The third book in Bence’s award-winning personal branding series, How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates was released internationally on March 1, 2010. The book is the first practical, step-by-step personal branding system designed specifically for job-seeking college grads.

In her 25-year career as an international branding expert, Bence has helped build some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Pantene, Head & Shoulders, and Vidal Sassoon. Just as these products cut through the clutter of other products on the shelf to become the “brand of choice” for consumers, Bence’s personal branding system – based on the same marketing methods that have been used successfully for years to build popular name brands – helps college grads cut through the pool of other job applicants to become the “brand of choice” for potential employers.

“The book helps college grads define, communicate, and avoid damaging their own unique personal brand in their job search,” says Bence. “Even if college students lack substantial work experience, grads who have created a strong personal brand will better connect with interviewers and make a lasting impression before, during, and after interviews.”

How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates shows college students how to:

• Discover the 6 personal branding secrets other grads don’t know
• Master the 5 activities that best communicate a great college graduate personal brand
• Avoid the Top 20 College Grad Personal Brand Busters® that recruiters hate
• Unleash the power of social media to find the right job faster
• Learn how to command the highest possible salary once offered the job

Brenda Bence’s first book in her personal branding series, How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo: The Breakthrough Personal Branding System Based on Proven Big-Brand Marketing Methods to Help You Earn More, Do More, and Be More At Work, was an award-winning finalist in three categories in the 2008 National Best Books Awards. Her second book in the series, How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for Job Seekers: The Proven Personal Branding System to Help You Succeed in Any Interview and Secure the Job of Your Dreams, won the Grand Prize – Author of the Year Award in the 2009 Best Beach Book Festival.

Here are just a few of the locations where How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates is available for sale on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders Books, AtlasBooks.com, and BrendaBence.com

About the Author:
Brenda S. Bence is an internationally recognized branding expert, Certified Executive Coach, and powerhouse speaker and author. With an MBA from Harvard Business School, her career has included developing mega brands for Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb across four continents and 50 countries. As President of Brand Development Associates International Ltd., Bence spends more than 50% of her time traveling the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and corporations to greater success through creative yet practical brand development. Bence is a popular presenter, sharing her unique approach to branding at conferences, conventions, and with companies all across the globe. She splits her time between homes in Thailand and the U.S.

Brenda Bence is available for television, radio, and press interviews to talk about her book and topics on personal or corporate branding. Contact 312-242-1830, or write to Daniel.Jackman@BDA-Intl.com for availability.

Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you?

• You choose your hotel or resort because it has a wireless connection that will allow you to check e-mails on a regular basis.
• The plane lands at your holiday destination and, immediately upon turning on your cell phone, you see 14 missed calls from various members of your team.
• You miss breakfast because you’re busy putting out fires via e-mail at the start of your day.
• Your spouse becomes upset because you’re taking calls while you’re on the beach, at dinner, at the museum – you name it.
• You have to leave your family and return to your hotel room for a Skype conference with your boss.
• You find yourself more stressed after your holiday than you were before you left because you spent your time away trying to juggle work and leisure.

These are common scenarios in these days of inexpensive and easy connections via e-mail, mobile phone, and video conferencing. But, this often means your holiday becomes more of a temporary office set up in a faraway location rather than real time off.

The Vacation Solution

The first step to solving this problem is to sit back and think about what it is that is really holding you back from completely disconnecting with the office while you’re away. Is it that you don’t trust your team to do a good job? Is it that you secretly don’t want them to survive – let alone thrive – while you are gone so that you can prove you’re irreplaceable? These are tough questions to ask yourself, but taking the time to think about your answers is critical and will have a big impact on whether you end up taking a holiday that truly serve its intended purpose: to recharge your batteries and remind you that you are far more than just what you do for a living.

Take some time to examine your thoughts around being gone from the office. Remember: Smart leaders know that when their company, division, or department runs smoothly during their absence, it’s a sign of excellent management on their part. If things go well while you’re on holiday, it doesn’t make you unimportant. It simply means that your team is well enough trained and able to handle situations so that you can afford to be gone for a few weeks. If you want to, you can still hold off making the most important decisions for when you return.

For a lot of executives, being interrupted repeatedly on holidays is simply a result of not having laid out clear enough boundaries up front so that they can be left alone to enjoy their breaks in peace. Here are some tips:

1. Notify people. Tell everyone many weeks in advance what the dates of your holiday will be, and let them know that your intention is to truly “divorce” yourself from the business for that period of time.

2. Enlist others’ help. Get everyone involved in helping you to have some real downtime. Ask them for help to prepare for a true break. That way, they become part of the solution, not the problem. (Bring back some gifts to the office as a way to say ‘thank you’ for their help!)

3. Anticipate. Think about what activities and projects will take place while you’re away, then prepare your team and everyone else who needs to know about them. Ask them to proactively think about any questions or issues that they will need to address during that time so that you can handle them before you leave.

4. Set clear expectations up front. One week before you depart for your holiday, send a notice to all people who regularly send you e-mails, SMS messages, or who call you on your cell. In this note, set clear boundaries and guidelines about how you will manage communications while you are gone. For example, you might say:

• You will only check e-mails once every three or four days – whatever frequency you choose. You may decide that you won’t check e-mails at all. If so, great! Make that clear, and let everyone know.
• Ask people to refrain from sending you “nice to know” e-mails. If they absolutely must, ask them to put “Nice to Know” in the subject line so that you can ignore these e-mails until you return to the office.

• You will only accept phone calls regarding urgent matters such as: (a) a strategic issues that have long-term business ramifications, or (b) something that could dramatically impact the business like potentially losing a big client account, or (c) an emergency that impacts safety (a fire or an injured employee, etc.).

5. Don’t just manage down – manage up as well. Alert your boss or your Board of Directors that you will be leaving matters to your team in your absence. You need to set boundaries with everyone in order to claim your well-deserved downtime.

If you have taken the time to train your team well, trust them. It may take some work the first time you go away using these new guidelines but, after sticking to regular guidelines, you should be able to take holidays with greater ease.

Summarize Immediately. As soon as an interview is finished, find a quiet place to sit down, and write your summary of the meeting. You’ll probably forget some important points even if you wait just an hour or two after the interview. And, after several meetings with a number of companies, interviews will all start to blend together in your mind unless you take good notes right away.

What were the key topics you and the interviewer discussed? What were the names of the key decision-makers who were mentioned? What did you notice about the company environment? Did people look happy or harassed? Did you get a “good feeling” while you were there? Writing down notes after the interview will help you refer to important points in follow-up e-mails and also help you remember key points when it comes time for a second interview.

Follow Up. Don’t take it personally if you don’t hear back quickly from an interviewer. HR reps are often so busy that, even though the hiring process is important, they’re sometimes forced to put it on the back burner. In fact, some companies have fairly complex processes to follow before anyone can be hired, including asking other employees for input. So, don’t sweat it if you don’t hear back right away.

Don’t Let a Rejection Get You Down. If you do get a “no” response after an interview, that’s okay. In fact, look at it as a way to save you time and money. Now, you can focus on companies where you have more potential. Nora Bammann of The Kroger Company says, “Rejections are tough but (a) you got interview practice, and (b) you can use the experience to further refine your job search criteria.”

When a “no” happens, take the time to evaluate what you would have liked the most and the least about the job you didn’t get. You can then use that information to help you choose the best companies and jobs for you. It can also help you to come up with better questions to ask in future interviews. Retired professional basketball player Michael Jordan said: “I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot … and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

A “No” Can Still Be a Connection. Don’t get rid of any information you have about an interviewer! When I was looking for my very first job right out of college, I interviewed with a company that was offering a position that I really wanted. After a couple of (what I thought were good) interviews, I was told the crushing news: I didn’t get the job. I felt defeated, but I resigned myself to the bad news and wrote a thank you note anyway to the person who would have been my boss. In that note, I said that I liked the company and asked him to please consider me for any future openings. One month later, the person who had just been hired for that original job was fired. A phone call and one more interview later, and I was working!

You never know what can happen from the connections you make during an interview. You may be called in for a different job with that same company at a later date, or the interviewer may get a new position elsewhere and remember you. Hold on to recruiters’ information!

Don’t Relax Too Much in a Second Interview. If you get called back for a second or third interview, it’s easy to get lulled into believing you’re just a signature away from “You’re hired!” But that’s a dangerous attitude. Most HR experts agree that it’s actually in follow-up interviews that a large number of college grads fall out of the hiring pool. Remember: Be watchful about communicating your personal brand in every interview, not just the first or second one. This means continuing to wear interview clothes, even if everyone else at the company dresses in business casual. Once you have the formal hiring letter and you’ve signed it and sent it in, consider yourself hired; until then, keep a steady course and never stop communicating your brand.

The Subsequent E-mail Trap. Don’t suddenly get casual with your e-mails to the interviewer or anyone else at the company. As one recruiter cautions, “Don’t start forwarding jokes or funny e-mails to the interviewer or disclosing information about your personal life even if you begin to feel more comfortable with that person. It’s critical to keep a professional relationship with the interviewer no matter how friendly you may have become.”

It’s important to stay consistent in how you communicate your personal brand even after an interview is over. Doing so will keep your individual brand alive long after the interview is over and ultimately help you land a job you’ll love – right out of college.

Be Professional and Polite — Always. Do you say, “Hello. It’s nice to meet you”? Or do you say, “Hey there, how’s it goin’?” When you greet anyone in the company — no matter who it is (even if it’s someone you already know) — are you professional and polite? An interview is a time to be friendly, but not overly casual. And be sure to say “thank you” and “please” when it fits.

Take Notes. Most recruiters say that the candidates who bring a notebook and pen to interviews stick out. Taking notes during the interview shows that the candidate is genuinely interested. But some interviewers also say that about half of the candidates they meet arrive without a notebook. So, set yourself apart by bringing a nice pen and a neat and professional looking notebook (one without any tears or scribbling on it). It communicates a conscientious personal brand and helps you remember key points you covered during the interview.

And be sure to write down names and titles of key people who are mentioned during your interview. You may need those later.

Don’t Fake It. If you truly don’t know the answer to a question, absolutely, positively avoid making something up! Tell the interviewer you’re not sure of the answer, and say you’ll get back to him or her as soon as possible with a response. Explain that you’d rather do the research and make sure you’re answering correctly. Most interviewers won’t see this as a negative; they may even see it as a sign of integrity.

Let’s say that an interviewer asks you about your “non-major” GPA (the GPA for courses you took outside of your major), and the question takes you by surprise. Be honest. Tell the interviewer you’ll send him or her an e-mail with that GPA calculation within 24 hours. Then, as soon as you return to your dorm, do the calculation and send that important follow-up e-mail. This is how to turn a potential negative into a positive by showing that you keep to your word.

Another mistake to avoid when it comes to “faking it” is to pretend you understand a question when you really don’t. You shouldn’t feel badly about asking the interviewer to repeat a particular question or explain it more clearly. You might think you’ll look “stupid” by doing so, but the truth is you’ll only look stupid if you give an answer that doesn’t fit with the question that was asked!

