How To Build A Personal Brand ( II )...

...Your Gonna Have To Do Some Steppin Out !...
by David Bookout

Related Post: How To Build A Personal Brand...
Related Post: Why build a Personal Brand ?...
Related Post: What is a Personal Brand ?...

Related Tool: Personal Brand Strategy Brief

Perhaps not dressed exactly as our photo suggests, but to build a successful Personal Brand today, I think it is pretty much a guarantee that you'll have to step outside of your comfort zone. After all, what's comfortable, particularly for the growing number of folks that have been affected by the "corporate sizing" issues we seem to be hearing so much about these days, just doesn't matter. Discomfort is becoming normal. We've got some posts coming up in which we'll be offering some uncommon thinking about actions you can be in, right now, today, to set yourself apart.

But, this post is about technology as a differentiating medium for Personal Brand Building. So, let's look at some examples of people stepping out to use technology to create not only their own personal brands, but whole businesses in the process:

Justine Ezarik @ iJustine.com is steppin out !

Dan Schwabel @ PersonalBrandingBlog.com is steppin out !

Stephanie Quilao @ TheEveryDayBlogger.com is steppin out !

What makes each of them unique? It's not that they are young! It's that they are each embracing technology to extend their reach and expand their circle of influence!! They are exploiting the benefits of technology to create a life style that works for each of them, in their own way, and on their own terms.

I was recently contacted by a client who said "I'm thinking about doing a blog", what tips can you give me!? My advise? Get started. Now, for the particular business this client was in, a blog was almost a standard of care in terms of keeping in touch with their client base, and desired audience. In other situations, this is NOT the case. Nothing is a blanket fix. But, some things just make sense. If YOU need to build your identity to get where you want to go next, here are four ( 4 ) quick thoughts:

Start Practicing / Do Something - Blogger.com, and LinkedIn.com, and FaceBook.com are great places to get started.

Share With Friends - Each of these sites, with the exception of Blogger, which needs another mechanism to facilitate the process, is fundamentally about connecting with friends. In regards to Blogger, set up a private site, and invite your friends, and colleagues to read.

Venture Outside Of Your Own Standard Practices - Spend a little bit of time everyday to be an observer of what's going on in the world. I'm not talking about reading the newspaper online. I'm talking about clicking around and see what others like; Justine, Dan, Stephanie, and others are doing with technology. How they are using the technologies they are using and why.

Don't Give Up - This isn't like watching TV. It takes a little bit of time and energy, but can be well worth it in the long run. Because if your looking for a new job, looking to turn your hobby, or passion into a business, or just looking to focus on giving back to the community through service, these mediums are essential to a successful future.

© Copyright 2009 - Effetti, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.


The article "How To Build A Personal Brand ( II )...", the subtitle "...Your Gonna Have To Do Some Steppin Out !..." and contents herein, unless otherwise specified in writing - by Effetti, Inc. are ALSO licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the author through Effetti, Inc. http://www.effettigrowth.com/about-contact.php.

The image was found on, and may be © Copyright to RecitalExpo.com

How To Build A Personal Brand...

...Obama's "return to virtuous ethics" as a good example !...
by David Bookout

Related Post: Why build a Personal Brand ?...
Related Post: What is a Personal Brand ?...

Related Tool: Personal Brand Strategy Brief

You may, or may not like our smiling President, but that is NOT the point of this piece.

Obama's suggestion that we return to virtuous ethics is more than interesting. I'm not suggesting he actually said this, but, in effect within the language he chooses to use as our leader in describing how he will lead America into the future, this is what he is advocating we do as followers. Powerful stuff !! "Ethics" are our standards for how we treat one another. "Virtuous" is about having excellent standards. I've got to say that I LOVE to hear Obama speak, and if you've taken the time to watch / hear him, perhaps you too may have noticed the physical change in your body when you see and hear him. Look, feel, tone, manner, and clear, compelling content is at the heart of effective Brand Building. Personal Brand Building is no different.

