Behold, those company sweatshirts, those logoed tops that your company issues to you at the annual picnic or outing that seem to somehow multiply in your closet over the years.
An Insider’s Take On Company Sweatshirts
Reply
Tag Archives: personal branding
Associations That Affect Your Brand
- Associations that can affect your brand are both individual and group in nature.
Associations that affect your brand are all around you everyday. Your group of friends, where you go to network, social clubs, chambers of commerce, and professional associations are all examples of associations that affect your brand. How, you might wonder? Let’s look at several examples.
How To Improve Your Likeability Factor At Any Age
- Paula Deen’s public admission that she withheld a diabetic diagnosis for three years has left her likeability factor comatose. Can her brand be revived, survive, and thrive?
How do you know if you need to improve your likeability factor? The answer is directly proportional to your desire to finding greater professional or social success.
Create Demand For Your Brand
If you’ve ever felt held back from reaching your ideal professional audience or from effectively communicating your strengths, it could very well be that your personal brand needs your attention. Even though there is a lot of buzz surrounding the concept of personal branding, I realize there is skepticism about it. But if the Kardashian sisters can connect with millions and make zillions on their brand, you can become wildly successful, too.
Photo Perfect Image in the Social Media Age: Don’t just point and click!
When thinking of updating your online photo, the obvious temptation is to pick up your own camera and snap a picture without much thought or planning. Just point, click, and shoot. But as the subject matter, your goal is to have a picture that best represents your personal brand and image. Solid planning goes a long way toward helping you get that visual message across to others.
Don’t Build Mystery, Build Your Brand
This morning the “Today Show” began a short series called “Build Your Brand.” I was intrigued because they claimed the intention was to help people who are in the large job market how to build their personal brands. The expert, Martin Lindstrom, gave four pieces of advice this morning; one in particular sounding off my inner alarm bells.
How to Become a ‘Ten’ in ’10
Isn’t it brilliant how January 1st turns up every year? I mean, without it, would we really find it so easy to press our own inner reset buttons, or be able to measure our successes? If we’re smart about using this secular date as a fresh start, we can set realistic goals for our personal brand image for the year [and even the decade] ahead and treat these winter months as prep time for renewing our personal image.
Transforming Clients, A Dozen at a Time
No matter how excitedly busy my image consulting practice becomes, my clients’ needs are always going to be my top priority. Typically each month several new clients hire me as their image consultant to guide them through the image development process. These past number of weeks have been a madhouse, though, as a dozen clients individually and privately, yet simultaneously, have been going through various phases of this amazing growing process. During these very busy times, coincidentally coinciding with the weeks immediately preceding the holidays, it’s been foremost in mind to keep everyone’s project goals in mind without losing my own mind.
Do Clothes Make the Man?
How many times have you heard that saying? How many times have you thought that saying was a bunch of bunk? This is what happens with an abundance of overuse and an underwhelming amount of explanation.
Whose Brand Are You Anyway?
Over the weekend, while quickly perusing my Facebook contacts’ updates, I saw a colleague’s comment, and – WOW – did it set me off! Paraphrasing, the comment was, “you are the brand others say you are.” I have fundamental problems with this statement, putting me squarely at odds with this colleague. Maybe she didn’t even come up with the statement. Maybe it’s someone else’s statement and she’s merely repeating it, so common in the image and branding fields where, ironically, original thought isn’t as simple as a sound bite.
When it comes to your personal brand, do you represent anyone but yourself? “You are the brand others say you are.” Puhleeze. If having your own personal brand – and being true to yourself and your brand – is enough of a challenge, trying to satisfy the whims of everyone else who is apparently judging you is another matter entirely. As a consultant, I despise these blanket statements, and it makes no sense when other ‘consultants’ espouse them like the gospel.
How others receive you is, in some way, out of your control. That’s why this sound bite statement bites the big one with me. Can you control the actions and thoughts of anyone but yourself? This is why, when it comes to personal brand and image development, the crucial thing to do is to control what you project so you send the messages you want to communicate about yourself. Hopefully others will receive your authentic messages so “ you are the brand you say you are.”
As a child, I was teased, even tormented, about my identity and appearance. Growing up in a Chicago suburb with a strong Jewish community, my physical appearance singled me out as somehow negatively noteworthy for being Jewish. Blemished skin, a small frame, slight build, and big glasses got me “branded” as being the short, ugly kid who was also last – if ever – to be picked for sports teams.
According to the colleague, I was the brand others said I was. You know what, she was right – then. Why? Though my parents and grandparents gave me only love and support, all that stuck with me was the loud and repeated tormenting of my classmates. I believed their negative PR about me. In that sense, I validate the colleague’s Facebook quip. But it’s exactly why it’s so wrong. Why would anyone want to accept the path of everyone else’s perception when the only one that matters is your very own?
I share this very personal past experience because so much has evolved since then. I found the secret to creating your personal brand and image starts by taking control and looking within. It’s not that the opinions of others don’t matter. But if people aren’t seeing you as you could be – as you should be – they’re certainly going to misunderstand your message, and what a shame that would be for them to not know how wonderful you really are.
Nothing is more important in creating a personal brand and image than to tell and show others who you are and what you stand for. If you don’t do it, others will do it for you. Do you want others speaking for you, or do you want to speak for yourself?
Designing and managing your image is the secret science of your success.
Joseph Rosenfeld helps professional men and corporate workgroups create effective visual brands. Visit JosephRosenfeld.com for details.