Posture. Powerful self-confidence is communicated by holding your shoulders straight and not slumping. Look straight ahead as you walk, not down, especially as you enter an interviewer’s office, and you will convey the kind of self-assurance that — let’s face it — we all want to communicate as part of our personal brand. And be careful not to slouch when you sit in a chair in the interviewer’s office. Recruiters say this is a definite personal branding mistake.

Extensions of the “Trademarked You.” Your personal brand is like your trademark — “YOU™” — so your briefcase, folder, notebook, or whatever else you carry in to an interview represents your college graduate personal brand as much as you do. So, if you have an old worn-out briefcase, or if you bring important documents in a ragged manila folder with writing or stickers all over it, think about how that might look to an interviewer. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a briefcase, but being neat and orderly does matter.

Ask Questions in a Way That Sells Yourself. Learn how to ask questions during an interview in a way that focuses on your strengths. Here are some examples:

• “Given my experience as a top seller in my part-time job, what opportunities for advancement would you see here for someone like me?”

• “I took some courses in marketing and applied what I learned as a volunteer at a non-profit to help them raise more money. How open is the company to exploring new ideas like that from entry-level employees?”

Those Interfering Cell Phones. Be sure to turn off your cell phone before you enter the company’s building. Letting your phone ring or buzz during an interview is a top pet peeve of recruiters and could cause your resume to land in the trash can. And don’t even think about talking or texting on your cell phone or checking your e-mail on your Blackberry while you’re in the company’s waiting room! Remember: What you say to your roommate could very well be reported back to the interviewer through the receptionist. Plus, your phone beeping and clicking is likely to annoy employees and anyone else near the waiting area.

Keep these points top of mind, and your college graduate personal brand will come through loud and clear during interviews. You’ll gain a decided edge over most other grads who haven’t bothered to learn what interviewers want and look for.

As a college grad, defining and communicating a personal brand is the best way to stand out from the crowd and make sure potential employers know exactly what you have to offer. But, did you know that your personal brand is communicated not only during the interview, but before the interview, too?

After speaking with over 50 of the country’s top recruiters, I learned dozens of powerful tips that they suggest college grads consider during their job search. Here are just a few:

Network, Network, Network! To land an interview, you can’t just send out resumes like darts into the wind. Instead, get the inside track through people you know and meet. It’s estimated that as many as 60% to 75% of all jobs are found through networking. So, pick up the phone, make connections with anyone and everyone you can, and let them know what kind of job you’re interested in after you graduate.

Put Yourself in the Shoes of a Potential Employer. What would you think of someone who sends you an impersonal form cover letter that has obviously been sent to lots of other companies, too, like a letter that starts off with “Dear Sir or Madam” instead of a person’s name? Or how about receiving a resume with not much “meat” in it — no evidence that the grad has made efforts to achieve anything or get involved on campus or in the community?

Norman Saale, Chief Operating Officer at a multi-office accounting firm, recruits candidates on college campuses, and he says, “College students applying for jobs need to show that they’ve spent time developing themselves.” This might include part- or full-time work, internships, volunteer work, or involvement in campus government or athletics, for example. “Show that you have commitment — that you are working toward something and have thought out a longer term plan,” he says.

Make Lists for Each Interview. Prior to each of your interviews, make three separate lists:

1. List the key points you want to get across in the interview about your experience, your education, and how you “fit” with the job you’re going for.

2. Develop a second list that outlines all of the info about the job or the company that you don’t currently know. Split this list into two: (a) the information you need to know in order to decide if the job is right for you, and (b) the information you would like to know.

3. Based on your first two lists, make a final list of the questions you want to ask during the interview. Make choices! Remember: You may only be given enough time to ask one question.

Your Clothes. Actors can often immediately step into character when they’re given the right costume. So, how you dress not only impacts the way others perceive you, but it can also impact how you perceive yourself and, even more importantly, how you act. Think of it this way: If you want to “act” professionally, you need to wear the right costume for the play you’re in.

Unless you’re applying for a job as a fashion designer, you want to be remembered for your skills, not your clothes. So, make sure what you are wearing is of good quality, clean, and free of rips or missing buttons. And avoid bright colors and too many accessories. Whether you like it or not, more conservative blacks, grays, and navy blues work best in most interview situations.

In other words, dress for success — literally — as if you’re going to meet the most important V.I.P. of your life. Unless the interviewer specifically tells you to dress casually, play it smart, and don’t take chances. Beverly Friedman, Senior Recruiter at Google, says, “Business casual does not include jeans or tennis shoes. Show respect for the process and that it mattered enough to you to dress nicely.” As another recruiter put it, “How someone dresses for an interview gives a picture of how they will ‘dress up’ for important meetings once in the job.”

Positive Self-Talk. When you feel anxious, angry, or worried, you can bet those negative thoughts will affect how well you do in an interview and how well you communicate your personal brand. Psychologists say that one of the best ways to move into a better state of mind is to talk yourself out of it. Just hearing your own inner voice telling you to stay calm can take the edge off of the situation. It’s a way of soothing your mind and affirming the positive, and you can even do it right before you walk into the interviewer’s office. But it’s even better to use this method to talk positively to yourself about the interview in the days before the appointment, the same day as the interview, and again while you’re sitting in the waiting room. You’ll be amazed by how much this can help you to keep your nerves in check.

The truth is: If you just “wing it,” your chances of getting hired drop dramatically. Defining your personal brand is the first step, but being prepared to communicate it in your interviews is everything. And that means doing the best prep work possible before you even walk into that important interview.

Statistics show that, on average, only about 10% of college grads write a thank you after an interview. So, should you? Absolutely! It’s a great way to distinguish yourself from the sea of other candidates, and it will help your individual personal brand stay memorable. In fact, if you’re in the “maybe” pile when you leave the interview, a well thought-out thank you could easily move you to the “yes” pile.

Here are some tips for making your follow-up thank you note a powerful statement that will help you build your college graduate personal brand and land a great job:

Personalize it! If you send a “cookie-cutter” thank you that sounds like it’s the same one you send to everyone after an interview, you could easily be moved from the “maybe” pile to the “rejected” pile. So, no cutting and pasting! Mention something specific that happened in the interview to help the interviewer remember you. One company recruiter says, “It shows that you were listening and paying attention.” She suggests writing something like, “I really liked the culture of the company, and I feel I can contribute in that kind of environment because…”

Express your interest in the job. Be enthusiastic about it! Be willing to show your excitement and passion.

Remind the interviewer what you can offer. Mention why you believe you’re a great fit for the job. Veda Jeffries, Assistant Director of Counseling Services at Stanford University, says a well-written thank you note “gives you an opportunity to reiterate or point out a skill you may have overlooked during the interview.”

Don’t forget anyone. If you interviewed with more than one person, send each of them a separate thank you note.

Proofread, proofread, proofread! Triple-check the thank you note to make sure everything is correct — especially the interviewer’s name and title and the company’s name and address. Accountemps conducted a survey of 150 senior executives that was published in USA Today, and 40% of them said it would only take one typo for them to decide against a candidate for a job! Norman Saale, Chief Operating Officer at a multi-office accounting firm says, “A thank you note can provide an opportunity for someone to make a mistake, and bad mistakes can actually change the recruiter’s mind. If you’re not a great writer, it can work against you.” So, if you can’t write a great thank you note on your own, get someone to help you. You want your thank you to get you the job, not lose it for you.

Timing is everything. If you know the company is going to make a quick hiring decision, send your thank you right away by e-mail. But…if they’re going to take a couple of weeks or longer to hire someone, you can stand out even more by sending your thank you note by snail mail. These days, receiving snail mail is pretty rare, so it can actually help you be remembered. Use your best handwriting, and send it on a professional looking note card.

Shannon Boehm, Manager of Undergraduate Recruitment at a major retailer, says this about thank you notes: “I am far more impressed when I receive follow-up handwritten thank you notes instead of e-mails. Thank you e-mails are actually the most common for me to receive, and I generally just file them away. But handwritten thank you notes are posted up on my office wall. A generic one is not as impressive, but one that is well thought-out can make a candidate stand out.”

If only 10% of applicants write a thank you note after an interview, imagine the edge you will automatically have when you write yours! The odds are definitely in your favor. Again, just make sure that it’s written well and that it communicates your college graduate personal brand in the best possible way. If you do, you’ll be one step closer to landing the job you really want upon graduation.

Resource #4: YOUR TEAM

In your company, who is responsible for marketing? If you think “the Marketing Department,” I couldn’t disagree more. The truth is: No matter how big or small your company, every single person that has the ability to impact your brand or business is in “marketing.” Learning how to enlist that team of people can help grow your business exponentially, and it doesn’t have to cost you much.

Do your employees know the full extent of your company’s offerings and your desired positioning so that they can be your company’s biggest cheerleaders? Each member of your team represents a walking/talking potential billboard for your company. They are literally “free media” for you, providing on-demand marketing for your business every time they shake someone’s hand and introduce themselves.

After all, what’s the first question that someone asks after you’re introduced? Usually something like “Where do you work?” or “What do you do?” Think of the hundreds or thousands of people your employees meet throughout any given year – both personally and professionally. You can turn that seemingly inconsequential “where do you work?” question into a potential business-building one by training your employees to speak effectively about your business to others.

Remember: Employees can’t represent the company well if they don’t understand what you do. Ensure that they have the key message you want to get across by developing for them an “elevator speech.” That’s a 20-second synopsis of your brand or business that could be delivered in the time it takes to go from floor to floor in an elevator. Everyone on your team should be trained and ready to deliver that message in a convincing way.

Also, offer incentives for all staff and team members to bring in new business, even if they’re not in sales or marketing. The incentives can be modest (buy them lunch) or more substantial (a small percentage of new revenues when a new client signs up). It doesn’t have to cost very much, but it can be extremely motivating and can potentially bring in a lot of business.

Resource #5: COMPETITORS

Surprised that your competitors could be a marketing resource for you? It may seem counter-intuitive, but your “enemies” can actually be your allies in developing a successful marketing strategy for your company. The key is to know your competitors as well as you know your own business. You may know your competitors by name, but do you know the product benefits they emphasize, how well they’re meeting the needs of your niche, or how they are perceived by their customers?

This is why athletic teams watch and analyze the competition before they play against them – to assess their strategies, figure out how they operate, and turn that information into a winning game plan. You should do the same when it comes to marketing, and it doesn’t have to cost much.

Begin by developing a strong grasp of all aspects of your competitors’ operations from positioning to distribution to marketing to production. It takes more than looking at a web page to answer these questions, but even the most financially frugal enterprise can troll for information inexpensively. Here are just a couple of ideas:

• Creating an in-house “clipping” service: Designate one member of your staff to gather website info, newspaper ads, and other materials about your competition on a daily or weekly basis.

• Become a subscriber: Opt-in to your competitors’ mailings. They’re free and filled with the type of information you need.

