Three Tips to Show Your Colorful Personal Brand

Part of your personal brand is your personality. Let it show, let it shine. When I revisited some of my recent writing drafts, a few seemed rather dry bordering on medium gray number five. It was hard to see the “Alice” in it. I forgot to add living color!

Many of us who have grown-up in corporate or spent time in academia have forgotten to have some fun when we communicate with the written word. At my company, ShoutBrand we believe in “just right” – a balance. In this case, we are looking for writing that is just informal enough.

Here are three tips:

1. Use a conversational style.
If appropriate, write like you were chatting one-on-one with a friend. This technique is often used in sequential email marketing. For example:

“This morning when I was out for my walk, I started to think about how something seemed missing from my most recent writing drafts. They just weren’t, well, as fun as they use to be. Then I saw it, a sign that said, “STOP” – yes,  a regular old stop sign. That got me thinking about….”

2. Add colorful, unexpected substitution in a cliché.
It hit me like a ton of ice cubes. (Instead of bricks.)
For a list clichés

 3.  List of three, where the third thing is not anticipated
The roles Jaclyn plays best are doctor, lawyer and superhero.

 When in doubt, insert a bit of color. A little hot pink magenta or lime green goes a long way in making your text interesting. Show your colorful personal brand, by letting your personality glow.

How do you pump-up the color in your writing?

Know Your Stock Photography Rights

Images are an integral part of any marketing piece. I like to use the word “image” vs “photo” because many time the images we use are not photos! They may be charts, graphs, info-graphics or other types of illustrations.

Never before has there been such a vast quantity of accessible images available. And they have never been less expensive!

 Although you can view many images with a quick Google search, you will NOT want to use these images in your marketing piece, unless you can obtain the rights to use them. When you just “download” images without regard for ownership, you are literally stealing them. Fortunately, there are many websites where you can get high quality legal images for next to nothing. The general term for these image banks is “Stock Photography.” It’s important to know your stock photography rights!

 For those not familiar with purchasing stock images, let’s go over the two basic types:

 Royalty-FreeThe majority of stock photo images available today are in this category. You buy the image and you can use it over and over again without ever paying any royalties, hence the name.

Royalty-Free photos are usually inexpensive, especially if you are using the “small’ size image. There is a huge amount available for $5 or even less. The pricing can be a bit tricky as many site use a credit system. You first have to buy a block of credit and then apply those credits to the images you are purchasing. Pricing does vary, so you will want to check pricing as you go along. Although the images are inexpensive it is still not a nice surprise when one costs $50 when you are expecting to pay $5.

 Note: Generally there are some restrictions to usage above and beyond what most people would do with the images. Such as offer them for resale, use than for the primary image of a print-on-demand item or use them more than 250,000 times!

Upside: Inexpensive, although prices do range it is always a good idea to check the pricing of an image.
Downside: Others people may be using the same images, as there are no restrictions.

Rights Managed
Some images are right-managed, which means you pay for a specific usage and only that usage. Before the site will give you pricing they will ask you several questions about how the image is being  used such as size, placement, media and distribution.

 For example: A half page image used inside a text book will be a lower cost than a full page image used on a cover with a national distribution. Generally speaking these images are more expensive, in the hundreds of dollar range.

Upside: Generally higher-quality images, less dilution
Downside: More expensive and limited one-time usage

Stock photography is good for any general images. For example: Lifestyle images like a happy family, a group of businessman, the skyline of New York City or an ice cream cone.

Stock images are generally brand-free, meaning you will not be able to find image of specific items. For example: You won’t find pictures of Wheaties, Starbucks coffee, or Target Stores. It is hard to find any type of images featuring cars as their brands are so recognizable.

 To find stock photo sites simply search for “Stock Photography.”

Some popular sites are:

BigStockPhoto.com
iStockPhoto.com
123rf.com
GettyImages.com

 Note: There are many other kinds of stock sites, such as stock video and stock music!

Happy hunting!

Are you creating TRUST or DOUBT?

Are your actions saying, “You don’t care?” Are you creating TRUST or DOUBT?

Yesterday I noticed that the house next store “SOLD” as they had place the rider on top of the FOR SALE sign. Since the sign is proximate to my driveway, I noticed a yellow post-it note on the “SOLD” part of the sign. Curious, I took a closer look. It simply had the address on the note “204 E. Maple Ave.” The person placing the “SOLD” rider on the sign did not remove the instruction.

It made me wonder WHY; why did they leave the post-it note on the sign? Is it because they forgot? Is it because no one told them to remove the note? Or is it because they simply don’t care about the quality of their work? Whatever the reason it’s sloppy.

Although this is a tiny thing, it would make me think twice about hiring this particular Realtor, even though he is THE Realtor in our neighborhood.

Real Estate transactions are riddled with small details on so many levels. Could I trust this Realtor’s office to handle my sale if they can’t even get a sign right. This lack of detail introduced DOUBT, which caused me to discount the trust I had in this realtor.

Now this reaction maybe a little extreme, but I am doing it to make a point. Details count. Audience counts. How you are displaying yourself and your company to the world counts. Remember with each action and interaction you are either building DOUBT or TRUST.

DOUBT is poison. It only takes a small amount to contaminate a large amount of TRUST.

Today, will you build TRUST or DOUBT?

7 Reasons To Be Loaded With Trigger Talk

Have you ever stumbled over the question “What do you do?” When you are prepared you can engage, inform and even “Wow!” the other party.

