Jeffrey Blake

Interact First - Sell Second

January 15, 2010

I dont know how many times this idea has been drilled into my head. Im a believer. However, it appears to be quite a difficult concept for many on the web. I think you have to have a marketing/customer sensibility before you can understand it.

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Marketing

Your Personal Brand Can Change the World

January 15, 2010

I remember a comment Neil Young had about Live Aid and other similar events. He said "save yourself". I have always thought about that and realized that after I find my true self and act upon that fact - the world will change around me.

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

Personal Branding - Expertise vs Expert

January 14, 2010

I have found that when we talk about ourselves we might say that we have some particular expertise in something and only rarely do we say "I am an expert". This is a personal branding mistake. For example, I might say that I have expertise in Java Software Architecture. But it would be better expressed as saying "I am a Java Software Architecture Expert".

And another thing, the more you repeat this phrase - the more people will believe it and refer to you as the "Expert". Saying tha...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

How to update status on Twitter and Facebook

January 14, 2010

Its quite easy to provide a link that creates a twitter status update for something you are promoting in your blog. Same for Facebook. You dont want them to just go to Twitter but you want to help them out by filling out their status promotion for them. Usually in your blog software you can highlight some text and select the link icon which will pop up a small window and allow you to insert a target url. All the information is in the target URL.

In order to understand wha...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Twitter

Internal and External Brand Mantras

January 11, 2010

We have all heard about taglines sometimes called "brand" taglines. A tagline is really an external mantra for your customers to resonate with. Its also important when developing a personal career brand to have an internal mantra. Just like the word "OM" - which is chanted to bring inner calm - we need an internal mantra to guide our career and to give it meaning.

Finding an internal mantra that "fits" is not an easy task. It relies on some deep reflection of your core values and then simpl...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

Criteria for a Great Brand Name

January 11, 2010

DISTINCTIVENESS - always important in branding. You must standout. Ive seen some pretty interesting names lately that have been creative with spelling - apptizr.com as an example. This company provides a smart way to find iphone apps.
BREVITY - Often you want to have your brand name be your domain name. So some brand names or company names are just too long and you are forced to have a domain that is different from your brand. Not that good. The shorter the name the easier it is ...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

Inspiration Feedback

January 8, 2010

We all need feedback. Often we can't see ourselves clearly and we need someone to mirror back observations. I call this the "Rosalind Principle" named after a very smart and wise friend who is quite insightful about others but has more difficulty with herself.

When I ask for feedback - there is often a feeling of dread - because most of my friends give me left brained feedback - it can be brutal. I hear the feedback and recognize that its true but frequently I have difficulty a...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

What is a Personal Brand Tagline

January 8, 2010

Taglines aren't just for companies - they are for individuals. A tagline is a very short expression that conveys meaning to your audience. When developing a career we can use these short expressions in conversation or on our business cards to quickly help others understand who and what we are. A good tagline starts a conversation and provides context for everything that follows. Without any further preamble (Just do it), I am going to list some qualities of a good tagline.

Simple...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

Personal Branding is Outcome Thinking

January 7, 2010

Personal Branding - especially for your career has to do with setting and achieving goals. In essence - getting things done. We are not used to setting our own goals - more often we are buffeted about by forces around us. But branding ourselves in our career is about setting some personal goals and actually accomplishing them. In David Allen's book Getting Things Done he uses a term called "Outcome Thinking". He says "Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes i...
Continue reading...

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

Personal Branding is Like Buddhism

January 6, 2010

One of the reason so much branding fails is that people arent aware enough of their circumstances - personally and in the marketplace. While I dont profess to be a Buddhist, I have benefited from some meditation and slowing down of my crazed monkey brain - thereby starting to notice a bit more nuance in my life. Personal branding is about personal awareness. We could learn a lot from the Buddha.

Posted by Jeffrey Blake. Posted In : Branding

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