I received an email from Tracey, who is setting up a business. She’s already sought help with brand startegy, coaching around her netowrking and a personal stylist. She wanted to know whether now is a good time to get her personal brand sorted. Here is my answer to you Tracey:

Are you an entrepreneur and have a question about small business branding? Drop me an email and I’ll answer by video!

I remember a time in my twenties when most of my friends had itchy feet and wanted to see the world. Looking back it was interesting to see how different their experiences were.

First of all, there was my mate Jon. He seemed pretty sorted. Not only did he have a load of money saved up but he was so sure of where he wanted to go that he pretty much had the itinerary all sewn up; he was going to bike across Africa then fly over to India for 4 months and then trek in Nepal. He’d already booked his flight out to Africa. There was no stopping him! That trip wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but that was his thing. All he needed to do was find someone to go with him. He wanted to share the experience with someone, which was understandable.

Then there was my mate Sara. She had some money saved up too, but she had no idea where she wanted to go. For her, she just had to leave HERE. But she wasn’t really bothered where TO. But she definitely DIDN’T want to go to Africa or India! Especially on a bike! She had ideas about some nice beaches in Thailand, checking out Singapore or Hong Kong, and then maybe heading over to Australia. The thing is, she’d been talking about this for years.

My mate Jen on the other hand was a different story altogether. She desperately wanted to go travelling. Being the sensible one of the group, she was the only one out of us that had bought a flat at that point. The problem was; her flat was full of crap. She was a bit of a hoarder. She had the money saved up, but she still would have to rent her flat out. And that would mean sorting through her crap and probably getting rid of most of it. For some reason, this never seemed to happen.

I was jealous of all them, but was caught in the career ladder. At least that was my excuse! Big regret now, let me tell you! Anyway..

Jon had the trip of his dreams! He managed to find someone to cross Africa with too. Some guy who he found him through some biker site. They came home with some crazy stories let me tell you!

Sara didn’t go for a few years. When she did go, she ended up joining some other folk on the trip of their dreams She fell into it because she was worried about leaving it too late. It was a fab experience and she loved it, but it was THEIR dream trip and not hers. She came back wishing that she’d taken a bit of time working out what she sort of trip she wanted, figuring that you only get to do ONE trip of a lifetime.

And then there was Jen. Poor Jen. As far as I know, she’s still desperate to go on that trip. And her flat is still full of crap. I guess she never found a way of letting go of all that stuff so that she could be free to go.

So, in that story, who are you?

Are you like Jon ? Really clear about what you want and where you’re going. Not only that but you know exactly who you’re looking for to share your trip with.

Or, does Sara sound more like you? You know you don’t like where you are right now, but you haven’t figured out where you want to go, let alone who with.

Or maybe Jen resonates with you. You’d love to go on a trip but you can’t even begin to think about it as long as you’ve still got all this crap to let go of first. And you haven’t quite figured that bit out yet, Meanwhile, you’re missing out on the trip of a lifetime.

Life only comes by once, don’t wait too long or else it’ll be gone.

So, do you see what I’m getting at?

This lifetime trip IS your life. Maybe it’s your working life – up to you. And as soon as you can define what is it that you want and how you want to travel it, you can find people to share the ride. Where you’re going and how you’re travelling, that’s your brand. Are you biking it or are you travelling first class; two very different trips! Who you share it with is your target audience. If they buy into your trip, they’re coming for the ride because they’ve bought into YOU! And, the clearer you are about your trip, the easier these people are to find.

On the other hand, if Jen is more like you, don’t waste any more time being trapped by your fears and beliefs. Have a clear out! It’s only when you clear out the crap that you can really think clearly about who you really are, what you want and where you want to go.

What story are you telling yourself? And, is it serving you?

I’ve been saying this for a while now and it seems that the web is now full of articles saying the same thing. And while the CV itself isn’t likely to die anytime soon, it can no longer be counted on to be the ONLY tool in your job search toolbox. So, what else might you need? Well, here are a few ideas…

Video resume

There’s no better way to communicate who you are than a video. It’s a great way to stand out from the crowd and get noticed. It may not be used instead of a CV, but it’s certainly a great way to start the conversation with a prospective employer. The guy below made it all over the TV news last month when his video landed him a top job.

There’s even a social network specialising in video resumes…. “RezBuzz™ is the “World’s first Employment Search Video Network” (ESVN) and is helping individuals, companies and recruiters differentiate themselves with the power of video resumes and profiles.”

But be careful with these.. it’s easy to get wrong! Like these video resumes demonstrate. But, if you think you’re up for it, here’s a good article on what to think about in making a video resume to help get you thinking and 5 Tips for Creating Impressive Video Resumes.

The CV infographic

An infographic is used to display information in a graphical form, like a picture or a diagram. Here is an example of someone who has developed an infographic to use as their CV. The thing to remember here is whether using a tool like this makes sense for what you do. I can’t help but wonder about the cost of creating such a piece of art. After all, we’re not all able to create graphics like this, and for many it would need to be outsourced.

The internet ad

You could always take an ad out on Facebook or Google, like these guys; There’s the copywriter who placed a Google ad to land a top ad job in NYC.  And there’s the story about a guy who took out a Facebook ad to land a job at Olgivy & Mather.

This is all very well, but understanding what methods are going to be right for you in your job search is the real trick. For that you need to be really clear as to who your target audience is and where you can find them. Who they are and where you can find them might help you to decide on the best tool for the job. Because not all of these ideas are going to be right for everyone.

What do you think would be the most appropriate method for you to use to find the people who can offer you the job you want?

If you’re not sure, then get in touch! Helping you to work out WHO you ARE and WHO you’re targeting is what I help people with.

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It’s always worth going back to the beginning every now and then! So, here is my quick explanation of what your personal brand is.

This question “Is personal branding a fad?” came up on Quora recently so I thought I’d give my view which I’m happy to share here.

The term personal branding may be relatively new, but the concept has been around much longer. There is some misconception that personal branding is all about the hard sell and this is where the term gets a bad name (Obnoxious?). The reality is that we’re ALWAYS selling ourselves. Selling in this sense means trying to influence others to buy us / believe us / like us / hire us etc.

What’s changed is the environment in which we’re now able to do that. And it’s this that is forcing us to be much clearer as to how we choose to define ourselves. Before, it was adequate to merely be mindful as to how we presented ourselves in the flesh. This kept it pretty simple, as long as we dressed and spoke consistently in line with our image of ourselves and what we wanted to project, that was fine. But now we can present ourselves online in endless ways – blogs, personal sites, YouTube etc. And it is because of the extensive possibilities of online presences that we need to think a bit harder about what we want to say about ourselves. We cannot escape the harsh reality of earning cash. Nor can we escape the fact that we are all naturally nosey. So, if we are presented with the opportunity of possibly working with someone (hiring them, buying their stuff etc), we are going to seek out information about them. Just as we would before purchasing a product. Hence the need to be clear as to what you want to say about yourself and to present that consistently. We know from the world of corporate brands that to be bought you need to build trust, and this is done through communicating a consistent message and delivering upon a promise consistently. So it’s no surprise that people are now adopting these practices. Let’s not forget the fact that the world is more competitive in terms of jobs, and those that have grasped this are those that are getting the work. So, it will soon be a neccessity for the majority if they want to keep up.

So, to answer the question, no it’s not fad. At least the concept isn’t. It’s here to stay.