How Often Do You Change Your Personal Brand? (Updated)

In my original post, I posted a picture in which displayed an inaccurate representation.  Through further research at the design blog Brand New, they found that Coca-Cola did in fact change their logo.  Although this is the case, I still think the majority of my original post is accurate. What you’ll notice is that Coca-Cola did not abandon their script logo throughout the years.  In 1985, they fell of the wagon, but quickly got back on. I think the true issue with Pepsi is that they never invested into their script and at the end of the day, why have your brand emulate the other guy?  The argument of consistency, I think, is a mute point even after seeing the revised diagram. Read the rest of this entry »

Gen Y & Boomers Unite in the Land of Corporate

★ How Gen Y & Boomers Will Reshape Your Agenda

This is right on target. A good study done by these companies.  I think Gen Y and the Boomers are finally beginning to meet each half way.  I have always thought of time as currency.  Part of the issue with Gen Y that I have seen is that some companies have not offered either enough time –   meaning they have required working crazy work hours – or have not offered enough money. Gen Y also has not shown their work ethic, skill-sets, and global awareness as deserving of such benefits.  I think we are beginning to hear each other.

You vs. You: Determining how much to share in the social media space

Whoops didn’t mean to send that last tweet haha
2:47 AM May 10th Anonymous via Twitter

I have to be more careful and look at who I’m sending the message to. I didn’t mean to tweet that earlier. smh.
7:04 PM May 7th Anonymous via Twitter

My hosting provider is a complete prick. No, I don’t (want to) take that back and I won’t regret this tweet.
3:48 AM Apr 24th Anonymous via Twitter

Have have you ever regretted posting a vulgar tweet on Twitter or felt embarrassed that a colleague at work saw your innermost feelings through your Facebook status?

The internet has left the world drunken with constant connection through social media and social networking. Of course you know, because you’ve probably stopped by Facebook 4-5 times today.  This constant interaction started when blogging and personal web pages became mainstream on the internet. Personal written journals never allowed such an open dialogue and has initiated a flurry of interest into sharing personal ideas and thoughts in the public domain of the web. As publishing tools have become easier to use, the easier it has made it to connect with the world within a couple of clicks.

This new wave of social media and networking online allows you to create and share content with followers, friends, family, and professional colleagues.  Through social media sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, you basically allow instant access to your personal world in seconds. Participating in social media has huge benefits from a human connectivity standpoint, however with that type of openness comes responsibility. Just like me I am sure you have always been taught to put your best foot forward, right? Did you always listen to that advice?  Probably Not. So you ask who cares that you threw up at the bar and your friends have pictures of this debacle on Facebook? Actually, you should care.

With this type of information now flowing through the “internets” (as some call it), how do you go about separating your personal and informal interactions away from your professional image that is shared with the world via the internet? This is the million-dollar question, right? We have a couple ideas that we think will stick with you as you paint your personal brand in a light that’s beneficial to the WHOLE you. Which brings us to the first point:

1) Realize that THERE IS ONLY ONE YOU!
Most professionals feel that as long as they keep their personal life away from their professional life, then they’re safe. This is not a true picture of how personal interaction occurs. The lines between personal and professional  interactions are constantly blurring. The first thing that needs to be realized is that there is only one YOU, which is your personal brand. If you are the life of the party and are always full of fun in your personal life, those attributes can be true selling points in your professional life. The best course of action is to always be true who you are. If you have personal attributes that can be embarrassing to your personal brand, then you need to re-evaluate and focus in on what your personal brand represents. Hajj Flemings, writer/speaker on Personal Branding, summed it up the best at the Podcamp Michigan conference in 2008,  “Whatever you do (online) should reinforce who you are.  As long as you are willing to pay the price for whatever it is that you do, there is no problem.”

2) Take serious what you post on the Internet.
The misconception with posting things on personal pages through social sites such as Facebook, is that you have final control on who sees that content. This is partially true. There are still very murky waters in the evolution of social media. It is not exactly clear whether you own and control the content that is posted on these sites. I am  by no means convincing you not to be in this space.  What I am saying is that you should be apprehensive and know that the content you put on the internet may not always be under your control. The more options you have to control your content, the better. This also applies to the security of your content and who could possible gain access to your personal content via hacking or phishing techniques.

3) Continuous management of  your personal brand on the Internet.
Its up to you whether or not you want to achieve high rankings in Google. A good reason to focus on results is to suppress or eliminate any unfavorable search results that you may be receiving under your name. These bad search results might be caused by a personal indiscretion or by an entirely different person that simply has the same name. The best way to increase better results in google is to create more content that aligns with your brand. Use publishing tools like WordPress, Blogger.com, Facebook, and LinkedIn to increase your results. Because these sites have millions of people using them around the world, search results related to these sites are bumped up to the top of the list.

