Personal Branding is Becoming More Than a Fad…

A year or two ago, personal branding would have been seen as a fad – something that may stay or may go – especially online.  However, there is now a growing Renaissance of writers, bloggers, coaches and experts who all proclaim that Personal Branding is perhaps more important than any other kind of branding – both for the individual and the company they represent.  Not everyone agrees of course, but that’s life.

 

When you work on your personal brand online – you want to be sure they find the most relevant things about you – all in one place.  You want to develop a brand with personality, professionalism and panache.  (The 3 P’s of Personal Branding – aside from Personal, of course…)

 

Proper positioning online is very important for your current and future success.  Beginning now will help you grow your brand, your presence and your position online.  It can lead to business deals, new careers and more.  Do it today – while it is top of mind.

Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and new business director with Carroll/White and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.

Stop! Look! and Listen!

These were the first few words to a very popular Motown song made famous in 1974 by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye.   Something about that title seemed a perfect match to the material I presented during a recent speech regarding Personal Branding.  Today we are all extremely busy in our day-to-day pursuit of success.   It is so easy to understand why so many miss the initial wave of success, or discover a critical new tool, months after its release. The grind we all seem to face on a daily basis keeps our heads down and does not allow us to stop and look up to hear what’s happening around us that could help.

 

After I heard the song, I made a point of incorporating it into my presentation to emphasize the need to turn around and look in a different direction – change our perspective in the hopes of a new view of perception.  Simple changes, I have found, are the most dramatic.  We have been told many times before to take the time but do we really hear the “song” even if the changes enhance our success.  

 

Music is the international language and is considered the common denominator of all languages.  With this catching title, people for a moment took the time to “Stop! Look!  Listen!”  as I explained the new dynamics around the need for each of us to have a personal brand.  To succeed you need to hear the solutions of today. Point in case – qAlias, a simplified tool, redefining personal branding space.   Sweet sounds in-deed, as people sing the praises of qAlias. 

 

People will “Stop! Look! Listen!” when you are on Page One – top of the entire Internet search engines.  They tend to give you more credibility. They listen to your point of view and what your have to offer.  The validation process of being at the top has been dramatically noted. Individuals have been able to close deals because of the direct access and positioning relevance that page one presence provides.  “Stop! Look! Listen!” and see today for yourself the music of success.  Google me!  Mike McGraw will show just how simple it is to play your way to the top.

 

 

Mike McGraw

Director of Marketing Qalias

CEO/Founder of Tneve Inc.

Author & Motivational Speaker/Trainer

28 Year Entrepreneur & Consultant

Providing Solutions to Today’s Growing Businesses

Contact: Mike@Qalias.com or call 770-251-9978

To Learn More “Google Me”

To Be or Not To Be?

Is the question I have seen many professionals struggle with regarding Personal Branding Soutions.    Often, the individual has an impressive resume, with the necessary credentials to be successful.    However, self-doubt is raised by certain individuals concerned about being at the top of all the major search engines.

 

With the thought of being on Page 1 they begin to question the “ego quotient” of self-promotion with a concern of an online public display of their bio.  Others echo concerns of having a quality photograph of themselves worthy to display. 

 

It is better to ask  “To be found or not to be found for that is truly the question”.  

 

It is far better for one’s personal career to be able to gain some degree of control over the internet validation process of one’s services or credentials.  Paramount to one’s career today in a world of instant access, global reach & Google requires developing a personal brand beyond a company website.  The individual brand humanizes business transactions, instills confidence and accelerates decisions.  

 

To be part of the QAlias solution guarantees you not to be lost in an overcrowded market of wannabes where clients search endlessly in hopes of finding the correct answers.   Differentiate yourself today; discard these simple chains of personal restraint, or the postponement mundane details.  It is far greater for thyself to succeed and to share with the world all you truly can be!

 

Honoring Your Military Heroes

Coming home after military action is never something that can be deemed easy or simple for those who have done it.  The work done while in the military, especially during times of intense action, are not at all similiar to those most of us understand or can fathom.  Although I have not been in the military, I am friends with soldiers who saw ground action in the Persian Gulf in the early 90’s and know some others who are now returning home from tours in Iraq. 

