Personal Branding is now Mainstream.

Personal Branding is now Mainstream. A few weeks ago I was reading an article that had to do with personal branding. And I saw it. Proof that personal branding is not mainstream. I wish I could remember the article, or how I found it.  Maybe youve already seen this word that proves PB is mainstream. Have you? It is: iBrand It took me a few times to reread that word but they are obviously borrowing from Apples success with their i products (iPad, iPad, iMac, etc.) and renaming your personal brand to your iBrand. I thought it was brilliant.  Even though I hadnt seen it before, and I havent seen it since. But just putting an i in front of it makes it okay and acceptable for everyone and anyone. I wonder if it will catch on. (what can YOU learn from this concept for your own branding strategy??) Personal Branding is now Mainstream. A few weeks ago I was reading an article that had to do with personal branding. And I saw it. Proof that personal branding is not mainstream. I wish I could remember the article, or how I found it.  Maybe youve already seen this word that proves PB is mainstream. Have you? It is: iBrand It took me a few times to reread that word but they are obviously borrowing from Apples success with their i products (iPad, iPad, iMac, etc.) and renaming your personal brand to your iBrand. I thought it was brilliant.  Even though I hadnt seen it before, and I havent seen it since. But just putting an i in front of it makes it okay and acceptable for everyone and anyone. I wonder if it will catch on. (what can YOU learn from this concept for your own branding strategy??)

How to Source Top Talent on LinkedIn

How to Source Top Talent on LinkedIn For many recruiters LinkedIn is their go to resource for finding top talent to fill their roles and likewise do job seekers use their LinkedIn profiles as a means of promoting themselves as potential candidates and to make professional contacts. But how exactly do you go about locating these individuals? There are 332,000,000 million people on LinkedIn, so it may take a bit of rooting, but with the searching facilities, job listings and LinkedIn groups it makes it possible to pinpoint candidates with the right skill set and experience. Check out this infographic by Akken Cloud to find out how to unearth the top candidates. Stats: There are 187,000,000 unique monthly visitors to LinkedIn and 2 new members join every second. There are LinkedIn users located in 200 countries and territories. 2 out of 5 LinkedIn users  log in at least once a day.   Recruiting Trends: 92% of companies use social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to recruit  candidates, however LinkedIn is the top platform for doing so. 75% of professionals are open to considering a new job, however only 61% of companies are recruiting passive candidates, which is what 3 out of 4 LinkedIn users are. LinkedIn Recruiting Tips: Create a company page as it will give you more credibility when candidates search for you. Make sure it is complete and you stay active. Take the time to write an accurate and descriptive job  listing,  based on objectives rather than personality traits. Keep an eye on  what others are doing, for example your competitors and those in relevant groups. Communicate with candidates  through personalised messages and by setting up phone calls. Be prompt in responding to any questions and replies. Nurture passive candidates, as they may be willing to consider job opportunities. The Update Me feature allows Recruiter users to get updates on up to 150 profiles when there are changes to the prospect. RELATED: How LinkedIn Has Changed Recruitment in the UK Via AkkenCloud

