5 Secrets for Developing Your Own Personal Brand What is the secret to successful brand building? Well, it is a combination of a great plan, and lots of hard work.Read More
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]]>What is the secret to successful brand building? Well, it is a combination of a great plan, and lots of hard work. Whether you are a multi-million dollar enterprise or a home-based small business, you need a clear idea if you want to build a brand identity.
Let’s take a look at the important pointers that can help you with developing your own personal brand:
Want a good example of brand storytelling done right? Just check out the Lego Movie. A fun representation of the possibilities that the brand creates, the movie is equally enjoyable for both children and adults.
Consider who you are, what your business promises are, and how you started out to get some ideas about your brand’s story. Keep it crisp and concise. And be true about who you are. And you’ll have the base on which to build your brand.
Serious? Cool? Quirky? Every business has a personality of its own. It depends on a number of factors, such as your target market, your products/services, your approach, and so on.
While McDonalds and Burger King both serve burgers, they have a distinctive personality. If you sell video games to peppy teens, your brand needs to reflect a hip and cool image to attract the right crowd.
But it won’t surely suit your brand’s image if you offer technology solutions to new businesses. Again, either of these images won’t suit a luxury brand selling fragrances to the ultra high net worth individuals.
The simple logo, use of green and white, and the entire look and feel of Whole Foods Market convey the concepts of health, freshness and sustainability. Consistency is the key to brand building.
After you have identified the personality of your business, it is important to focus on how to reflect it at every step. Your logo, website design, color choice, text use, and every little detail needs to be consistent with the image you want to project.
If you aren’t on social media yet, it is high time you do it. Consider your brand’s personality and who your audience is before you decide which platforms to engage on and how to do it.
A jewelry designer hoping to reach out to women may do well on Pinterest (as Etsy established). But if you are a telecommunication solution provider aiming to connect with followers, Twitter and LinkedIn may be more advantageous.
You also need to come up with the right ways to engage on social media. Remember, a conversation is a two-way thing. And if you fail to converse, your presence alone won’t be of any help to your brand.
The best way to establish your personal brand is to be there for others. Whether it’s as simple as answering a question on social media or as complex as creating a how-to guide, extend a helping hand.
Not only will it make you feel good, it will also help you earn respect and admiration. And you never know when a good turn results in a new opportunity. While it is essential to learn to say no at times, it is also important to say yes, whenever you can.
Little tactics help create a brand identity that is known and valued by all.
Don’t expect overnight results. Developing your own personal brand takes time. You have to plan it well, put in the required work, and wait for the results. It may be slow, but once your brand identity catches on with the audience, it’ll grow on its own.
Lean Branding by Laura Busche
Hello My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins
Pocket Man by Scott Jordan
Body of Work by Pamela Slim
Digital Bacon by Alex Rodriguez
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Mindset according to Carol Dweck: Introduction In this episode world-renowned Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, shares all her insights on her book,Read More
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]]>In this episode world-renowned Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, shares all her insights on her book, Mindset, where she explains why it’s not just our abilities and talents that bring us success–but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset.
In her book Dweck provides a checklist to assess yourself and shows how a particular mindset can affect all areas of your life, from business to sports and love. The goal of the book is to teach you how to reach your own personal and professional goes while developing a love of learning and resilience that is the bases of great accomplishment in every area in order to achieve ultimate success.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are trying to figure what it is that makes them tick and would like to increase their own feelings of success and fulfillment.
There are a lot of books on how to be successful and they are wonderful books but they don’t tell you the mindset, the way of thinking that can lead you on the path to success or failure. And they don’t tell you how to change your mindset to be more successful.
I am told that it’s a very quick read. I am also told that many CEO’s read it all the way through and read it every year to remind themselves of the mindset lessons.
I would want the reader to know that their abilities can be developed and that their abilities are developed through taking on challenges and sticking to them.
The book opens by describing the mindsets. How do people differ and why do some people love a challenge and others want to play it safe?
The first mindset is a fixed mindset where people believe that talents and abilities are just these fixed traits, you have a certain amount and that’s it. When you have this fixed mindset you really, really care where your intelligence and talents are fixed. So you’re always trying to look smart and avoid mistakes that might make you look foolish. Your life is organized around looking smart and not looking dumb and when this permeates an organization we call it a culture of genius.
The other mindset is a growth mindset. In this mindset people believe that their talents and abilities can be developed. In a growth mindset you believe your basic talents and abilities developed through hard work, good strategies, and mentoring from others. Instead of worrying if you are going to look smart or not, in the growth mindset you jump into challenges because that’s how you learn. You choose things that are hard and you stick to them and you end up accomplishing more. This growth mindset also creates better teamwork because you believe in growing abilities through collaborating with others. In the long run people with the growth mindset not only accomplish more but they foster accomplishment in others.
