A major component of personal branding is sharing your expertise through articles and columns. Last month, Financial Advisor publications debuted my "21st Century Marketing" column. And this week, Personal Branding magazine debuted my "Entrepreneurship Branding" column. (The publisher's blog is linked on my blogroll on the side.)
Below is a quick video of Dan Schawbel, publisher of Personal Branding magazine, talking about it. BTW: Dan donates proceeds of the subscriptions to charity! I particularly like the video's Spanish subtitles. While I can't read them, I do like the broad appeal. (On a related note, I also write a business column for Dominican Times magazine, which is bi-lingual.)
Second to Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin is my role model. I believe we can learn a lot about our own careers, pitfalls, and successes through our role models. Rick Rubin is featured on the cover of this week's NY Times magazine. He has produced the best albums and hits in the mainstream music industry. Rick Rubin truly is a MAESTRO!
As you know, the music industry is in shambles. In May, Columbia Records recruited the legendary Rick Rubin to re-innovate them; Rick Rubin became Chairman of Columbia Records. Rick Rubin is a maestro with a personal brand all his own. Read the cover story! You will learn a lot on how to stand out and reshape - not only your career - but your whole profession.
Some [useful marketing] quotes by Rick Rubin from this week's NY Times Magazine cover story:
"I still believe that if an artist gains the belief of the listener, then anything is possible."
"I have no training, no technical skill — it's only this ability to listen and try to coach the artist to be the best they can from the perspective of a fan."
Last fall, I ran a series of highly-interactive & fun networking events called The Anecdote Game.
The rules were simple: We try to out-do each other with the most creative and distinctive customer success stories... or anecdotes. We take turns saying & editing our anecdotes. And we score each other on our strong points, and what to improve.
The Anecdote Game is fun to play, and a great way to test market, and to get instant feedback from people who will be recommending us! It helped cut out our jargon, get to the heart of our benefits, and to Keep It Short & Simple... We even got (Hershey's) KISSes as prizes!
Have a sales team or belong to a networking group? The Anecdote Game is easy to play. If you want me to host one, just let me know.
I'll post a podcast soon explaining the basic rules. The substance of which is how to write a short and compelling ANECDOTE:
Write out successful client ANECDOTES:
1. in their words, ASPIRATION/ADVERSITY:
2. in their words, your ADVICE/ACTIONS:
3. in their words, ADVANTAGE/ACHIEVEMENT:
For more emphasis & suspense, flip the order of 3 & 2. You can say the whole anecdote in less than 10 words: Start with 100 words (30 x 3), then underline the most important 30 (10 x 3)... and then 10 (3 x 3)!
Have clients sign off on them, and use it as testimonials. Or bring your cellphone along & have them record it as a voicemail for you to use as a quick audio on your website. Yes, mine are in the process of being created!!
Why don't you practice writing customer-success anecdotes by posting your own below?
(On July 7, I had 16,318 hits... what do I have now? What's the average? I'm hitting over 300 a day. Thank you everybody.)
The more traffic on your website. The more new leads you get.
Google & iTunes will drive traffic to your website - for free - if you do this...
Click below to hear my podcast: How engaging your Internet leads can be quick & easy. (Subscribers to my e-mail newsletter got the whole transcript.)
Call me (516.642.4100) with your questions. Or just post them below as comments (and promote your website).
PodcastersWhosWho.com invited me to do a special "Internet radio show," called Podcamp On-line. My topic is, "Podcasting BY PHONE: Access more listeners; personal brand your expertise!"
Ask me how to participate with any phone or through the Internet.
DATE: July 28
TIME: 12:30 - 1 afternoon
PLACE: your home office
ATTIRE: pajamas.
Disclaimer: I'm a major library geek. I used to work at my public library growing up. And in high school, I used to hang out in our library. (Of course, it was less studious playing video games on one of the first h.s. student LANs with Internet access.)
And I still love libraries.
In May, the Half Hollow Hills library (Dix Hills) will be hosting their annual Small Business Education month series of seminars. I'm proud that they've invited me to present 2 of them; click to read about all 8 seminars. On behalf of the U.S. Small Business Administration, I've also presented at Freeport and Great Neck public libraries.
One of my recent podcasts referenced the Middle Country Public Library's relationship with the Hauppauge Industrial Association. We enjoy amazing benefits (listen to "free call lists" post) as HIA members. While I co-chair 2 committees: Membership, and Business Development Committees - thus obliged to promote HIA - the benefits of HIA membership speak for itself.
Libraries can provide you market research resources & references. Librarians are experts at research. Libraries also have many trade magazines, journals, and newspapers.
Oh yea, your local library also has books... about business. Audiobooks too.
If your library hasn't produced any business education seminars recently, I'd be happy to help them coordinate one. If your library does have any events, feel free to promote it in the Comments below.
Ever wonder how Bush won ... "again"? No president has ever been re-elected with such low approval ratings. All it took was the right strategy... a new documentary DVD reveals how it happened through candid interviews from both sides.
Personal brand marketing strategy goes hand-in-hand with political campaign strategy!
In my audiobook INSTANT BUZZ, I actually reveal one of the most Influential books on the Bush campaign, as quoted by the RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. It's referenced by Matthew Dowd (Chief Strategist Bush 2004 Campaign) as he's interviewed in this great interview-driven documentary:
In Fall 2006, film makers, James D. Stern & Adam Del Deo, released "...So Goes the Nation" through IFCfilms. It recently came out on DVD; watch it!! Study it!! And tell others... I think it's the next best Secret. Last night, I saw the documentary three times in a row... including the directors' behind-the-scenes commentary.
Sadly the DVD (and the trailer below) is packaged in typical "pro-liberal/anti-Bush" garb (obviously that didn't stop me). But the movie is so much better than propaganda.
Camera crews {in typical realityTV form} follow 4 everyday campaigners through their trials and tribulations in the most pivotal state in the election (Ohio): 2 on the Kerry 2004 side, and 2 for the Bush Campaign 2004. As an activist who's dedicated years to grassroots organizing, it was very reassuring to me.
While this narrative provided great suspense (even though we all know the ending), I loved the interviews: 8 TOP INSIDERS ON BOTH THE KERRY CAMPAIGN & THE BUSH CAMPAIGN GAVE CANDID INTERVIEWS on "What in the world were they thinking????":
~1~ Mary Beth Cahill - Kerry Campaign Manager
~2~ Ken Mehlman - Bush 2004 Campaign Manager
~3~ Matthew Dowd - Chief Strategist Bush 2004 Campaign
~4~ Mark McKinnon - Media Director for Bush 2004 Campaign
~5~ Terry McAuliffe - Democratic National Committee Chairman
~6~ Tad Devine - Communications Director for Kerry Campaign
~7~ Ed Gillespie - Republican National Committee Chairman
~8~ Paul Begata - Clinton campaign advisor (former co-host of CNN CrossFire)
Both sides explore one of the most important marketing strategy decisions: PERSUASION or MOTIVATION? Which won?
Listen to one of my favorite parts of "...So Goes the Nation" in my podcast. Mark McKinnon, Bush Media Strategist, describes how he set up Kerry to blunder!
~Watch '...So Goes the Nation' & share it as a gift.
or visit the 