7 Things to consider before launching a startup

7 Things to consider before launching a startup My company is out of money, which you are never supposed let happen. And definitely never supposed to confess to. Because then investors can give you any terms they want. Rape. Carnage. Pillage. Everything. And in our case, its coming from the angels who invested in our first round of funding, which means that the people who are supposed to be on our side are killing us. So two days before Christmas, I am going nuts, trying to close a bridge financing from the angel investors who funded us initially. Which means that these guys are very rich, and traveling for Christmas, and totally not interested in being bothered with the minutia of our depleted finances. Im desperate. Weve already skipped one payroll, and its hard to think of a worse time to do that than the week before Christmas. When 70% of young people say they want to run their own business, they are probably not thinking they will fund their business themselves. Since they probably have no money. So they are looking at taking in investors. But Im not sure that 70% of young people want to take in angel investors, because heres what it looks like: 1. You are on the phone all the time. Tuesday before Christmas: I am glued to my phone: Investors dont work on a schedule. They are millionaires. They are trying to sail their boat in Bermuda but they live in Wisconsin which means they have to make ten connecting flights from snowbound airports, and my chances of catching them between flights are slim. So I spend my day waiting for someone to call in with another clever idea for taking more equity from the company and redistributing it to the investors. 2. Youre always sick, but not take-a-day-off-work sick And I have pinkeye. It started on Monday, when 20/20 was in our office to do a story on salary. Yep. Thats right. The company that is not paying salaries right now is featured on 20/20 as the poster child for transparent salaries. The camera is right in my face while Im talking about how the only people who benefit from hidden salaries are managers who made hiring mistakes and dont want to fix them. Management should not hide behind their weaknesses, I say. And then I say, Do you have something in that camera that can fix my pink eye? The camera man says, Yeah. And I can make you thinner, too. So I suffer with the pink eye, because its not having all that gross green discharge yet, so I think I can deal with it after funding. 3. You always think of funding. No matter where you are. On Tuesday, Im driving to the office to tell everyone that we are going to make payroll any day now, and while Im driving Im talking to this guy on the West Coast because I think if there is any way to rescue myself form our angels its going to be with my relationships on the west coast, and then, I realize I cant see. Did you read the book, Blindness? Its like that, except in the book there is a great undercurrent of romance, and with me I just think Im going to die. I shut my eyes and pull to the side of the road with them closed. Then I tell myself people do not go blind in real life. I tell myself that its probably stress. Thats what all the doctors tell women when there is a mysterious ailment, and after decades of this, women internalize the diagnosis. Waithere is the best book in the world about the topic of misdiagnosing women. Its a book of the real writings of psychologists in Germany during Freuds heyday where the women were diagnosed as crazy from stress and the psychologists attempted to solve their stress-induced craziness by giving the women orgasms. So the book is the doctors describing themselves standing around a patients bed, giving her an orgasm. Really. Its one of my favorite books and the blindness has been worth it now, because I am giving you the link. Okay. So, in keeping with the history of Freudian psychology, I diagnose my blindness as stress related. I continue to talk with the guy about the future of recruiting, and luckily, I can talk about the future of recruiting in my sleep and still sound like sort of a visionary. Get it, visionary? 4. There is no time for family. Then I sit in the car and I shut my eyes, trying to figure out how to drive home. I cant. So the house manager comes to get me. For those of you who wonder what I do with a house manager, now you know: Shes my go-to person for blindness. She drives me to the urgent care place, which runs tests for an hour while my kids watch the Incredibles, probably catching obscure diseases, because who takes their kid to the doctor two days before Christmas unless its really bad? We have to go to a different doctor because the urgent care place has no idea why I cant open my eyes. My kids are heartbroken and I have to lie to them and tell them that opthamologists are reknown for having a great selection of childrens movies. Way better than the Incredibles, I say. 5. Life is painful. So it turns out that I have this disease (Thygesons Keratitis) and it is a very very painful disease that most people dont wait around to treat. So the eye doctor has not seen such an advanced case and she brings in the residents into the room for an educational moment. The residents are impressed at the amount of pain Ive tolerated. I say, You know what? My eyes are nothing compared to the pain of raising money in this market. 6. You have to fake that you are in control. But sometimes you cant. So once we figure out that Im not actually blind, Im just so sensitive to light that I feel blind, I can focus on funding. The house manager drives me home and my new board member calls. I tried to get out of talking with him by telling him I had eye trouble, and while I didnt lie and say I was dripping green puss, I tried to imply that it would be dangerous to meet with me. So I got a phone meeting, and at least I did not need to put on clean clothes. Which has been a problem lately. Its only the second time Ive met this board member, and since he has not appeared on the blog before, and really, how can you blame anyone for not wanting to appear on this blog, let me just say that hes a really nice, smart guy, and Im happy to have him on the board. Okay. So with that out of the way, let me also say that I really did not want to talk with him that day. Because your board is supposed to help you run the company but how can you think about running a company when your company is out of money? I pretend, of course. And this is why hes a good board member. Because I tell him Im great under pressure, and I show him plans for spring. And he tells me he thinks its ridiculous to think about long-term stuff when I cannot even get tomorrows financing done. I am unrelenting in my tough-girl routine, and I tell him that there is nothing I can do about the financing. I just take the terms people offer and hope they close the deal before everyone disappears for the rest of the December. The board member says hell write a check to bridge me to the bridge. Maybe this is a sign of how bad the financing world is right now. I do not think this is typical, but I think this is a good reason to have rich board members. Finally, here is a bit of career advice in this post: Get rich board members. So he says hell write the company a check to get us through the payroll we missed. And I start crying. Not like, little, eye-doctor tears, but blubbering tears. Tears so much that I whisper to the board guy, Hold on. I cant let my kids see me this upset about money. Let me get out of the car. So the house manager pulls over and I get out and I cry to the investor from inside the lobby of Chase bank. 7. It doesnt end. Thats the end. I want to tell you theres a nice, neat end here. But theres not. There are about 400 posts about how to be a CEO of a startup during a bad economy. Heres a good one from Tech Crunch. They are all a little annoying because the authors tell you, in hind sight, how great a job they did at getting through the last downturn. I could write that post, except that it would have to include that the last time I was running a startup when the market crashed was in 1999, and my hair started falling out. So just forget all that sunny stuff about how to run a startup during a financial crisis. Heres what venture capitalists are telling me when no one else is listening: Try really hard to sell if you can, because getting through the next year in a bad cash position is gonna suck.

