Editor’s Note

By Peter Sterlacci

“Remember, ask not what your network will do for you”

William Arruda always reminds us, “Ask not what your network will do for you.” While these words seem simple on the surface we tend to forget to take them at heart. Personal branding is really about “giving” and not “taking”. Our brand credibility and visibility shines if we follow the advice of great people.

• “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
• “For it is in the giving that we receive.” – St. Francis of Assisi
• “Give, but give until it hurts.” – Mother Teresa

Being Editor of a newsletter can be a demanding role. Given my other duties running my own business, being a family man, and sneaking in my bicycle rides, it can ‘hurt’ to meet 2 publication deadlines per month. Yet I am always motivated to give back to a community that has given so much to me. Just writing this column and preparing this next issue for you puts a huge smile on my face!

YOUnique has always been about giving back to you, the personal branding community. Our regular authors give their time to contribute amazing content in each issue. Actually, they make my job easier and I am grateful for their hard work.

I want to now expand this reach by announcing the start of a new column called “And Now a Word From…” This column will feature insight, ideas, and pearls of wisdom from a new author each month – people who are committed to personal branding and empowering others to embrace their unique promise of value for career and life success.

If you would like to give back, please contact me at peter at reachcc dot com and join the community of YOUnique Givers in this new column. Do not worry, I am not asking you to give until it hurts – just until it puts a smile on your face!

Thanks for reading, sharing, and giving!

Peter Sterlacci

Peter Sterlacci, founder of BeYB – Believe. Become. Be Your Brand, combines personal branding strategy with cycling imagery to empower on-the-move careerists in global companies in Japan to shift gears, get out of the saddle, and sprint to career success.

Getting a Handle on Your Finances for Career Change

Career change can require additional expenditures for professional development, joining professional associations, technical equipment, resume development and a myriad of other items. Add to that the worry about not knowing where you are heading, what type of salary you can make, and when you actually land and start collecting a paycheck. Here are a few things to do to help you prepare for the financial effects of this time of transition:

1. Know what you’re getting into: Find out how much you can make in your new career by checking www.salary.com, www.salaryexpert.com, and www.payscale.com. Also, talk to professionals in your desired field to determine what salaries are available and what the long-term prospects are for compensation and advancement.
2. Make a realistic budget: Start tracking your current expenses, and determine where you could tighten your belt. Then, start working at accumulating a three- to six-months cash cushion. Consider setting aside additional funds in case your reinvention period takes longer than expected. Taking on extra work (overtime, part-time job) could help you build up your savings.
3. Plan for training expenses: Estimate how much you’ll need to spend for training and professional development. Ask those in your target field how much they spent on training, and research professional associations in your new field to determine how much they charge for training and certificate programs.
4. Don’t overlook additional expenses: Membership in professional associations, attending professional conferences, and technology equipment and training all are potential extra expenses that you must plan for, as they can be essential for transitioning to that new occupation. Make sure you haven’t forgotten to plan for medical expenses that can be costly if you are between careers and coverage.
5. Take some extra credit: Consider obtaining a line of credit while you are employed in your present job and have steady income. This might help relieve some stress and will help you feel more comfortable knowing that you have emergency funds available.

Randi Bussin, a Career Reinvention strategist, guides executives and business owners towards a renewed sense of direction, an actionable career reinvention and personal branding plan.

Personal Brand Book Reviews
By Paul Copcutt
Wondering if you should read “that” book? A seasoned personal brand strategist offers his in depth reviews.



 
 

 
 Steve Jobs.

© 2011 by Walter Isaacson, 630 pages, Hardback

Steve Jobs

 

Steve Jobs’ Branding Manifesto

1. Focus
2. Do not sell
3. Launch
4. Memorable Messaging
5. Go one step further
6. Impressive service

5R Score: 28/35

On a scale of 1-7

• Relevance – is it right for personal branding? – 5
• Resonance – does it make sense to the reader? – 5
• Relation – is there a connection for everyone? – 5
• Remarkability – does it stand out, will it get noticed? – 6
• Real – does the personal brand come through? – 7

Would you pick it up?