A good place to watch / experiment with how; look, feel, tone, manner and content effects / affects us is, oddly enough, in the John Stewart segment on The Daily Show on Comedy Central, where Stewart refers to "The Bradley Effect" ( @ 4:44 )( count begins after the 15 - 30 second commercial - sorry ! ). When I watched this segment for the first time I noticed how I began to actually feel different about Obama as a person - in fact, so much so that I've taken the time to hear him speak every chance I get - why? Not because of my political views, but because what he says connects with, and relates to the things I care about. When we make these connections with others we have a beginning, and as a Personal Brand Builder to build on that beginning the thing to do is maintain consistency.

Building a Personal Brand with consistency:

First, take the time to actually think about what YOU care about - make a list.

Next, take the time to design how you might talk about the things you care about. What are the key points? Is there proof for these points? Are the points mainstream, or contrarian - make a list.

Then, be an interested listener and observer to the verbal / non-verbal reactions you get - make a list.

Finally, continue to honestly refine the process until you're producing the results you want - check with others.

Would you invest $0.04 ( 4 cents ) a day to build an Obama like Personal Brand ? Then you need our Personal Brand Strategy Tool to help you get started thinking about and designing your Personal Brand Building Strategy and Tactics today !

© Copyright 2009 - Effetti, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.


The article "How To Build A Personal Brand...", the subtitle "...Obama's "return to virtuous ethics" as a good example !..." and contents herein, unless otherwise specified in writing - by Effetti, Inc. are ALSO licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the author through Effetti, Inc. http://www.effettigrowth.com/about-contact.php.

The image was found on, and may be © Copyright to TrustWinsOut.org

Brand Building - Portal Strategies...

... may be One More Reason to go Web 2.0 !...
by David Bookout

Social Networking and Social Media are hot topics, and sites like: MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, DodgeBall, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Spoke, Zoom, Blogger, YouTube, Joost, Flicr, Picasa, SlideShare, and more are pretty familiar. But, knowing how to best leverage these technological tools within your brand development strategy, regardless of whether your focus is corporate, or individual is the question!

The ManyOne Portal may be an interesting, and valuable new alternative ?!

Personally, you might be thinking; Some of these applications don't seem serious enough for what I want, or I don't even know where to start, or I don't have time to keep up with all these discreet accounts. At the corporate level you might even be thinking, hey, this is someone else's job! But is it?

At the core of all the applications mentioned is the function of establishing an "identity" amongst a specific desired audience set. The purpose of brand building is to expand the shear number of people that are; aware of, interested in, and ultimately accept the brand's value proposition in some sort of transaction.

Historically, I think it has been difficult, particularly for the SMB market, to create appropriate content, including graphics, that do a good job of establishing a consistent, brand building look and feel. Website building has been difficult at best, and most of the applications mentioned have a primary ( yet, perhaps hidden? ) agenda of significantly building their own brands on the backs of their users. The ManyOne Portal seems different in that regard, as well as providing the opportunity to expand identity / brand building possibilites by giving companies, AND individuals the opportunity to manage multiple interests and passions, in one relatively simple, easy to use place.

For example, I built this new Effetti Portal in less than an hour with ONLY my extensive cut and paste capability !! Honestly, while I've been building websites for ten years, I have just about enough HTML experience to bold some copy.

Post Publishing Add - Additionally, the ManyOne Portal acts as a Wiki / Collaboration / Coordination tool with the ability to house 100's of documents for either public, or private view depending on how you set up each portal. Teams with designated members, that the portal owner controls, can view private portals, anyone can view public portals. My colleague and project management guru friend Kimberly Wiefling recently turned me on to these new collaboration tools, thanks Kimberly ! - Post Publishing Add End

So, if you've been thinking about building a new website, or getting a bit more active in the Social Networking / Social Media space, I would give the ManyOne experience a try ??!!

© Copyright 2009 - Effetti, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.


The article "Brand Building - Portal Strategies...", the subtitle "...may be One More Reason to go Web 2.0 !..." and contents herein, unless otherwise specified in writing - by Effetti, Inc. are ALSO licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the author through Effetti, Inc. http://www.effettigrowth.com/about-contact.php.

The image was found on, and may be © Copyright to ManyOne.net

Because you can...

... doesn't always mean that you should !...
by David Bookout

Humans seem to naturally want to put their "fingerprints" on things, personalize them, let others know that they have made a "difference".

From a brand perspective, this is exactly what you DO NOT want to do. Brands are built on boring consistency, a promise fulfilled over, and over, and over again.