Daniel Pink Were All Secretly Sellers - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Daniel Pink We’re All Secretly Sellers - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career What do innovation and personal branding have in common? They’re both about understanding your customers’ needs and figuring out how to persuade them.   (Either to buy a product or to hire you). Next week, I’ll be representing the Personal Branding Blog at the Front End of Innovation conference in Boston, Massachusetts. One of the speakers I’m really looking forward to is author Daniel Pink. Daniel Pink’s latest book, To Sell is Human, is about persuasion. Sales typically has a bad rap â€" with people envisioning a slimy used car salesman looking to sell them a faulty vehicle. But that’s not true at all. Nearly 1 in every 9 people in the US are in jobs that involve selling. Plus, sales is an integral part of everyone’s lives.  In a study of 7000 professionals, Pink and data analytics company Qualtrics, found that people spend up to 40% of their working time persuading others in some way. That’s nearly 3 ½ hours in a typical 8-hour workday! And persuasion is going to be more and more important in the future. By 2020, the number of freelancers, contactors and consultants worldwide is projected to grow to 1.5 billion people. In the US, entrepreneurs are projected to become a majority of the workforce in the next decade. Just in case you can’t make the excellent Front End of Innovation conference next week, here are 3 essential lessons you need to know about persuasion from Daniel Pink.   To sell well is to convince someone to part with resources â€" time or money â€" in a way that leaves them better off in the end. Selling is about getting someone to give you their time, money or energy in order to do something you want them to do. But good sellers know that they need to make a case that their buyer will gain a lot from the purchase and be happy with their decision. It’s essential to get into the head of your potential buyer to understand what they really need.  It’s easy to focus on what you believe are the benefits of what you’re selling. But what matters is what your buyer believes to be the most important benefit. So when you’re trying to figure out how to persuade someone to do something, take some time to really get inside their head and take their perspective. Figure out what’s going on in their life and what’s important to them. Then you’ll have better insight about how to persuade that person. If you’re trying to sell in a crowded marketplace, you have an uphill battle in front of you. Create a new marketplace where your solution is the only one that makes sense. Many people try to persuade others by comparing what they’re offering to the status quo. But when you help people see the situation they’re facing in new and different ways, you have an opportunity to define what the ideal solution to their challenge will be. All of us have the need to persuade others in our lives, and that’s why Daniel Pink’s To Sell is Human is such an interesting resource. I’m greatly looking forward to hearing him speak about this at the Front End of Innovation Conference on May 13th 15th.  I hope you can join me! If not, go pick up a copy of  To Sell is Human.  You definitely wont regret it!

