Describe me in three words

Posted on 02/03/2011 by admin

The best way to find out – without getting people’s backs up!
It’s amazing what people say about you if you give them 10 seconds and 3 words to describe you. Your friends, family and colleagues will all come up with a very different answer. The trick is interpreting their feedback and see “is this the persona I wanted to project?” Make sure they answer quickly, it’s normally the gut reactions that are the most telling.

Your perception of your self image and the persona you project could very well be quite different. The first time I did it, I was taken aback by the response, the answers where not quite what I expected. It was very insightful, fun and useful. It’s a positive experience, shows to those around you that you are self aware and understand the impact of your self image on others.

Changing the image you project
1) Group the answers together and see if you can spot a trend
2) Identify how you wish to be perceived and then see where the gaps are
3) Work out the skills, attributes and behaviours that you need to display for you to be perceived in the way you want to be
4) Built a 21 day plan focusing on training yourself to exhibit your desired persona
5) Repeat the exercise as frequently as you need to (And have fun with it!)

Give it a try, go and find out today
Go on, be brave! Ask your family, friends and colleagues to describe you in three words.

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Are you always on send? Or receive?

Posted on 26/02/2011 by admin

Broadcasting all the time can be a turn off some people
As marketing and personal branding practitioners, we need to ensure we are creating a dialogue with our audience. It’s vital not to broadcast a monologue at your target. Relationships are based on an ‘exchange’ of information. So, the key here is to think how you can create a positive dialogue?

How do you know when it’s gone wrong?
1) Your partner wants to tell you about their day, but you’ve been busy and you end up half listening. And when prompted, you get the answer to the trick question wrong (you’d turned off) … come on, we’ve all been there icon wink Are you always on send? Or receive?

2) You’re a blogger with some experience, but you don’t listen or respond to the ‘strong’ feedback in the marketplace. It’s a dangerous game, did anyone see the response from KitKat in the social media fight with Greenpeace in 2010?

3) You’ve spent a long-time researching and working on a project, however when you show your boss they change the direction without taking a breath. You feel this compromises the project and pushes it in the wrong direction. The culture in the business is “X said so!” You have to live with it.

Developing a rapport
A good rapport is one of the most important characteristics of subconscious communication, and fundamental to keeping your audience on side.

How to balance your dialogue
1) Develop respect for your stakeholder’s position AND help them understand for your position
2) Actively seek feedback, listen and involve your stakeholders in your messaging
3) Respond personally to each individual message, question or request
4) Deliver something positive, helpful, and if you can, add some value

Peter Thompson mentions, You have two ears and one mouth – make sure you use them in that ratio – two-to-one!

Look at your day and ask yourself “are you on send or receive?” Think about it, would listening more help you be more successful?

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Simplify, clarify and outperform!

Posted on 18/02/2011 by admin

You will be more successful, if you focus your message
Whatever you are trying to say – remember, the human mind processes one thing at a time. If you try to force too many subject items into one ‘message’ you’ll confuse your audience and lower chances of success, and most importantly, reduce your conversion rate.

Distil your subject matter down to its component parts – and focus on the bit at the heart of what you want to say. Focused messaging is easier for your audience to understand and get you better results.

Make sure you are focussing on the things that really matter to you and your stakeholders. 1) What are you trying to achieve? 2) What action do you want this person to take? And, most importantly; 3) Does your message achieve your objective? If not, you need to re-work your content.

How can you hone the messaging surrounding your personal brand to focus in on the target?

- End -

I could have made this post longer with some examples – do they really improve it? I think the shorter the better, but if you don’t here’s some more icon wink Simplify, clarify and outperform!

Oh so close
Virgin media have a beautiful piece of direct mail, the copy is clear, the message is simple and it’s direct. I was very close to signing up until I saw the other items in the envelope on other offers, I then didn’t know which was best for me. I didn’t sign up, and I’m now looking at the competition.

Less is more
The web application firm 37Signals, builders of Basecamp, know that if they over develop their tools it will move them into a new market segment. They are focused on making their software tools fix segments. If a client outgrows the package, fine, it has been nice working with you.

Apple know how
The Google Android has far more features, but still the iPhone is king. Why? Because it’s simple, effective and a joy to use. Apple invest the time on usability, testing and research to ensure they know how to distil and refine their offering to make it easy for users.

How can you direct your messaging that surrounds your personal brand to hit the target?

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I don’t want your opinion. I want your analysis!

Posted on 12/02/2011 by admin

Think about “where do you add the most value?”  Insight and Analysis?
I spotted this challenge last week in the office. A colleague was stopped in mid-flow by a senior manager; he was delivering his ‘opinion’ and that as not going down well. “I don’t like it” – does not cut the mustard in today’s economy.

I realised using ‘the strawman’ would have worked well in this situation. Take a stand back, distance your self and try another approach, such as – “I’ve seen XYZ firm use an innovative approach to a similar situation. The result was ABC, I think that’s quite close to the target that we have. Do you think that could work in this situation?”

Give it a try, and if you can – back your chat with related research and statistics. The result is, I’m not telling you that I think – this is what the research says. Link the research to your customers and it’s double bubble (win-win). Give it a try – focus on Insight and Analysis. Let me know how you get on.

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Finding your Superpower (or USP)

Posted on 11/02/2011 by admin

Uncovering your niche skills
Do people ask you for advice? If so, what for? And could it happen more often? Think about it, why do they come and ask you? Is it because you know more than them? Does that make it unique?

We’ve all enjoyed cartoons about superheroes as children. Characters with more than the skills of Superman or Spiderman, the heros who need to explain what their powers are for and how they work; ‘Superpowers that require an introduction’. When we meet new people, we all have to introduce ourselves and explain what we do. How about including what ‘Where you add value’ or ‘what your niche skill’ is, along with “I work for XYZ firm”.

Building your Superpowers
What’s your area of expertise? Is the topic/skill/subject that you enjoy and are passionate about? Is it something you could focus more on? If all the answers are “yes” or “maybe” then it’s worth thinking about building it as something you can use to showcase your talent.

Starting today
In two years, could you be the go-to person for this topic/skill/subject 1) first within your organisation, then 2) in the wider world? Or how about the other way around? Could you build up your expertise within a community and then use the area of expertise at work?

Think about it, what is your niche skill? Could it be something that you can hone into a Superpower to build a USP for yourself?

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