It’s time we wish the first generation of direct mail and e-mail a happy retirement to Del Boca Vista. I recall stories of when ol’ direct made the eyes of David Ogilvy twinkle with glee. Or when e-mail came on the scene, a hot, young upstart in the electronic world.

But like all things, there’s a new generation of direct mail and e-mail taking over and doing things differently. A generation of mail made for new technologies. Therefore the people receiving their messages demand more. The people using them for marketing purposes had better demand more of themselves in how they create, strategize and measure.

Let me explain. The ways we use mail has worked well for some period of time but like anything else, they are evolving.

Younger generations such as Millennials are embracing alternative communication methods through social media and internal project management tools to get information and send information beyond the standard send-and-receive e-mail systems. They also are responding to those offline techniques that incorporate online communication for continuing the conversation and relationship. I hardly think the generations that follow them are going to revert back the other way. We’re only going to get more electronic, more segmented, more fast and more personalized.

Marketers have the choice of evolving with this development or not at their own disappointment, if not their own peril.

Bottom line: Your message will not be nearly as effective if you ignore the ways to inject more technological applications into that direct mail or e-mail while adding inbound marketing mechanisms into your efforts.

We have to act as if direct mail in its most traditional form of “here’s our message, call this phone number if you’re interested” is irrelevant right now in terms of the call to action. We have to act as if spammers are ruining the quality of e-mail communication by the day.

It doesn’t mean mail is over. It means old direct mail and e-mail marketing messages are over.

Farewell to direct mail marketing as we know it

Let’s pick up the bugle and play “TAPS” for traditional direct mail as we’ve known it – a static piece like a postcard that merely asks your recipient to call or e-mail you without leading them anywhere else isn’t working hard enough. Even before the U.S. Postal Service decides to trim a day or more from its schedule, you should be re-evaluating conventional direct mail – not whether or not to use it necessarily but how you will inject a much-needed online component into that DM.

Direct mail with no online component such as a landing page or QR Code to scan or code to enter when they get to a website for a discount/prize….is probably going to get about a 1% response rate at best. So if you want to send out some general postcard to promote your business and get awareness, it’s your dollar. But expect no less than 99 out of 100 people to pitch it in that format. It’s good to at least have that expectation so that you’re not surprised (and if you are pleasantly surprised, that’s gravy). If you want better than that, the next generation is about driving the recipient to a personalized URL. You should be doing that right now if you’re using direct mail.

Do you want a static piece that provides a response at best of awareness without likely action or do you want a piece that potentially drives the person online to take action and possibly even find long-term connectivity through a social network?

Times are changing. If you’re going by the old method, all you’re doing is mailing it in.

Author:

Dan Gershenson is a Chicago-based consultant focused on brand strategy and content marketing. Dan has guided a variety of CEOs and Marketing Directors at small to medium-sized companies, providing hundreds of strategic plans to help businesses identify their best niches and areas of opportunity. Dan blogs on Chicago Brander, mentors advertising students and cheers relentlessly for the Chicago Bears. Dan graduated from Drake University with a degree in Advertising.

If you’ve blogged or spent any time on Facebook, you’ve encountered people who will give a “positively negative” comment, comments that may to sound positive but end up sounding negative because of a word or phrase that they add in it. It affects those who post afterwards, like your comment or comment after a “positively negative” comment.  Your connections can even show signs that they’ve been “worn down” by the emotion of that comment.  Whether  the positively  negative person is blind to their negativity or they’re trying to be witty or sarcastic, the bad impression is left for all.

What if you are the positively negative person?

How will you know? 

Look at a comment before you hit “share” or “send”.  Does it sound anything like this – “I read through your post and found something of value – finally.”  Or, “It’s the first time I read through your post without getting bored.”

Are you the one at a gathering when people say “congratulations” to someone for their promotion and you say “It’s about time.”?

Are you the bearer of doom and gloom? Are people suddenly quiet or preoccupied when you’re speaking in a group? Do you comment on a status update or a post and suddenly a lively conversation turns to you being the last to post?

Not all of these are sure fire signs that you are a positively negative person, yet they can be symptoms. If you suspect you are, it’s time to ask a good, trustworthy friend if you are. And then listen to what they say.