Putting Skills on Resume

Putting Skills on ResumeWhen you have been out of work for a while and you need to get your resume out, there are several ways to do this. The way you do this depends on how much experience you have and what you are looking for on your resume. A lot of people are scared to include their putting skills because they don't want to look too much like a putter. However, as a putter myself, I can tell you that you should have more than a little putter on your resume.In most cases, people are intimidated by the idea of being interviewed for a job that they won't be applying for until next year. This is where it is great to look at resumes and see who has writing skills on their resume. The fact is that some putters have better writing skills than other putters, even those that play in the PGA. They could use their resume for a variety of reasons.For example, there are some putters that learned how to play putts when they were little boys and still have putting skills that are really impress ive. But they are just not willing to put in the hours required to be a professional putter. So, you can get this kind of person with their putting skills on their resume if you are looking for a quality putter who is committed to playing professionally.The other kind of putter would be someone who has been playing putts for many years and who just doesn't have any putting skills. These people usually have seen it all, and some of them even consider themselves retired from playing golf. But, if you know anything about these types of people, they always have a couple of things up their sleeve, and this includes their resumes.So, what they usually do is they add in their accomplishments and other reasons why they don't really have any real talent anymore. Instead of worrying about how much putting skills they have, they are more concerned about some of the other things that could make them look incompetent. But, with their putting skills on their resume, they are able to claim that th ey have the same skill level as someone who has two decades of experience playing golf.So, that is the first reason why putting skills should be on a resume. The second reason would be to show how dedicated you are to your career as a professional golfer. If you are a professional golfer, then you should be proud of the fact that you are willing to do what it takes to succeed. This can help you on a resume.In addition to putting skills, having a great resume should also include good writing skills. There are two ways to improve your writing skills. You can either hire a professional writing service to help you can find a book on writing. If you want to improve your resume, the first way is a better option.If you are thinking of a way to find a writer, you should be able to find one who can provide you with quality practice and a written outline. You can then do the majority of the writing yourself, so that it is more creative and compelling. The only other option is to use the servi ces of a writing agency, but they might charge you more for their services.

