This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak again at the Discover Your Personal Brand Conference. DYPB 2016 was different from 2014 in a number of ways.
The focus was more toward small business and the caliber of speaker, panels and attendees was awesome. There were many inspiring young Canadians in attendance that really gave me a lift about the future of our country. All held within the back drop of Telus’ state of the art office in downtown Toronto, an environmental LEED building, bursting with technology and balanced with space and light.
The opportunity to attend conferences is always a big investment, even if its local so it was great to get such a rich experience.
After introductions from the motivating conference organizer and founder Bobby Umar and keynotes from the always excellent Mark Bowden and inspiring Real Food for Real Kids founder Lulu Cohen-Farnell the highlight of the first evening for me was the Personal Brand Leadership All Star Panel. They were;
Cameron Gordon, Head of Communications, Twitter – Moderator
Erin Bury, Managing Director at 88 Creative
Jennifer Ettinger, Founder & President at Fit Your Style
Jagmeet Singh, MPP, ONDP Deputy Leader
Bobby Umar, Founder, Raeallan & DYPB
Full bios and more details on the schedule http://www.dypb.ca/schedule/ and other speakers can be found here http://www.dypb.ca/speakers/
Here is a Summary of the questions and panel answers;
Q: What makes an All Star Personal Brand?
EB: Someone who is across all media, with significant followers and has strategic thinking and planning.
BU: You don’t need a room for people to be talking about you. You have a targeted and identified tribe.
JE: Being authentic and transparent.
JS: Someone who stands for something. Holds a value and belief that’s connected. Being bold.
Q: What is the #1 Challenge if You Are Just Starting Out?
EB: Have a strategy and plan. Being conscious and build a brand.
BU: Be who you are in all mediums.
JE: Brand service, more personal connection.
JS: People want to see the real person.
Q: What Are the Primary Obstacles That You Should be Conscious of or Fearful?
BU: Squirrel- Distraction. Loneliness.
EB: Burnout, handling a start up after working full time all day.
JS: Not listening to being told not to be real.
JE: Expose yourself, its not all rainbows, lollipops and unicorns.
Q: How Are You Using Social Media to build Your Personal Brand?
EB: Different channels for different purposes.
JE: Social should be social.
JS: Fun and engaging but get a message across.
BU: Enables you to have a voice. Judge people by what they say or do not by the number of followers.
Q: Who is Somebody You Consider to be an All Star Personal Brand?
EB: Oprah – built, developed and maintained a brand.
BU: Gary Vaynerchuk for entrepreneurs. Brenee Brown for vulnerability.
JE: Chalene Johnson for fitness.
JS: JusReign you tuber.
Q: One Tip to Establish an All Star Personal Brand?
JS: Put out content, ideas, experiences, uniqueness.
JE: Be aware, don’t compare.
BU: Know your why, tribe and brand, give them what they want.
EB: Pick a niche, find a unique way to own a sub-category.
Q: What Should You Not Do?
BU: Don’t respond to trolls and haters.
JE: Don’t post when angry.
CG: Don’t put the same content on different channels.
EB: Don’t be spammy.
JS: Don’t be paralyzed by perfection.
Q: What Does Being Strategic Mean?
EB: Not being granular. Niche channels. Skill-set, fit, flexible with resource you have.
BU: Skills & Resources.
JE: Use visual flowcharts.
JS: Broad strokes of what you are looking to do. For events have a goal and be specific.
Q: How Can You Transition From Being One Persona To Highlighting Something You Have Not So Clearly Expressed in the Past But You Want To?
BU: Just start, but understand what is the strategy behind it.
EB: Duality to everyone.
JE: Truth will set you free.
JS: Try the transition and rely on friends to let you know if its working.
CG: Comment on others content as a start.
Q: How Can You Differentiate in a Highly Competitive Market (Like Real Estate) Where Perceptions Are Pre-Formed?
EB: Leverage local intelligence. Trust personally, Build content.
JE: Look at your community. Give back. Find a cause.
Q: How Do You Handle/Communicate a Brand That is Multi-Faceted?
BU: Do a deep dive and look for themes. Ask your network, look for feedback.
EB: Focus on the professional livelihood versus the hobby.
JS: Variety makes you interesting, celebrate it.
I hope this inspires you to take more action with your personal brand this week and ongoing. If you want to follow more of what went on at the conference you can also check the Twitter feed that was very active with #DYPB16