Then in the book I go through how these mindsets actually work. So we talked about taking on challenges verses avoiding them, and another thing is effort. In a fixed mindset effort is a bad thing and they belief is if you were really smart things should come easily.
I then go into mindset in sports and it turns out that most of the really, really successful athletes have had a growth mindset. Many of them were naturally talented but they didn’t coast on it and they capitalized that by working hard and developing it.
The next chapter is on business and I do case studies of leaders with growth and fixed mindsets.
The book also talks about mindsets and relationships and how a fixed mindset can really derail a relationship whereas a growth mindset can help solve problems over the course of the relationship.
The next chapter deals with parents, teachers, and coaches and how to foster growth mindset in kids.
The final chapter is on changing mindsets. All of us are really a combination of fixed and growth mindsets. We can have fixed mindsets in some areas and growth mindsets in others. Or we can even change from situation to situation when we feel we are being measured and judged. It teaches us how to be aware of those mindsets and how to bring ourselves more into a growth mindset when that’s desirable.
NOTE: That was just a summary. To get the full deep dive, play the audio clip at 4:13
“It’s for you to decide whether change is right for you right now. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But either way keep the growth mindset in your thoughts then when you bump up against obstacles you can turn to it, it will always be there for you showing you a path into the future.” – Carol Dweck
I am a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and I have been studying why people succeed and fail for over 40 years.
I have been doing research for many years on why some people are go getter’s and jump in whereas others, just as talented or able, shy away from difficulty and end up not fulfilling their potential. After researching this for many years I came to the discovery of the mindsets as the cause of these differences. My students told me I had to write this book after benefiting from this knowledge and wanted others to know about it.
Developing Talent in Young People by Benjamin Bloom
The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Gould
Buy Mindset by Carol Dweck on Amazon today
Visit MindsetOnline.com to learn more about Carol and her book
Follow Carol Dweck on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books:
How To Succeed in 12 Months by Serena Star-Leonard
The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau
Body of Work by Pamela Slim
Relevant advice and tips:
10 Bad Habits That Successful People Avoid
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
The post A Preview of Mindset – The New Psychology of Success with Carol Dweck appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
]]>7 Steps To Improve Networking Skills For Entrepreneurs Underestimating the power of networking is sure to be disadvantageous for an entrepreneur. But why do many entrepreneurs care less about this?Read More
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]]>7 Steps To Improve Networking Skills For Entrepreneurs
Underestimating the power of networking is sure to be disadvantageous for an entrepreneur. But why do many entrepreneurs care less about this? It is their idea of networking that adds to the trouble. If you think that it is simply about meeting new people and collecting business cards, you are mistaken.
Business networking skills are something every entrepreneur needs to acquire and improve on. And it doesn’t imply collecting business cards only – it requires much more than that. It is about building and nurturing meaningful relationships in the entrepreneurial world that will aid your success as an entrepreneur.
How can an entrepreneur improve networking skills? Let’s outline the steps to become successful at it:
Step 1: Identify opportunities. Which events do you attend? Well, every industry event is a big opportunity to make new relationships. Be it a trade show, a conference or a workshop, if it is a relevant place with the relevant people, attend it. Also, check the calendar of events at your local chamber of commerce; their events present good opportunities to network with other business-minded people.
Step 2: Plan ahead. Who do you want to meet? How do you approach them when you meet? What do you want to come up as a result of a meeting? Determine the answers to these questions before you take a step. Set smaller attainable goals – such as ‘I will meet 3 new individuals at this week’s events’ instead of ‘I will sign three deals with my contacts.’
Step 3: Pay attention to appearance and manners. Just as you prepare your pitch before a meeting, focus on what to wear and how to behave too. A first impression of an entrepreneur matters. So, dress appropriately for the do. And don’t make your pitch all about hard-selling – it won’t work for your first attempt at networking.
Step 4: Step out of your comfort zone. It is easy to keep talking to the people you know at an event where you don’t know the majority. But if you did this, you fail the purpose. The focus needs to be on how to create new contacts. And while you are at it, don’t waste your time on forming a hundred casual contacts; instead, focus on a few solid ones.
Step 5: Make it a two-way thing. A meeting is essentially a conversation. And it won’t be so if you monopolize it. Talk, but listen too. Ask questions, understand answers and keep a note. Make it about how you can be of help to the other; not the other way around. Don’t let one monopolize your time; and don’t do it to others either.
Step 6: Get the right mix. Exchanging business cards is alright; just don’t put them somewhere and forget all about them. Feed the details into your mobile device. Initiate conversations with the right contacts – both in the real world (you can meet them for a coffee) and on social media (you can email them a helpful resource).
Step 7: Most importantly, stay in touch. The basic idea of networking is simple – you create and nurture relationships with the right people to boost your business. And you need to maintain this to serve its purpose. This doesn’t mean you have to pester them with emails every day, just keep it meaningful – so they know you haven’t forgotten them.