Lastly, don’t be too quick to assume your competition isn’t any good. Their customers obviously think differently, so take some time to figure out why. The goal is to uncover not only what your competition is doing wrong, but – more importantly – what they are doing right.

An Abundance of Marketing Assets

The ideas shared in this three-part series are just the tip of the iceberg. With a little ingenuity and guidance, there are dozens of additional low-cost or no-cost ideas out there just waiting for you to market your brand effectively. Now, that’s smart marketing.

Curious what he said? So was I! Click here to find out…. http://www.brendabence.com/media-room/news/LA-TIMES-NEW-Final.pdf

Brenda

We have already discussed the #1 marketing resource that every business already has at its disposal – Positioning – that can build your brand or business successfully at low cost or no cost at all. Now, let’s cover two more.

Resource #2: EXISTING CUSTOMERS

Many companies put their focus first and foremost on trying to market to new prospects, but I contend that the key to success is to market to existing customers and let them help you bring in new prospects. In fact, statistics indicate it costs 6-9 times more to attract a new client than to keep an existing client happy. You can grow your business faster – and less expensively – by marketing to your existing clients.

It’s all about creating a dialogue and building a relationship. So, it’s key to keep your business or brand name in front of your clients regularly. That way, when the need for your product or service arises again, yours is the first business that comes into your customer’s mind.

What are some inexpensive ways to do that? Provide regular two-way communications with your customers in the form of a newsletter or regular e-mails where you can offer them important industry updates. Make sure to keep existing customers aware of any new products you are offering and/or of any new product or service improvements.

Make sure your existing customers are happy with your offerings. How can you be sure existing clients will keep coming back for more? Get to know them and their needs as well as you know your own business. If you don’t have the money for a full-blown market research initiative, and you don’t have the time to sit down with every customer and ask questions, you can still:

• Do DIY Focus Groups – Informal, in-house research sessions are ideal for testing new products, understanding attitudes, and getting immediate feedback.
• Treat Complaints Like Gold – A dissatisfied customer is your best resource for information on how to make your business better. Make it easy for customers to complain, and watch for trends.
• Conduct “Man on the Street” Interviews – Ask prospects, new customers, and returning buyers about any unmet needs they might have.

Resource #3: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

I’m always surprised by the number of people who tell me they don’t regularly use the products or services they market. This is a big mistake. There’s nothing like personal experience to help you form an opinion. As such, your company’s offerings are a continuous source of inexpensive marketing information.

Give your products and services a regular “test drive” and look at them with the fresh eyes of a prospect. Your never-used-this-before perspective will help you scrutinize every aspect of what you sell, giving you insights about potentially vital improvements.

Better yet, get some unbiased people to “mystery shop” your products and services and hear what they think. No one on your staff should know those individuals are mystery shoppers – they should remain anonymous – then ask them to use your products or services, write up what the experience was like, and share it with you. It doesn’t cost you much, and you’re likely to glean great new perspectives from it.

And, of course, it’s also important to be honest about whether your products or services are “truly” superior to the competition. Are you really selling a better mousetrap? If you are, is that superiority immediately visible and noticeable? If you do have superiority that is noticeably different to your customer in a single use, get your product in the hands of potential customers – even if you have to give it away free the first time. If it’s that good, customers will be back for more.

If you don’t have superiority, or if your superiority is hard to prove, create or focus on a meaningful point of difference. Find a niche need in the marketplace, and cater to the people who need exactly what you have to offer. Turn that into a competitive advantage, and make it ownable/exclusive.

Look up “Smarter Marketing without Breaking the Bank Part 3” to discover the two remaining marketing resources you already have which can help you build a better brand without breaking the bank.

Why do 90% of businesses fail when times are tough? It’s the same reason that any business can fail when times are good: faulty marketing.

Faulty marketing (or no marketing at all) means no customers. And that means no sales, no profits, and no business … fast. Marketing to build a powerful brand is all about identifying the needs of a target market and taking action to satisfy those needs better than the competition. So, embracing a customer-led mindset throughout the company is critical to success. Every decision on all aspects of your business – from product design and pricing to supply chain and distribution channels – must revolve around customers and their needs.

Empty Pockets, Full Marketing Plan

I often hear business owners and managers say, “That sounds good, but I don’t have enough money, people, or resources to market effectively.” The key to success is to change your mindset from what you don’t have to what you do have. In fact, I guarantee you already have five powerful resources in your company that can help you market effectively. For business owners who are prepared to build and maintain a solid marketing foundation, these five resources can be leveraged to bring you greater success.

In this article, we’ll focus on the first marketing resource. But, we’ll cover four more in upcoming articles:

• Resource #1: Positioning – The way you want customers to perceive, think, and feel about your business versus competition.
• Resource #2: Customers – We’ll talk about how to effectively market to keep your current clients coming back for more.
• Resource #3: Your Products and Services – Learn to review your portfolio through the eyes of your customers, and drive more business.
• Resource #4: Your Team – Uncover powerful ways that your team can help you market, day-in and day-out.
• Resource #5: Your Competition – How can your competition help you grow your own business? We’ll explore this in the final article of this three-part series.

First, let’s turn to Positioning.

Resource #1: POSITIONING

Why is positioning important? Without positioning to differentiate your brand or business in a meaningful way, your products or services become commodities, and you end up competing on price alone – a precarious market position at best. So, businesses without well-defined positioning statements are not in the driver’s seat. After all, if you aren’t exactly sure what your company stands for, how can your customer be sure? In fact, if you don’t take charge of your positioning yourself, there’s a good chance your competition will step in and define your positioning for you.

I often hear business owners say, “But, positioning is only for big companies or companies who sell direct to consumers.” Or, “We’ve never written it down, so we don’t even have a positioning.” The truth is: Your company already has a positioning whether you know it or not. Large or small, your company’s positioning is how customers perceive, think, and feel about your brand or business versus competition. Since your clients are already out there perceiving, thinking, and feeling about you right now, your positioning already exists in their minds. The question is: Do you have the positioning you want?

Another popular myth is that small companies don’t need positioning. In reality, it’s just the opposite: Smart positioning helps level the playing field for businesses with less resources. While large companies often have deeper pockets to help communicate what they want their business to stand for, companies with fewer resources must work smarter to identify and solidify that one particular “sweet spot” that they, and they alone, can and want to own.

Taking charge of your existing positioning is one of the most powerful activities you can do to stand out from the competition and win in the marketplace. And, it doesn’t have to cost you a lot.

How to do that? The key is to spend quality time with your management team defining and aligning on the six core elements that make up your company’s positioning: Target Market, Need, Competitive Framework, Benefits, Reasons Why, and Character. These six fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to form your Positioning Statement. Once defined, your positioning should become a mantra of sorts for your team, guiding everyone on a daily basis and helping to make important decisions. That’s how you build a powerful position in the market without spending a lot to do so.

Look up “Smarter Marketing without Breaking the Bank Part 2” for the second of this three-part article to learn about the next two marketing resources that you can use to create a powerful, but inexpensive, marketing plan for your business.

Today – January 15, 2010 – is the day that “my” quote will appear on the page-a-day calendar.

The reason I wanted to share this news in particular is because the quote I submitted and that was selected for this year’s calendar holds a very special place in my heart. You see, my father – who passed away 6 years ago – often recited these words to me throughout my life and, even now, this phrase continues to have an impact on me.

So here it is! I hope these words bring you as much inspiration as they have for me over the years….

“There’s always room for the best at the top. It’s your job to get there.”

Visit the upper right hand corner of the home page of www.womenentrepreneur.com today (January 15, 2010) to read the quote. Then, visit the site daily to view a new, inspirational quote from the Woman’s Advantage Calendar. I really enjoy reading advice from so many dynamic woman – and I hope you will, too!

All the best to you -
Brenda Bence

What would you say is the most critical success factor for business growth in your company? If you’re like 91% of the respondents in a recent study of CEOs in North America, Europe, and Asia, you would say “developing leaders.” In this article, we’ll explore why leadership development has become more vital to business success than ever, and why companies are now overwhelmingly choosing a previously-untapped resource – Executive Coaching – as a key part of the solution.

Executive Coaching On the Rise

In a Fortune 500 survey, 43% of CEOs and 71% of senior executive team members said that they have worked with a coach, 63% of companies said they plan to increase their use of coaching over the next five years, and 92% of leaders who have used a coach in the past plan to do so again.

Why? The statistics indicate a clear answer: Coaching works. In a study of 370 participants who had worked with executive coaches, the group went from the 50th percentile in performance to the 93rd percentile. Amoco Corp./BP evaluated the impact of executive coaching over a ten-year period and discovered that managers who were coached received 50% higher average salary increases because their performance was so much better.

So, what does this mean for you and your company? It means that coaching is a powerful option when you need to transform managers into leaders who can handle today’s ever-changing world. Executive Coaching allows you to dramatically improve your leadership bench strength.

But why turn to an outside source for developing leaders? A brief history of business over the last three decades may shed some light.

Leadership Skills – Yesterday and Today

In the 1970s and 1980s, corporations used a pyramid structure with the CEO at the top. Most executives had three or four direct reports and could therefore spend quality time providing on-the-job training for them. If you had solid functional skills during that era – marketing, finance, and sales, for example – that was all you needed to win as a leader. Termed “hard” skills, these were considered most important, while “soft” skills like team management and communication were deemed of lesser value, if not altogether dispensable.

Then the 1990s arrived. Wall Street became tougher on companies, demanding better and better results. Most markets had tapped out domestically and started to look internationally. All of this brought about a surge of mergers and acquisitions resulting in larger and larger organizations. These huge conglomerates, too big to use pyramid structures, turned to flattened matrix organizations. The result? Managers suddenly had 8-12 direct reports, less time to train each individual, and they also found themselves with different bosses in different locations for different functions. The complexity of doing business had increased dramatically.

Other critical changes took place at the same time, intensifying the pace and challenges related to change:

• More and more women entered the workforce, resulting in more diversity in the workplace.
• People were living longer so, for the first time in the history of modern capitalism, four generations were working under the same roof.
• The rapid changes taking place in technology meant that the “work week” had become 24/7 for many organizations.
• Working across hemispheres created the need to manage time zones and cultural diversity, upping the importance of strong people skills.

Dramatic Changes in Such a Short Period – The Outcomes?

In this environment, functional skills have now become the price of entry. Previously considered “soft” skills are now the “hard” skills that are vital to becoming a successful leader. Universities and MBA programs rarely teach those skills, and the flattened organizations of today allow little or no time for the busy leader to receive direct on-the-job coaching.

As a result, employee loyalty has dropped dramatically, bringing the average tenure in any given job to three years. Employers find it increasingly difficult to retain their best employees. The pace of change and increased scrutiny – including new regulations from government – are relentless. Last – but not least – as baby boomers (the largest group of people ever in the work force) begin to reach retirement age, companies are starting to realize an even greater shortage of good leaders for the future.