If this whole idea of only being one YOU sounds too Utopian, we would love to hear what you feel is the best approach.  You may find yourself that there are only two possible outcomes on to how you present yourself online: 1) You could be extremely conscious and precautions to what you say or do online, while hiding the real you; or 2) Be uninhibited and transparent in your online presence and share your real thoughts, ideas, and feelings – the true you. I strongly believe that as long as you are committed to your personal brand and being true to who you are, with maybe a few caveats, you will always set yourself up to win. What do you think? Respond in our comments section, we would love to hear from you.

So I graduated in a Recession, Now What?

Recession….

Oh, how that word has been thrown around lately. Something like a pong ball in a fierce beer pong match. It is almost as if the recession knew you were graduating and waited for you to cross that stage before it hit the scene to reek havoc. However, before you continue your pity party ask your fellow brethren, who graduated directly after the 9/11 attacks, how they coped. They too experienced the air of uncertainty; scarce jobs, lack of career growth, companies going out of business, etc. According to employment firm Challenger Gray & Christmas in 2002, the average job search in 2002 was 3.5 months (which was a 40% increase compared to the the first three quarters in 2001). The relapse in the current job market has soured a little more with the average job search in 2008 increasing from four to six months. The most appalling stat being that the unemployment rate is 5% higher than 2001, at nearly 10% in April 2009 (according to the U.S. Dept. Of Labor). Within this larger unemployed pool, leaves a healthier amount of accomplished and seasoned professionals that fresh graduates with limited experience now have to compete with.

So what does one do to make sure they are not in the unemployment line forever?

You persevere.

You have have already heard the jargon about how to ‘separate yourself from the pack’, so we won’t go there. I am going to share with you 5 sticky ideas on how not to become a victim in a tough job market  and how to better maintain your path to a successful career.

1) Realize that cover bands don’t change the world.
You may ask, “WTF?” That saying is said best by Todd Henry of Accidental Creative, which basically means – Find your own unique expression. A lot of times we try to model our professional personality after someone we admire in our industry or we act and perform how we think we should to fit in a certain corporate environment. Now stop!!! Please do not insinuate I am saying be professionally inappropriate and a bad corporate citizen. However, what I am saying is that you simply need to be yourself. As you look to establish your career and look for what you are passionate in doing, always seek a corporate environment that is conducive to your professional personality. If you like to wear jeans five days a week, there are organizations that will fit you. Don’t be afraid to seek for what makes you happy. If you don’t know what your professional personality is, well dammit you better hop on it, because in this climate the worse thing you can do is let a company tell you who you are. If you ever get the boot or decide you want different employment, you will leave your employer a brainwashed little soul. Know who you are. You will not always find that perfect fit, but you should aim high and make concessions down to the place where you can still be comfortable.

2) Monster and Careerbuilder are great, but don’t lose the human touch of networking.
These large webs of networks online are so wonderful and so freakin sweet I don’t think some young folks understand how great it is. The job search business was so much harder for our parents. You had the newspaper……and that was about it. Oh and you also had this little thing called word of mouth and/or connections. Now I don’t have a stat on this but the majority of new jobs for people come from your connections or word of mouth, PERIOD. Don’t be so invested in the social and professional networks online that you forget you will probably get your next job, from an associate or friend that you know.

3) If all fails, wait tables or flip burgers.
After you are finished laughing, finish reading what I am saying. Never let your ego take control of you. Sometimes you have to park in the back of the parking lot to get where you are going quicker. Just don’t make this temporary spot, permanent. If this means flipping burgers or serving at a restaurant to make ends meet, DO JUST THAT. The longer you drive around looking for that closer parking spot, you may miss the really good one that the hunched over grandpa left open. If you don’t get the metaphor, shoot me a message. No offense grandpa.

4) That silly business idea that was awkwardly concocted while out with friends, may make you rich.
I think entrepreneurialism is one of the pillars of community. We all thrive off of all entrepreneurs with their great ideas and forward thinking. I am not referring to quick-get-rich-schemes. I am talking about true entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in their community with a business idea that also helps them be successfully personally by making a profit. If you have a good idea, that makes good business sense, then do it. Make it a hobby, I am not saying go quit your day job, I am just saying do it. If it pans out not to be a good business idea, you will find out in your business planing stages. If you truly don’t have the chops for it, then you will find out. And if that’s the case, at least you tried. Stop being scared. Scared money don’t make none. Don’t be afraid to bet on you.

5) Never Quit.
You have to want it. What else do you want me to say? Nothing I say can make your actions scream success. You have to want it. That’s it. So as the saying goes: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force em’ to drink. So, go drink horsey. That’s – if you want to.

Hopefully these ideas are sticky enough to post on your wall for success. If you have questions contact us at readers@theideasthatstick.com and please be sure to leave comments in the comments section we would love to here from you.