Networking skills can help an entrepreneur land new business. It can also help you avoid a tunnel vision of meeting and keeping in touch with the people in your industry alone. Just don’t treat it like work. You don’t do it when you converse with your personal contacts; don’t do it for your business contacts either.
The real person behind the business is what matters most when it comes to networking.
The Entrepreneur Mind by Kevin D Johnson | Listen to Kevin give a deep dive here
What’s Next by Michael Price | Listen to Michael give a deep dive here
The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael J Maher | Listen to Michael give a deep dive here
Body Of Work by Pamela Slim | Listen to Pamela give a deep dive here
Lean Branding by Laura Busche | Listen to Laura give a deep dive here
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Body of Work according to Pamela Slim Introduction In this episode Pamela Slim shares her book, Body of Work, where she givesRead More
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Body of Work according to Pamela Slim
In this episode Pamela Slim shares her book, Body of Work, where she gives you the tools to tie your story together in order to have a meaningful career.
In her book, Slim teaches you how to find the right connections for your accomplishments, sell your story, and continually reinvent and re-launch your personal brand. The goal of this book is to guide you through today’s complex career landscape to better understand the importance of the work you do.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are struggling to understand their true passion while working multiple jobs and need a way to find fulfillment, joy, and inner peace.
On one hand it really is a different way of looking at work. I am the kind of coach were I feel fiercely passionate about not being totally prescriptive. I feel so strongly that people need to be designing a life and work situation that fits for them and their particular situation. I think it’s easy to be prescriptive sometimes and tell people what to do and I didn’t want to do that with this book and it’s what sets it apart.
I wrote it to have real stories of real people who are demonstrating the key skills that I talk about. I wanted to make it interesting to read, engaging and conceptually understandable which is why a lot of people tend to read it all the way through first to understand how the pieces fit together. It is a way of looking at the world of work that may not make too much sense if you jump in in the middle of it.
The heart of the book for me is to create and innovate. When we are able to clearly define what it is that we want to create that is the skill that will be the most important for you as an entrepreneur. It’s also very important to share your story.
The first chapter lays out the overall concept of Body of Work. My premise is that our body of work is everything that we create, contribute, affect and impact throughout the course of our lives.
Then we begin to dive in piece by piece at what you can examine in order to build the body of what is going to be personally meaningful and significant and also have a good impact in the world. The piece of that is defining your roots which are identifying your values, beliefs and the problems that you want to solve. We go through a process of the things that are going to drive your work forward.
The second piece is name your ingredients and this is where you go in to understanding specifically your skills, strengths and experiences.
From there we go in and explore different work modes.
That moves us in to create and innovate which is to me the heart and body of work. I think that we realize our potential and contribute the most when we are creating specific projects.
The next section is what I call Surf the Fear. If there is one thing I know over working 20 years with people around their work lives is that any kind of change and transition involves fear, doubt and uncertainty. I do not believe that we need to ignore or crush fear but rather learn to harness positive components of fear.
The next chapter is on collaborating and this is a skill that is so useful and important. It covers everything from collaborating with our market and it’s also about being very specific about how you are collaborating with people in order to strengthen yourself.
The next to the last session is on your definition of success. This is where I have seen many people fall into unhappiness which is where they are not conscious about what truly defines success for them in their life and business. This chapter focuses on how you can create a definition of success that really works for you and makes you happy while you are building it.
The final chapter is about sharing your story. Once you do have this very clear understanding about the work you want to do, your unique strengths, your purpose and why you are doing the work, you have a strong consistent story. One thing that I find with many entrepreneurs who have many interests is they have a hard time explaining exactly who they are and what they do. You need to figure out a way to take all of your diverse ingredients and offerings and communicate it in such a way that people can clearly understand what you do.
“But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream assigned to you when that dream was born and in keeping yourself with labor you are in truth loving life. And to love life through labor is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.” –Kahlil Gibran
I am a speaker, writer, business coach and a very happy mom. I have spent time in just about every work mode that you can possible imagine. I spent time as an employee, a nonprofit professional, volunteer executive director, a consultant and independent business coach. I find great joy and interest in figuring out how people express themselves through their work.
My inspiration came from the work that I was doing specifically for about nine years which was working with people who were in corporate jobs that wanted to leave and start a business. Operating in the startup phase for nine years I began to see specific gaps and things that were missing from the way of framework for understanding the new world of work.
Resonate by Nancy Duarte
Buy Body of Work by Pamela Slim on Amazon today
Visit PamelaSlim.com to learn more about Pamela and join her mailing list
Follow Pamela Slim on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Own Your Future by Paul B Brown | Dream Year by Ben Arment | Hello My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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