Home » Blog » Monthly Archives: October 2009

Personal Branding Interview: Hill Harper and Hajj E. Flemings – The Conversation

Hill Harper who most notably portrays Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on CSI: New York, he recently released his third book, “The Conversation” which is number two on the New York Best Seller list.  In his latest book he discusses the topic of conversations between men and women which has created a lot of buzz online.

Successful Brands Provide an Experience

One of the key characteristics of successful brands is that they provide customers with an experience.  I recently interviewed Hill Harper after a book signing in Royal Oak, MI.  Hill is a very grounded person with a magnetic personality, who makes every person in the room feel like they are the only one there.

After the book signing I saw how each person walked away with a personal experience after interacting with Mr. Harper, his command of the room is second to none.  I walked away thinking about the experience I provide those I interact with and what do they walk away with.  It was a moment of sobering reflection as I began to evaluate myself.

Hill Harper on Twitter

 

Hill is very active on Twitter, to follow him on the set of CSI: New York or to find out when he is coming to your town for a book signing or to extend the ‘”The Conversation” about his book follow him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/HillHarper.

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Personal Branding Interview: So You Want to be like Chris Brogan!

I recently interviewed Chris Brogan at the Detroit Zoo in Michigan and we discussed the topic, ‘So you want to be like Chris Brogan?’ I thought this would create a lively conversation with all the discussion on defining EXPERTS and fabricated followership (people gaming the system to inorganically add followership in Twitter and other social networks.)

Anybody with access to a high-speed internet connection has heard of social media guru Chris Brogan, author of the New York Times Best-Seller “Trust Agents.” After talking with Chris there were four big ideas that surfaced that I wanted to share with you that I think will impact your personal brand.

Four Big Ideas to Remember in Developing Your Personal Brand

• There is no Race – Most people focus on racing or competing against others to measure or define success in life, professionally, and in their career. Personal branding is first personal you have to personally and internally assess who you are and your objectives. Professionals always compete against themselves versus competing against others. People who occupy the same space that you want to compete in should be used as potential benchmarks. Only amateurs look externally to define who they are internally.

• Trademark Yourself – A trademark authorizes you as legal owner of the mark/signature that represents your idea which can be renewed as long as it is being used in commerce. Most people focus on being a cheap copy and try to duplicate someone else’s brand/signature versus being original. Trying to be someone else is costly. Focus on being the best you.

• Decide Where do you put your Juice - Everybody has the same amount of time in their day 24 hours, @GaryVee, Oprah, Bill Gates, etc.. The goal becomes to be more effective in the usage of your time and energy. You increase the value of your minute and your personal brand by deciding on the right place to put your juice (time and energy).

• Overnight Success – This is a misnomer, but the saying is true there is a such thing as an overnight success. The problem is that most people interpret it to mean that it is instant and it is not. Overnight success is typically years of overnights and then people who didn’t know you were practicing and preparing all of a sudden see the result of your practice.

In the world of online brand identity it is very easy to rip other people’s ideas, copy content, and artificially add followers, but remember influence can’t be bought. Be the best you that you can be.

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Brand Camp ’09: Personal Branding 2.0 Conference Wrap-Up

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What happens when you get a collection of true thought leaders, entrepreneurs, storytellers, tweeters, visionaries and a world-class athlete in a single room?  You get the Brand Camp ’09 experience: engaging conversations with like-minded people that inspire change and transform gray matter with each spoken word and each character of every tweet.

Why Detroit?  Detroit is a blue collar, manufacturing town that was built on the back of the automotive industry which was the Silicon Valley of its day. The cheese has moved and Detroit is currently going through a brand crisis.  It is the perfect location to discuss how social media, personal branding and passion is changing the way we work and live.

Super Heroes/Professors

The list of Rock stars that rocked Lawrence Tech University providing nutrious content for attendees to consume for 7-hours and shared in short 140 character burst of information.

BCU_Professors

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manoian/4009145335/in/set-72157622580068302/

Mitch Joel, Ken Brown, Scott Monty, Rohit Bhargava, Hajj E. Flemings ,  Valeria Maltoni, April Holmes,  and Robert (Bob) Fish (Not Pictured)

What others are saying about Brand Camp ‘09

Is Brand Camp a conference, an experience, or a movement? Only time will tell, but for now it is a passionate community of early adopters who are growing their personal brands and businesses with social media.