The result of all of this means many companies and HR departments are turning to outside executive coaches to develop and strengthen their leaders.

What is Executive Coaching Anyway?

There is a myth about executive coaching that it’s about “fixing” behavior problems. Nothing could be further from the truth! Coaching isn’t consulting, counseling, or therapy. It isn’t about regretting a past that can’t be changed. It’s about focusing on a future that can be changed.

An executive coach is a skilled professional who develops an ongoing relationship with the leader-client and focuses on helping that individual to take action toward bringing to life those stated goals. A coach serves as a combination of a mentor, manager, personal trainer, and sports coach. A good coach doesn’t provide solutions to the client. Instead, the coach draws out solutions from the client. This helps already successful leaders achieve positive, lasting changes in behaviors that allow them to transform themselves and their teams, ultimately leading to better overall business results.

How Can an Executive Coach Help?

A recent survey revealed the top two reasons that companies engage executive coaches:

• 48% said they used a coach to develop high potential employees or facilitate a successful transition into a new position.
• 26% said leaders used a coach as a sounding board.

So, what exactly can an executive coach help today’s leaders accomplish? The list is long, but here are just a few examples:

• Strengthen leadership skills/core competencies.
• On-board managers into a new company or position.
• Improve time management and work/life balance.
• Reduce / better manage stress.
• Develop more productive work relationships.
• Enhance conflict management skills.
• Implement a new strategy, vision, or direction.
• Build an existing business or launch a new one.

What to Look For in an Executive Coach

It’s one thing to know that an executive coach can be an asset in developing leaders within your organization. It’s another thing to know how to choose a good coach. Make sure the coaches you consider are…

- Well-trained. Ask to see training certificates from an accredited coaching school.
- Certified by the International Coach Federation (ICF). See www.CoachFederation.org.
- Trained or certified in assessments like MBTI, StrengthsFinder, FIRO-B, LPI, EQI, CPI.
- Versed and experienced in both business operations and human/organizational behavior.
- Non-biased, non-judgmental, 100% focused on the client.
- Able to maintain 100% confidentiality.
- Open to allowing you to speak to past clients. At a minimum, you should read past client testimonials.

How Do You Know if a Coach is Right For a Specific Leader?

Good chemistry is key to success with an executive coach. A coach may have stellar credentials but may not be the right “fit” for the leader in question. So, request a free trial session when you have narrowed down your list of potential coaches. Then, don’t be afraid to ask some tough questions:

• What types of people and issues have you worked with, and what were the outcomes?
• What is your coaching model and process?
• Is there any client you would turn down?
• How do you deal with resistance?
• How would you define the difference between therapy and coaching?
• What is your greatest strength as a coach?
• What is your plan for keeping key stakeholders in the loop?

Cost and Payout?

What does executive coaching cost? The range is wide depending upon the coach’s level of experience and track record. Harvard Business Review has reported that rates range from $300-$3,500 USD per hour. One thing you can do to keep costs down is ask for a volume discount if your company has multiple managers who need coaching.

Make sure you get a good return on your investment (ROI) when it comes to Executive Coaching. Two recent large-scale independent studies amongst thousands of executive coaching clients across the world said the return on their investment was anywhere from 600-700% of the cost of the initial investment. Nonetheless, take the time to quantify the results of hiring an executive coach. The costs of weak leaders in today’s marketplace are great, but the benefits of having strong leaders is priceless.

But then, there’s Starbucks coffee, which sells for $2-$5 per cup. How does Starbucks do that? And what does Starbucks have that those other cups of coffee don’t?

It isn’t just a better tasting cup of coffee. What Starbucks offers is something so much more than taste – it offers a rewarding coffee experience. When we buy a cup of Starbucks coffee, we’re paying for the experience of taking a break during the day … the experience of enjoying a jolt of java with friends … the experience of relaxing with a mocha latte after a night at the theatre. It’s those experiences that differentiate Starbucks from so many other coffee brands.

The same is true of you and your own leadership personal brand. If you want to earn more money, advance in your career, and keep moving up the corporate ladder, think about the experience you offer as a leader in the workplace. If you could step into the shoes of those you are leading, what would it feel like to be part of a team with you at the helm? In short, would you want to work for YOU?

Because you’re not in your team’s shoes, it can be difficult to answer that question. But if you don’t, your leadership personal brand will suffer. To make sure your individual brand is bringing you success and growth in your career, you need to learn how others perceive, think, and feel about you as a leader at the office. Only then can you find out if your brand needs help. And that means getting regular, helpful feedback.

That can be easier said than done, of course. If no one is offering you feedback because of your heightened position, or if you don’t feel you’re getting honest feedback from subordinates, it’s your responsibility to go after it. There is no better way to accelerate both your career and, ultimately, your company. Here are four tips to give you an idea of what it’s like to work for you:

1. Use 360-degree feedback tools. There are literally hundreds of them on the market, so choose carefully in order to find the one that will help you meet your specific objectives. For example, if you want to improve your leadership skills, use a leadership assessment tool like Leadership Agility 360. If you want to better manage your emotions on the job, try an emotional intelligence assessment like Emotional Capital Inventory (ECi 360). Ask to see an example of the report outcome you will receive, and check to see if you need a certified coach to administer the assessment.

2. Ask for feedback, regularly. In a one-on-one environment, sit down and ask for feedback from your subordinates, your boss, and key colleagues. (If you try to have a group meeting for feedback, no one will be honest with you.) Let each individual know that you’re sincere in your request and that you want candor. Listen intently, and write down what you hear. Don’t allow yourself to become defensive no matter what is said. If you do, the exercise will backfire, and chances are you’ll never receive honest feedback again. When they’re finished, simply say “thank you” and nothing more.

3. Audio or videotape yourself conducting meetings, then sit back and review them objectively. This can be a real eye-opener. As you watch or listen, put yourself in your team’s position, and imagine what it felt like to be in that meeting with you. Are you communicating the leadership brand you want? If you find it difficult to assess the recordings, ask a trusted colleague for honest feedback.

4. After you’ve gathered all of your notes from your feedback and from watching and listening to recordings, look for the common elements and themes. Based on your learnings, what are the key behaviors that you want to focus on improving? Choose the top 3-4, then create an action plan to begin to change those behaviors. Find an executive coach if you feel at a loss as to how to put the feedback into action or if you feel you need extra motivation to change some non-productive habits.

Work on these changes every day, but don’t expect immediate success. Long-lasting changes in behavior require time and persistence. Most of the behaviors you will want to change have been long-time habits, so you first need to become aware of when and how the behavior takes place. Then, you’ll be in a position to stop yourself and do something different.

Even if the feedback stings in the beginning, you will soon discover the many rewards of strengthening your leadership personal brand. When you succeed in changing an ingrained limiting behavior, you feel a strong sense of accomplishment. And, the respect you receive from your team as a result of listening to their feedback is invaluable. They will feel empowered by the fact that you took their comments to heart, and you will become a great role model for how they can use feedback to improve themselves in the workplace, too.

Only through strengthening your leadership personal brand can you continue to grow as a leader and further your career. That’s how you enrich the experience of working with you and make yourself someone you’d be happy to have at the helm.

When your team experiences a success, what do you do? Do you brush over these wins, automatically working toward the next goal without an acknowledgement of what has been achieved? Do you share a quick “congratulations” or “good job” and then head back into your office?

In our non-stop, 24-7 world, it’s all too easy to place immediate focus on your next task at hand and forget to stop and reflect on what’s been achieved. But if you ignore the wins of your team, you miss a vital opportunity not only to inspire your team on to even greater successes, but to strengthen your own leadership personal brand in the process.

Why is that important? Your leadership personal brand – defined as the way others perceive, think, and feel about you as a leader – can make or break your success. It impacts your image, your reputation, your relationships, and your performance. As a result, it will also impact your overall career and your finances. So, if you gloss over your team’s successes without recognition, what does that say about you as a leader? How do you think employees perceive, think, and feel about a leader when their efforts go unappreciated? Those perceptions also reflect on the company as a whole, and that kind of downward spiral can mean losing some of your best team members.

Here are the top 10 reasons why celebrating wins is important for you, your team, your company, and for building up your own leadership personal brand. Celebrating wins…

1. …reminds you of the goal you set and why you set it in the first place. It’s easy to forget why a goal was important, but forgetting that removes all meaning from the task. When people remember why the work they do helps grow the business, they’re inspired to do more.

2. …reminds you that a good, focused, goal-setting process works. You set the goal, create strategies to achieve it, and reach the outcomes you want. This not only delivers the desired results, but it inspires your team to set goals in all areas of their work as well.

3. … motivates your team to continue delivering good work. Employees who feel appreciated and know their efforts have been noticed become even more productive with the next round of projects.

4. … unifies the team around a positive outcome. If there are members of your team who are struggling to get along, reminding them that they have achieved a common goal helps bring them together.

5. … reminds the team that they work for a winning organization. People want to work for winners! So, one of the greatest morale-builders that a leader can offer employees is the knowledge that they work for a successful company, even if – and especially if – there are other areas where the company might be struggling.

6. …forces you and your team to concentrate on the positive rather than the negative. Even if your company has taken some hits recently or struggled in a down economy, there are still wins you can celebrate. Give your team a boost by celebrating and reminding them that good things are still happening for the company.

7. … builds momentum for you and your team. When a success is celebrated, everyone is reminded that their ability to reach one specific goal indicates just how close they are to achieving even greater goals.

8. … gets you away from mundane day-to-day tasks. No matter how briefly, changing your team’s mindset from “work” to “celebration” gives both you and your team renewed, positive energy on the job.

9. … allows you to connect with colleagues and coworkers in a way that is not just work-related. It helps you build a more personal connection with your team – another great way to boost your leadership personal brand.

10. … allows you to reward specific employees. When you’re clear about what went well – naming names, dates, great ideas, and the deadlines that were met or exceeded – you not only legitimize the celebration, but you reinforce the kinds of behaviors that the company values. This shows your team exactly how they can earn similar celebrations in the future.

As a leader, it’s your job to keep your team motivated toward their own growth as well as toward the common goal of growing and building the company. Celebrating wins is a great way to do both and has the positive side effect of boosting your own leadership personal brand at the same time.

A new book, “The Power of the Platform: Speakers on Purpose,” features messages of motivation and inspiration, as well as how-to information for business and life that is sure to help readers achieve their goals, find their purpose, and start living the life of their dreams.  This is the second edition in “The Power of the Platform” anthology series published by the Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau.

Brenda Bence, Founder and President of Brand Development Associates (BDA) International, Ltd, was selected from today’s most outstanding speakers and experts in personal development to be featured in the anthology.  Brenda is an internationally recognized branding expert, certified executive coach, dynamic speaker and author of the award-winning “How YOU™ are like Shampoo” series of personal branding books.