From this perspective, desktop publishing and now the internet are providing an incredible opportunity for companies of all sizes to stand out amongst the crowd, effectively "branding" themselves with a; clear, concise, compelling and memorable identity, message and positioning.

But are these incredible opportunities being taken advantage of?

No. In our assessment, not only is the advantage NOT being capitalized on, but companies are often doing damage to their “identity”, as well as considerably lengthening and even short circuiting their sales process.

We frequently see three big mistakes: First, is the use of a myriad of; font styles, colors and formatting options along with every conceivable feature / benefit jammed into a single message platform. People seem to do this because they can. The computer and internet tools, now available on a mass scale, have reduced one barrier while at the same time created a much bigger communication obstacle by adding a significant amount of "noise" and "clutter". Second, is the absence of "customer". People seem to design, both graphically and linguistically for themselves, which isn't a bad thing, but how many companies could survive by simply buying their own products and services in a net zero gain? Third, are critical assessments relative to creative design fulfillment that are often dis-connected, or mis-connected from the essential strategic narratives that a company needs to successfully “communicate” and “connect” with the desired audience. For example, is a beautiful image of desert pyramids consistent with eye care and eye comfort?

To correct this, here are four essential guides:

1) Design Matters - this has been proven for over 1,000,000 years. Humans are biologically "wired" to respond to beauty. We are also wired to repel from things that are not so beautiful. The busier we get, the faster we choose what we resonate with.

2) Customer Perception Matters - this seems simple. But, you would be surprised by how many client conversations miss this key point. If your not rigorously asking; "what" would the customer think "really", and "why" does this product / service offer matter "really", your not focused here.

3) Less Is More - again, this seems simple. But, again, you would be surprised. Effective narratives are NOT delivered via "shotgun". Instead, they are delivered via a sharpshooter's rifle, with the choice for each shot being specifically designed and implemented.

4) Strategy Matters - we all have assessments about things and our assessments are all valid. However, our assessments may, or may NOT be powerful relative to a specific "strategy", narrative, or sequence of events we might choose to have un-fold in the future.

These guides, when used rigorously in the design and implementation of a company’s strategy. Particularly; Marketing, Brand and Communication strategies can go along way in helping a company instill it’s core promise in the heart(s) and mind(s) of customers.

© Copyright 2008 - Effetti, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.


The article "Because you can !...", the subtitle "... doesn't always mean that you should !..." and contents herein, unless otherwise specified in writing - by Effetti, Inc. are ALSO licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting the author through Effetti, Inc. http://www.effettigrowth.com/about-contact.php.

Words Matter...

by David Bookout

We define ourselves and our surroundings with words. We use words to coordinate, and collaborate with others.

Yet it's a wonder we get anything done, and often we can't.

Often I've illustrated the difficulty to clients and prospects by using the word "table" as an example. We all know the word. Five simple letters. Now picture your "table", and I'll bet there is NO WAY your visual picture is a Mission Oak dinning table for eight, sitting underneath a rustic, rust colored chandelier. Right? This is because our experiences and backgrounds are all completely different.

So, imagine my curiosity when I heard about "The Big Word Project" . This from their site "Paddy Donnelly and Lee Munroe, two Masters students from Northern Ireland, who are exploring what different words mean to different people. The project allows you to purchase a word from our list to represent your site. Your site will then represent this word in our list and when people click on it, they will be taken to your site. The project is aimed at changing definitions and creating a new tapestry of words, meaning altogether different things."

Brilliant!

By my calculations, at this writing, these two entrepreneurial spirits have amassed about $23K selling words for $1 / letter. If you buy the word, you get to link your website to the word on their site, thereby redefining the meaning of that word.

For example, we bought these words:

Which stands for the importance of defining "who" you are for your customers, and desired audience.

Which stands for our strategy of providing low cost, effective tools so you can grow your enterprise.

Which stands for our commitment to the alignment of your essential strategies.

But as business owners, how do we work with words to communicate better with others?

First, slow down, and actually listen for the definitions, or "meaning" that others ascribe to the words they use.

Second, ask questions in an attempt to clarify, and share the same "vision" others have for the words they use.

Third, take ownership for the production of the interpretations we intend others to share. For example, if someone isn't understanding "what" we say the difficulty is in our ability to make what we say explicit to the listener.