How do you handle the positively negative person hanging out on your Facebook page or blog?

Don’t judge or assume – if they’ve only done it this one time.  You never know what challenges someone is experiencing and it costs you nothing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Maintain your positive outlook – when you have a positive outlook, negativity won’t spoil that for you. Maintaining your positive outlook will rub off on others and will keep a positive focus on your responses to their comments.

Keep your emotions in check –There are times when negative people really use up our patience. When you feel that you are about to reach that, stand back and take a while before giving a response. Ensure that your response does not signal emotional stress; make sure that you still respond with a calm tone.

Remember what you can lose and gain – if you think about this, you will come up with better and appropriate responses to negative people. Keep in mind that when you talk, you are wearing your personal brand. Whatever you say and however you deal with others will reflect on your brand. If you get emotional, you might lose more than that negative person. If you know how to handle that person, you will gain your audience’s trust, respect, and loyalty.

Don’t discount the comments – reading negative comments may drive us to discount what the message is truly saying. Read comments and look out for points that you may learn from. If you read their comments with the willingness to learn, you will still benefit from such comments.

Accept the reality of negative people – some people see the glass as half empty, other see it as full. That’s just life!  Accepting will just give you a better hand in dealing with them.

A great question to ask yourself when you do feel compelled to counsel someone who seems to be “positively negative” all the time is to ask yourself this.  What matters most to me – being right or keeping the relationship?

Author:

Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com – a word of mouth marketing firm and Director of Client Communities of Momentum Factor-focused on the direct selling industry.   She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of #brandchat - a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.

According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, the whole purpose of our lives was to – by the exercise of our senses – recover through learning the knowledge we once had before our birth. Paraphrasing St Ignatius of Loyola, the towering figure of XX century psychology Carl Gustav Jung updated Plato’s vision when he claimed that ‘man’s consciousness was created to the end that it may recognize its descent from a higher unity, execute its commands intelligently and responsibly… and thereby afford the psyche as a whole the optimum degree of live and development’. In our own day, American thinker Ken Wilber has spoken of the need ‘to cultivate body, mind and spirit in self, culture and nature’.

They all point to an underlying reality: our lives are indeed an amazing journey of self-discovery toward wholeness. And personal branding (I want to add) is a piece in the puzzle of that at times seemingly titanic effort. We could go even a step further and claim than personal branding, when taken to its ultimate consequences, can be profoundly cathartic and therapeutic: as long of course as the process is guided by radical honesty, an openness to the at times quiet and at others deafening voice of the Self and the unwavering commitment to being true to the best within ourselves at all times. And if this should the case at all it is because in so doing we become active agents and speed up the process of individuation, a process that for Jung constituted the ultimate goal not only of psychology  but of human existence as a whole.

From its inception, personal branding has concerned itself with practicalities: how to define and achieve our career objectives or drive our own communication and PR in the new digital economy (to cite only two examples amongst many) have been at the forefront of the personal branding effort. And without doubt countless people have benefited and are benefiting from it to this day. Yet beyond that the process of personal branding invites us to plunge the depths of our being in order to create a credible, value-driven and goal-oriented online and offline persona that truly reflects our own uniqueness as human beings.

And this seemingly daunting task is not for the faint-hearted or the conformists: only those brave souls ready to take a long and hard look into themselves, muster up their courage, galvanize their skills and talents and put them to the best possible use without letting their egos distract them from their course will reach personal branding excellence. And while for some lucky ones this will happen almost naturally and with little effort on their part, for the rest of us it will be anything but easy to negotiate the dangerous waters of our own psyches and the imperfect world in which we live. Because it is only when these two elements – our own inner selves and the external world in which live – come wonderfully together welcoming and even applauding our brand that we shall know we have reached the goal.

Until then, we must continue taking steps along that long and at times winding path that leads to that personal brand that will yield the recognition we so crave from those around us as well as the approval from that little voice within us. Together with the encouragement, support and friendship of those walking with us, they remain our surest guiding lights along the way.

Author:

Oscar Del Santo is a lecturer, consultant, key speaker, blogger and populariser of online reputation and inbound marketing in Spain. He has been extensively featured in the Spanish and Latin American media and is a regular contributor to several TV programs. Included in the ‘Top 70 Spanish Tweeters’ and ‘Best Marketing Tweeters in Spanish’ lists (@OscarDS), he is the author of ‘Reputacion Online para Tod@s’.