Released earlier this month, “The Power of the Platform” features chapters from some of today’s other most outstanding experts in personal development – including: 

• Jack Canfield, co-creator of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series and “The Success Principles”
• Brian Tracy, owner of Brian Tracy Int’l. and personal development consultant
• Richard Bolles, author of “What Color is Your Parachute?” (2010 edition) and “The Job-Hunters’ Survival Guide”
• Marci Shimoff, author of “Happy for No Reason,” “Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul,” “Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul,” and featured mentor in “The Secret”
• Les Brown, motivational speaker and author.
• And others … 

The chapters in the book are varied and offer something for everyone, featuring messages of inspiration, motivation, tips and techniques to help you in business and in life. There is something to be gained from every chapter. Books are available on Amazon.com or www.BrendaBence.com. 

With an MBA from Harvard Business School, Brenda Bence’s 25-year career has included developing mega brands for Fortune 100 companies across four continents and 50 countries. As President of Brand Development Associates International Ltd, Brenda now travels the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and companies to greater success through creative yet practical personal brand development.  

For more information on “The Power of the Platform,” or to arrange an interview with Brenda Bence, please visit www.BrendaBence.com, contact +1-312-242-1830, or email Daniel.Jackman@BDA-Intl.com for availability.

CHICAGO – Author Brenda Bence’s book on how to find a job using personal branding – How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers: The Proven Personal Branding System To Help You Succeed In Any Interview And Secure the Job of Your Dreams – is an award-winning finalist in the Business/Careers category in THE NATIONAL BEST BOOKS 2009 AWARDS. USABookNews.com, the review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of the awards on October 20, 2009. Awards were presented for titles published in 2009 and late 2008 covering print and audio books.

Author Brenda Bence is Founder and President of Brand Development Associates International, Ltd. (BDA Int’l), a firm that specializes in helping companies and individuals around the world build successful, growth-oriented corporate and personal brands.

“It was gratifying enough to hear from readers that the book has helped job seekers find employment faster in this tough economy.” says Bence. “To be recognized nationally by USA Book News is unexpected icing on the cake!”

Jeff Keen, President and CEO of USABookNews.com, said this year’s contest yielded an unprecedented number of entries, which were then narrowed down to just a few finalists per category. “The 2009 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States”. Keen says.

A complete list of the winners and finalists of the USABookNews.com National “Best Books” 2009 Awards are available online at http://www.USABookNews.com.

About the Author:
Brenda S. Bence is an internationally-recognized branding expert, certified executive coach, and powerhouse speaker and author. With an MBA from Harvard Business School, her 25-year career has included developing mega brands for Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb across four continents and 50 countries. As President of Brand Development Associates International, Brenda now travels the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and corporations to greater success through creative yet practical brand development.

Brenda Bence, President of Brand Development Associates International Ltd, is available for television, radio, and press interviews nationwide to talk about her book and topics on personal or corporate branding. Visit www.BrendaBence.com, contact +1-312-242-1830, or email Daniel.Jackman@BDA-Intl.com for availability.

The question is whether you have the personal brand you want. Is your brand bringing you greater success, or is it actually holding you back? Not knowing the answer to that question can mean the difference between a career that stays land-locked and a career that skyrockets.

So, what are the best ways to keep personal brand damage under control?

1. Get clear about what your current brand stands for right now. This means discovering how people perceive, think, and feel about you in the present moment. Enlist a friend you trust to ask several work colleagues for the top five words they would use to describe you. Are you described the way you want to be? If not, your personal brand needs some adjustments.

2. Determine where you need to make changes. If you aren’t happy with the results of your research, that’s good news. Why? Because it will clarify exactly what you need to change in order to create the brand you want.

3. Define carefully what you want your brand to be. Once you have an idea of where your current personal brand is failing, you need to define your desired personal brand. Most people struggle with their personal brand because they haven’t taken the time to clearly define it. Not having a personal brand definition is like meandering from point A to point B without a map. You might get there eventually, but you’ll make a lot of wrong turns along the way.

So, take some time to consider: How do you want to be known? What are your strengths, and how can you best fill the needs of your brand’s “target audience” – i.e., your boss, your colleagues, and/or your customers?

4. Learn how to communicate your brand effectively. Defining your desired personal brand is an important first step, but if it remains on a piece of paper in a drawer, it won’t do you much good. In other words, no one’s perceptions, thoughts, or feelings about you will change unless and until you communicate the personal brand you really want. So, keep your personal brand definition in mind as you go about the top five activities that all of us do every day. These activities best communicate what you stand for: Your Actions, Reactions, Look, Sound, and even your Thoughts. The key to success is being consistent with these five activities – in what you say, do, and think – day-in and day-out.

Do you act like someone with your desired personal brand would act? Do you stop yourself before reacting negatively to situations that arise? Do you look and sound like someone with your desired personal brand? And yes, do you think like someone with your desired personal brand? Thoughts are incredibly powerful and can not only affect your own feelings but how others perceive, think, and feel about you as well.

5. Avoid damaging your personal brand. After you have defined your personal brand and created a plan for communicating it, you also need to take special care to keep it intact. How do you do that? One way is to watch others, and learn from their mistakes. Even if you don’t know anyone personally who has damaged their personal brand, you have certainly heard of celebrities who have made serious blunders. For some of them, the damage has been so severe that their careers have never bounced back. So, pay attention to what others do that damages their personal brands, and avoid doing the same things.

6. Be aware of your own mistakes, and fix them quickly! If you do commit a personal brand blooper, do whatever is necessary to fix it. Apologize for it, show that you take responsibility for your errors, and go out of your way to correct them. This works wonders to promote a positive personal brand.

7. Learn from your errors to avoid making them again. When you realize your brand has taken a beating after a mistake, ask yourself: “What did I learn from this?” Write down the lessons, and make a commitment to never make that mistake again.

8. Keep a good sense of humor! Most importantly, if you make a personal branding mistake, be willing to laugh at yourself. Everyone likes to work with someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

Remember: 24-7-365
The truth is: Your personal brand is either working for or against you 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you aren’t taking control of it by consciously defining and communicating a brand that brings you greater success, you may actually be damaging it. You may even prevent yourself from reaching your full potential. So, create the personal brand you want today, and learn how to harness it. It can be one of the most powerful ways to move forward in your career.

Senior people who continue to be at the top of their game recognize that there is always room for growth, so they ask for feedback regularly. If no one is offering you feedback because of your heightened position, or if you don’t feel you’re getting honest feedback from subordinates, it’s your responsibility to go after it. There is no better way to accelerate both your career and your company. Here are some tips:

 In a one-on-one environment, ask for feedback from your subordinates, your boss, and key colleagues. (If you try to have a group meeting for feedback, no one will be honest with you, rendering the meeting worthless.)
 Let each individual know that you are sincere in your request and that you want candor.
 Listen intently, and write down what you hear.
 Bite your tongue! Don’t allow yourself to become defensive, no matter what is said. If you do, the exercise will backfire, and chances are you’ll never receive honest feedback again.
 When they are finished, simply say, “Thank you.” Say nothing more than that.

If you feel that your subordinates or others will simply be too uncomfortable to give you honest feedback, an alternative is to create an anonymous questionnaire for each to complete, or you can enlist the help of a coach who can get the feedback for you.

After you have gathered all of the feedback, look for the common elements and themes. These are the key behaviors that you want to focus on improving. Then, create an action plan to begin changing the behaviors that need work. Find a coach if you feel at a loss as to how to put the feedback into action or if you feel you need extra motivation to change some on-the-job behaviors and non-productive habits.

Work on these changes every day, but don’t expect success immediately. Long-lasting change in behavior requires time and persistence. Most of the behaviors you will want to change have been long-time habits, so you first need to become aware of when and how the behavior takes place. Then, you will be in a position to stop yourself and do something different.

After 60 days of working on your targeted improvements, hold individual feedback meetings with your team members again. Ask them the same questions as before, along with whether and how well you have improved.

Even if the feedback stings in the beginning, you will eventually find that it’s exciting to improve. When you succeed in changing an ingrained behavior, you feel a strong sense of accomplishment. Additionally, the respect you receive from your team as a result of listening to their feedback is invaluable. They will feel empowered by the fact that you took their comments to heart, and you will become a great role model for how they can use feedback to improve themselves, too.

Negative language often shows up in feedback. We give feedback that we believe is constructive when it’s actually destructive. This kind of feedback can have a big impact not only on the morale of the team, but on the development of your people as well.

Here are some examples of feedback that are subtly destructive and counterproductive:

“Why did you…?”
“What if you had done it like…?”
“What I would have done is…”
“That’s great, but…”

Notice how these phrases are negative and/or focused on the past – a past that you cannot change. Now, read these phrases instead:

“What did you learn from having done…?”
“How can you grow from this?”
“Next time, what will you do differently?”
“That’s great. What else can we do to develop it even further?”

Do you see how these phrases are positive and focused on the future – a future that you can change? This is how you turn feedback into growth opportunities both personally and professionally. This type of language gets your team thinking about what improvements can be made. It stretches the abilities of your team and keeps them feeling positive about what they can accomplish rather than what they did wrong in the past, which they probably already regret.

It’s also a good idea for leaders to become aware of the negative words they use. You may not be aware of it, but how often do you use the following words: “No,” “Yes, but…,” “However,” and “Nonetheless”? These seemingly innocuous words can actually stunt growth. No matter how you sugar-coat them, use of these words is akin to the sound of fingernails screeching down a chalkboard. They’re flat-out irritating. Instead of these phrases, try saying, “Yes, and…” and see how positively people respond. You’ll be amazed at the difference.

To help you eliminate your use of negative language on the job, begin by paying attention to what you say and how you say it. Let your team know you want to stop using negative words, and enlist their help. Tell them that every time you use a pre-defined negative word or phrase, they should point it out, and you will automatically put 20 baht into a jar. Make it a game, and get everyone involved. It will not only help you to change your own bad language habits, but it will motivate others in your company to do the same. It’s an engaging way to change your own behavior while getting everyone else to realize the power of destructive language. (Use the money you’ve collected for a fun “positivity” party at the end of the year.)

The big daddy of all negative language – probably the biggest “office crippler” – is the word “can’t.” Many leaders use “can’t” regularly. We offer it up as if it’s nothing, but it’s actually like hitting a brick wall at rapid speed. Not only does it stop you in your tracks, but it stops your employees in their tracks, too. If you really “can’t” do something, you have nowhere to go – and that means no business to grow.

In my workshops, I do an exercise with participants called “The Paperclip Challenge” to help participants become aware of and break the habit of saying “can’t.” I arrange them into teams (although you can do this alone, if you want) and give everyone a paperclip. Each team has four minutes to brainstorm every activity they cannot do with that paperclip.

Be tough! For example, someone might say, “I cannot eat a paperclip.” But that isn’t true. You can eat a paperclip – you would just be crazy to do it. Someone might say, “I cannot write with a paperclip.” But that isn’t true either. If you unfold the paperclip and dip the tip of it into ink, you can definitely write with it. Get the idea?