Mastering Office Politics

Mastering Office Politics I’ve always hated office politics. It was hard for me. It felt slimy and selfish. And that was confirmed when a colleague told me, “C’mon May, it’s just a game you have to play.” Well, I didn’t want to “play games” to get ahead and resisted it with every fiber of my body. I was going to do things “straight up” and in an above board way. I remember calling home after my first couple of years at work (it took a while before I even noticed that politics existed, that’s how far behind I was!). My father answered the phone, and the conversation went like this. “Dad, I hate the office politics. I’m no good at it. I wish I had gone into academia like you where it’s about your ideas and knowledge, not how good you are at navigating the politics.” I hear my Dad chuckling on the other end of the phone line as he says, “May, there are more politics in academia than there are in business. What you’re facing is nothing compared to that, so you’re in the right place.” What do we mean by “politics” and why do we hate it? As he went on to explain that politics is just about interpersonal relationships, my mother got on the line too and added, “Don’t worry May. Politics is just what happens whenever there are two or more people. It’s just normal.” That definition of politics from my parents has stayed with me to this day: politics is about human relationships and it occurs naturally whenever there are two or more people involved. It’s not some malicious cloud that hangs over some organizations and not others. It’s not a game to be played and won or lost. It’s present whenever there are other people involved, whether in the office, at the highest levels of government, or on the school playground. And we hate office politics because human interactions and relationships tend to get messy. It’s hard to control other people (and ourselves!), hard to read the situation when we’re in it, and office politics can stop us from getting what we want. It can also seem like a waste of time because the politics is what makes the shortest distance between you and your destination not necessarily the best way to get there if you want to arrive safe and sound. The hassle factor of thinking it all through and then implementing is what makes it seem like such a drag. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Why it’s important Like the saying, “a stitch in time saves nine”, taking the time upfront to think through the politics of the situation vastly improves your chances of creating successful outcomes for yourself and everyone else involved. In fact, I’ve found that it saves time in the long run because you’ll be more effective in accomplishing your goals, and you’ll have less “mopping up” to do after the fact thanks to being more skilled at navigating around the politics in the first place. Being at least aware of and proficient at navigating the politics of your organization is a crucial skill to have if you want to get ahead in your career and do more good in the world. Not learning to navigate the politics â€" or rather the environment you’re operating in â€" is like not looking both ways before you cross the street. You â€" or your ideas and initiatives â€" could get seriously hurt or even killed. If your goal is to reach an objective that’s the equivalent of being “on the other side of the street”, then it’s in your interest to get good at navigating the politics. And to stop thinking of it as “public enemy number one”. Being able to navigate the politics of your organization, indeed any situation, is a superpower that will help propel your career forward. Ignoring this skill will hold you back, and reduce your ability to help others around you, whether they’re team members, clients, or family and friends. Learning to navigate the politics is important because it helps you: Get ahead in your career Get your projects and initiatives green lighted Get your team promoted Make fewer unnecessary mistakes that can derail you Save time in the long run Make life easier and more fun The good news is you can learn to be good at it. You can master office politics If even I could do this starting from square one, which is not realizing politics even existed, then you can too. So stop worrying, and keep going. You can do this. In fact, like anything else you master, once you get the hang of it and practice it many, many times, it can become second nature to you. You will even start enjoying it because it is the way that clears the path for your ideas and proposals to blossom, and it’s what will help you leap ahead in your career. To make you feel even better about mastering this, I’ll bet you already have some experience and expertise to fall back on. Think back to your childhood or even your current family situation. Didn’t you know which parent or family member was easier on a particular issue than another? Or how to get your best friends to agree to something? Or how to either wind up your siblings or get them onside? Well, it’s the same set of skills that most of us had as children, only the stakes are a little higher. Basic building blocks To get good at navigating the politics wherever you are requires just a handful of basic skills. I’ll bet you have all of them to some degree. And if you don’t, you can certainly develop them. Basic ingredients that are helpful Being observant. Noticing what’s going on in the human interactions around you, and being able to read peoples’ expressions and reactions to the situation. Being able to think and analyze. This means taking the data or information from you observations and being able to think critically about it so you can make sense of the situation and see the cleanest way forward. Being able to self-manage. When you’re in the midst of navigating the politics, this means not taking things personally, and not letting others upset you. Being end results oriented. Taking a pragmatic view of what needs to be done in order to achieve the end goal and not getting too hung up about how things “should” be and whether life is fair and equitable. Having positive intent. This is about using your powers of navigating the politics for good and not evil, and therefore an energizing skill to have. When you come into it with a positive intent, you are using your abilities to get good things done, not to put someone else down or get away with something. Things that are harmful to navigating the politics Just as there are helpful ingredients to have, there are also things that are harmful to your success. Being judgmental. Being judgmental means measuring others against your yardstick and criticizing them for falling short. But not everyone has the same worldview, and taking a judgmental stance hurts your effectiveness. Being isolated. It’s hard to be good at navigating the politics when you act completely on your own. It takes having a network of support and relationships to be successful. Taking things personally. This clouds your judgment and harms your ability to react effectively in the moment. A career “superpower” So remember that politics is what happens whenever there are two or more people involved. It’s about human interactions and relationships, and managing them well. It’s a key skill necessary for career success, and it’s a skill you can develop. Mastering the politics is not about playing a game, which implies a zero-sum competition where there are winners and losers. Instead, think of it as a career “superpower”. At a minimum, it’s about no longer being clueless and stepping into minefields without realizing, and then not knowing how to get out of the mess. Ideally, it’s about maximizing your chances of creating successful outcomes for everyone involved. Your goal in navigating the politics is to be effective. To be effective, you need to tap into what’s going on behind the scenes. The motivations, desires, and fears of others with the goal of understanding the people involved and their relationships with each other. This will help you find a way to get to yes, or at least to neutral. By consistently applying the principles in the Building Blocks, you can help yourself get to the next level of your career faster and more easily. What will you do? So, how will you go about developing this career superpower? Which of the building blocks do you need to improve on or address in order to give yourself the best chance of successfully navigating the politics of your organization? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Guide To Succession Planning At Financial Businesses