From a grading perspective, Chad Ochocinco gets an A for Brand Authenticity.

He speaks his mind, shares his emotions, and tweets with abandonment. The man is a self-marketing machine. He has ridden bulls for charity, tried out for Sporting Kansas City of the MLS during the lock-out, danced with stars, and has his own iPhone app “madd chad”. Whether his relationship with equally spotlight loving fiancée Evelyn Lozada, or his twitter chatter with his fans, there seems to be nothing off-limits to the public with regards to his life

It is his transparency that makes him endearing and approachable. In fact, it was his recent transparency with regards to questions surrounding the State of the Union that hooked me in. As one who tends to still over think every one of my tweets, what I loved most about Ochocinco’s twitter stream was that he wasn’t afraid to ask questions and showcase his lack of knowledge in the political party landscape. Or to be more specific, whom the Speaker of the House (John Boehner) was. So few people are willing to do that – seem unknowing in a situation…let alone to 3M followers. He didn’t try to tweet about the issues, or fake expertise, he was just being himself. It is because of this that many who might not have tuned into to watch the SOTU, ended up doing so. The best part is that Boehner tweeted him back. Read the Twitter stream here. Looks like our house speaker might also know a thing or two about Ocho’s impressive Twitter following and the power of social media.

But Brand Authenticity can only take you so far, because without goals and a vision, you have essentially handcuffed your own brand.

Brand authenticity – (strategy + brand vision) = short term impact

My fear for Ochocinco is that this is where his brand is. He does a lot of things, but nothing that seems sustainable once his football career ends. That is, unless his goal is to live in the world of reality television (he and Evelyn have a possible show in the works), which is also only a short-term solution. He has certainly set himself apart from others, but what does he stand for? Is it his drive to be famous? To be a social media mastermind? He talks about his Prius quite a bit, but is he environmentally conscious or just trying to be different? Right now it certainly isn’t for his performance on the football field, which is so vital to his overall brand. The unfortunate truth is that his level of relevancy will slowly deteriorate once he stops playing football, and even faster if he continues to play the way he has. It is for this reason that he needs to have a vision for the Chad Ochocinco Brand during and post football, complimented by a strategy for how to achieve it.

He is a hamster spinning his wheel at high speed, working hard both on and off the field, but lacking effectiveness. He doesn’t appear to be actively selling anything on his own or seeking out endorsers to help elevate his brand status.

The worst you can do for your brand is to have the power of popularity and have your audience not knowing what you stand for.

So while he gets an A for Authenticity, he receives a C- for Brand Effectiveness and Clarity.

Make sure you don’t let your brand fall into the same trap.

Author:

Katie Marston is the CEO and founder of DYME Branding, a personal and lifestyle branding company focusing on professional athletes. Follow her on twitter at @ktmarston or learn more at dymebranding.com.

Do personal branding and disabilities mix?

A few days ago, I was standing in line at the post office to claim a package. The woman in front of me was at the head of line, waiting patiently for one of the tellers to become available. I remember that she wore sunglasses even though it was overcast.

Just as the teller directly in front of us said goodbye to a man who had paid a bill, another man quickly shuffled over to the teller’s window, cutting ahead of Ms. Sunglasses, myself and everyone behind me.

I wasn’t particularly in a rush, but when I noticed her shaking her head in frustration at the perceived subtle bullying, I spoke up. “Hey, there’s a line here,” I blurted.

The man didn’t react in the least bit but the teller looked around him at me and somewhat sheepishly said that “disabled people don’t need to wait in line.”

Huh.

And then I turned to Ms. Sunglasses- “well, how are we supposed to know that he’s disabled? It’s not like he’s wearing a sign.” (In hindsight, perhaps he was deaf.)

And that got me thinking.

Most physical disabilities can be discerned (almost) immediately but others might take a conversation to come out, and there are also many non-physical disabilities. How does that affect someone e.g. at a networking event? Does that automatically hurt or help their personal brand?