After four minutes, the entire group reconvenes and reviews each team’s “can’t” lists. By the time we’ve finished reviewing the lists, we always find that what can’t be done with a paperclip is actually a very short list. The longer lists suddenly become what can be done with a paperclip. This analogy applies to everything. More often than not, you can do what you think you cannot do.

So, pay close attention to your negative language as a leader in your organization. It will affect how much you and your teams can accomplish. If you think something won’t work before you’ve even tried it, you will most likely create a self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, the more your language allows for possibility, the more possibilities will open up to you.

Q: The terms and phrases used in branding confuse me. Help – what do they all mean?

In my 25 years as a brander and a marketer, I have seen a lot of confusion around what the various elements of branding and marketing mean. So, don’t worry – you’re far from alone!

As we kick off this new column on branding, it’s my hope to clear up a lot of confusion as we talk about many different aspects of brands. I want to help you unleash the power of branding and to learn how to use that power to advance both your business and your career. But first, to answer your question, here’s my take on the most common branding terms.

What is a “brand”? You may think a brand is a “product” or a “trademark.” But it isn’t that easy! A brand goes beyond the mere physical attributes of a product or trademark. In fact, a brand is actually intangible – you can smell the aroma of a Starbucks cup of coffee, you can taste the flavor of a chewy Mentos, you can see the golden arches of McDonalds – but you cannot touch a “brand.” A brand has both rational and emotional appeal, so it provides a total experience enjoyed by customers. That, in turn, helps the brand create a perception of added value, leading to customer loyalty.

What is “brand positioning”? Brand positioning is the way you want your customers to perceive, think, and feel about your brand versus competition. The best managers take time to carefully define the six fundamental elements that make up a positioning: Target, Need, Competitive Framework, Benefits, Reasons Why, and Brand Character. Put those six into a one-page statement that then serves as a foundation – a compass – for everything that brand does, and that’s how to reach a specific, desired position in the marketplace. Every brand – whether B2C or B2B, and no matter what industry it is in – should have a clearly-defined positioning statement in order to achieve success faster.

So then, is “branding” different? Yes! “Branding” most often refers to the design elements that a brand uses to identify itself, like logos, icons, colors, and layout schemes that are used consistently wherever the brand name or product appears. Those elements may even be legally protected to make sure they are only associated with that one brand and no other.

Got it… so, then, what is “marketing?” Once the branding has been defined, it’s time to market the brand. Marketing includes all the activities aimed at uncovering, then satisfying, that brand’s customers better than competition. After the target market has been determined, marketing is all about communicating consistently to that target market how and why the brand will fill their wants and needs.

Ok, so how are “marketing” and “sales” different? Sales refers to the actual transaction that takes place when a customer chooses to purchase one brand over another. Brand positioning, branding, and marketing are activities that all lead up to that sale.

So while brand positioning, branding, and marketing all have the same goal of creating sales – and revenue – each one plays a different role in the process.

Different Types of Brands

As this column continues, we’ll uncover different types of brands and how each one can play an important role in your success, both personally and professionally.

Intrigued? I hope so! I look forward to sharing with you in future columns how mastering your business and personal brands can bring you greater success and workplace satisfaction.

- How to use Personal Branding to get a great job faster
- What is a Personal Brand, and why is it important?
- Key Personal Brand Busters™ to avoid
- Entrepreneurs: Making the company brand / personal brand connection
- Your Reputation: Is It the One You Want?
- Successful personal branding outside the workplace

To watch these television shorts (each video is less than 3 minutes long), click here www.BrendaBence.com/nbc

The truth is that we all have a personal brand whether we like it or not. Simply by being ourselves in the work place, others perceive, think, and feel about us in a certain way. The question is whether we have created the personal brand we want.

This is especially important for those who hold leadership positions. If you lead others, the way they perceive, think, and feel about you as a leader, in relation to other leaders, can make or break your short-term and long-term success. These “others” might consist of your subordinates, colleagues, superiors, or even entire divisions or corporations.

Your leadership personal brand impacts your image, your reputation, your relationships, and your performance. As a result, it will also impact your overall career and your finances. So, unless you create your desired leadership personal brand consciously, negative perceptions can undermine your best efforts.

There are many mistakes that leaders commonly make which can damage their personal brands. Let’s take a look at five of the most potentially damaging:

1. Not taking risks or accepting tough challenges. When you reach a leadership position in any organization, it can be much too easy to rest on your laurels. If you have a lot of experience, you might become inclined to stick with what you know has worked in the past rather than try something new. This keeps you in a static place, however, without the opportunity for you – or the company – to grow. We all need challenges. As a leader, it’s your job to find them and lead your team through them.

2. Not speaking up when you disagree with top management. Even leaders have a difficult time speaking up to superiors. It’s natural to worry about the reactions of top management when you disagree with their decisions, but it also hurts your leadership personal brand to hold back and keep your opinions to yourself. Most of the time, if you’re diplomatic about it, your input will be appreciated – even if management’s decision stays the same. Most leaders are expected to offer ideas about how to solve problems or improve operations. You will be respected for making your views known.

3. Worrying about being “liked,” not respected. A good leader is both liked and respected. It’s a difficult balance, but it’s an important one. If you worry too much about being liked, you probably aren’t making enough tough decisions to lead others effectively. If, on the other hand, you worry too much about being respected and don’t care about being liked, chances are you won’t be able to garner the support you need from your team to succeed. They may even begin to feel victimized by your leadership style, making it hard to retain employees. The best leadership personal brand is one that straddles these two poles in – being liked and being respected – in as balanced a way as possible.

4. Fearing feedback, both giving and receiving. A lot of leaders come to a place where they stop moving up the ladder either because they aren’t good at coaching others or they’ve stopped being coachable themselves. The best leaders are both good at coaching their teams and also at accepting regular feedback, no matter how high up in the organization they are. Keeping an open mind and recognizing there is always room to improve yourself is key, and giving your team feedback is the best way to make sure your people – and the company – are growing, too. So, strengthen your leadership personal brand by getting comfortable with both giving and receiving feedback, and everybody wins.

5. Using destructive language on the job. Too many leaders fail to pay attention to the way they speak. Destructive language – even if it’s intended as ‘funny’ – has an impact on everyone, including yourself. It’s a bit of an epidemic in modern society to speak negatively and to complain, but it presents a very poor personal brand, particular for leaders. It can lower morale in the work environment and undermine the success of your team. If you don’t believe in yourself or your people, how can they believe in themselves? If they are derided for past failures, they may become so afraid of making mistakes that they stop moving forward at all. So, begin to notice how you speak, and if talking negatively is a habit you’ve developed, start to break it. Figure out how to turn negatives into positives – it will make a world of difference.

Leaders are in a position to inspire and motivate others, and one of the best ways you can become a truly extraordinary leader is to create a successful leadership personal brand.

So much has been said, discussed, and argued about the “economic situation” in the past year. Is it possible that there is a stone unturned on this topic? Well, yes there is … because the way you communicate your personal brand in this economy can have a big impact on how well you weather the challenges that could come your way.

In particular, your reactions to the economy, your thoughts about the economy, and your actions related to the economy can impact the ultimate outcome for your personal brand – the trademarked you. In fact, your reactions, thoughts, and actions are three of five total activities that communicate your personal brand each and every day (along with your look and your sound.)

REACTIONS. If you want to see someone’s true personal brand, watch them react to adverse events. How you react in crisis situations says a lot about who you really are. The key to mastering your personal brand is to remain consistent over time. Remember that you can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to what happens to you. That’s how strong personal brands are built.

So, think about the personal brand you’re presenting through your reactions to the economy. Are you hiding in a corner with your head buried in the sand? Are you talking ‘doom and gloom’ with your friends every chance you get? Are worries about the economy keeping you awake at night?

Take a deep breath, and keep a calm, clear head. You will make better decisions when you stop yourself from shifting into a fear-driven state that may cause knee-jerk reactions you regret later.

THOUGHTS. Thoughts are things. That may sound like a radical idea to you, but scientists are proving more and more that thoughts exist in the world in a very real way, and they have a strong influence on what happens to you. So, become aware of what your thoughts are telling you about the economic situation. Sit back and take inventory of how you feel about the financial climate right now. What emotions come to mind? Fear? Anxiety? Anger? You will act – and also build your personal brand – based on those feelings. So, if you’re full of angst, consider the possible actions that will stem from that.

Here’s how psychiatrists put it: Your thoughts drive your emotions, and – in turn – your emotions drive your behavior. And those behaviors are responsible for creating the results – the ultimate outcomes – of your life. It’s good old cause-and-effect in action, with the ultimate “cause” being your thoughts. So, even if you can’t quite get on board with believing that thoughts are things, at a minimum, your thoughts have the power to undermine your personal brand if you’re not careful.

So, make your thoughts productive. Take proactive steps to manage your money well. Focus on what you do have that is positive, and focus on what you are grateful for. Chances are you have it a lot better than many people in the world. Don’t keep your Thoughts pinned on what isn’t perfect or what could go wrong. Think about how things can go right.

Watch your words! What you say stems from your thoughts, too, so be mindful of how you “talk” about today’s economy. Just calling the situation a “crisis” (which is the key word you see spread all over magazines, newspapers, and television) creates anxiety. Think about it: The U.S. government called its economic package a “bailout.” Doesn’t that sound like Congress is trying to save a sinking ship? They couldn’t have chosen a worse word. And remember that the media thrives on creating drama in order to sell their publications or get you to tune in to their newscasts. That doesn’t mean that the drama is always as cataclysmic as it sounds. Sit back and objectively analyze your own situation before deciding if it truly is a “crisis.”

You probably know people who are talking about all of this as though the world is coming to an end. What personal brand are those people communicating? What good will a brand like that do to make their economic prospects brighter? No one wants to be around someone with a negative or a defeatist personal brand. So, don’t fall victim to branding yourself in that way. It will do nothing to help you build a better financial future for yourself.

If someone you know tries to suck you into their big black hole of doom, politely excuse yourself, or focus on something more constructive. Stay positive in your conversations, and it will make a world of difference. Be an example of how to respond, and remind others of what is truly important. Just like in the market crashes of 1929 and 1987, this, too, shall pass.

ACTIONS. If you still find that the economic situation is keeping you up at night, objectively assess your situation, and make a plan. Are you anxious because you’re too far in debt? If that’s the case, take decisive action by seeing a financial counselor. (And if your financial advisor talks negatively about the markets, find another one!) Sit back, and calmly consider: What feels “right” to do? Set some goals, and take at least one action each day to move closer to that goal.

There are always ebbs and flows in our finances – whether personal or global. The trick is to find productive ways to make things better. If you purposefully work at remaining consistent with your desired personal brand, you’ll be one step closer to moving out of the storm.

How will we look back on this economic event in the future? Reports about both the 1929 and 1987 market crashes have shown that people who kept a calm demeanor and stayed the course ended up doing better in the long run from both a financial and an emotional standpoint. And you can be sure they built strong personal brands in the meantime, too.