Adjusting to life in a country they have fought to defend has not been easy for them – they are often caught between what they became accustomed to during their time away, and what they once knew as normal or routine here.  For families, for wives, for children – and for the veteran themselves, this causes uncertainty, anguish and even breakups.  For truly the people returning home, are not the same people who left here.  They have seen and heard and perhaps done things we never will.  However, they are often simply seeking our acceptance of who they are now, and how they have grown and changed.

What is the best way to do this?  Embrace the changes in the people you know who have returned, while looking for the things you can see from the person they were before.  Rarely will there not be a middle ground, a way to communicate, relate and even move beyond the old relationships.  Be sure to help them find their place in your world again – and their place in our world as well.  Help them prepare for job, tell people who they are and find a foothold towards integration back into the home they fought bravely for.

On Memorial Day, we take the time to salute our military heroes, those who gave, who died and who sacrificed to make our country what it is.

Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and new business director with Carroll/White and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.

Why Hiring Those Sporting an Outspoken Personal Brand is Smart Business

Hiring a new employee is always a challenge.  Knowing which employee is qualified, will work within the team chemistry, stick around and ultimately benefit the company are almost always key factors.  But wait, there’s more…much more…to be gained, if you also examine how much of an independent thinker, outspoken personality and strategic mind this person is, in addition to the factors above.

Am I saying hire the person who will stir the pot?  Hire the person who isn’t the yes man?  Hire the person who could cause some strife and angst?  Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I am.

HR managers everywhere are cringing – because this defies their logic, their precise, calculated system for picking applicants from the resume pool - pulling talent from seemingly generic, mundane formats and mores.  This approach goes against the grain and causes tension.  It brings people to the table filled with charisma, personality, ego and passion – and sometimes less discipline and more danger.  It causes everyone to reconsider their place.  And ultimately, this type of hire often causes some of the fastest acceleration and is the best catalyst known to business growth.

In “From Good to Great” author Jim Collins advocates getting the right people on the bus – but not worrying about what seat they will sit in, or even where the bus will go.  That’s the premise of what I’m saying here.  Finding someone with the right qualifications, who will test you, challenge you and push the company is a great move.

Seek out those with a strong personal brand.  Find those with character, integrity and a dose of fire in the belly.  For those that challenge you will almost always challenge themselves – and that only helps you company grow, along with your employees.  It brings them closer to embracing the mission, the brand, the vision and propelling the future of the company without undue pauses and hiccups.

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Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and new business director with Carroll/White and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.

The Well Spring of Personal Motivation

I was speaking the other day with a fellow corporate trainer-in-arms and she was lamenting about how she had not followed through with her goal to re-define her professional career and take it to the next level.  I might have ignited the latent inner voice when I told her that I could not find her on the internet when looking for an easy way to contact her. “Ugh…” was the only response she could immediately muster.  “I really need to get my professional life going…” she grumbled.

 

Rhonda is a trainer-par-excellence and has been anointed as such by our peers in the profession. Yet, she expressed how she was stuck-in-stall when it came to unleashing her full potential.  Her challenge was taking that first step beyond the comforts of the Shire, that essential comfort-zone boundary that must be crossed to achieve her own hero’s journey.

 

So just what is the first act of any talented, but stationary individual that desires to take their professional life to the next level?  Let’s take a lesson from the basic model for strategic planning the most successful companies use to grow and evolve. Ask yourself,

 

1.  What do I want to become? (Vision)

2.  What am I now?  (Current State)

3.  How do I get from here to there?  (Goals)

4.  How do I get started?  (Action Plan)

 

This is your walk in the woods moment.  Just sit and dream and answer the first question. Think big and inspire yourself.  Write the bio of the person that you will be in 3 to 5 years. Don’t worry, you will be brought back down to earth as you reflect on the second question. For that question, write the bio of who you are now. Be sure to list your accomplishments. In answer to the third question, make the goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Phased).

 

For question 4, here is a suggestion. Take your bio and carve out your space on the web. Place yourself prominently on page one of the search engine results with a proud statement of your accomplishments (or your goals for great accomplishments). You deserve it as much as anyone else in the herd. This will give you the reputation to live up to and motivate the natural forces that drive you to achieve your life’s goals and dreams.

 

I remember the far side comic strip that displayed one standout penguin among a herd of tuxedo clad penguins, distinguished from the others by standing on the tip toes of his bright red converse all-stars singing “I’ve got to be me!”

