Brand YOU–Images and Sound-Bytes Tool

March 30, 2006 by Liz

Making Images and Sound Bytes

Internalizing your brand is knowing it inside out, being able to talk about it without an extra thought. Use this tool to collect images and sound-bytes for the key concepts of your brand that you want people to remember.

ME as a Leader

Pick a hero, real or fictional–living or not–someone you admire and aspire to be like. Choose one from history, your favorite superhero, or just make one up. Describe your hero here.

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Make a List of Sound Bytes

Imagine that leader preparing to take a team on a mission. Make a list of what traits and strategies that leader uses. Write them down as a list of sound bytes.

A true leader

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ME as a _____________________________

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ME as a _____________________________

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–ME “Liz” Strauss

Images & Sound-Bytes of a Brand YOU Leader

March 29, 2006 by Liz

What’s Your Big Idea?

Knowing your Big Idea , showing what you believe, and capitalizing on strengths, making a personal branding brochure have brought you 99% there. LetÃ¢â¬â¢s talk about how you might explain your personal brand using images and sound-bytes that people will remember.

Suppose youÃ¢â¬â¢re at a networking event and your conversation partner asks your opinion of what makes a true leader. Could you answer in a few words that show you knowÃ¢â¬âbecause you are one?

Picture Yourself as a Leader

Leadership is at the heart of every personal brand. You’ll be asked questions about your idea of leadership throughout your entire working career. You’ll want your own answer–one that is as unique as you, one that expresses what only you bring as a leader. That means the definition needs to come from YOU. You need a leadership brand that is as personal as developing your own logo might be.

Start with an Image of a Personal Hero

Pick a hero, real or fictional–living or not–someone you admire and aspire to be like. Choose one from history, your favorite superhero, or just make one up. Now imagine that leader on a quest–something larger than life–Marco Polo about to travel to the Far East, Joan of Arc about to lead an army. You get the idea.

Make a List of Sound Bytes

Picture that leader preparing to a take team on a mission. Make a list of what traits and strategies that leader uses. Write them down as a list of sound bytes. My list looks something like this.

A true leader
1. knows where the team is going and why the team is going there.
2. plans the operation before setting out.
3. explains the plan to the team–the team might need to improvise along the way.
4. delegates to each membersÃ¢â¬â¢ strengths and skills so that every member feels a vital part of the missionÃ¢â¬â¢s success.
5. supports the team and gets the job done, without a thought of glory.
6. lights the way.

So What Was With the Picture?

I used the picture to see what a leader would do. Now the picture helps me remember the sound bytes on the list. Even better, when a question comes out of the blue, I can not only answer, I draw a picture of leadership for whomever I’m talking to. Folks might not remember all of the sound bytes, but the picture of my idea of leadership stays in their head, long after I’ve gone away.

That picture serves in another way too. I’ve internalized my answer so my conversation partner gets a chance to respond and be a pert of the conversation too–which I’ve found is always a nice gesture.

The 3 Big Ideas of Your Brand

Spend some time thinking about your brand. Make mental images of the traits you want people to understand and gather your sound bytes. Then you’ll be ready to draw anyone a picture of why you are a unique and valuable asset that they should be learning more about.

It’s not hard to do and it only works in your favor. You can promote your brand, your business, your blog the very same way. You could promote me too. Imagine that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The “Got Milk?” Man, Chartreuse, & Liz Singing in Harmony

March 29, 2006 by Liz

Where We Live and Breathe

Advertising has a responsibility to act like a thing that is going to be unavoidably in the environment, where we live and breathe. And we have a responsibility to make that work in such a way that it is welcomed and not scorned.

–Jeff Goodby, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, of “Got Milk?” fame as quoted in BusinessWeekonline, Advertising Advice from the “Got Milk” Man

When a guy knows what he’s talking about, almost everything he says is worth quoting. That’s how I felt reading BusinessWeekonline Managing Editor, David Kiley’s interview with Jeff Goodby, the guy behind such famous advertising as the “Got Milk?” slogan. I wished that Mr. Goodby was required reading for every designer that I ever met or would meet. But then all of the good ones already subscribe to what Jeff Goodby was saying.

Mr. Goodby was talking about how the audience gets to pick what’s good.

I suppose it’s crystal clear already that he and I agree completely, but that’s not what this article is about. This article is about a three-way conversation that’s been happening on three different subjects, in three different places, the same thing has been being said.

The “Got Milk?” Man, Chartreuse, and Liz

Jeff Goodby, Chartreuse, BETA, and Liz Strauss. What do we three have in common? A clear vision of how to reach and keep one. On three slightly different notes, we three each say things that sound a lot alike. Heck if we were on a street corner, we’d be doing some great harmony and collecting some serious cash.