As a busy exec, you’re constantly pulled in many directions. Headquarters wants your profit projections for next quarter a week in advance of when you planned, there’s a line of direct reports at your office door waiting to meet with you, your inbox is filled with 200+ unanswered emails, and a not-for-profit organization wants you to give the keynote speech at an upcoming charity dinner. In the meantime, your son needs help with his math homework, your spouse complains because you haven’t been home for dinner in a week, and your ailing parents’ financial situation needs your attention. Something has to give, right? But the question is: What?

For senior executives, learning how and when to say “no” – unapologetically and without guilt – is fundamental to leadership success.

Overextending yourself causes physical and emotional stress, can damage relationships, and can leave very little time to take care of yourself. This can cause your health to worsen, increase your blood pressure, and make you ill before you know it. It’s a vicious circle if you don’t stop it.

For some of us, saying “no” can be hard because of cultural norms or because we were raised to be helpful to others at all costs. Others have a misguided notion that they can indeed “do it all.”

Whatever the reason, you must be in charge of when you say “yes” and when you say “no” in order to take control of your life. Learning to say “no” in a calm, comfortable, and collected way is critical to success as you move up the corporate ladder. In fact, it can be one of the best things you do for yourself – and for those you love. It will reduce stress and give you back time for what – and who – is most important.

If saying ‘no’ is something you’d like to do better, here are some steps to follow:

Step 1: Accept that you do need to learn to say “no” better. Take an assessment of all of the activities you’d like to cross off your list. What problems do you encounter because you’ve said “yes” to these activities? How would your life be better, less busy, and more peaceful if you could learn to say “no” effectively? Make a full list of all of the benefits of saying “no.”

Step 2: Recognize opportunities to say “no.” A keen awareness of a problem is the key to changing it. For a week, take note of all of the opportunities when you could have said “no” but chose to say “yes.” What drove those decisions? Note the times when you felt glad to say “yes” and those when you didn’t. This will help you sort out what is most important to you.

Step 3: Practice saying “no” to smaller requests first. A sympathetic but firm “I’m sorry; I can’t do this right now” works well. If you’re asked why, simply reply that it doesn’t fit into your schedule. Then, change the subject. Most reasonable people will accept this as an adequate answer.

Step 4: Take note of what it’s like to say “no” to the little things. After each positive experience of saying “no,” sit back and assess it. What did you experience? Relief? Self-confidence? Pride in your ability to push back? Recognize and reward yourself for this. It will soon become commonplace for you.

Step 5: Make “no” a regular habit. After regular practice, you’ll find yourself able to say “no” to increasingly bigger requests. You’ll be able to discern quickly when you want to avoid something and when you’re happy to say “yes.” Check back with the “benefits” list you made in Step 1 to remind yourself of the impact this skill will have on the overall quality of your life.

You may never be completely rid of the guilt feelings or discomfort that come when you have to say “no” to someone. But doing so will eventually have less of an impact on you. Remember: You’re not a bad person – and certainly not a bad leader – just because you don’t say “yes” to everything that is asked of you. You will actually do less good for others in your life if you haven’t done what’s right for you first. And that’s just one more benefit of successfully mastering the art of saying “no.”

As a leader of an organization, let’s face it: You can’t do it all yourself. So, you know you have to delegate, and you do genuinely try. But lately, you’ve found your to-do list getting longer… you spend most of your time in back-to-back meetings… your normal workday has extended to 12+ hours… and you’re working weekends just to catch up. If this is the case, you’re probably not delegating enough.

Most senior managers know they need to delegate as much as possible so they can decrease their workload to focus on higher-level responsibilities. “Definitely, Brenda,” many senior managers say, “I want to delegate more, but…” Then, they fill in the blank with one of the following statements. Do any of these sound familiar?

“If I do the task myself, I know it will be done right.”
“These projects are too important to screw up.”
“My direct reports just don’t have what it takes to get the job done.”
“It’s simply easier for me to do it myself.”
“It takes less time if I do it alone.”

If you relate to any of the comments above, it could be a warning sign. While this type of thinking might work for a lower-level manager, a senior-level executive cannot afford to consistently give in to delegation fears. Refusing to delegate can not only derail your career but also potentially cause your business to fail.

The truth is that delegating is important for more reasons than just lightening your workload. Truly effective delegation is a ‘win-win’ for everyone involved. It improves your team members’ job satisfaction and develops your employees’ abilities, setting up your company for greater long-term success. The higher up the ladder you go, the more this holds true, so learning to be an effective delegator is critical to success at the executive level.

But, are you as effective at delegation as you can be? Here are ten tips for better delegation:

1. Are the questions you’re being asked too simple? If your team is turning to you with questions that you find easy to answer, that’s an indication you’re not delegating or training your team enough. Use each simply question you get as an opportunity to teach the more basic tasks in your organization, freeing you up to answer the truly tough questions.

2. Delegate the entire task. People contribute most effectively when they’re aware of the big picture, so try to delegate the entire task whenever possible. If, for some reason, you can’t give an employee the whole task, make sure he or she understands its purpose. When your team understands the reasons for a certain project, mistakes are less likely, and they’ll be motivated to do the job well.

3. Give crystal clear instructions. Your employee needs to understand exactly what you want him or her to do. Don’t assume your instructions are understood; ask questions to make sure your directions are clear, or ask them to repeat instructions if you need to.

4. Paint a picture of success. If you know what successful outcome of a task looks like, make sure you make that clear to the individual assigned to the task. The stronger and clearer your vision of success, the more likely the desired outcome will be reached.

5. Establish a measurement of success. Quantify the outcome whenever possible. It makes success less subjective and your desired objective even clearer. It also allows you to hold the responsible person accountable to a specific, measurable goal so that you’ll know you’ve reached what you set out to achieve.

6. Allow ample time to meet the goal successfully. Most likely, the people you’ve delegated to will be on a learning curve, so give them ample time to succeed. If you don’t, you run the risk of setting your employees up for failure.

7. Set key times for reporting back to you with progress updates. Make sure you set milestones at a time when your input will be most critical. This will not only stop you from micromanaging your direct reports, but it will give you a chance to influence the project’s outcome at just the right moments.

8. Allow for plenty of “small failures.” Recognize that “failing small” can be a great way for your team to learn. After all, isn’t that how you learned some of the best lessons in your own career? Allow enough time for the project so that, in case there are small failures, there’s enough time to recover, learn from those failures, and get back on track.

9. Avoid the “that’s not the way I would do it!” syndrome. Remember: There’s more than one way to skin a cat. What you have delegated is to get from point A to point C. How each person gets there is up to the individual. Make sure to stay focused on the final objective.

10. Be clear about what’s in it for the person who takes on the job. Make it clear to your employees what success with a project or task will mean for their own jobs, careers, and even salary or promotion possibilities, if applicable.

Learning to delegate successfully as a leader takes time and energy, but the outcome is well worth it. While it may seem that good delegation requires more time up front, as you develop your team’s abilities, you will begin to see increased time savings. By helping your team develop and meet your expectations, you’ll also build your employees’ self-confidence. And, let’s face it: People who feel successful usually are successful.

One of the most common misconceptions about searching for a job is that the person with the most or best experience is the one who gets hired. Truth is: You’re more likely to be hired for a job based on your connection with the interviewer than on your qualifications. And the best way to forge an instant, powerful connection with your interviewer is to define and communicate a strong job-seeker personal brand.

Personal branding – the way you want interviewers to perceive, think, and feel about you in relation to other candidates applying for the same job – can help you to build a relationship with a potential employer. And, that all-important connection begins long before you walk through the company’s doors for an initial interview. Indeed, a potential employer is developing a perception of your personal brand from your very first communication – whether by phone, e-mail, or snail mail. So, even if you’ve never thought about personal branding, you already have a job-seeker personal brand that is making impressions on your prospective employers – just by virtue of the fact that you’re looking for a job.

The key question is whether you are communicating the personal brand you want. If not, you could leave a negative impression on a potential employer that could prevent you from even getting an interview. And, if you do get an interview, how your personal brand has been perceived through your pre-interview communications can determine whether you’re a top candidate or just a “maybe” candidate.

What can you do before an interview to build a great personal brand that will establish that all-important connection and give you the edge over other applicants? Here are a few tips for creating a memorable jobseeker personal brand before you ever set foot on a potential employer’s premises.

• Everybody Counts. From your very first phone call, a potential employer begins to develop an impression of who you are. Remember: if a receptionist or assistant says you were unpleasant or unprofessional on the phone, you will automatically be at a disadvantage. So, even if someone is rude to you, hold your tongue! On the other hand, imagine how much more an interviewer will look forward to meeting you if someone mentions that you were exceptionally courteous by telephone.

• E-Mail Charm School. Don’t forget your e-mail etiquette! Just as you wouldn’t start a telephone conversation without “Hello,” don’t start your e-mails without a greeting. When emailing anyone at a potential employer’s office, write just as you would a regular letter. Begin with “Dear _______” and end with “Sincerely” or “Best regards.” Spell-check and proofread your e-mails, and make sure they’re written well. Unless you’re applying for a graphic artist position, don’t use colors, pictures, backgrounds, or emoticons – keep it professional! End each e-mail with a closing that includes your full name and your telephone number. Don’t make an interviewer hunt through prior e-mails or your resume to find your contact information. If there is a tie between you and another candidate whose telephone number is readily available, who do you think will get the call?

• Your Written “Look.” Your cover letter and resume say a great deal about you before your interviewer ever meets you in person. This includes not only what you say and how well you say it (your “written sound”), but also how your letter and resume “look.” Unless the job in question calls for extreme artistic ability, don’t get creative when it comes to your cover letter and resume. Don’t try to stand out by using gimmicky stationery, fonts, or colors. For most purposes, a businesslike black font on white or ivory paper fits. Here’s a trick: Print out your cover letter and resume, and snail mail them to yourself. When you receive them, look at them objectively. What is your first impression? Do they convey the job-seeker personal brand you want them to? Do they look professional and present you as an exceptionally competent person? Of course, don’t spend so much time trying to make your cover letter and resume perfect that you never actually send them out. Your dream job will remain a dream unless you get your resume into the right hands.

• Big Words? Big Mistake. Many job-seekers use big words in a cover letter or resume, trying to demonstrate their intelligence. But doing so could actually make you come across as trying too hard and can even make your communications harder to understand. So keep it simple. Make your letter and resume crystal clear and to the point. What tasks did you perform at previous jobs that will benefit your potential employer? What talents will best serve your target company’s needs? The faster a potential employer can tell from your resume that you have the right experience or training for the job, the faster you’ll get a phone call to set up an interview.

• Detective Work. Besides making a great impression by phone, e mail, and letter, take the time to prepare well in advance for your interviews. Learn everything you can about the company from any communications, advertisements, press releases, and articles that you can find. Review the company’s website, and search the Internet for other items about the organization. Look for the company’s employees on LinkedIn.com, and research the kinds of people who work there. What does this company value, and what is its culture like? Demonstrating that you have done your research in an interview will help you cut through the clutter of other applicants and build a stronger job-seeker personal brand.