 

The shoes are a metaphor of the actions that spring from our evocative motivations to acquire and use the skills that distinguish us from our herd. The initial humor of the comic strip morphs into a deeper reflection at the prospect that we never acquired our own red Converse AllStars. 

 

Well your red sneakers are within your grasp. Write you bio, make it a showcase for you, post it on the web, tell people to go there and read about you, and begin your journey to the new reaches of your abilities and realized potential.

 

Charles Fellingham is founder of QAlias, a personal branding tool that provides prominent personal placement optimization on the web. He is also a corporate trainer for the Forum Corporation and a Sales Manager for a Fortune 200 company.

How Hillary Lost Her Personal Brand – And Found Herself Between Barack and a Hard Place

Just how does someone lose a brand with the cache of a name like Clinton?  Really?  Especially, how do you lose a twenty plus point lead in the election polls in less than six months? – and also lose your brand, too?

 

In the past 180 days, we’ve seen a huge pendulum swing, like little that has ever happened in our history.  Hillary Clinton went from frontrunner with the marquee name and position in the minds of the American people (at least many Democrats) – to a falling star so slammed, you’re forced to think of other stars falls from grace like that of Robert Downey Jr.  Only there’s no IronMan in Hillary’s future – she won’t be climbing in popularity again – for now, she’s all melted into molten lead.

 

Why, we ask again?

 

Simply put, Hillary lost her cache with many voters, when she didn’t represent well online, and Obama did.  Being found online is key – and Obama has done a fantastic job of making sure his best first or second e-Impression has been strong.

 

She lost her visibility when she didn’t leverage the internet like Obama did.  For awhile, when you searched Hillary’s name, it was Obama’s site that came up.  Hillary lost the most important battle – that of being found online – and showing her platforms.  This was at the bottom of page one – and is an independent blog.  Although Hillary has top level page one listings – they don’t look like Obama’s.  Obama did this, and he did it very well.  Transparency online shores up credibility for politicians and makes the battle ground much more even. 

 

She lost her vitality when she began to try and play the race from the role of the underdog.  I know I was incredulous when she began to claim that she was no longer frontrunner, and that Obama was beating her by “spending more money.”  This hurt her credibility and her standing in the position of the undecided minds.

 

Finally, she lost her brand when she chose to place herself at opposition to the values many associate with the name Clinton – as one who binds and brings together, not one who divides and attacks.  Her inability to concede defeat has hurt her standing; but far more it has been the growing tide of criticism while Obama speaks mostly of hope and positive change.  Although many would say it is simply perception – the fact is, that was the brand name “Clinton’s” reality.

 

Now, the only part that seems very real to the Clinton campaign is the falling of the curtain on a brand that will likely not see much chance for resurrection in the next few months.  To prepare for 2012, she needs to step down and stop doing damage to the Clinton brand.   But since she likely won’t be able to do that, Hillary is now definitely stuck between Barack, and a hard place.

Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and new business director with Carroll/White and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.

Person to Person

This is a phrase being lost in today’s lexicon.  It was recently noted that 4 out of 10 households have done away with their landline phone service.   The wireless phone, with its expanding array of Internet features, has begun to dominate as the communication tool of choice for more and more households.  Just one dimension of the convergence of technology, how we position ourselves to benefit in these new environments is critical to each and everyone’s individual success.  “Person-To-Person” is still the fundamental cornerstone to a business transaction.  The recognition of building relationships remains essential to long-term client relations.  

 

Technology convergence has expanded one’s reach to locate and validate a person.  The World Wide Web search engines are constantly at work to improve their reference authority and relevancy.  This dynamic is helping to reshape the personal relationship matrix.  Open-source knowledge is being converged to your fingertips.  PDAs and mobile phones provide instant access to reach out and touch a person’s bio or resume, giving you the needed insight to make decisions and build the relationships of doing business. 

 

“Location, location, location” is being redefined as the importance of being located.  Simply put, being located is the single highest priority facing business today.  Location growth requires an Internet presence for customers and to have fingertip access to your personal brand to reinforce the decision process. 

