On calling a potential coporate client the other day I was greeted with what now seems to be the standard automated reception. "Thank you for calling XYZ Company, please listen carefully to ALL the options before selecting. 1. If you know the extension number of the person you are calling enter it NOW. Does that mean I do not have to wait for all the options then? ……….I guess so.… Read More »Is Your Message Clear?
People have been asking how I felt about the results and feedback from my own 360. To be honest I felt really good, there were a few home truths, but fair comments based on where my head is at and it was a great exercise to do again with the new version of the tool. To see my results click here Equally interesting was the comparison of my results now… Read More »Personal Branding Transparency?
I was one of the speakers today at the Professional Women's Symposium Association in Toronto and was very warmly received by an enthusiastic group of professionals. It was interesting to hear about some of the many challenges that women face, particularly in the professionals and how many of them had overcome huge obstacles to build their careers. The theme for the day was 'Defining Professionalism for Yourself' so many of… Read More »Women Being On Brand
The technology industry in Canada is booming – its now 2nd only to Silicon Valley in the world! This was one of the messages I heard at the Wired Woman meeting this week from Mia Wedgbury the President of a specialist technology PR firm – High Road Communications – a firm she started just 10 years ago at the age of 29. Mia jokingly commented on the fact that I… Read More »The Token Male
Quite often we look to certain celebrities, famous people or influential leaders as the source of inspiration or reason that we do things a certain way or support a certain cause. People like Oprah or Richard Branson for example. But now a book just released "The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived" takes a different look at this and has just listed The Marlboro Man, Big Brother (from Orwells… Read More »Are You Influential – Have You Lived?
Dundas, where I live is part of the mega-city Hamilton and one of the big recent success stories here is Lakeport Brewing. What Lakeport has been successful at is identifying its target market, appealing to it and sticking to what it knows. Its Vision is to "dominate and lead the growth of the value beer category" – and their Mission clearly supports that. They have two beers in the top… Read More »Beer Branding 101
The phrase goes – "If you are not on Google do you really exist?" I was delivering a workshop yesterday to a group of unemployed professionals at HAPPEN and it was quite evident that the job seeker of today continues to face many challenges in securing their next position that professionals and executives have faced for years. According to recent recruiter surveys by Recruiters World – 73% find it useful… Read More »Do You Exist On Line?
As with any thing within your brand environment – your cellphone says something about your brand. Managing your brand environment is one of the critical steps in the thrid phase of the personal branding process – Exude – and items such as pens, diaries, computers, cars, offices all say something about your brand. Cellphones are fast becoming an all in one item – phone, camera, MP3 player, diary, e-mail, web… Read More »Does Your Phone Brand You?
Before presenting a workshop yesterday morning at the Oakville Chamber of Commerce I had the opportunity to listen to a really interesting keynote from Pierre Morrissette, CEO & President of The Weather Network. Much of what he said related directly to the challenges the small business owner has in building their business. What was really interesting was that he acknowledged: He did not know how to tell the weather –… Read More »What’s The Weather Going to be Like Today?
I was just getting ready to deliver a seminar recently, when the earlier morning speaker came back in to the room to recover his jacket. We exchanged pleasantries and I discovered that he, John Macaulay, had spoken on the subject of Laughter Yoga. When we concluded our chat and he was leaving with a big smile on his face, I said 'Have a great rest of the weekend' – he… Read More »The WOW Women of Xerox