Skip to content

personal brand

Don’t Leave Your Personal Brand to Chance – 5 Tips for Success

monitor-840624_1280

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” – Bob Dylan

The Fall is a busy time for everyone. Many companies view the last 4 months of the year as an opportunity to spend the years budgets, or individuals look to make that all important career move, ready to start the new year in a new opportunity.

Recruiters are also very active, between now and the end of the year can make or break their commissions or bonus, and for some those payments can be significant. Unfortunately that can sometimes mean they lose sight of what is best for the candidate.

A word to the wise when you get that next headhunters call!!

I am reminded about a certain recruiter who I think only ever worked for one client and therefore when he was contacting people to talk about a great new opportunity he could really only have one ‘sales pitch’.

One September he called a friend of mine who had, to that point, a successful career in sales in consumer goods and proceeded to tell him that industry was dying, no future, consolidation was happening everywhere – to an extent it was true. He went on to say Now if you want to get in to a growth industry do I have the opportunity for you – I’m thinking of you and I’m thinking – aluminum extrusions, was how he described it – we knew it was double glazing!

Three years later, again in September, my friend, who had by then switched to the medical industry, had a call one evening from the same recruiter – his opening line after finding out what my friend was doing was “That’s a dying industry, lots of consolidation – now if you want to get in to a growth industry do I have the opportunity for you – I’m thinking of you and I’m thinking – aluminum extrusions……..!!!!!!”

You should not be leaving your next career move to the whims of anyone else, it’s up to you to own the definition of who you are.

Here are 5 ways to ensure you have better control of your career;

Read More »Don’t Leave Your Personal Brand to Chance – 5 Tips for Success

Why can I only make connect automatically with some 2nd connections on LinkedIn ?

This weeks tip comes via a reader question “I’m wondering why sometimes I can do a “connect” invite to some secondary connections (without having to say how I know them), but not others? Thanks Paul” – Joe This is not something you can control because it is how others have their settings on accepting invitations. It is something that you want to check for your own profile so that if you ensure you… Read More »Why can I only make connect automatically with some 2nd connections on LinkedIn ?

Is Your Personal Brand Like the iPhone 7 or More Like the Galaxy Note 7 ?

Aidan iPhone

In recent weeks we have seen two very different brand stories when it comes to the latest smartphones.

The launch of the iPhone 7 has been accompanied by all the pre-launch build up that Apple does so well and that leads to increased demand. We have seen images of the ‘Apple Junkies’, who have already secured their new phone by pre-order, but still queue up overnight to be one of the first to physically have their phone.

Contrast this with the total product recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7. There have been reports of a risk of it exploding and airlines have even advised passengers not to get on the plane in possession of one.

These events are accompanied by Apple dropping the price of its ‘older’ models, Samsung having to dispose of whole technology divisions to pay the expected $1 billion+ in compensation, and of course Apple’s share price rising.

Until the next launch or product recall.

After all, it seems like never a week goes by without another new phone hitting the market. Apparently the lifespan for a smartphone, before it becomes ‘obsolete’ and overtaken by a faster, sleeker, more buttons and gadgets phone from someone else, is between 3 and 6 months.

Is this same risk of obsolescence happening for you in your career?

Read More »Is Your Personal Brand Like the iPhone 7 or More Like the Galaxy Note 7 ?

How to share content directly from a LinkedIn Pulse article

Pulse is one of the most useful areas on the LinkedIn platform to read longer form articles, thought leaders and find useful insights and information. For some bizarre reason LinkedIn decided a few weeks ago to ‘hide’ the Pulse channel and I shared how to now find it, – read Are You Getting the Full Story on LinkedIn? Hopefully you are now regularly reading various articles (including mine 🙂 –… Read More »How to share content directly from a LinkedIn Pulse article

The Good & Bad About Gwyneth Paltrow’s LinkedIn Profile

Time magazine gushingly reported this week that “Gwyneth Paltrow Has a Seriously Extensive LinkedIn Profile”. But on closer examination her profile may not even reach ‘All Star’ status, which is the ideal minimum that you want your profile to be. You can view her profile by clicking here. There are several good things to notice; Well taken headshot, interestingly using black and white which is different. Good use of a custom header… Read More »The Good & Bad About Gwyneth Paltrow’s LinkedIn Profile

5 Back to School Lessons for Your Personal Brand

chalkboard-459256_1280

Children are returning to school in Canada this week. It brings a mixture of excitement, trepidation and relief, and that is just the parents!

I am sounding like my Dad, but in my day it used to be all about learning the 3R’s. Reality for children today is the world they end up in after school will offer many more options and challenges. They will need to learn more than reading, writing and arithmetic!

Understanding and developing their personal brand is going to be a key skill that the students of today must have.

September is often viewed as ‘a start to a new year’ for adults too and it gives you an opportunity to take a moment to check in on your own personal brand.

Is your personal brand following the 5R’s lessons?

Read More »5 Back to School Lessons for Your Personal Brand

Should you bother using hashtags on LinkedIn?

Just in case you are not familiar with hashtags, on social media you have likely noticed the # pound symbol with a word or words after it – that is a hashtag! Their use is extremely popular on social media networks such as Instagram and Twitter, who’s own research suggests that using them can increase engagement for you by 2x and for a brand or company by 1.5x. Previously when… Read More »Should you bother using hashtags on LinkedIn?

Easy Marketing of Brand You Even a Newbie Can Do It

1

One constant in today’s work world is change. Look at the jobs available now and in the future and the older you are then the more likely they have little relation to what you thought you might be doing when coming out of school. Making yourself a viable candidate in this changing landscape falls to you. You have to take charge of your own career, and own the definition of who you are because no-one else is going to do it for you.

Here are 8 steps to help you survive in the ever changing world of work:

Read More »Easy Marketing of Brand You Even a Newbie Can Do It

Achieve Personal Brand Victory with These Olympics Lessons

Gold medal

With the Olympics, the great thing about living in one country and coming from another is I get to cheer for both, because I have double the chance of celebration. Go Canada, Go Great Britain!

Having worked with a number of former athletes, the Olympics give me the opportunity to witness great triumphs and disappointments that are accompanied by wonderful stories. I appreciate and admire an athlete’s struggles and sacrifices. I am also struck by examples of this year’s younger winners being inspired, even mentored by some of the more established and successful athletes.

Joseph Schooling first met Michael Phelps when he was 13, during the Beijing Olympics when Phelps visited his local swimming club. Eight years later, he beat Phelps in the 100 metre butterfly to win the first ever gold medal for Singapore.

Over the years, the Olympics has become much more of a commercial venture, at least in some aspects. Although host nations seem to be almost guaranteed to lose money, brands like Nike and Under Armour and top athletes usually win. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt have become huge personal brands, with significant endorsement deals and rewards for winning. Even Joseph Schooling earned $750,000 for his medal.

However, I am sure that most Olympic athletes do not ‘do it’ for the money. The investment in supporting them to get to world-class levels can cost a country’s association way more than the bonus for medaling.

For me, one of the best examples of the win being everything was the sheer surprise and joy on the face of 16 year old Canadian Penny Oleksiak when winning a gold medal. Money was not in that picture.

The Olympic brand and logo does have huge monetary and recognition value and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is almost manic about its control. This is in part to help protect the sponsors and the huge investments they make in wanting to be recognised and associated with the event.

So what are the Olympics showing us that you can apply to your personal brand?

Read More »Achieve Personal Brand Victory with These Olympics Lessons