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Brand to the Beat of a Different Drummer

3002687604_081a257ee5_oIn today’s job market, job seekers inevitably want to get hired and are constantly seeking new and unique ways to brand themselves so to stand out from the crowd. However, with so many professionals trying to establish their personal brands off and online, it may seem that it is becoming increasingly challenging to stand out and get noticed in one’s industry or area of expertise and interest.

I reached out to fellow job seekers and career experts for effective personal branding tips that could help you distinguish yourself to your chosen and targeted audience of employers, and here are some top tips that I compiled to share with you today:

Learn or Master a Skill

Focus on your area of expertise that you want to be known for. Stick to what you’re good at, and then make it even better it. How? For starters, don’t do what everyone else is doing. Don’t go to the local non-profit organization and volunteer your time, joining its marketing team to end up doing whatever task comes your way. Take control of the direction of your marketing project. Go online, research, and commit to learning one new focused skill; pick a skill that increases your value in your expertise. This is your new job for now. Really commit to it, and spend the time it takes to learn it. Master it. Then, go to someone in your target audience, and offer that skill to them to solve a problem. Show them how you can help them; offer them your solution. Make it the best. Wow them with it. - Maren Finzer, www.marenfinzer.com

Write a Book

I’ve been lecturing and writing about careers for quite a while now and the best branding advice I can give is this: write a book. Or, an e-book at least. Choose a unique title to enhance your branding efforts. Include the e-book when job-applying online. Ideally, you can afford to have an actual book printed and can include it with your resume when you’re being interviewed in person.  Don’t let the idea a writing a book deter you–books nowadays don’t fit the traditional definition. They can be a collection of blog articles. Or, short manuscripts. (I’ve been some that have fewer than 30 pages, some of which contain a simple quotation.) You could even outline the knowledge/expertise that brands you and hire a ghostwriter. - Marlene Caroselli, www.caroselli.biz

Plan an Event

Plan a local event for your industry. Sounds crazy, right? With the popularity of “un-conferences” growing, it’s possible for anyone to plan an event for their industry.  Local project manager Jason Brett planned ProductCamp Atlanta. He recruited sponsors to pay for the food and facility. He invited everyone he knows in the industry. 200 people RSVPed for the free event and 185 people attended. It was held on the Georgia tech campus, which provided ample parking and free wireless access. Jason used consistent branding for himself and for the event – so that his name became well-known throughout the community. Jason received a job offer within 30 days of the event. - Brandy Nagel

Use Video

Because personal branding is just that –personal– one of the most effective tools we teach our clients is to allow potential employers (or customers) that “VIP-Access to get to know you” via use of video.  We encourage our clients, for example, to produce a 6-part series of 60 second videos sharing relevant information to not only show their expertise, but also to allow others the chance to understand their personality and build a following.  Potential employers start to like you before you’ve even met face to face.  Suddenly, you are walking into an interview where everyone has already watched your carefully built You Tube channel and vlog posts (they watched it while you slept) and they feel like they know you.  You are a friend on their doorstep, while the other candidates are strangers they’ve never met.  And you know the rule about that.  Never talk to strangers. - Aly & Andrea, www.AlyandAndrea.com

Special thanks to everyone who contributed to this wealth of personal branding insight!

Chris Perry is a Gen Y Brand and Marketing Generator, a Career Search and Personal Branding Expert and the Founder of Career Rocketeer, the Career Search and Personal Branding Blog.

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Nominate Someone to Attend Brand Camp ‘09 for FREE!

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Nominate a Brand Icon.
Do you know someone with a strong personal brand? A person that really understands what it means to Grustle?

We want them to attend Brand Camp University 2009 on us.

Here is how you can nominate them to attend:

Leave a comment on this post with the name of the person you are nominating and why you feel should attend.

OR

Tweet their name and why they should attend (include the hashtag #brandcampu)

We will extend offers to attend the conference for free based on the nominations we receive.

(Note: You can only self-nominate if you recommend someone as well.)

Thanks for your participation!

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