At first glance you might think this a strange choice for a personal branding book review. However, Steve Jobs’ personal brand was the key factor in developing and growing the Apple product brand and ultimately the corporate brand has his stamp all over it – at least for now.

Another one for the must read list. The impact that the products and services from Apple have in our lives make this a fascinating read. It will appeal at all levels for all types – careerists, entrepreneurs, junior, senior and certainly for personal brand leadership.

Relevance:

Obviously being a biography, much of this book is all about personal leadership, which ultimately is Steve Jobs’ leadership brand. Before reading this book, your insight into his brand is likely from his public displays at product launches. Upon finishing the book, you will know him intimately – the author held nothing back, which apparently was Jobs wish.

This is as much a book that helps you understand the impact of negative brand attributes as much as positive. Jobs was by nearly all accounts a difficult person to deal with but his vision, passion and focus were the drive behind much of Apple’s and Pixar’s success.

Resonance:

Like me, you may be shocked when reading the accounts about how he dealt with people. It likely is not going to be the style you want to adopt for your brand. But many of the challenges he faced in business and life will resonate.

The brand manifesto list at the top of the article is what I gleaned from the book. While these are really focused at his approach to product development, they can easily be applied to your personal brand.

Relation:

The lessons from this book can be useful to anyone at any level. For those looking to develop their leadership style, this can be a manual for the right and wrong things to do in business.

Also for those of you with soon to be college and university children, this is a great book to pass on – although Jobs dropping out of school is probably not the message you want to send there are many other good take ways.

Remarkability:

I was impressed with the level and depth of this book. I am sure it will be an award winner. It was not written for personal branding or product branding, but in the end it can easily be a reference book for both.

Real:

In the plastic world of celebrity branding we can easily believe that we really know a brand by what we see. Steve Jobs would never have called himself a celebrity, in fact his minimalist lifestyle was in many ways anti-celebrity.

By reading this book I really feel that I know him as well as many of my clients, or actually even better! This book offers a rare and in-depth insight into one of the icons of the latter 20th and early 21st century – a genius for sure, but also many other things – some not so nice!

Paul Copcutt, Personal Brand Architect, is a sought after speaker and coach who uses real client stories and practical applications to help successful professionals and executives get clear about their uniqueness.

Commercial Break
By William Arruda
What can personal branders learn from TV advertisements? Take a break and take a peak.

L’Odyssee de Cartier

I love this commercial because: Quality. This is an extremely expensive, extremely well done, cinema quality ad. It is three minutes long. Clearly, it took a lot of Cartier’s marketing resources to create something so beautiful – and consistent with the brand. I also like the shots of Rue de la Paix in Paris – one of the most beautiful streets in the world – and one that I passed every day walking from my apartment to my gym when I lived in Paris.

This ad and YOUR personal brand: When marketing your brand, decide if it’s better to focus a major amount of your marketing resources on one high-quality initiative rather than squander your resources among many different (potentially less impactful) activities.

Strengths and Weaknesses

If you have heard me speak about personal branding, you know that I talk a lot about maximizing strengths. Strong brands become known by the things they can do better than anyone else.

Of course, it’s not all about strengths. If you have weaknesses that will impede your success, you need to resolve them.

I used Reach’s most popular tool – 360Reach – to learn about my brand (I do this every couple of years or so) – and in particular – my strengths and weaknesses. I wanted to see how my brand has changed since my last 360Reach report.

From the 360Reach feedback I received, I learned that one of my greatest strengths – my interest in creating new things – is also one of my greatest weaknesses – I am spread too thin and have too many things going on at the same time. This makes me less focused and less available. Clearly, I need to resist the temptation to constantly create new things and spend more time on fewer activities!

Because I use 360Reach with all my clients so they can get external feedback about their brand, I have seen this before. Sometimes, when we overuse a strength, it can be perceived as a weakness.

So, I am going to work on this in 2012. If you see me looking scattered, over-committed and in ‘new idea’ mode, give me a nudge so I can refocus!

Here is a link to a blog post with the top ten things I took away from my 360Reach assessment.

And if you want to see my complete, unedited 360Reach report, I posted it here – the good, the bad and the ugly!