If you’re disabled, I see three options with regards to personal branding strategy:

1) Reject the disability

Do everything you can – again, from a branding point of view – to hide the disability so that people you meet don’t focus on it, positively or negatively, giving you a fairer shot at comparing yourself with others or more specifically, standing out on your own merits and your merits alone. Especially in today’s online world, this is more possible than ever before.

I’m an asthmatic. When I was in basic training in the Israeli army, the doctors gave me an exemption from all strenuous exercises but I never told my commanders. I wanted to see how I could hold up against everyone else without that excuse for once. It wasn’t easy and it was a bit dangerous but I don’t regret it.

2) Accept the disability

This is the middle-of-the-road approach.

Just be yourself. Don’t flaunt anything, but don’t hide it either. Some people will remember you for who you are, and some people will remember you (also) as that guy/gal with a disability who they met or were impressed by.

Kind of like that guy at the post office.

3) Embrace the disability

Not that the disability should replace your personality, make it a central part of your personality and who you are.

This might sound like the best approach, but it’s the most challenging by far.

Arguably the most famous disabled person alive is Stephen Hawking. He’s brilliant, and would still be so regardless of whether he suffered from a motor neuron disease or not. But the fact that he is so prolific while being so severely disabled has only made his accomplishments all the more impressive.

Another example that I experienced here in Israel is the Na Laga’at (“Please touch” as opposed to “Don’t touch/keep away”) theatre ensemble of deaf/blind actors. Without the disabilities, this would just be another ordinary group of performers, but there’s nothing ordinary about this funny group:

So what do you think: which of the three options is best? Or in which situation?

Do you know or can you recommend anyone that exemplifies your answer?

(Do you find my use of the term “disabled” to be offensive? Do I need to watch my language?)

Author:

Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the most popular blogs on Earth about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.

Look at it from almost any perspective and there is only one conclusion that can realistically be drawn about the hiring processes currently prevailing in Corporate America—they are sadly broken and essentially out of sync with the realities of the current labor market pool.  What’s worse, most companies don’t even seem to have any genuine awareness of this fact!

Nearly every week, I hear companies tout the “greatness” of their hiring processes, and how these processes are designed to (among other things) “hire only the best.” I hear companies talk about their “talent acquisition strategies,” or make claims such as, “talent wins” and “the greatness of our company is built on the greatness of our people,” ad infinitum.

Now, juxtapose such claims being made daily by hiring companies with what even exceptional talent (both employed and unemployed) have to say about current hiring processes. Here is what one exceptionally talented job hunter recently told me:

“Skip, trying to find a new job today is a depressing, demeaning, utterly miserable experience,” she said. “And it’s an experience that I hope I never have to go through again and one that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”

Then, to even further underscore the extreme disconnect between those seeking (or available for) new career opportunities and those doing the actual hiring for these new opportunities, consider the lament (paraphrased) I regularly hear from hiring managers:

“We just can’t seem to find enough good people.”

How can these two groups of people, i.e., job seekers and those who hire them, be seeing things so vastly differently? Let me begin answering that question by citing an email I received this week from Douglas Gordon, a professional in my LinkedIn^® network.

“Question for you, Skip,” he wrote. “I’ve always held the notion that a good salesperson should be able to find me and sell himself/herself without the need for a recruiter. I’m not saying that recruiters aren’t valuable, but why wouldn’t a person looking for a job in my area just contact me directly?”

A very good question and one that I hear in one form or another rather frequently, i.e., why doesn’t a job seeker simply go right to the source? It’s also a question that goes right to the heart of the matter concerning one of the major problems with current hiring processes. Unbeknown to most people, including hiring managers, is that the prevailing hiring processes in America effectively target only 17% of the available talent, i. e., those actively (or semi-actively) looking for a job. The remaining 83% of the talent pool may not even be aware of new career opportunities, let alone take the initiative to actively seek out a particular hiring manager or company!

To gain a better understanding of the entire job candidate pool, let’s take a look at the overall make up of the pool:

145 million employed people in the US
+ 14 million unemployed people in the US
= 159 million available people

Now, let’s take a closer look at the various subsets within the TOTAL pool of 159 million people:

“Active” Job Seekers (9%)

The ranks of the currently unemployed make up about 9% of the total available talent pool and are therefore deemed to be the “active” job seekers. They network and they apply online. While at least some of these job seekers can afford to be somewhat selective, generally, those in this group are simply “looking for a job”—any job.