Guide To Succession Planning At Financial Businesses It is vital to have a succession plan in place if you are to ensure that your firm continues to operate successfully once you are no longer there. However, handing over the reigns can be somewhat of a nightmare for a lot of financial advisors. This is because they have not implemented their succession plan effectively, which stops a smooth transition from occurring. Keeping that in mind, below we are going to take a look at some of the best practices for financial advisors when putting together a succession plan. Focus on continuing the success of your advisory firmToo often, financial advisors become consumed with what is best for the buyer. However, succession planning is all about what is best for the client. Rather than merely considering your exit strategy, you need to zoom in on how the business is going to continue to supply an exceptional service. It does not matter whether the succession is strategic or not, or whether it is external or internal, you need to focus on what is going to be the best for your client base. View succession planning as a never-ending processA lot of financial advisors look at succession planning as something that only takes a few months. They simply put a plan together, and then leave it to the back of their minds. This is not succession planning. In fact, the process should be never-ending. You should constantly develop your plan, as well as those who you are considering as your successor. Even when you sell the firm, succession planning should continue. Add value to your business nowDid you know that deals often stall because the seller and the buyer don’t agree on the value of the company? The typical valuation rules of thumb rarely apply in reality â€" i.e. one or two times the commission revenue, or two to three times the revenue fee. It is important for buyers to keep an open mind when it comes to this. Nevertheless, one effective approach is to concentrate on increasing the value of your firm now. You can increase the value of your business if you have plenty of internal partners who could potentially take over. For example, add more insurance plans, like trucking insurance, to your portfolio, or look to secure some high-value clients. Be flexible in regards to succession typeIt is no secret that most advisors prefer internal succession. This is because it allows for a more natural and smooth transition. However, it is important to remember that the decision does not need to binary. Some of the greatest succession strategies are both external and internal in nature. And, don’t be opposed to looking outside of the company; internal plans do have their hurdles, as they can be challenging in terms of dynamics and timing. Start at the endLast but not least, it is always a good idea to start with the end in mind. You need to focus on the talent your business has and the clients you service, as opposed to yourself. This takes time and is a lot easier said than done. But, if you simply focus on your business strategies, your intellectual property, and your client relationships, it’s going to be a hard sell. What about the successor? There are plenty of resources online providing advice for business owners putting a succession plan together, but what about the successor? If you have been identified as a possible candidate to take over the business, you should not simply wait around for it to happen. Below, we provide some top tips regarding the steps that successors need to make at a financial advisory firm prior to taking over. • Clarify what is expected of you â€" First and foremost, you need to determine what is expected of you in terms of management skills, as well as the knowledge needed to fill the void left by the current owner. Will you be leading the company with other members of the financial advisory firm, or will the sole responsibility fall on your shoulders? You will also need to discover whether you are the only candidate in contention or whether others are being considered. You won’t be able to prepare efficiently if you are not aware of what is to be expected.• Keep your rivals close â€" There is always intrigue whenever there is a transition at a business and, of course, there are going to be people that are jealous of your position. They will think that they are a better fit for the job and that you do not deserve it. These people may not be your friends, but you should keep them close, as they may have good ideas and valid points. You have to find a way to balance their ill intentio ns and aspirations so that you can keep them in the fold and profit from what they have to say.• Establish your own ideas â€" New deserves new. While it is important to make sure you fill the void left by the owner, you should not merely try to be a copycat of him or her. You should come up with a few of your own ideas as well. Excellent successors need to establish their leadership and plan for the growth of the firm. New ideas tell employees that things are going to get better, and they help you to establish your authority. People don’t want to hear the same thing again. • Get feedback â€" It is important to get feedback; this will only make you better. Often, people are only going to do what you say because of the position you are in. This does not mean they agree with it, and most will be unlikely to challenge it; after all, you are in charge. This is why it is wise to encourage feedback.• Consider all of those impacted by the transition â€" You need to think about every one that is going to be impacted by the transition and find a way to manage them properly. This includes everyone from clients to those who wanted the top spot and did not get it. There may be a number of potential customers and clients that surface because of you becoming the successor.