Jeff Goodby said

Our job is to come up with more advertising that people actually seek out. It’s the same way with successful design. When you design something right, people don’t just accept it, they seek it out. And then they tell their friends about it or show it off.

Chartreuse said

Look at Overture (now Yahoo Search Marketing).

These are the most profitable advertising business models around, because consumers tell advertisers what theyÃ¢â¬â¢re looking for first, rather than advertisers telling consumers what they should buy and hoping for the best.

I said

Everett knew that being who you are is a bond with the community. It the basis on which all relationships are forged. Being any less and youÃ¢â¬â¢re only a bad facsimile of what you could be. Your personal brand can be the strongest advantage you bring to your business life.

Be brand YOU and youÃ¢â¬â¢re the only one. No one can compete with that.

Three separate takes on the same subject–Henry Ford you had a great idea, but your work is done. Rest in peace. The assembly line has lost its promise, and one-size-fits-all now fits no one.

Analysis–What Are We Saying?

Content is king, but the king reports to the Emperor. The Audience-Emperor knows damn well whether we’re wearing clothes and which designer made them too. We already decide what is relevant content to us and we tell advertisers by the way we use search engines. We already decide what ads work by the products we spend our money on. Jeff Goodby gets that, that’s why he respects us and voices a responsibility to keeping our environment filled with advertising we enjoy. He realizes he is one of us.

Advertising we seek out. There’s a concept–a simple wonder, a basic what if. The advertisers who get it will be the ones who are us, not the ones who think, “They versus us.”

Strategy–To Promote Your Business

None of us are partners in a fabulous San Francisco Advertising firm. Though I’d love to work for Mr. Goodby, I don’t suppose he’ll be offering me a job soon. I’m guessing you’re probably in the same place as I am. So how might we push this analysis into strategy for our brand and our businesses?

Be authentic, practical, and nice. Don’t promote your business on its glorious, high falutin’ intangible values. Do needs-benefits selling. Know me and what I need and show me how you provide it better, with more-invested, gentler service than the other guy ever could.
Make it fun to work with you. No matter what you’re involved in, it should be something that adds to the world of enjoyment. Fun is magnetic and always feels free. It’s hard enough to find these days. Jeff Goodby says it has to be simple and interesting to the consumer in the way the cowabduction spoof he did for Milk Producers was, if you want folks to seek it out. If you offer that kind of creativity to me, you can bet, I’ll not only seek it out, I’ll forgive the occasional slip.
Let me be who I am. Don’t try to change the way I do things. Trust that I know my needs better than you do. Show me how I can do what I already do more easily. That will win my loyalty. That will get me to talk about what a good relationship you have with your customers.
Let me be smarter than you are. and sweeter too. Chartreuse says, “Treat the smart girls like they are pretty and the pretty girls like they are smart.” Believe me, it works for boys too. That is the key to customer relationships and to building customer evangelists. That is the intangible value-added, making the customer the center of all you do.
Know the upside-down nature of the Internet. Understand that it will move out into the real-world environment, not the other way around. Make something so good that folks will seek you out to find it. We find what works well and stick with it. We will keep looking until the one worth sticking with is found.
Offer a product or a service that fills an actual need I have. I put this last on purpose. The changes in the world are happening so fast that needs are opening at an unprecedented rate of explosion. Some will close right back up again by getting filled or expiring. Think through the product or service you offer. Make certain it has staying power, be sure that I am willing and able to pay what it will cost you to make it available. Then add that you include the unique BIG IDEA of your brand so that I will only want YOU to do the work for me.

The power base has slowly shifted to the audience-consumer. A busines without customers is not a business. I have that tatooed where you cannot look.

More MSM Unhappiness

Until now control of the distribution channels and advertising markets, limited what the consumer could access, but with the WWW shopping mall, I can search the world over to find that little store that has the “just right” item I am looking for. I no longer need to settle for one-size fits all.

Chartreuse and I know this. We see it in our friends and ourselves. Smart advertisers, such as Jeff Goodby, are well aware of this too. Those who cannot see it–the telcos, Internet providers and the Mainstream Media–will fight to save the old world way of doing business. They want to keep those advertising dollars that Jeff Goodby sees turning into entertaining Internet websites that advertise as well as delight.

There is significant money involved and significant changes to life styles should Jeff Goodby’s vision of advertising–one that Chartreuse and I also see–become the future. Were I the Mainstream Media, I don’t think I would want to lose control.

Everyday the world gets smaller. At the moment, you and I get larger and more powerful. Some folks don’t like that idea.

Personally, I do.

