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How to Be Co-signed by Your Cohorts


LeBron, LeBron, LeBron.

LeBron James, NBA superstar, chose to go to the Miami Heat after a summer of deliberation.  After Thursday’s announcement you either love him or hate him.  The story will be buried and exhumed many times over, so I will not go into it.  However, I will go into what I feel is a remarkable side story.

James, will be joining Dwayne Wade, an existing Miami Heat player, and Chris Bosh who recently signed with Miami from the Toronto Raptors.  Unless you are fan of basketball, you may ask, “who is Chris Bosh?” And this is the remarkable side of the story.

Wade and James are known superstars, have been on the big screen, and have had the media hype to follow.  This is Bosh’s first time in the limelight.  Anyone who follows basketball knows that Chris Bosh is a solid player.  But not until now has he really been considered a superstar. Which has been argued by some sports critics. Why is he at superstar status? Its because he has been co-signed.  He has teamed up with two of the biggest brands in basketball. You can’t ask for better exposure.

This is the classic example of brand building by association.  The examples of a brands being co-signed speak clearly:

Pontiac G6 – Oprah Giveaway
After this car was given away on the The Oprah Winfrey Show, within two weeks, Pontiac G6 awareness reached 87% among adults, while also achieving a 17% click-through rate (on the web), a Google record for the time. With a new product, your can’t ask for better exposure, after that the product has to sell itself. It was co-signed by Oprah.

Nike – Michael Jordan
Nike cut Michael Jordan a check for $500,000 for his endorsement in 1985. In 1984 Nike’s total revenue was about $900 million. By 1997, when Jordan was closing in on the fifth of his six NBA titles, it hit $9.19 billion. Case closed.

Regardless to whether brand association is orchestrated or organic, its hugely beneficial and is represented in the perceived value part of the brand value equation.  Perceived value can be increased because of the association of another brand.

While Bosh is a solid player by himself, he has raised his brand equity tremendously by teaming up with cohorts of the maganitude of James and Wade.  Whether they have created a dynasty by teaming together is yet to be seen.  What is known is that Bosh has taken an opportunity to remove himself of the caves of Toronto and put himself in position to shine in South Beach.

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When Free Sucks: Google are you Listening? #WhenFreeSucks

I have been singing the praises of Google for years.  I have talked about the brilliance of their FREE model.  When Chris Anderson’s book, ‘FREE’ came out I purchased the book the first week.  Whenever I needed to search for anything on the net I would always go to Google.com.  Then the unthinkable happens, all of my videos were deleted from my YouTube account which is owned by Google. (Note:  All of my videos were in total compliance with their terms of service.)

In an instant my YouTube account with over 13,000 views was deleted. In my mind Google is a great company so I knew they are going to respond swiftly when I contacted them about this simple mistake they made.  I have entered questions into their online forum, emailed questions to YouTube, and called the Google office only to get totally ignored.  I can’t begin to explain to you the level of frustration that I felt because I have gotten ZERO response from one of my favorite Brand.  Over the years I have put a great deal of trust into ‘FREE’ resources like YouTube.  I now understand there is always a tradeoff to ‘FREE’ and one of the main reasons is:

  • No Customer Service: Humans don’t typically service other humans that don’t pay.

The Impact to your Personal Brand and Dependence on Google

How dependent is your business on Google?  I am really starting to re-think how I build my personal brand with Google and other FREE tools.

Some of the Many Google Services that I use

  • YouTube Videos
  • Gmail account emails
  • Google Docs
  • Google Calendars
  • Google Checkout

If your account is temporarily or permanently compromised what is the impact to your personal brand/business?  I walked away from my FREE experience saying I would rather have a paid service that I could hold someone accountable.

