Style & Substance

There’s so much resting on making the right first impression, that we often hold ourselves back or worse, project what we think the other party wants to see. Yet, any attempts to control our persona will usually mean all parties lose out.

But isn’t that what Personal Branding is all about? Shaping our persona so that we’re making the right impression?

In a word, no. That would be separating Style and Substance and deluding ourselves by thinking that Style can substitute for depth.

Ok – should we focus on Substance and forget Style?

Well it’s definitely where we should start. Substance comes from who you are at your core. The characters strengths that shape what makes you happy, how you see the world, where your success will come from and what others will value you for.

At Lovephool we call them your Buzz Strengths, because they are the strengths that energise you from within and get you – Buzzing!

In fact, your top 5 Buzz Strengths is what defines your ‘Substance.’ Based on the latest research from Positive Psychology, your highest character strengths are the 5 aspects of your inner character that:

• You’re known & loved for: The top 5 things that people see when you’re using your Buzz Strengths. It’s you at your natural best. You can’t help but shine and it makes others warm to you because they can relate to who you really are.

• Make you happy: The times when you’ve felt most energised and alive are probably when you’re using your top 5 strengths, even if you didn’t realise it at the time. It’s your comfort zone; you at your most chilled and content.

• Might save your life: When the chips are down, you’ll naturally rely on your top 5 strengths to pull you through. Again you may not have known it before, but deep down, these 5 Buzz Strengths are part of your core character that pulls you through.

Great – so I’ll find out what my Buzz Strengths are and I’m done?

Not quite. Knowing your Buzz Strengths will help you discover the substance behind your Personal Brand, but it’s of little value unless you apply it.

The ‘Style’ part of Style and Substance is what people will remember you for. It’s the act of applying your Buzz Strengths so that you create value in your own life and in the lives of people around you.

That’s when your Personal Brand begins to flourish – effortlessly

When you use your Personal Brand as a way of recognising and apply your Buzz Strengths to add value; you’re showing people who you are. And they’ll believe you.

People will know who you are when you meet them on-line or face to face. They’ll know what to believe because you’re clear on who you are. That combination of Style and Substance is the difference you make.

Believe me, they’ll remember you for it.

Guest post kindly written by Kuldeep Brar @missybrar from @lovephool. Get your character strengths profile now at www.lovephool.com.

As an ex-brand marketer there are certain tenets of branding that just can’t be played with. I’m a Leo and I’m stubborn. I can’t help it. One of these is consistency. All great brands are built on consistency. Without consistency, people don’t know what they can rely on you for or what to expect from you.

People need to know which box to put you in (in their heads) and if you confuse them, they can’t put you in a box and you’re a floater. Floaters drift off never to be remembered again. It’s a sad story.

So, you can imagine the sort of week I had when not one but TWO instances dared to suggest to me that consistency is not only something NOT to strive for, but that in the context of personal branding, impossible to achieve while being authentic.

WTF?! I know. If you need to take a moment and grab some fresh air, I understand. I’ll still be here.

courtesy @snowbadger

The first chink in my week came when Simon Manchipp @manchipp (he on the left) let me have a sneak preview of his design agency’s new website. Simon’s desgin agency SomeOne are a highly respected agency and are sought after by big brands for big branding projects. One of their current projects includes the Eurostar rebrand. Yeah. This guy knows his stuff.

So, to get a sneak peek of their new website is not something I’m going to pass by. I’m a tad nosey too.

The page headed Manifesto got my attention so that’s where I started. And that’s where I found this

It stopped me dead because somewhere I felt that they were saying that consistency = bad. I stared at the words, lost in thought. But they’re not. They’re focusing on the extreme definition of consistency which helps them to reinforce what they’re about; creating memorable brands.

Memorable is hard with consistency. That’s not the role of consistency. What makes you memorable is the magic and the sparks. Think Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. It’s the little surprises in life that make it delicious and interesting. And if you can harness magic moments into what you do, you’re more likely to be memorable.

One of their blog articles, One big idea isn’t the big idea, refines this further

“Consistency is utterly misplaced as a central thought in branding. Coherence is what is important. Join it up everywhere, but don’t make it dull, repetitive and predictable (the very definition of consistent). Surprise, delight, entertain, inform and inspire.”

I realise this all sounds a bit corporate, but the same things can be said of personal brands. If you can surprise, delight, entertain, inform and inspire others, do you think that people will want to spend time with you? Do you think that people will want you on their team? Of course they will! By doing those things, in a coherant manner that makes sense to what you’re about, you’ll create an emotional connection with others that is sure to engage them. Once engaged on an emotional level, you’re on your way to build trust. And this is most defintely the best direction to be heading in.

So, while I’m going to stubbornly cling onto consistency as an an important aspect of branding (personal and business), I’m happy to relax my view and let coherence join the party too. But the soul of the party will most definitely be the magic & sparks!

If you want to read about the other incident that ruffled my feathers, I’m still writing it.. coming very soon!

So, what are your views on consistency in relation to branding? And how relevant is it to personal branding? Would love to know your thoughts! Leave your comment in the comment section below.

Read the follow up post: The Great Debate part 2

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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