Executive Personal Branding

A quick search on LinkedIn reveals that “integrity” is mostly associated with product launches or cancelations and job changes. There are a few posts that reference an organization’s core values. A quick search engine search reveals the definition, of course, and a series of self-help articles about how to identify someone ‘with’ it. So apparently integrity is a thing that you can acquire. Hmmm…

According to HubSpot and Ferguson Values, integrity tops the list of common core values. Yup. It’s t…

Over the last few years, I have worked with various podcast hosts and producers to improve their show and take it to the next level. Instead of sharing each one as a separate case study, I figured I would combine it into a frequently asked questions article.

What should I name my podcast?

Naming a podcast and naming your business are two different conversations. There are arguments for both approaches: giving them the same name and giving them a different name. It depends on what the content o…

Did you know it only takes 100 milliseconds to form an impression of someone from just looking at a photo of their face? Or, 80 - 90 percent of that first impression is based on just two qualities—trustworthiness and competence?

Your goal on LinkedIn is to establish credibility and give your connections a reason to trust you, this is done psychologically just by your profile picture. Also, profiles that have a professional photo get 14 times more views than those that don’t.

Those data points …

Traditionally, recommendations were written using a format that validated the credentials of the person writing them first, then talked about the recipient. These are very “me” focused in their approach and oh so 90s.

Blah blah blah…

Today's business recommendations require a new format to accommodate the new methods of how they are utilized. When you leverage this new format, it builds your credibility as the writer without having to spit out all your resume credentials and it puts the focus …

I was sitting in a meeting with a client. It was our first meeting and we were talking about building a brand. As a senior executive he had experience with conversations about brands and branding, but this time it was different. He didn’t know how or why it was different, but he struggled to maintain the normalcy of this conversation that he thought he had had so many times before.

What he didn’t know at the time, was that he wasn’t having that same conversation. This time it was different.

Yo…

A strong personal brand can help you convey confidence, build your self-esteem, and position you to stand out from others. It’s about getting clarity about your own skill set, your mindset and for some, their life purpose. Intentionally investing in your personal brand, can land you a better paying job or make attracting more profitable clients easier. So it really is a worthwhile investment.

Like a professional brand, your name can be a major part of your personal brand. Since your name will m…

“I’m sorry.” or “I made a mistake.”

What do you think of professionals who admit that they are wrong?

Does it matter if they are being sincere in their apology? Does their mistake or admission alter your views on them or their brand? Should it?

I was having a conversation with my husband about current events and he made the statement “One thing that Trump has taught me is that if you are in the public eye, you should never admit your mistake or apologize for it.”

Honestly, this took me by surprise.…

"Social media is more about sociology and psychology, than it is about technology" ~ Brian Solis.

While I agree with the concept of this quote, overall, I disagree. You can spend all your time studying sociology and psychology--have them mastered if you will. This studying will only make you book smart. You’ll have the ability to see trends in case studies and get a feel for what will probably happen in this situation or that.

But what happens when you actually interact with real people? What hap…

“I know what customer service is.” “I think I know what customer experience is.” “What is brand experience?”

That is usually how a conversation about customers relating to a business goes. Companies are familiar with customer service and usually customer experience, although they sometimes conflate the two. Brand experience, on the other hand often draws a blank, or worse, it is lumped in with customer service. Do you see a pattern developing here? There has been a lot of conversation around the…

Do you remember the days of customer service before social media? For many companies, it seemed like they had a goal of breaking down the customer, hoping to frustrate them out of wanting to be helped at all. Their attitude was, “Wow, you sure seem mad. But what are you going to do about it?” And they were right, there wasn’t much a customer could do…then!

Along came social media, and suddenly customers could actually could do something about it. Customers could demand proper service and help. Th…