It would be hard to break out into a chorus of “Blue Moon” under a streetlight in Chicago with Chartreuse and Jeff Goodby, if someone else were around telling us what to do.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Creative Wonder 101 as Promotion and Problem Solving

March 28, 2006 by Liz

Wondering

We look at each other wondering what the other is thinking but we never say a thing.
–Dave Matthews, Ants Marching

Did you ever wonder the same thing about someone you were with?
Did you ever wonder what the story was behind a song you like?
Do you wonder how some singers get to be famous when they can’t sing?
Do you wonder about things as much as I do?
Are you wondering why I’m asking so many questions?

What Is Wondering ?

Wondering is that sense of awe mixed with curiosity that little kids and imaginative grown-ups get when they see something out-of-this-world unbelievable. It’s the real feeling behind words like awesome, incredible, amazing, stunning, and wonderful.

Wondering is looking at a starry sky and thinking that there are more stars and more universes than you can possibly count, . . . that numbers go on into infinity, . . . that space is a vacuum without any sound at all . . . that the light from the stars can travel days just to reach us. Wondering is trying to get your mind around the idea that biggest jerk on the planet can appear to be happily married with kids who seem to like him–and can have more money than we’ll ever dream of having.

I wonder about everything. I’m wondering right now if you’re going to wonder why I wrote these words, or if you’re even going to read them.

Wondering is a thinking skill. Name a genius who didn’t have wondering as a core competency.

Creative Wondering 101

Creative wondering is opening your brain to the kind of questions you used to have when you were much shorter than you are now. It’s like brainstorming with questions. If you’re looking to solve a problem, wondering is a painless way to get where you want to be. Point your brain in the right direction, and your wondering takes you to a variety of possible solutions.

These are three benefits of creative wondering that make it useful to everyone. It’s funny kids know these things automatically and most grown-ups need to learn them all over again.

Wondering works best when you’re relaxed and in turn is relaxing.
Wondering is personally flexible. You can wonder into a journal or notepad to capture your thoughts, but you don’t have to.
Wondering is mobile, and therefore, it increases productivity. You can do it anywhere. It’s a useful skill for when you’re waiting in traffic or for that doctor who’s always an hour late. Wondering works in the shower. Reading usually does not.

A Warm-Up

If you haven’t wondered for a while, you might be a little tight. Stretch your brain a bit with warm-up questions. Here are a few:

What if? . . . How come? . . . Who was? . . . What belongs? . . . Why did? . . . Who the heck? . . . Who’s idea? . . . Where was I? . . . What’s wrong with this picture? . . . When did that happen? . . . Who died and made you king? . . . What would Brad and Angelina have to say about this? . . . Why him? Why her? Why it? Why now? Why bother? WHY NOT? and What will I do when I win the lottery?

You could write them down and take notes under each one. Go for it, if that’s the kind of wonderer you are. Don’t you dare, if you don’t want to. It’s wrong to take the fun out of wondering. Then you would spend your time wondering why you are wondering . . . That kind of wandering wondering gets you nowhere.

Wondering to Solve Problems

Now you’re ready to start looking at the serious stuff with a new lens of wondering. Don’t let anything off the hook. Question the whole world, like you questioned your parents when you were three years old.

If you need a solution, do some serious wondering about the problem.

Wonder why it’s a problem to start with.
Then throw that passel of questions in the warm-up at the problem to pull out the bits that you’re not seeing clearly. Obssess over every detail with every possible question you might think of to wonder about. One caveat–exclude questions that illicit an emotional response. Just the facts for now, please.
Do at least 5 What ifs? to get to a variety of possible solutions. Skip the What happeneds? until you’ve found a solid solution.
When you have a critical mass of possible solutions laid out, challenge them with questions again–more what ifs? and what makes you think sos? A couple of I wonder, if we changed this one thing here, would that be betters? might work now.
When you’ve got that solid solution tested with questions, then you can go back to the What happeneds? to make sure that you don’t end up solving the same problem again and again. The answers will be so much less emotionally-laden now that you have a solution in hand or already in process.

Wondering as a Promotional Tool

Wondering, asking questions as pure curiosity can get you to a solution that you might not get any other way. I’ve seen it happen. It is a powerful skill to add to your personal branding brochure-resume. Learning to live with a wondering view will automatically incorporate itself into your branding BIG idea.

To be able to say,

I can lead a team to a high trust environment, where problem solving is open questioning based on challenging assumptions and wondering about possible outcomes.

is an impressive thing.

I repeat. Name me a genius who didn’t have wondering as a core competency. Wondering will lead you to learn things that other folks don’t even think about. That’s a trait of a leader.

I can’t help but wonder what you’re thinking right now. What are you going to do with this information? I wonder how many ways you’ll find to use wondering to promote yourself and your business in the next 15 minutes.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Your Resume-The Brand YOU Brochure

March 27, 2006 by Liz

Forget the Rules

The rules are for everyone. Personal brand is about showing you are the only one.Somewhere along the line, you probably learned rules about writing resumes. What I’m about to tell you is going to break them. I like breaking rules, especially when that works in our favor. I don’t usually do it when it doesn’t.