In addition, Lou Adler, of the Adler Group (www.adlerconcepts.com), has done extensive research which breaks down the labor pool into even more precise, more meaningful segments:

“Semi-Active” Job Seekers (8%)

8% of the currently employed are also doing heavy networking and routinely applying online. People in this group generally fall into one of the following categories:

• Unhappy at work.
• Need to move for a family or personal reason.
• Don’t like their boss.
• Aren’t performing well.
• Sense their current position may be in jeopardy.
• Are with a company whose future may be in jeopardy.

“Semi-Passive” Job Seekers (55%)

These employed people are NOT job seekers. They . . .

• Have a good job, so they don’t respond to job postings.
• Do not post their résumés online.
• Do not take calls from third-party or corporate recruiters “pitching a job.”
• May or may not network, but will consider career moves to advance career growth. They are “crazy busy” performing their current job with excellence, often with your competitor.

“Passive” Job Seekers (28%)

This group will not budge at this point in time because they . . .

• Have just started a new job.
• Are getting ready to retire.
• Are geographically bound due to family or health issues.
• Have some type of “golden handcuffs.”
• Are just so in love with what they are doing that any change is out of the question.

This more in-depth look at the make up of the total available talent pool goes a long way toward gaining a better, more thorough understanding of just how totally out of sync current hiring processes are with the realities of the talent pool. As I’ve already indicated, since hiring companies are effectively targeting only 17% of the total pool, vast numbers of potential job seekers are not even aware that new career opportunities exist. And certainly most hiring companies aren’t making any effort to make them aware. So, is it really any wonder, then, that companies can’t find “good people” for their new jobs? Likewise, it is really any wonder that “good people” are not even considering new career opportunities?

Obviously, the only effective way to reach those potential candidates in the labor pool segments other than “active” or “semi-active” is to proactively target and then recruit them. Just as obviously, of course, this is where a good “headhunter” (or a good corporate recruiter!) can—and does—play a vital role. However, as long as hiring companies continue to play the largely passive role they currently are playing, and as long as they continue to maintain their narrow candidate focus, good companies are going to continue to lose out on “good people.” Equally importantly, “good people” are going to continue to lose out on new career opportunities.

NEXT WEEK: A look at how some current corporate hiring processes/practices are spelling failure for both the hiring company and job candidates.

Author:

Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and R&D professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

When I first ventured out on my own (entrepreneur), I scratched around looking for the recipe to be wildly successful.  Already a hard-wired optimist, I read countless self-help books, watched YouTube videos from all the gurus and talked to every man, woman and even child who might share the secrets to being a successful entrepreneur.   In many ways, I felt like Ponce de Leon trying to find the fountain of youth.  In the interim, everyone I spoke with kept telling me to just “think big” and a bunch of other positive affirmations.   Could it be that easy?  I was doubtful.  Keep in mind; I was as positive as one might be but still thoroughly perplexed as to what was required to build my brand.  I was lucky though because I did understand both the “what” and the “why” for a bullet-proof brand but was clueless as to the “how”.

At wit’s end, I attended a local National Speakers Association meeting hoping that one phrase, one word, or even one encounter might shed some light on my situation.  Truth be told, it was a combination of all three that sent me on my way down the yellow brick road with new-found clarity.  I concluded two things when the meeting was over.  First, there was no secret or “that one thing” that an entrepreneur can do to ensure success.  Second, I realized that what wins is what spreads and only “awesome spreads” virally in the digital age.   What I had been looking for was right in front of me the whole time.   Now realizing that there is no secret to success, I focused my time and energy on the “awesome spreads” piece.  What are you talking about Devin?  What is with this “awesome spreads” stuff?

The primary ingredient for me to create the success I so desired was to create:

• awesome blog posts (content)
• awesome tweets
• awesome YouTube videos
• connect with awesome people (LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook)
• share awesome content
• create an awesome experience

If I could do some of the above consistently, then my brand would grow and spread like a new-born child.  Do you think I am nuts?  Step back and think about who you like, who you follow and why.  There are countless examples like Richard Branson, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan and a host of others.  Are they smarter than the rest of us?  Do they have extra neurons firing in their heads?  I am not a neurologist but I think not.  The common denominator is that they live out on the edge where “awesomeness” occurs and it spreads and spreads.   Do yourself a favor in 2012, get your arms around your “awesome” and share it.  The world needs a few more authentic voices willing to reject the status quo.  By the way, average is over-rated!

