Michelle Clarke has a post about How to Stand Out without Shouting Out that’s really worth reading. She lists her 3 keys for standing out without shouting out.
Tag: brand
Through LinkedIn I came across an interesting article, The Genius of Wearing the Same Outfit Every Day. It gives two different reasons. One is to cut down on the number of decisions, the other is to create a brand (think Steve Jobs).
President Barack Obama gave this reason for wearing a blue or gray suit all the time all the time.
I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.
Cutting down on the number of ordinary decisions makes a lot of sense.
Two college professors who have studied decision-making, Kathleen Vohs and Barry Schwartz, both found that a person has a limited amount of brain power in a day, so the more decisions they have to make, the weaker their decision-making process becomes.
Which ordinary decisions can you simplify?
A question that both clients and I myself wrestle with is how to best write bios for social media. In some social media, like Twitter, there are restrictions and limited space while others offer “unlimited” space. Either way, it’s all about capturing the readers and get your message through. You need a hook and to tell the readers what’s in it for them.
When talking about how to write bios I mention three things you need to get across: what you deliver, your skills and something about yourself.
A professional bio on a social network is an introduction – a foot in the door so your potential audience can evaluate you and decide if you’re worth their time.
That’s a brilliant summary. Read about six rules for a foolproof bio in the excellent post over at Buffer: How to Write a Professional Bio For Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook & Google+. There are some really great comments too.
Credit: I found the Buffer-post through How to write a professional bio for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+ which is a re-post of the Buffer-post.
I came across Your Life’s Story Told in One Sentence over at Marc and Angel Hack Life. It is a very interesting and useful post that starts like this:
Constraints make us focus. They force us to zero-in on a specific purpose. The less material we have to work with, the more resourceful we must be. Can you sum up your entire outlook on life in one sentence? Do you have a personal motto you live your life by?
The mission sentence is mainly for your own use:
When you define your mission sentence, you craft a powerful tool for yourself. You create an abbreviation of all your goals, values, and passions… a guiding symbol of your life’s story. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a phrase others will understand. It’s not for them or for promotional purposes. It’s for you.
Creating a mission sentence is a great exercise, it helps you stay focused. My mission sentence is “I am making the world a better place”. What is yours?
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
Over at Freelance Folder is a useful post titled Is Your Elevator Pitch a Home Run?.
Your elevator pitch is your 30-second marketing strategy. You need it to tell people on the fly at any given moment who you are, what you do, and help win them over – or at the very least, gets them to remember you so they can refer you to their friends. A good elevator pitch lands new clients, gets referrals, or makes you memorable.
I am working on my own elevator pitch, need one for my coaching business. The post above is a good start, so is my own post Elevator pitch – Networking pitch.
Note: Photo by ToastyKen.
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
Fast Company had an interesting article titled “The Brand Called You”. It is some years old but still valid. Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here’s what it takes to be the CEO of Me Inc.
The article covers these:
+ What makes You different?
+ What’s the pitch for You?
+ What’s the real power of You?
+ What’s loyalty to You?
+ What’s the future of You?
A quote from the article:
It’s this simple: You are a brand. You are in charge of your brand. There is no single path to success. And there is no one right way to create the brand called You. Except this: Start today. Or else.
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
It is often called an elevator pitch but is just as useful as your introduction to people you meet at networking events. There are different views on how long the pitch shall be, 15-30 seconds or up to a minute. In my opinion, short is better.
An “elevator pitch” is a quick and concise way to communicate who you are, what you’re trying to do, and why you do it better. Another explanation is that an “Elevator Pitch” is a concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced description about your company that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator.
Here are some tips for creating an elevator pitch:
1. Assume low buildings.
2. Put a tag on it.
3. Solve a problem.
4. Turn adversity into opportunity.
5. Lay out the benefits.
6. Conclude with a call to action.
7. Make it tangible.
8. Show your passion.
Tips found at Fast Company.
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
Rajesh Setty wrote in a manifesto at ChangeThis that “being part of the commodity crowd erodes your value.” You need to rise above the crowd by following Setty’s 25 ways.
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
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