.

4. Top Ten Personal Branding Tools

Building a strong personal brand is a tough task that takes time and energy. Luckily, there are tools you can use to make the personal branding process dramatically easier. Ryan Rancatore has compiled this list and I have used it as a checklist myself.

5. Personal Branding Tips from the Experts

Chris Perry has asked fellow job seekers and career-search experts from across the web for what they consider to be some top tips for standing out in today’s job market.

6. Eight Hot Tips to Build Personal Branding Into Your Executive Resume 2.0

A post by resume wizard Meg Guiseppi that incorporates your personal branding into your killer resume.

7. How Michael Jackson Became a Brand Icon

Michael Jackson was so unique that he cannot realistically serve as anyone's personal brand ideal. Yet Jackson was unquestionably a brand icon and there are lessons to be learned. By John Quelch.

8. Five Personal Branding Errors You Can Fix in 5 Minutes

Here are 5 common personal branding errors, and how you can fix each one in under 5 minutes. Bit of a must read to ensure you haven’t made these errors yourself! An article that keeps it simple, by Ryan Rancatore.

9. The Secret of Personal Branding

As it’s my list, I will cheekily include a post of my own, it covers the basics, is tailored toward careers and you gotta love the picture.

10. Personal Branding Predictions: Top 10 for 2010

Every year since 2001, William Arruda has made predictions about how the world of personal branding will evolve in the coming year. Here are his top 10 for 2010.

Boost Your Personal Brand Today Checklist

Jorgen Sundberg — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:29:31 +0000

What can we do today?

If you want to boost your personal brand and get the maximum impact straight away, the Internet is where you want to start. It's free and very simple to sign up for online networking sites and they are great tools for promoting your brand.

Run a quick search on your name and see what you find. Do you come up on the first page of Google or are you hidden on page 58? Now consider that others (prospective customers for instance) do the same. Are you giving them the right impression?

There are a number of techniques you can employ to boost your search engine rankings and online presence in general. Here is a quick list that you can go through and get started:

Need to haves:

• good looking and effective Linkedin profile
• knowing your Unique Selling Points and how you can add value to others
• well rehearsed elevator pitch to deliver at any time
• online bio somewhere you can link to
• clean and searchable profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Google Profiles

Nice to haves:

• personal avatar for commenting
• personal blog or website
• your own Linkedin Group
• your own domain name
• moderating or owning a forum
• publishing articles or blog posts
• anything techie with your name on it

Call to action

Make sure you are consistent with everything you communicate to the world. This includes all your online presence and you should aim to stake your claim in cyberspace as soon as possible. Will your prospect customer be surprised or even disappointed when they meet you for the first time? You have to make sure you are one and the same across all channels and you will then come across as genuine and trustworthy.

Share information about yourself, tell stories and inspire others. Add some personality to your brand, we all know it’s easier to sell on emotions than facts. When you think you are finished, anyone should be able to locate you online and find out what you do and what makes you special. If this isn’t the case, you need to put some more work in.

Brand Yourself Today

5l6f-.pQ_1u .w9bEu3 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:46:53 +0000

Just as large companies cultivate their corporate brands, professionals and business owners can and should do the same for themselves. Personal branding is becoming increasingly essential to professional success. Gone are the days where your value to your company or clients is from your offerings alone. Today, people want to buy brands - unique promises of value. Personal branding helps you put yourself ahead of the pack. And each of us has what it takes to be a strong brand.

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is a way of clarifying and communicating what makes you different and special - and using those qualities to guide your career or business decisions. It's about understanding your unique attributes - your strengths, skills, values, and passions - and using them to separate yourself from your competitors or peers. Personal branding is the business of marketing the brand that is you.

Why is it Important?

With the evolution of technology and the internet at our fingertips, business is becoming more and more competitive. There are numerous others who seemingly offer the same thing that you do - consultants providing thesame services and professionals with the same skills and experience. Whether you are an employee in a company or an entrepreneur, you need to stand out from the myriad others so that you can be in control of your business or career.

Whether you work for a company or are self employed, anyone that does or considers doing business with you will search for you online - if you don’t come up in searches you are at an obvious disadvantage. Therefore a strong online personal brand will enable you to effortlessly attract clients and opportunities.

Who is it for?

Personal branding is for freelancers, consultants, small business owners, salespeople, executives and anyone who wants to achieve their goals whilst being true to themselves. A distinctive, memorable and compelling personal brand provides the guidance you need to shape your strategy, and adds enormous value to your business or career. Anyone can attract customers, grow their company, get promoted faster, be found by a business partner or investor by having a strong brand today.

Your Online Brand

Try Googling your name and see what happens. Now consider that others (prospective customers for instance) do the same. Are you happy with what they see? If not, we are here to help you create, build and promote your strong personal brand online today.

Let us Help

Get in touch on 0781 681 3283 or jorgen@linkhumans.com