Author:

Devin C. Hughes, The Chief Inspiration Officer is a former college basketball player, professional speaker, leadership and personal branding aficionado, and frequent eclectic thinker.  He works with a variety of organizations, providing real-world strategies for real-world challenges.  He draws on a variety of ideas, disciplines and trends to inspire “Big Thoughts” and facilitate conversations as a catalyst for meaningful personal and organizational change.  He is a graduate of Colgate University; he lives in Southern California with his wife and four daughters.  His website is http://www.devinchughes.com/  He is available upon request for consultation.

Choosing the right topic to write about is the first step to success, when writing books, blog posts, or speeches for content marketing & personal branding.

Here’s a simple, 3-step system I developed to help my book coaching clients break the bonds of procrastination.

It’s based on a simple PDF worksheet you can download and fill out with pen or pencil, or you can simple use the notes feature on your iPhone or iPad.

Progress builds on progress. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can expand on your idea, test your assumptions, and move forward to completion.

3 steps to success

Here’s what’s involved:

1. List 8 possible topics for your book. Working as quickly as possible, jot down 8 possible topic ideas. Avoid censoring yourself. Just provide enough information to indicate the topic and approach you want to write about.
2. Select the 3 most practical topics to write about. Next, narrow down your original 8 topics to the the top 3 in terms of practicality. You can define “practicality” any way you want, i.e.,  size of potential market, ease of writing the book, the presence or absence of competition, etc. Work as quickly as possible; there will be opportunities later to refine and test your choices.
3.  From the 3 finalists, identify the best possibility. Without looking back to your 8 original choices, select the “most practical” topic from your 3 finalists. This will be the  “working topic” to explore further, in terms of marketing, content, and relevance to your personal brand building success.

Let simplicity overcome your Inner Resistance

The power of the 3-step system is its simplicity. It’s 3-step simplicity gives it the power to overcome the procrastination caused by complexity and options.

Getting started is the hardest part of any project, especially projects that can make a major change in your life.

As described in Dan Schawbel’s interview with Seth Godin and my previous Personal Banding Blog posts about Steven Pressfield, and Scott Belsky, there’s a universal Inner Resistance, or Lizard Brain, that creates a tendency to avoid change.

 Your Inner Resistance loves complexity and options!

Your Inner Resistance loves complicated first steps because they provide the justification it needs to prevent you from taking immediate action. It’s a lot easier to put off a complex, presumably difficult and time-consuming task than it is to put off a simple task.

But, simple first steps can often sneak in under your Inner Resistance’s radar.

Simple steps build momentum

Simplicity encourages action….and action paves the way for more action.

Progress, like narrowing down ideas and focusing on the most practical topic for further development and testing, establishes forward momentum, momentum that can overcome your Inner Resistance.

Each step you take, from that point on, contributes additional momentum that can carry you from reader to author, audience to podium, or client to mentor.

Considerations and tips

Obviously, you wouldn’t want to rush out and sign a book contract to write or self-publish a book on the basis of filling out the Choosing a Topic For Your Book worksheet.

But, it is a first step, and it’s an easy one to take. And, as you review you’re first responses, it’s likely to bring up additional alternatives, options, and questions to consider.

There’s little or no commitment or risk; if you don’t like the way your first worksheet turned out, download and print out another copy and fill it out all over again!

Don’t throw out your first version, though! Save it, so you can review it in the future, when book, blog post, or speech ideas that didn’t survive the first cut may spark ideas for your next project–or future projects.  (That’s why I encourage you to print your worksheet on 3-hole paper and save them in a 3-ring binder.)

Don’t just think about writing a book, and don’t over-complicate the issues involved in getting started. Download the Choosing the Right Topic worksheet (no registration required), grab a pen or pencil, and take a stab at choosing the right topic to write about!

Author:

Roger C. Parker is an author, book coach, designer, consultant who works with authors, marketers, & business professionals to achieve success with brand-building books & practical marketing strategy. He helps create successful marketing materials that look great & get results, and can turn any complex marketing or writing task into baby steps. Visit his blog to learn more or ask a question.