• Two Interview “To Do” Lists. Knowing more about the company helps you list the key points that you want to communicate in each interview about your experience and how you are a good “fit” for that company’s culture and needs. Then, make a second list of the questions you want to ask about the position. Put these questions in order of priority, because you might not be able to ask all of them during the span of one interview.

• Ready for Anything. The most important list to make prior to an interview is every question that you can think of that the interviewer might ask you. Then, practice your answers. Ask a friend to help you, and conduct mock interviews so that you can be ready for nearly every imaginable scenario. How can you stay true to, and communicate, your job-seeker personal brand in every one of your answers? Ask your friend for honest feedback, and videotape the mock interview, if possible. Watch the videotape together, and discuss where you might improve your interview performance.

Personal branding is one of the best ways to get noticed in a pool of job applicants. When you take the time to create your best possible job-seeker personal brand, you will place yourself as a candidate not just or a good job, but for that great job you really want.

You’ve had a great interview, and you feel strongly that you’re a top contender for the job. Maybe the interviewer even told you that you’re the #1 choice. Even so, this is not the time to rest on your laurels. How you present yourself after an interview is just as important as what you did before and during the interview. In fact, some candidates have made mistakes after their interviews that took them from the top of the list to the bottom of the list.

The solution? Defining and communicating a strong “job-seeker personal brand” can
help you to maintain your place and become not just the #1 choice, but the candidate hired for the job. Personal branding when it comes to a job search is all about how you want potential employers to perceive, think, and feel about you in relation to other candidates. So, branding yourself helps you influence potential employers and allows you to establish a strong connection and relationship with your interviewer both before and during the interview. What many applicants forget, however, is that staying consistent with their personal brand after the interview is just as important.

For example, if you have established a very professional personal brand before and during your interview, how might you be perceived if you suddenly begin to send e-mails to your interviewer with emoticons? You might believe that it’s okay to be casual because you’ve built a friendly enough relationship with the interviewer – but be careful. Stay true to your desired personal brand of professionalism, and you’ll have a much better shot at that great job you want so much! Here are some tips for keeping your brand in check after an interview:

• Before You Do Anything Else… The first thing to do after an interview is to sit down and summarize it while everything is fresh in your mind. Don’t put it off! Simply unload your mind before anything leaves your memory. It’s vital to recall the most important points that you discussed with the interviewer so that you can refer to them in subsequent e-mails and interviews. You won’t communicate a conscientious personal brand if the interviewer brings something up from your first interview that you no longer remember. If you can recall your discussion in great detail, however, your interviewer will be impressed – and you’ll stick out of the crowd.

After you have written down the most important parts of the interview, take the time to also jot down anything you believe you could improve. How well did you answer the tough questions? Could you do better in any subsequent interviews? If so, how? Make note of whether you lost your cool or reacted to a challenge by becoming flustered. If you note where your interview skills need improvement, you can develop an action plan later. Even if you feel you did poorly in the interview, don’t fret. Just look ahead, and use it as a way to learn from your mistakes.

• Be Appreciative. Statistics show that only 10% of job applicants ever write a thank you note after their interviews. So, this is a very simple but powerful way to communicate a polite personal brand. Within 24 hours, send a thank you e-mail or snail mail to your interviewer. It only takes a few minutes, but you will stand out from the other 90% of applicants who won’t bother to do so. Take the time to say that you enjoyed meeting the interviewer, and customize the note so that it specifically refers in some way to what you talked about. Reiterate your excitement about the possibility of joining the company and why you’re a great fit for the job. If you interviewed with more than one person, send a thank you note to each of them.

• Don’t Drop the Ball. Another thing that few job applicants do is follow up after the interview. If the interviewer doesn’t give you a particular time by which you will be notified, give it about a week before calling, leaving a voice-mail, or sending an e-mail to say that you’re still interested in working for the company and that you believe you’re right for the job. It will communicate a diligent and serious personal brand, which comes across as someone who will be dedicated to the job.

How about if you have been told when a decision will be made? Let’s say that your interviewer says someone will be chosen within two weeks of your interview. Send a follow-up a few days before the two-week mark. If you don’t receive a response, feel free to follow up again in another week or two. If you haven’t received a response after following up two or three times, your energy is probably best transferred to finding a different job. But don’t hesitate to show that you’re excited about working with the company. The simple fact that you follow up may be just enough to put you ahead of another applicant who is equal to you in other respects.

• The Second Time Around. If you are called for a second or third interview, don’t throw off your interviewer by suddenly changing your strategy! Be consistent with your personal brand. It got you the second interview, so you did something right the first time. Continue to communicate the same qualities and attributes. If you change now, your potential employer might think you were putting on an act in the first interview and that the personal brand you previously communicated isn’t who you really are.

This is also true of matching the dress of the company. Let’s say that during your first interview you noticed that a company’s employees were all in business casual dress. Should you then dress more casually for your second or third interview? Most Human Resources professionals agree that it’s best to err on the side of caution. An interview is a more formal meeting than the average work day, so unless the interviewer specifically tells you to dress more casually for an upcoming interview, dress as formally as you did the first time. You don’t want to act as though you’re already a part of the team before they say, “You’re hired!”

• The Word “No” May Not Be the End. First of all, don’t let a rejection defeat you. Simply focus your efforts on the next job, and assume the one you lost wasn’t right for you. Baseball players miss more balls than they hit, and even the top movie stars occasionally put out a film that loses money. If you don’t get the job, take the time anyway to send a follow-up thank you note via email or snail mail. Tell the interviewer that you would like to be considered for other openings in the company. You never know what might come of a note like this. People have actually gotten jobs later on this way. If you were second in contention, the person who was hired may not work out or may leave shortly after starting. You never know! If you’re still interested in the company, keep your name in the hat.

Many job applicants fail to stay the course with their personal brands during the job search process. If you remain consistent before, during, and even after your interviews, you will give yourself a decided edge and find yourself one step closer to the job you really want.

Brenda Bence’s personal branding book for job seekers, How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers: The proven Personal Branding System to help you succeed in any interview and secure the job of your dreams, is the Grand Prize winner, named Best Book – Author of the Year, in the 2009 Beach Book Festival, which honors the best beach reads of the upcoming summer season.

The book’s value to a vast audience in this recession won over the judges in the competition. Bence will be honored at a ceremony on June 5, 2009 at the famed Algonquin Hotel in New York City, along with other authors who won awards in individual categories. Bence will also receive a cash award and a two-week public relations campaign as part of her winnings.

The Beach Book Festival, which is sponsored by JM Northern Media LLC, issues annual awards to self-published or independent publisher in fifteen different categories. The Grand Prize Best Book – Author of the Year is chosen from among all of the categories as the best beach read of the summer. Bence’s book also received the top award in the Business Book category.

“I’m thrilled that the book is being recognized in this way,” says Bence, “because this book is so close to my heart. My goal is to help job hunters stand out among the sea of candidates out there to get not just any job, but the job of their dreams. That’s what personal branding is all about.”

How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers offers the job hunter the first practical, step-by-step personal branding system geared specifically to the job search process – before, during, and after interviews. The book examines the nuances behind the ultimate question posed to those out of work: “Why should I hire you?” Using a logical and easy-to-understand approach, Bence teaches the reader proven corporate branding techniques and adapts them for personal use.

Bence’s first book in her personal branding series, How YOU™ are like Shampoo: The breakthrough Personal Branding System based on proven big-brand marketing methods to help you earn more, do more, and be more at work, was an award-winning finalist in three categories in the 2008 National Best Books Awards sponsored by USA Book News and also won the First Place Audio Book: Non-Fiction Award from the 2009 National Indie Excellence® Book Awards.

About the Author:
Brenda S. Bence is an internationally-recognized branding expert, Certified Executive Coach, and powerhouse speaker and author. With an MBA from Harvard Business School, her career has included developing mega brands for Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb across four continents and 50 countries. As President of Brand Development Associates International, Brenda now travels the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and corporations to greater success through creative yet practical brand development. See www.BrendaBence.com or www.BDA-Intl.com for more information.

Bence is available for television, radio, and press interviews nationwide to talk about her books and topics on personal or corporate branding. Contact (312) 242-1830 or Daniel@GlobalInsightCommunications.com for availability.

Lots of clients feel getting organized takes too much time and effort. But remember: The time and energy you take now will save you even more time and energy in the long run. So, how do you do it?

Set organizational goals. Focus your thoughts first. What’s most important for you from an organizational standpoint? Do you want to be able to retrieve any document quickly? Do you want another hour with your family in the evenings? Do you want to get to your top three priorities done every day without having to stay late? Be clear on what you want to achieve.

If you’re not sure how to get organized, ask for help. Ask your assistant to work with you on organizing your office, or hire a professional organizer. The important thing is to set up a system that works for you. If you do it yourself, start small. Allot a certain amount of time each week for organization until you have a good system in place. And remember: Being “neat” and being “organized” aren’t the same thing. You may have only one pile of papers on your desk but no idea what’s in it or how to find what you need. Only keep the items on your desk that are top priorities and that must be completed within the next week.

Create a “suspense” file for items that must be completed by a later date. Mark each “suspense” item with an “S” and the date it must be handled. Give these documents to your assistant to keep in a file, by date. Each morning, your assistant can check the file and give you back the items that are marked for completion that day.

Unsubscribe to non-value-added newsletters. If you can’t actually use the information, get it out of your inbox.

Set up e-mail etiquette rules, and make sure everyone sticks to them. Tell your staff not to send you a copy of an e-mail unless you must read it. Set up a code to be placed in the subject line that indicates to you if action is required or if you simply need to make note of the information. This will help you to prioritize your e-mail reading.

Keep track of new contacts by setting up a system to manage business cards. When you attend a networking event, keep your own business cards in your left suit pocket and the business cards you receive from others in your right suit pocket. When you get back to the office, remove the cards and write notes to help you remember the person, including the date and name of the event. Then, give your assistant the stack of cards so she can scan them into your Outlook contacts.

Organize your travels.

- Make a master list of “to take” items for trips, which includes everything that you could possibly need. Then, before each trip, print out the list, highlight only those items you want to take this time, and give it to your assistant to gather for you.

- Never lose travel expense receipts again! Have your assistant write the name of each trip on the outside of a larger-sized envelope, then automatically store all receipts you get for that trip inside that envelope. At the end of each day, pull out all receipts, write what the expenses were for on each receipt, and place them back in the envelope. When the trip is finished, your assistant can create an expense report immediately – and you can get reimbursed faster.

- At the end of each travel day, go through all papers you’ve collected that day and throw out the unnecessary ones. Lighten your load each evening, and you will have less to weed through when you get back home.

Good time management and organizational skills really can save you time and money. In fact, being more organized has been proven to free up as much as one hour a day. That means, over the course of a year, you would have freed up enough time to take a much-deserved two-week vacation. Enjoy!