The Engaging Brand

Show #159 - Step Into the Spotlight

Show 159 of The Engaging Brand podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - it is all explained at the end of the post.

Today we are talking to Tsufit who provides tips on how to get noticed. I read her new book Step Into The Spotlight on a night flight back from the US. I was tired and wasn't sure I wanted to read...after the first few pages I was hooked. This book is a mixture of personal branding and brand marketing which fits so well with The Engaging Brand. We cover areas such as

How to network effectively

How to create your own brand story

How to make a presentation stand out from other speakers

How to engage with your brand audience

And THE SECRET to getting publicity!

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here and it will take you to the blubrry page.Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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Does Your Brand Look Great Naked?

No jokes about my personal brand, look I am over 40 what do you expect :)

One test for great brands is that behind all the marketing whether traditional or social media,  what does the "naked brand" look like?

• How great is the brand offering? Does it stand in its own right as an experience that fulfils a need in the market? Does the beauty stand out in the competitor's crowd?
• Are you fending off the ageing process by a brand health check....do you keep working on the product so that it retains its youthfulnesss?
• Does the naked brand reflect the truth of the advertising?
• Does the naked brand have good manners in every interaction with the consumers?

Most people, most things can look good when "made -up in public", however, the consumer will experience the brand in it's nakedness - at home, at work, at play. The brand has to stand in its own right without the make up of conversational marketing, advertising, logo's etc
In an age of social media, engagement comes when the person loves the naked brand. Engagement comes when you break through the barriers of advertising or marketing,  to experience the real beauty  - and you still love the product. No amount of social media will hide an out of shape, out of date offering.

When I think of internal brands and leadership, once the corporate clothes of words, of inspirational speeches, of promises are torn away....employees will only engage if the raw naked brand of day to day life is an embodiment of all that has been said....
 

Imagine a world without imagination

A prominent leader said to me today, imagination is for children...practical ideas are for adults...hmmm not sure how you get the ideas without imagination. It got me imagining a world

• Where we worry less about terms like Web 2.0, Podcasting, Social Media and more about how we can use technology to help change the world for the better...
• Where we talk about verbs rather than functions.....conversations vs marketing, value vs finance, hearts and minds rather than HR, creating experiences vs sales
• Where we can interact with the web with all 5 senses....taste food before we buy, smell perfumes, touch clothes....
• Where we love searching for the truth according to the person rather than the illusive objective, one truth that doesn't exist
• Where we enjoy what we have, rather than what we haven't
• Where we learn to use the other 95% of our brains...phew could you imagine the effect!
• Where we give more than we take
• Where we all play angel advocates with ideas....
• Where we move from the world being "flat" to the world being 3D
• Where we move from reviewing performance to creating legacies

Some may seem far fetched....but then my Nana remembers not having food during the war, women not having the vote, no central heating, TV's or no Web and can you believe it ....even a world without mobile phones!
Imagination lies at the evolution of the world, imagination is a precious resource, imagination is a skill we were given at birth and yet the world tries to remove through socialisation - forgetting how it can be used for the power of good.....how much do you value imagination for yourself, your friends, your team, your customers...when did you last time dream or let others dream?

Power of Conversations, Power of Learning

World I love you, truly love you...I have had the best day interviewing people for the podcast (Watch out for an interview with a business psychologist, Alison Hardingham on conversations and with Bob Burg on The Laws of the Go Giver over the next few weeks...)

My mind feels inspired, feels full of ideas...why? because these people were beacons of how important giving is, in relation to the art of inspirational leadership....some thoughts

1. Is life really a learning event or an unlearning event...unlearning all the bad habits that we pick up during our life?
2. Conversations work when you want to learn from the other person, not teach or inform the other person
3. No one can waste your time. Only you can waste your time.
4. The most valuable gift you have to offer is you.
5. How speaking to people - really listening to what they are saying - expands your mind...it is like a personal mind massage.
6. Social media is not about merely "joining the conversation"...it is about listening then adding value to the conversation.
7. The actual price relates to the tangible, the perceived value relates to the intangible.
8. When you receive graciously, you are indeed giving...giving respect to the other person, giving the chance for other people to create value. Don't underestimate the power of receiving.

My personal goal each day is to try and fill another brain cell - I find it a challenge to think that we only use 5% or less of our brain...I hate wastage so I want to fill it with as many experiences, events, emotions, information as possible.
Learning to the brain is the ultimate personal training system...turning muscle into real life experiences

Show #158 - Escaping the corporate rut

Show 158 of The Engaging Brand podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - it is all explained at the end of the post.