 

The ease of accessing your personal brand is a factor, combined with the aspects of differentiation; the ability to rise above the crowd only helps to illuminate your brand.  Being number one and climbing to the top of Google is as easy as a $9.95 per month subscription to qAlias.  The qAlias business solution is redefining the term “Person to Person” by providing a game presence on all major Internet search engines.  Personal Brands instantly obtain the value of stability, credibility, and by far the easiest means of being located on the web.  qAlias enables “Person-to-Person” contact and connections, and it is the tool of choice in personal branding.  qAlias is the leader in today’s “Person-to-Person” relationships.

 

Mike McGraw

Director of Marketing Qalias

CEO/Founder of Tneve Inc.

Author & Motivational Speaker/Trainer

28 Year Entrepreneur & Consultant

Providing Solutions to Today’s Growing Businesses

Contact: Mike@Qalias.com or call 770-251-9978

To Learn More “Google Me”

“Taming the Gorelephant” – a Personal Branding Guide to Tools, Sites and Tactics

There are a lot of cool services out there that can make your personal brand grow – they are the treats for the Gorelephant.

 

Just like peanuts and easily as common, are blog posts, comments, articles and other online listings you can make on a daily basis.  The Gorelephant likes those kind of things – after all, fresh food (read content) is king!

 

As an essential service, the Gorelephant likes to be fed from the large banana tree – those are the major traffic sites – like YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook and MySpace.

 

To lay down a path for the Gorelephant to calmly walk where you want him, there is Digg, Stumble Upon, Furl, Del.icio.us and more – the list is growing faster than the traffic you can bring to the blog you keep or site you want to spotlight for your own personal brand.

 

Next, you have the socially business-esque networks – which are kind of like the zoo – you can come in and find out about how you tamed the Gorelephant – if you pay at the gate and/or hand in all your info and sign up – the numbers are too many to list, but the usual suspects are:  LinkedIn, Fast Pitch, Xing, Ryze, Sales Spider, Naymz and others.

 

Finally, there is one service to tie them all together – one place where the Gorelephant has no restrictions – other than it must know one thing about you – your name.  For less than $10 a month, QAlias gains you top page on Google and Yahoo for your personal brand id – your name.  It also brings all your links into one central place, noone has to “Zing-Rise-Furl-Link-Digg-SpaceFace or anything else” unless they want to.  Here you get the penthouse view – and the elevator to bring all the things you wish to represent you – to the top.

Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and new business director with Carroll/White and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a Self Promotion maven, serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, and inventor of the Gorelephant, first eImpressions and networthing.

Personal Charisma – enhancing your personal brand

Ever met someone that has a magnetic personality? You know, the one who can effectively move the molecules in the room and has created their own gravitational pull. I like to call this “personal charisma”.  This is not the infamous ‘charmer’ or bigger-than-life Diva.  This is regular person like you and me, but with natural leadership qualities and an ineffable attraction. After 16 years of leadership and sales training, I have come to quickly recognize these individuals and have spent reflective time observing their persona hoping to extract from it the secret formula for coca cola that could be fed to the masses like a life-giving elixir.  The good news for us is that there is a formula that brings out the charisma that naturally resides in all of us. Read on.

 

Given, Learned or Earned?

 

The first question to be answered is whether people are born with special qualities that define charisma or do they learn these skills and earn a reputation through consistent application?  The answer is both.  A lucky few were born with DNA arranged in a special way. And, when combined with an environment that supported the development of charismatic skills, it manifests in that enigmatic attendance.  Others have learned and earned these skills through trial and error and incremental victories that supported the development of this innate quality.

 

There are ‘Charisma skills’ that people with strong personal charisma exhibit. They are, Story telling, Proactive Listening, Positive Aura and the ability to laugh at oneself. I will be covering these skills in more detail in future writings, so stay tuned!

 

The Elixir

 

I was observing one such individual the other night.  John Cooper is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a $1B IT company.  I was able to spend the day with him and his direct reports in Philadelphia while conducted a brief training session.  John is not shy about projecting a commanding style of leadership. With every interaction, verbal and non-verbal, John used the most important rule in developing personal charisma..

 

“…make the other person feel good about their self in your presence.” 

 

So, if you are seeking that charismatic presence that is so helpful in winning others to your way of thinking or gaining the buy-in and cooperation of others,  just make them feel good about themselves in your presence. The methods are right out of  “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

 

We do this by remembering their name, talking about their interests, honoring their accomplishments, publicly recognizing their strengths and valuable contributions to others.   This being done well will create a personal brand for you that precede you, which is the large objective of projecting personal charisma.