Tips for Managing you Personal Brand with FREE

  • Own Your Hub: As a personal brand you need to own the main hub of their online activity. (i.e. www.ChrisBrogan.com)
  • Back-up Everything: Anything in FREE services needs to be backed up:  videos, documents, important emails, etc.
  • Re-Evaluate your Dependence on FREE: Re-Evaluate everything that you have in FREE social networking sites or other FREE services you use.
  • Carefully Select Account Managers: If you have a third party managing any of your social network accounts be very careful.  Your reputation can be compromised and your account suspended or deleted because of inappropriate activity (anything that violates their Terms of Service)

Blog Post on FREE Services and Frustrations

I write this blog post to get you thinking and planning so that you can be proactive in managing your online personal brand.  It is also validates to me that nothing in life is FREE there is always a cost.  It is just a matter of who is paying, when they pay and how much.  Does this mean to stop using Google or other FREE services like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter?  The answer is no but you have to manage your dependence.

Would you be willing to pay for a services that are currently FREE (i.e. YouTube) for customer service and the ability to hold someone accountable?

(Photo Credit: Google Logo Render by mark knol)

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Tony Hsieh – @Zappos CEO, “Delivering Happiness Book Release”

Tony Hsieh (Zappos CEO) Delivering Happiness Book to Hajj Flemings

The poster child of corporate culture and the usage of technology to connect with customers is Zappos.  Zappos is ran by one of the smartest, most relevant CEOs on the planet Tony Hsieh.  What does Tony do?  Does he build brands, create corporate culture, deliver happiness or all three? I had the opportunity to hangout with Tony Hsieh and the Zappos Team in March 2010 in Austin, TX on the Happiness Bus at SXSW.  I experienced the Zappos corporate culture for a few hours and I will validate he is doing all three.

I am an avid reader and I am excited to share with you the latest book that I am reading, “Delivering Happiness:  A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose” by Tony Hsieh.  Tony is a proven leader who is living what he is teaching. He has developed two companies LinkExchange which was sold to Microsoft for $265M in 1995 and Zappos.com which was sold to Amazon.com for $1.2B in 2009. 

Be a part of the movement his book ships June 7th purchase part of his brain for under $25, what a deal.

Zappos’ Core Values

The Framework of the Culture

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Follow Tony/Zappos
Follow: @DHBook (Delivering Happiness Book Twitter Account)
Follow: @Zappos (Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zapppos)
Blog: www.DeliveringHappinessBook.com

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The Year in Review: Nine Personal Branding Predictions for 2009!

2009 Personal Branding Predictions

The year in review.  Let me know how well I did with my 2009 Personal Branding Predictions. This is the link to the original post: http://bit.ly/5qaNK4

It is 2009 and the Internet is buzzing with experts providing their predictions and trends for the year. I wanted to provide my thoughts on personal branding to help set the tone for an exciting year.

Predictions/Trendspotting

1. Creative Economy: Creativity will be to the information age what manufacturing was to the industrial age. Individuals dependence on being a company man working 30-years at one company or until death do you part will cease to exist. The integration of creativity into business ideas and career will become a necessity and not an option. As a personal brand you will need to think creatively in developing strategic partnerships and ways to stand out. After everybody has updated their Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter pages, established a blog, added followers, and followed all the same tips what is next? Creativity.

2. Purpose/Mission: People will start to seek opportunities or careers that give them greater satisfaction that they have a true passion for. This is primarily due to the instability in the economy and the reduction of jobs that were more lucrative in good economic times. High paying low education jobs are a thing of the past. People will now look at opportunities that align with how they are wired and what they were designed to do.

3. ‘Personal Branding’ Term Commoditized: The term ‘Personal Branding’ will become more commoditized and genericized. The term has significance and value when implemented, but I believe the term itself will be overused and misused.

4. Traditional Journalist Become Commodities: The voice and influence of bloggers and social media experts increase. Newspapers are losing money with traditional newspaper printing and are looking for ways to compete with the new media. Traditional journalist will have to integrate social media and effectively establish their personal brand.

5. Personal Branding Experts Commodization: With the increase of social media gurus the line between personal branding experts and social media experts is blurring. The personal branding industry will become oversaturated and the cream will rise to the top. Those of us in the personal branding industry will have to work harder to cut through the noise.

6. Establish ‘Blue Movement’: The need to develop the ‘Blue Movement is critical. ‘American Made’ needs to be established as the new luxury product. The ‘Green Movement’ has been very successful because big business have bought into it can the same be done with the ‘Blue Movement’?