Today we are talking to Eric Pennington who has written Waking Up In Corporate America and also writes the blog Epic Living. His book looks at 7 steps to move from feeling in a rut in your job to finding career and life happiness. Here are some of the topics that we cover

1. How life is a growth event
2. The balance between having a comfortable balanced life and feeling bored
3. How Eric's corporate life left him "broken"
4. Transformation happens when recognising the power of your personal influence
5. Success is waiting for us to give the command
6. How you know what matters in your life
7. Why we focus on intangibles for happiness
8. What creates the motivation to change - "If you are OK with being OK, then you will no have the motivation to change

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here and it will take you to the blubrry page. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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Galba - A True Gentleman, Thank You for a Wonderful Life

I was shocked to see the news that Galba Bright had passed away - one less truly inspirational gentleman in this world, one that I will miss from my virtual life.

As many of you know, it was only a few weeks ago that I spoke to Galba for the podcast - we talked so much that I had to turn it into 2 shows! (Part 1 and Part 2) Galba had this ability to connect with people at the emotional level, he shared openly, he touched your heart with his love of people and of the world. Galba made me smile, made me laugh and I remember coming off the phone feeling privileged to have spoken to him, to have been touched by the Galba magic!

Social media means that Galba  - and his thoughts on emotional intelligence - will remain as part of his wonderful legacy. My thoughts go out to his family....

Galba sleep tight, we will miss you hugely and thank you for leaving such wonderful emotional footprints all over the world

Widget Me! Widget Competition for Personal Branding

Widgets are something I get asked a lot about in my social media training sessions. I was driving today and just wondered what my widget would look like?
If you had to develop a widget that expressed your personal brand and build a widget that highlighted the value you bring to the business world then what would your individual widget look like?

1. What colour would represent you?
2. What is the value that you can bring to others, and how could you express that on a widget?
3. How do people interact with you - do you think about the different ways, do you offer different ways?
4. How easy is it for people to interact with you?
5. How portable is your personal brand?
6. What is your personal social object? What is your USP that people will talk about?
7. What would be the name of your personal widget - what 3-4 words would describe you?
8. How visible is your personal brand on the web?

If anyone wants to build or (just design for me to produce )a widget that expresses my personal brand as "consumed" by readers or listeners to The Engaging Brand podcast - then there will be a $100 on offer to the winner...oooh could live to regret this!

Choose Your Monday Morning Colour

Monday morning blues can be evident in corporations. I have never been someone who has suffered the blues - maybe the occasional pink or burnt orange but mainly reds - as I have never thought about work as something I have to do...it is something that I want to do.
Why? Well, I don't see Monday as the start of a new week.Dad always said "Life is what you make it..you see blue, you get blue...you see a rainbow, you get a technicolour life"

I see Monday as another chance to create something spectacular in the world

• A chance to make someone smile, feel valued.
• A chance to inspire others to understand how they can make a difference in the world.
• A chance to connect, connect at a human level. In connecting you fulfill that basic need in both yourself and others.

So my challenge is if you are seeing tomorrow as a start of a long week, ask yourself

"What can I do to change the world tomorrow? What can I do as a small step on creating that personal legacy that I want at the end of my life?"

Show #157 Accidental Branding

Show 157 of The Engaging Brand podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - it is all explained at the end of the post.

Today we are talking to David Vinjamuri who has written a book of case studies on how ordinary people have created extraordinary brands - Accidental Branding. It is a fascinating insight into various entrepreneurs such as Craig Newmark, Roxanne Quimby, J Peterman, Gary Erickson

David mentions in the book the chance to tell your brand story - you can do this at the Accidental Branding site. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this interview, and if you have feedback for me on the show then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or hop over to Facebook group for The Engaging Brand.

How can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click here and it will take you to the blubrry page. Then press the play button!

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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Be the Pilot of Your Brand

Flying home from the USA, I was thinking about the connection between flying and building a brand.

A plane starts on the ground = A brand has to be grounded on core values before it can fly

A plane does not immediately fly, it needs to gather pace, accelerate to earn the right to fly = A brand is not built over night, it needs to build momentum.

A plane has a flight path, a flight plan to get to its destination = A brand needs to know where it is wanting to fly to, where does it want to take it's passengers (consumers)

A plane hits turbulence, but is strong enough to keep to its flight path = A brand will make mistakes, hit occasional dips but must always keep the goal in mind, keep the belief to get through it.

A plane needs air to fly. It is an enabler of connecting the desire of passengers to fly with the technology of using air to fly = The brand is not the star...it is an enabler, a connector of consumers to their dreams.

A plane needs pilots and passengers to get achieve the potential it was designed for = A brand needs leaders and consumers to achieve its potential

A plane has a destination = A brand has a destiny

A plane was revolutionary now it is evolutionary = A brand when launched needs to lead its own revolution against the status quo, once launched the revolution has to turn to evolution (or die). I think too many brands forget to evolve believing forever they are still revolutionary

Brands have the ability to soar above the competition when they connect people. Connect people from where they are now, to where they want to be....they are carriers of dreams