March 2009 Archives

Part of promoting your personal brand effectively is to radiate a confidence that draws people in and makes them want to find out more about you. Then if there's a fit between what you provide and what they need, hopefully they make the investment to hire you, or recommend you to someone who can.

But what if you're just not feeling very confident these days? What if you've already cut your business operations to the bone and still won't be able to make payroll unless a new client lands on your doorstep tomorrow?

Or what if your job search has gone on longer than you had hoped, and with your bank account dwindling and bills piling up, you're ready to take a job as an overqualified intern to the worst boss in the world?

How do you get out there and talk up the strengths of your personal brand to get potential employers and clients to fall in love with you when you're just not feeling the love yourself?

While there are no magic words to make that next job or client materialize overnight, there are ways to give yourself a quick confidence boost so you can get back out there with renewed vim and vigor.

Four ideas to move you in the right direction:

1) Get some exercise. Releasing endorphins and getting oxygen to your brain through aerobic exercise will make you feel better physically, which will automatically lift your pirits. You don't even have to run a marathon. A brisk 30-minute walk where you pump your arms and breathe deeply should do the trick, or if you prefer, take a spin class and really get into the pulsating music. Once you've showered and had a healthy snack, you'll feel amazing and ready to tackle anything.

2) Journal an achievement. Think about a success or accomplishment you had that you felt especially proud about. Take yourself back to that moment and write out what happened, either on your computer or long hand. Chronicle not only what you did to create the result, but also how you felt, and especially the positive feedback you heard from others. The more detail you give, the more vivid the memory will be and the more you'll actually begin to feel those great emotions you initially experienced.

3) Celebrate, but don't commiserate. Get together with a group of friends and plan a fun event together. Go to a comedy club, have a pajama party, plan a long bike ride and a picnic in the woods. You don't need to blow a lot of money to have a good time when you're with people you really like.But enjoy the moment and don't use the time to replay every obstacle you've encountered and start feeling sorry for yourself all over again. Give yourself permission to take the evening or the day off from your worries.

4) Test out "afformations." This is one of my favorite exercises. My friend Noah St. John, author of The Secret Code of Success, penned the phrase "afformation" which is a very powerful twist on what most of us know as "affirmations." An affirmation is a phrase you repeat to yourself that describes the state you want to be in, such as "I am rich" or "I have a great job."  The rationale is that what you say you will eventually believe, and then ultimately will manifest. Trouble is, Noah says, that our brain never quite believes what we're saying, the affirmation doesn't stick, nothing changes, and we get more depressed than ever.

Instead, he teaches "afformations," where instead of statements, you ask yourself questions, such as "Why are people beating down my door to work with me?" or "Why is money suddenly pouring in?" When you ask a question, your brain automatically goes into problem-solving mode to find answers. Make a list of all the ones you come up with. Some might make you feel good ("Because I'm the absolute best at what I do"), some might make you chuckle ("Because I bribed every single person in the company to sing my praises") and some just might lead to new strategies that you can use ("Because I wrote a kick-ass cover letter that the hiring manager could not ignore").

Keeping up your confidence takes energy, and pretending to be confident when you're not can be exhausting. Rather than continuing to grind away and looking for external sources to boost your spirits, try one or more of these activities to raise your confidence levels from the inside out.

Read the original post on Personal Branding Blog

Are you a coach, consultant, author or solopreneur? Do you wish more clients could find you online and come to you already primed to work with you? Then join me this week on the Smart Networking Teleseminar series when I talk with online business coach Biana Babinsky of Avocado Consulting about...

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About Biana Babinsky

Biana Babinsky is an online business coach, expert and author. She helps coaches, consultants, virtual assistants and other business owners get more clients online, create multiple streams of income, and succeed on their own terms. Download Biana's free report, "How to Get Clients Online" at http://www.AvocadoConsulting.com.

Do you ever feel like you're doing all the right things with networking, but you're not getting results? I got an email recently from one entrepreneur who networks diligently, participating in a business leads group, local Chamber of Commerce meetings, and other events.

He writes: "I feel my presentation is adequately polished, I follow up promptly both on the phone and via email, mail out follow-up letters, etc. but I am not getting business from my efforts. What am I doing wrong?"

If you're in this boat, one thing to consider is while your message may be dead on, you may be aiming at the wrong bulls-eye.

Sometimes in our haste to jump onto the networking bandwagon, we start looking for a group, any group, to network with. But, even if you think you might be doing everything right, and that's still a big IF, your personal branding message may be reaching an unreceptive crowd. It's almost as if you're tuned into completely different wavelengths, and that could happen for any number of reasons:

1) They aren't there to network. One group of people you might find at certain networking events are those who want to socialize and hang out with friends, rather than meet new people (this is more common than you think). On the other end of the spectrum are those who are there to sell, either to get job leads or referrals for their products and services (this is pretty common too). Yet if everyone is busy pushing their own agendas, they're not going to be in the right frame of mind to learn about what you do. Your challenge is to find that group in the middle, the folks who are there to build lasting and supportive relationships.

2) They don't reach the same buyers. Some people you meet may truly understand what networking is and are open to sharing your message, but their target audience may be in different industries, functional areas, or managerial levels from your target audience. That means they'll be hard-pressed to make an effective introduction on your behalf because they won't have access to the right people in the organization. The ideal networking partner has strong relationships and frequent interaction with the same types of people who would hire you.

3) They don't have the credibility to recommend you. If I'm looking for a new phone system for my company, I'm probably not going to ask my dentist for a referral, as wonderful a guy as he is. Instead I'm likely to turn to someone who is involved in the telecommunications arena and can help me determine what to look for, what questions to ask, who the major companies are, etc. A productive lead will come from someone who knows enough about your capabilities to warm up the prospect and generate interest in meeting you.

Smart networking isn't about putting in tons of hours, but about doing things that get results. If you're getting out there but not attracting business opportunities, even with a strong message, you need to analyze where you're spending your time and who you're spending it with.

If you're not sure who the right audience is for your message, an easy way to test is through social networking. For example, since Smart Networking was released in November, many of the comments I've gotten on my blog, on Facebook, and on Amazon have come from career coaches who've recommended the book to their clients. Prior to this, I always considered small business owners my main market. But armed with this new knowledge, I plan to seek out different networking events and perhaps even create special programs targeted to the career coaching field. Figuring this out offline would have taken a lot more time and a lot of trial and error.

If your networking efforts aren't paying off, consider devoting some time to building up your online presence on a blog and on Facebook. Talk about what you do and see who is most receptive to your message. See who "gets" what you're saying and starts to engage with you. Then find networking events and groups that attract that same audience to start building relationships in person.

When the right message reaches the right group of people, you'll be amazed at how quickly you can achieve whatever career or business goal you've set out for yourself.

Read the original post on Personal Branding Blog