Skip to content

Strengths

3 Ways to Say ‘Thanks’ On LinkedIn at Any Time

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving – Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families. You shouldn’t wait though for once a year to let your connections know you are thankful for them. And it’s easy to do here on LinkedIn.  1. Kudos – Have you heard about the Kudos feature in the LinkedIn App? As with many features on LinkedIn they are often the (best kept) secrets and Kudos is no exception.  It was announced with… Read More »3 Ways to Say ‘Thanks’ On LinkedIn at Any Time

Procrastination, Power Blending, Promise and Personal Branding

Oh, boy, have I been procrastinating! I looked back and the last time I wrote a blog post was a few months back, I could make excuses and reasons why, but at the end of the day I can only blame and kick myself for not investing the time in you. I have had plenty of opportunities to share good examples of personal branding and how it might relate to… Read More »Procrastination, Power Blending, Promise and Personal Branding

4 Personal Brand Lessons From Gibson Guitar’s Bankruptcy

You probably have seen their product slung over the neck of one your favourite musicians. Growing up I loved listening to 70’s rock bands, yet I would not be able to notice the difference between a Gibson guitar and a $50 plywood electric version. But the musicians did. Favourites of mine like Marc Bolan, Eric Clapton, and David Bowie or through to modern musicians today all went out of their… Read More »4 Personal Brand Lessons From Gibson Guitar’s Bankruptcy

Know More About Your LinkedIn Connections Personality

One of the challenges with communications in today’s hyper connected world is that much of it is not done by actually talking to someone and rarely face to face. Many initial exchanges are done via email or text and we do not even know the person, let alone have met them. This ‘lack of connection’ when connecting can mean we often are guessing about the person we are communicating with. This… Read More »Know More About Your LinkedIn Connections Personality

7 Things You Need to Know About Personal Branding

This year is the 20th anniversary of Tom Peter’s article in Fast Company entitled “The Brand Called You.” Most recognize the article as the ‘birth’ of personal branding or at the least the first time that the concept of having a personal brand appeared on the business radar. If you Google “Brand Called You” the article still appears at the top of the rankings. He wrote; “Regardless of age, regardless… Read More »7 Things You Need to Know About Personal Branding

Get Uncomfortable With Your Personal Brand

While waiting for his owner to return from shopping, St. Bernard knows where his boundaries are and he is not going to stray at all. After all, if he were to jump out of the back of the truck, he would certainly be placing himself in danger. St. Bernard’s boundaries reminded me of the story of the dog owner who’s dog was prone to run out of the front yard… Read More »Get Uncomfortable With Your Personal Brand

Connecting Sales, Marketing & You Inc on LinkedIn in 2017

Below is my TED-style talk at the Haste & Hustle conference earlier this year – includes the Pinata BBQ Accountant story. It is imperative that you understand how to leverage LinkedIn’s benefits for the sales AND marketing of You Inc. and build a profile that stands out. Paul Copcutt will show you how to use LinkedIn to communicate your personal brand in 5 minutes a day, as well as offer… Read More »Connecting Sales, Marketing & You Inc on LinkedIn in 2017

Don’t Accept Your New Job Until You Take These 7 Actions

You will likely be lucky to go all the way through your career without making a job move that you later regret. It’s not easy choosing a company or leadership team that fits exactly with the way you think, act and want to operate. Technology is creating new industries, fast growing companies and increased opportunities and responsibilities that can sometimes cloud our judgment. Take Uber for example. A market disruptor… Read More »Don’t Accept Your New Job Until You Take These 7 Actions

7 Ways to Boost Your Career in 2017

I was enjoying a beer over the holidays with a friend and sharing our recollections of the past year and what we had to look forward to in the coming year. Dan had his best year ever, he hit his sales numbers about two-thirds of the way through the year, earned a huge bonus and enjoyed promotion to a senior account manager role.

His boss was expecting to see him take a higher profile role in the team with added responsibility, he was going to be traveling more, and his new sales target appeared atmospheric. He didn’t know how he was going to fit it all in. He was dreading 2017.

If the end of 2016 for you was anything like it is for Dan, you found yourself having to try and wrap up some key projects, drive in some final numbers, perhaps even complete performance reviews and other year-end tasks.

Then, before you can catch your breath or even start to worry about work, you were straight into planning, preparing and, hopefully, enjoying the holidays with family and friends and not getting despondent from all the negativity that many people felt this past year, in particular, brought them.

You must be exhausted already! Kicking off another year can be a daunting proposition. A new year brings a fresh set of challenges and almost a feeling of starting all over again. It doesn’t have to be that way. First things first, bid a final farewell to the last year, you can even use the 15 questions from the Review Your Year With No Fear Workbook to feel entirely complete, get your copy by clicking here.

Now for 2017. How do you find the energy to kick off another year, build your personal brand, maintain momentum and ensure you don’t get bogged down or distracted to still achieve what you want to in your career?

Here are seven ways to boost your personal brand and get things done without feeling overwhelmed.

Read More »7 Ways to Boost Your Career in 2017

The One Question I Always Get on Personal Branding

brand-called-you

Image Fast Company Magazine August 1997

Next year will see the 20-year anniversary of the Fast Company magazine article “The Brand Called You” by Tom Peters. This was two years before his book series, which included “Brand You 50” were published. Most recognize the article as the ‘birth’ of personal branding or at the least the first time that the concept of having a personal brand appeared on the business radar. When you Google “Brand Called You” the article still appears at the top of the rankings. Read the article here

Many people still minimize the power of personal branding and some label it as egotistical and ridiculous. The criticism is legitimate towards those who have likened branding yourself to branding a bar of chocolate. In fact, the intention is to show the contrast between a person and a corporation when it comes to branding.

It probably took ten years after that article, for the notion of owning your personal brand to be embraced as an accepted way of managing your career, business, and even life. Celebrity branding has exploded with constant exposure and an unquenchable thirst for more. This leaves many people feeling inadequate unless they too garner the same visibility. Sadly credibility can sometimes take a back seat.

Social media has been both a blessing and curse and can be blamed for some of the hype, expectation, and disdain that personal branding attracts. But fault can also lie at the feet of the ‘gurus’ and experts who tell you to “Fake it until you make it” or encourage you to turn your social media streams into a one-way flow of personally branding me, me, me that should never be turned off.

When it comes to personal branding the one question I always get is

Read More »The One Question I Always Get on Personal Branding