Blog Posts by Personal Branding Blog

As my creative partner @FamousAlice says, "competent and nice beats genius and difficult" when it comes to hiring, promoting and collaborating with team members - or selecting and working with vendors and consultants.

Competence is broadly understood as being good at what you do; but do not dismiss what it takes to be good - the education, experience, failure, success and of course opportunity. You might feel heartened to know that getting to the top rarely demands you to be the Wily E. Coyote, the super genius of your generation.

Actually, unless you have the idea and lone-wolf determination to launch the next Apple or you're floating in pirate-free waters on a yacht as an heir to a Madoff-proof fortune, nice is the significantly larger factor when it comes to achieving success for most of us.

The great advantage of being nice - or learning to be nice

Nice is not the natural state for many, many people. You know it and so do I. I interact with tens of thousands

Who knew that physical positions mattered so much when it comes to generating novel, useful and profitable business ideas? Your feet, your hands and your use of space directly impact your fluency (how many ideas you can generate), flexibility (the sheer number of ideas) and originality.

In recent studies conducted at the University of Michigan and New York University, researchers demonstrated that your body guides your mind. Change your position, burst with creativity.

Here's the measurable evidence submitted by Suntae Kim, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks and Evan Polman in the New York Times on Sunday.

People walking around unrestricted while tasked to come up with original ideas for use of a common toy generated 25% more ideas than those who were forced to stay within a path marked by tape while doing the same assignment.

People who were instructed to alternate between two hands as they came up with new ideas for a use of a building generated 50% more novel ideas versus

Today's highly competitive and digitized world has really changed the game for brands, both business and personal. Though advertisements may still attract your clients' or customers' attention, these aren't enough to convince them to secure your services or buy your products. People are doing their research, asking for referrals and recommendations from people they know, and basically only buying from brands they trust.

As a personal brand, it's very important that you take charge of the reputation you have, both online and off. The more people who know you and recommend your services, the better for your brand.

Most professionals understand the value of client feedback and testimonials. You get a significant edge over others offering the same services when someone recommends or refers you, or when someone gives you glowing feedback.

There is a drawback when it comes to online testimonials and recommendations. Because the competition is so fierce, some unscrupulous

Being new to an industry is very exciting, but it can also be quite daunting. Though you may be confident in the knowledge and skills you have, there is still the fact that you don't have any experience yet, and this is what's going to differentiate you from all the others who have a world of experience backing them.

Yet don't be discouraged - after all, everyone started out new at one time or another. The major hurdle is getting that first client; after that, it typically gets easier, since you now have someone who can recommend you or refer you to others in need of your services.

But how do you get past this major hurdle? How do you get recommendations when you're new? What do you tell a client when they ask about your past experience doing the job? What do you do?

Be honest

Though you may be tempted to tell people that you aren't new to the industry, this is not going to do you any good. First of all, you can't really back it up since you are a newbie. Secondly, lies

Is there one small item - something as low as $1 that your prospects could buy from you?

Could it be a trial offer that costs just $1, and a payment of significantly more - if the trial offer proves to be valuable and effective?

We all think of hitting home runs, of developing the killer app, closing the monster deal or getting the absolutely ideal job.

What if you could get exactly what you want, it's just that you started really, really small. Micro-small.

We know it's true with learning new skills and unlearning bad habits. Almost everything good starts with a baby step. Try to knit a whole scarf - you can't at one time. You can only make one stitch at a time.

Can't read a whole 200 page book in an instant or consume a whole 16 ounce steak in one bite. Got to take it all a bit or a bite at a time.

Do this today. Break down your biggest goal - or your unfulfilled resolution - into micro-dots along a line toward the ideal result. Create the tiny points - maybe

Answer these questions (honestly - no one will know but you):

1. An office mate eats a sandwich with a whole lot of onions

a. I consider his odor might increase my chances for a promotion

b. I consider telling him he's stinking up the place

2. My IT consultant leaves after fixing my computer - it goes down the next day

a. I call him up and tell him what a miserable job he did

b. I call him up and let him know what happened

3. I am waiting in the express line at the bank that says: "loan payments only."

a. I check my voicemail and Facebook account for updates

b. I look ahead to see who's got a deposit slip or cash in their hands

4. The news is filled with stories about the number of foreclosures in the US

a. I believe people who can't pay their mortgages knew they were taking out loans they couldn't repay

b. I believe a lot of people were victims of bad loan deals or lost their jobs unexpectedly

5. There have been times when I was very

I'm hearing more stories about people being underemployed. And though underemployment is not "ideal' for someone who just obtained their Bachelors or Masters degree- being employed is better than not being employed. Just like the old sales saying goes "the best time to sell is when you just made a sale" - the best time to job hunt is when you have a job.

This makes it challenging for businesses. How do you handle the turnover that comes when employees find that job that's a better match?

Employers, your employees have their brand

Employers: It's true. We all have personal brands. And, from the business owner perspective our hope is that when we find an employee, they are a good match for our brand values and that they exude their brand in a way that complements our business brand.

But what happens when the business brand doesn't match the employee's brand?

My friend and co-founder of #brandchat, David Sandusky, says it best when he says "hire well." It's true. If

You know in your heart that special job you want for your own to advance your career, but it is seemingly out of your league. Stop. Think again. Ask yourself, "Is it truly out of my capability, or, with a stretch and helping hand will I be able to pull it off to my delight?"

With the right plan in place and acknowledgement of your want and do not want lists, it is very possible to turn the dream position above your head into your next employment opportunity. Envision yourself in the position. What will it feel and look like? How will it increase your stature? After all of your hard work of getting there, what will your rewards be?

You might begin interviewing for that special position now or begin putting a plan of action in place in order to get crystal clear on how to best go about obtaining the desired position.

Should you decide to plan ahead, the next step and working backwards will be to list the milestones needed to be achieved until you find yourself at present