At ShoutBrand we called these prepared responses “Trigger Talk” because you are ready to “fire them off” at any given time. “Trigger Talk” sentences are carefully crafted, edited, rehearsed, tested, refined and finally memorized. The “Elevator Pitch” or “30-Second Self Commercial” are forms of “Trigger Talk.”

Be sure to create “Trigger Talk” for the most common questions people ask, especially these two: What do you do? and Tell me about yourself…?

7 REASONS TO BE LOADED WITH TRIGGER TALK
IT GIVES YOU:

1. The WOW FACTOR
2. TIME to think about what you’ll say next
3. INCREASED TRUST as you come across smartly
4. The ability to DELIVER INFORMATION you want them to have
5. An ENGAGING edge
6. A MAGNETIC energy which draws people to you
7. A great IMPRESSION every time

You will want to have a lot of “Trigger Talk” in your back pocket. The more you have on “Trigger” the better. Get loaded-up and give your Personal Brand fire power.

What questions do you have a hard time answering?

Personal Brands: Use a professional email address.

Many people use their email as a database. You want them to be able to easily find you when they want to reach you. If your name is not apart of your email address it makes it much more difficult. If you are not easy to find you are loosing out on opportunities. Using an unprofessional email address is a big mistake.

For example: I come across a job opportunity that might be perfect for a young man, Randy, who I met a networking event and connected with via email several months ago. I make a new email message and start typing “Randy” in hopes that his address will pop-up. I search my brain for his last name. I think it starts with a “C.” I type in “rc” in hopes that his name will pop-up. Again nothing. The phone rings and my attention is taken in a new direction. That is the end of emailing Randy. He was not easy to find and as a result he did not receive the job lead.  I didn’t remember his email address was surferdude23@yahoo.com.

I personally know many highly paid professionals who surf and that doesn’t stop me from thinking “slacker loser”when I read “surfer dude!” With the free yahoo email address, it reads “slacker loser cheapskate.” Who wants that refrain the the brain!?

I prefer and recommend people buy the domain name of the name they are using. For example: SarahAlexandriaJones.com or RandyCorcoran.com. Surferdude23@yahoo.comnow becomes: randy@randycorcoran.com.

The next best thing is using  a gmail account.With the popularity of gmail, your name may already be taken. Take your time in selecting a name. It is tempting to rush into a name that won’t serve you in the long term.

People often put the year of their birth in their email address. For example: SarahSmith64@gmail.com.  This is not information you need to be delivering in this fashion. It may even work against you.

Many older non-technically savvy people are still using their aol email addresses. When one come into my inbox I immediately assume the sender is behind the times when it comes to technology.

Many hosting providers offer “email forwarding.” You may be able to have your old or other email addresses forward to your new professional address.

The more consistent you are with your personal branding, the better. Your name is the cornerstone of your brand. Be mindful of how you use your name. Be sure to use a professional email address.

What’s in a name?

Are you using your name consistently? As simple as this may sound, I find people using their names, both their “real” names and businesses names inconsistently fairly often. Sometimes the name you use does actually change. This is often the case when your marital status changes.

Your name is a big part of your personal branding. Pick one and stick with it, then use it consistently. If you are James A. Smith, then always be James A. Smith. Not Jimmy Smith,  James Andrew Smith or Jim A. Smith.

3 TIPS FOR USING YOUR NAME:
1. Pick one name and stick with it
2. Always use it in the same exact manner
3. Have others use your name in this same exact manner

Let me give you a recent example. A young woman came in for career coaching and we were going over her LinkedIn profile. She was using both her full first name and full middle name in the headline area. For example: Sarah Alexandria Jones. Throughout profile she was Sarah, until we hit the recommendations where she somehow changed to Alexandria.

When we looked  at her contact information, I found she was using an email address that was totally different than any of her names: riaj1981@gmail.com. Who’s Ria? And what’s 1981? We assume it’s your birth year and that’s not information you want to volunteer.

Sarah was aware of these naming issues and had NOT addressed them. She told me that when she gives her email address that people have a hard time getting it because it is different than her actual name.

With a little investigation, it was fairly easy to locate the place in LinkedIn where you request a “revised recommendation.” Sarah will simply ask the two people who are using her middle name to revise it to her first name.

Sarah had not realized that using different names could be detrimental to her progress.

Take a few moments and look at your names with “new eyes” and see if there are any issues that need to be cleaned up.  It’s well worth the effort.

Can you be found on LinkedIn?

This morning I found a message from LinkedIn congratulating me for being in the top 5% of the most viewed profiles. With over 200 million members worldwide, and 74 million members in the US, LinkedIn is a “quiet giant” in the social media landscape. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube get a lot of media attention while LinkedIn goes about its business.

Being honored by LinkedIn reassured me of the fact that large rewards come with small consistent efforts on social media when you do it with intention. When you post valuable content on your specific topic that is inline with your personal brand you build your reputation as a trusted advisor or expert.

Can you be found on LinkedIn?
If you are not on LinkedIn, I urge you to become a member. For most people the free membership is all you need. If you are on LinkedIn, and haven’t been there for a while you may want to revisit the site.

For many professionals it has become standard procedure to look-up potential clients, vendors, and employees on LinkedIn. Be sure your profile is up to date and complete.

If you are having trouble locating a specific person try the advance search feature, which allows you to add in other parameters, such as location.

LinkedIn is all about having connections. If we were not connected, I would be honored to have you in my network. Please send me an invitation at alice@famousalice.com.

How do you use LinkedIn?