I've Seen the Future and It is YOU - Guest Post

Today's guest post, almost wasn't. TypePad once again decided to go AWOL with a post that I'd saved to publish this morning.  Imagine my surprise here at Casa Barking Mad to discover that no post existed.  Grrrrrr.

Alas, today's guest poster, Deb from Bird on a Wire was kind enough to send me her post in Word document, therefore saving the day.  TypePad, take a note, you can bite my big white ass!

Back to Deb ...she's one of my more recent discoveries out in Bloggywood.  Part gifted writer, part web designer, part Frugal Fanny™,  and heaps and heaps of genuine  down -home  southern goodness!   If you've ever read any of the  Sweet Potato Queen  books you'll know what I'm sayin'!  By the way, Deb's Watermelon Margaritas  recipe...go, RIGHT NOW, copy it down and then make them!  Vats of them.  And then when you can walk again and are able to sit in front of your computer screen without squinting from the intense pain caused by the light,, come and tell me how fantabulous they are!

When I was reading her guest post today I thought that it was germane to more than just marketing yourself in the career minded world - for those of you looking for a position or even looking to change jobs.  This post is also relevant to a lot of people in Bloggywood who want to to take their blog to another level whether it be monetizing it, or increasing readership.  All the points in Deb's article could easily be transferred to the blogosphere. 

Enjoy!

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I've Seen the Future and it is YOU!

I’ve had  a couple of conversations lately with an  expert in the employment industry around the subject of Personal Branding and just how critical it is to do it well these days. I first heard about this concept several few years ago, and even if you’ve heard of it, it’s well worth re-visiting. If you're hunting  for a job these days, looking for a raise, starting a business, running for school board office or struttin your own blog, it's a sales and marketing campaign that's all about You. How does this all pan out?

Branding is how you differentiate your product or service from everyone else’s. Personal branding is the same. Think of Oprah for example. What do you think of when you think of her? Wealthy, Inspirational, successful, the epitome of a media mogul, philanthropic? You immediately have a very strong image of what she stands for because she has a very distinctive personal brand.

For us as women and moms , knowing our own brand is more important today than it ever has been. The rules have changed and the days of simply showing up, doing your job, and assuming you’ll always have that job if you want it are rapidly disappearing. We are competing for jobs with younger folks, empty nesters with no children in tow,  and people across the globe. Companies are under a lot of competitive pressure and are laying off.  Many of us are developing our own small businesses. This is where personal branding really kicks into high gear.

In this business climate, being passive about your job and looking to your employer to guide you is not nearly enough according to those ‘in the know’. In order to fare best, those who are proactive and think of themselves as their own business even if they are someone else’s employee are those that come out as winners. Think of yourself as a corporation, a true business entity, You INC.

The folks who understand what their core competencies are, know the trends in their "industry" and  are aware of the factors driving the changes in it that could affect their ‘business’, are always looking ahead to see what adjustments they need to make to adapt. They think beyond a "job description" to understand the role they can best play in an organization. Applying these principles can help you succeed as a blogger as well.

Here are some helpful questions for getting a handle on your personal brand.

·  What are the things I do better than anyone else?

·  What makes me stand out when compared with others?

·  What parts of my work history have I enjoyed the most?

·  What products or services do I ‘sell’ currently?

·  What are the changes in my company/my industry that could affect me/my job?

·  What new ‘products and services’ do I need to add to my repertoire to adapt to those changes?

·  What is the next level of skill sets I need to develop to deliver those ‘products and services’?

Have some fun with this! Imagine you’re You, Inc.’s VP of Marketing and, like Oprah, that you want us all to have an instant understanding about you when we think of you. What would it be??

Comments

[bejewell]

Wow. So, let me just re-cap here.

Deb gave us all important and valuable advice about personal branding.

Foolery told a touching and multi-leveled story about child birth.

... And I compared myself to a date rapist and said "fuck" a lot.

Huh.

[San Diego Momma]

Great info, Deb.
I liked yours too, Beej. :)

[McMommy]

Great post, Deb!! And I'm laughing hysterically at Bejewell's comment...

[Deb@Bird On A Wire]

Beej would it help if I said the F word? (that's as close as I can get...my kids follow my comments lol)

Deb & McMom I appreciate your compliments
Well yanno, I'm a girl raised in the south...

[foolery]

Deb, I think I need to work on my brand, because right now it would be "dirt poor, erratic, goofy, the epitome of a social reject, wine-drinker." Which, come to think of it, is actually flattering.

Great topic, Miss Bird -- and Beej, wanna get together over a bottle of red and work on our brands together? Because I'm pretty sure it would be a BLAST!

[Rachael]

It's okay Beej, I liked your story and I like to say fuck a lot too...