Salespeople and entrepreneurs alike frequently settle for small sales when in fact their sales could have been more frequent and larger in scale. Why does this happen and how may it be avoided?

People buy from those they know, like and trust. Paying attention to details upfront establishes the quality of your relationships. A level of trust develops that ultimately determines your outcome.

Let’s first take a look at some of the details normally overlooked. Instead of allowing the day to fade away without being productive, maintain a prioritized list of tasks to be completed each and every working day. Included in the list should be time allotted to work on completing your bigger projects. These minute tasks leading to the completion of your big projects may be regarded as your daily business vitamins.

As you become established, requests begin to pour in for partnering on a variety of levels. With your prioritized list in mind, only commit to those with whom you know well and trust, the projects that put a smile on your face, and those of which you have time to give your full attention. Be of the mindset to not over-commit but instead over deliver on expectations.

Prompt follow-up as promised is one of the more important details. Be aware, by not following up promptly, credibility and trust are lost.
The tinier details include cleaning up email, making certain your database is up to date and that all links posted actually work. Make it a quarterly habit to double check that everything is working properly.

The relationship building and selling technique that drives sales even further is the personal touch. For example, “Joe” proudly announced he sends out a blast of 200 e-mail each day. I asked what his response has been. Joe’s answer was, “minimal”. Even so, he proceeded to ask how he might send increased volumes of generic email.

I then provided input on personalizing each and every email. Admittedly, personalizing communication online or in-person takes longer to get your momentum going, but then you accelerate past everyone else. Approaching everyone as a potential friend versus someone from whom you might make some money is another excellent element for building relationships. Take an active interest in who they are, what they do and what their dreams are. You will distinguish yourself from the others in your field, and begin to hear great appreciation expressed for your genuine interest and not just the pending sale.

Does all of this really matter? Your attention to all of this will help you stand apart from everyone else. Trust builds easily and so will your sales. When others see you living up to your word and expertly delivering upon what you promised, your personal brand becomes well established.

All of these tips will lead to repeat business, referrals and testimonials. Your sales will be more frequent and larger than ever before. As you begin to implement these steps in alignment with your personality, you will come to know the Smooth Sale!

Author:

Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, (800) 704-1499, was honored by Open View Labs with inclusion in their international list of “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012.” Elinor authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results”, Sourcebooks and the best selling career book, “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”, Career Press. She provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed inspirational keynotes for conferences. Elinor is available for consultation.

In September 2010, I wrote about the benefits of leveraging a blog for your personal brand. Going into 2012, it still remains to be a great way to shape and promote your brand online. The benefits gained from blogging can lead to great success, whether it’s to securing a job or becoming an expert in your field. Yet,what happens when your traffic begins to decline, your posts lack comments, or your content isn’t being shared?

If you’re an avid blogger or looking to begin, consider thinking about these three factors that could lead your blog to an untimely end.

Making your blog a diary. A great personal brand will tread the line between professional and personable – and the rule holds true for blogging. Your content should definitely reflect your uniqueness, but it shouldn’t reflect if you’re having a bad day at work. If you think writing about really personal endeavors can make a connection to your audience, it may backfire and repel readers from the blog they’re used to reading.

Not being aware of your content. Along with the benefits of blogging, I also wrote an article about how to identify your blogging niche. Regarding your content, you must remain aware of what you write and how you will be perceived, so that you won’t put yourself in a bad light. For example, if you’re applying to XYZ company, yet have posted criticisms about their products, you probably won’t get past the screening process. Blogging allows you to have an opinion, but carefully choose what you want to make public.

Not staying flexible. Though it’s important to create a plan, schedule, or even an editorial calendar for your posts, embrace variety in your blog. Trying to keep every post the same will not only limit your creativity, but also drive readers away from the monotony.

Blogging remains to be a great tool for personal branding. Stay relevant by watching out for these blogging mistakes.

Do you agree with these blogging factors? How do you keep your blog relevant to readers?

Author:

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president ​of Come Recommended, a career and workplace education and consulting firm specializing in young professionals. She is also the author of#ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist forExaminer.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com. Follow her on Twitter at @heatherhuhman.