7. Twitter Relevance Increases: Twitter will gain relevance as a search and primary news source. Business opportunities with strategist business models and usages will continue to be developed.

8. Personal Brands being Healthy: Being healthy is just as importance as your ranking in Google. You can have all the money and influence in the world but without good health you have nothing. Being fit spiritually, mentally, and physically is critical. Learn to have balance and think holistically because you are the sum total of all your parts.

9. Passion Becomes King: People doing what they love. Passion is the fuel that drives you to do what others are not willing to do. We all have the same 24-hours but passionate people find out how to get more out of their time and produce higher quality results.

I want to challenge and inspire you to shine in 2009. Have an awesome year and share your predictions for 2009 in the comments section of this blog post.

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Personal Branding: It’s Not What YOU Say.

There’s a lot of personal branding advice out there, much of it really good.  There are guides to SEO for your personal brand, The Brand YU Life, how to answer “What do you do?” to support your personal branding efforts, and how to brand yourself on LinkedIn.  All of these are focused on what you put out there — your marketing message.

But your marketing message is only one part of a cohesive personal branding effort.

Think of the last time you had a crappy experience with customer service — something you really got your panties in a wad over.  How do you feel about that company today?  Have you ever considered egging someone’s office?  Written a strongly worded letter?  Wanted someone fired?

Bet that perspective isn’t anywhere in their brand messaging.  But it’s definitely a part of the brand experience.

Your brand is more than a summary of your resume, a polished professional photo and a strong handshake.  It’s even more than well-crafted copy and a cohesive online presence.  It’s a feeling.  It’s a relationship. Where effective personal branding truly comes into play is when you can align what you say with what you are.  That’s when you have a strong,
integrated brand.

Do you know what other people think about you?  What they perceive as your talents and your weaknesses?  How they think you fit into the world?  Their estimation of your competitive value?

If you don’t, you’re not effectively managing your brand.  Understanding how you’re perceived can help you improve your value, and better understand the value you’re already delivering.

How do I know how others experience my personal brand?

  • Ask. Find a few trusted advisors who might be willing to give you some honest feedback and ask them what they think of you.  Try the following script:
“I was wondering if you might be willing to help me with my [business development, job search, etc.] by giving me some feedback.  Would you be open to that?”

(Get agreement.)

“Great.  It’s really important to me that you feel comfortable giving me completely honest information.  Please don’t worry about hurting my feelings.  The more direct and honest you can be for me, the more helpful it will be.  Just a couple simple questions.  First, what do you think of when you think about me?”

(Give space for reply.)

“Fantastic.  Thank you.  That’s very helpful.  One more question — is there anything that you think I can do to improve?”

(Give space for reply.)

The key to success here is to be relaxed, open and comfortable with the conversation.  The person you approach may be nervous.  So, the more you can convey that the information is both important to you, and also not a big deal, the more likely that you’ll get an open, honest assessment.

  • Listen. Even without asking straight out, there are clues delivered all the time.  In what contexts does your name come up?  What are peoples’ reactions when you ask them for or offer help?  Do people say the same things to you over and over?  (“I know you must be swamped” might indicate that you’re perceived as overworked or not open to participating in new projects.  “I know you’re the person to go to for X” may show your perceived expertise, or perceived willingness to help.)  Look for trends or themes.
  • Notice. What results are coming your way?  Are you often invited to participate in groups, or do you seem to be missed?  Are you getting new assignments?  Is training available to you?  Or do you feel like you’ve stagnated?  Seeing opportunity come your way is a positive indicator of your brand, and seeing it pass you by is a negative.  It’s up to you to determine exactly what part of your brand is bringing success and what is getting in your way.

Take an interest in how you’re perceived, and you’ll learn how to better market yourself.

Kristi Daeda is a Success Coach and creator of Career Adventure, a blog which helps professionals in the pursuit of their inspiring work.  To receive her free report, 51 Ordinary and Extraordinary Places to Find a Job, sign up for her free Career Kick Start newsletter.

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