You don’t need a resume anyway. You need something that works like one, but is more than that.

Get Rid of the List

It’s easy to think of a resume as a list – three suits, two blue, one gray, of what you’ve done and to write it off as a painful requirement of job acquisition. That’s a major missed opportunity. With a few tweaks, your resume can be a dynamic tool in your personal branding strategy.

Throw away the list as concept.

Think about Brand YOU and promotional tools.

You’re making a personal branding brochure. Just let other people think it’s a resume. They’ve been confused before.

A Personal Branding Brochure

Imagine that you’re a product — a Ferrari. Your resume is your specification sheet. Add some marketing copy, and you’re well on your way to a promotional brochure for that Ferrari. On my own resume I include the usual career experience with the chronological job history, but that is page 2.

On page 1, I include branding information built around my branding big idea – that I am a leader and a strategist with a proven track record and competencies in several key areas of publishing. I want the person reading my resume to read this first, to know what I can do before where I did it. The former is more important than the latter. As you read through, you might notice how I took the opportunity to further my brand identity by targeting first statement under each core competency.

Turn a resume into a personal branding brochure.

Use It as a Promotional Tool

Change the way you look at your resume, and you soon find a world of uses for it. Use it as you do your business card. Just this week I sent mine to a business friend with a note saying, “Let me know if my voice might help you in the meetings with the publishers you told me about.” Design it into your blog’s About Page to let your readers know more about you, your brand, and your business.

I use my “branding brochure” a lot when I’m networking.

It’s one more way to let people know you’re not just another suit. You’re uniquely valuable.
Without you, the world would be missing something–the one and only Brand YOU.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Writing Ugh! 10 Reasons to Get Jazzed about Writing

March 26, 2006 by Liz

Writing Is Easy When It’s Over

Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.

—Gene Fowler , Screenwriter, Director, Author

Let’s face it. Everyone can think of things we’d rather do than write. Writing is work, even when it comes easily. We have to get the words down in the right order. We have to check that they’re all there and spelled correctly. We have to make sure that they make sense to people who aren’t us. Those are a lot of things to do when we might be doing something more fun, such as having a life.

Why do I write?

I just can’t let opportunities fly right by me.

10 Reasons to Get Jazzed about Writing

Why do folks write? They know that words have power. That a word well-placed and well-written can bring visibility and attention to them, their business and their brand. They know that writing is an incredible tool that reaches farther than other forms of conversation do. Even video, well-done, is written first.

We write because writing is power. Here are 10 reasons to get jazzed about writing.

1. In today’s universe, writing is your voice. Not to write is close to having laryngitis. The ability to write is critical. You learn it same way you learn to play the guitar–by practice. If you want to communicate when the spotlight falls your way, you need to be writing “solos” now.

2. Writing can reach an unlimited audience. More people can access what you have to say when they can read it. Your audience can read what you write on their own terms, in their own time frame.

3. Writing allows you to think before you speak. One beauty of writing is that you can edit before people hear what you say. The uhs and ums, the wild digressions, and off-base thinking can stay a secret between you and your delete key. You end up looking smarter, and your audience ends up thinking you are too. That’s power.

4. Writing lasts to become an asset. The words you craft today will still be available to you again and again. One investment pays you back with many returns. You can repurpose your writing to fit new situations. You can make it last to serve you and your business as long as you need it to.

5. Writing is free promotion. Offer quality, relevant content to an audience who needs it, and they’ll be coming back to see you again. Your name, your business, and your brand will gain a following from the writing that you did.

6. Writing increases the visibility of your brand. Writing great content means search engine ranking and link popularity. Whether you’re looking for a new job or promoting your business, high visibility is currency in the knowledge universe. Employers and clients are using search engines to check out relationships. You do it. Don’t you?

7. Writing lets people know you as an individual. You become the one and only you. If I never wrote a word on this blog, how would you know who I am? Need I go on?

8. Writing forces you to think through ideas. When you leave your ideas in your head, it’s easy to think you know them inside out. Often after writing something, we know it better than before we started.

9. Writing lets you define the big idea of your brand. Whatever subject you write about will soon become what you are thought of as an expert on.

10. Writing is networking with content. Writing opens doors. People read and answer back. All people tend to see others who think like they do as being smart. Some of those readers will become friends and business contacts.

I can think of so many reasons to write, and I get jazzed about the doors that each piece I write might be opening. Now as I finish this post, I have one more page in my archives. It’s like one more dollar in my promotional bank account. I can repurpose it and use it again and again. People can read it whenever they want to find out more about who I am.

Funny . . . . I’m even more jazzed about writing now, than I was when I started this post.

–ME “Liz” Strauss