RE:THINK

Well firstly, he drives fast cars faster than you probably can (without ruining them)…

But more importantly, he has a pretty impressive Personal Brand.

So here are 5 reasons why the Stig is better than you!

1.  He has a simple but memorable name - I mean, who else do you know named the Stig?  Fair chance, you will remember this name though!  Even I can spell Stig (although my spell checker does not pick it up), that is easy to recall, and says little other than “I need to know more about this Stig character”

2.  He is mysterious - who is the Stig…does it matter?

3.  He is Persistently Consistent - the bloke (or lady) always looks the same, has the same Personal Value Proposition (he never says much; but in case you missed it; he drives cars…fast)

4.  The Stig is damn good at what he does - he has competence.  I don’t know if you saw the episode screened last night in Australia - but who else could chase down 4 seconds on a Porsche, driven by a Touring Car Champion in two laps…in an Aston Martin?

5.  People know the Stig, and they know what he does - well mostly people know the Stig…if you watch BBC Top Gear, or you like cars, then most likely you know the Stig!

Just in case you don’t know the Stig…here is some insight!

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Business is more competitive and challenging than ever which means we need to continually improve our skills if we want to maintain a competitive edge. Upgrading your skills is critical to your long-term success.

The most common mistake that I see is that many sales people think that they don’t need to update or upgrade their skills because they attended a program or training workshop sometime in the past.

Many companies who say they’re not interested in a training program because they “did one” a few years ago.
People rely on their employer to either foot the bill or initiate something. If you’re not willing to invest in your future you won’t reach your full potential. I’ve noticed that self-employed or independent sales professionals are more likely to invest in their personal development more so than employees of a company.

I recommend doing a quick self-evaluation to determine what specific areas they need to improve. Then, decide what you’re going to do to improve. This could mean attending a training workshop, a tele-seminar, or perhaps a conference to hear different speakers. If you get just one good idea that helps you improve your results, then it’s worth the investment.

“Why is this so important for sales people to maintain a positive attitude?”

Sales is a great career but it’s also a challenging one. The attitude we display is contagious and our prospects pick up on it. But, even more important, is the fact that a positive attitude helps us get through the difficult times and occasional slumps we encounter from time-to-time.

“What can we do?”

First, we have to choose to be positive. No one can tell us how to behave and we can always choose to be in a great mood or a negative one. Now I’m certainly not suggesting that this is easy because it’s not. However, when you put negative experiences into perspective and look at the big picture, you can often see why it’s more important to focus on the positive.

Next, associate with other positive-minded, goal-oriented people. Too many people are quick to bring you down so it’s essential that the people around us are also positive and optimistic.
I also recommend starting your day with something positive like reading or listening to motivational material instead of reading the newspaper or watching the news. Other things like exercise, yoga, meditation are also a great way to start your day. It’s like tending a garden. If you don’t remove the weeds they will eventually take over and choke the flowers. Starting your day with something that is inspiring will kick start our day and keep the weeds away.

Improvements don’t happen overnight. Each change, even if it’s small, makes a difference and can improve our results.

It’s like physical fitness. You can’t go from a being a couch potato to competing in an Ironman competition in a week or two. It takes time to build your stamina and strengthen your body so it can handle the stress effectively.

Have you noticed that some workers receive more promotions and greater pay than their colleagues, despite the fact that they are apparently not as competent as you? This doesn’t seem fair. Why should some people get ahead when others, who seem to be working much harder and even longer hours, get passed over for promotion and the additional rewards that go with it? The fact is, to be a great success, it is important not only to be good at what you do but also to be perceived as being good at what you do.

Human beings are creatures of perception. It is not what they see but what they think they see that determines how they think and act. If one person is perceived as being more promotable, then it is very likely that he/she will get additional responsibilities and more money, even though there are others that can do a better job, if given the chance.

Fortunately, there are several things that one can do to increase visibility and accelerate the speed at which they move ahead in their career.

Develop Competence

Determine what parts of your job are most important to your boss and to your company and then make the decision to become very good in those areas. You must be perceived as being very competent at what you do. That perception alone will bring you to the attention of more people faster than you can imagine. The perception of excellent performance will open up opportunities for greater responsibilities, higher pay and better positions. Becoming good at what you do should be the foundation of your strategy for gaining higher visibility and rapid advancement in your career.

Pay Attention to Your Overall Image

How you appear to others makes a real difference. A recent survey of personnel executives found that the decision to hire or not to hire is made in the first 30 seconds. There are many elements of your life over which you have no control. But your external dress and appearance are totally a matter of personal preference. Through their choice of clothes, their grooming and their overall appearance, individuals deliberately make a statement about the kind of people they are. The way you look on the outside is a representation of the way you see yourself on the inside. It’s a good idea to dress the way the senior people in your company dress. Dress for the position two jobs above your own.

Join Professional Associations

Research professional associations connected with your business or field. Begin by attending meetings as a guest to carefully assess whether or not a professional association can be of value to you. Determine if the members are the kind of people you would like to know and are well established in their careers. Then, if you have decided that becoming known to the key people in this association can advance your career, take out a membership and get involved. Pick a key committee and volunteer for service. Find out which committee seems to be the most active and the most influential in that organization and then step up to the plate. Volunteer your time, expertise and energy, and get busy. Attend every meeting. Take careful notes. Ask for assignments, and complete them on time and in an excellent fashion. This gives you an opportunity to perform for other key people in your profession in a non-threatening environment. You give them a chance to see what you can do and what kind of a person you are. You expand your range of valuable contacts in one of the most effective ways possible. The people you get to know on these committees can eventually be extremely helpful to you in your work and in your career.

Join a Well-Known, Charitable Organization

Become active by donating your services to its annual fund-raising programs. You may not be wealthy now, but you do have time, and your willingness to give of yourself will soon be noticed by people who are higher up. Many men and women with limited contacts and limited resources have risen to positions of great prominence as the result of getting to know the key community leaders who participate in charitable organizations and professional associations.

Be Able to Set Priorities

Learn how to separate the relevant from the irrelevant when facing the many tasks of the day. Managers place very high value on a person who can set priorities and move quickly to get the job finished. Dependability in job completion is one of the most valued traits in the American work force. When your employer can hand you a job and then walk away and never worry about it again, you have moved yourself onto the fast track, and your subsequent promotion and pay are virtually guaranteed.

Upgrade Your Work-Related Skills

Continually look for ways to keep your skills current, and make sure that your superiors know about it. Look for additional courses you can take to improve at your job, and discuss them with your boss. Ask him/her to pay for the courses, but make it clear that you’re going to take them anyway. Also, ask your boss for book and audio program recommendations. Then follow up by reading and listening to them and asking for further recommendations. Bosses are very impressed with people who are constantly striving to learn more in order to increase their value to their companies.

Develop a Positive Mental Attitude

People like to be around people they like and tend to promote them. A consistent, persistent attitude of cheerfulness and optimism is quickly noticed by everybody. When you make an effort to cultivate an attitude of friendliness toward people, they, in turn, will go to extraordinary efforts to open doors for you.

In the final analysis, taking the time to become an excellent human being will do more to raise your visibility and improve your chances for promotion than will any other single thing that you can do. You can do it if you really want to.

One of the greatest tools of communication, growing widely in the past 5 years or so, is a part of the internet called: Social Networking.

Social Networking is a social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking

websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommended systems linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used.

from Wikipedia

There are a lot of social networking sites, and even more Business Networking sites, bringing together professional communities, to share ideas, concepts and other relevant information.

Business networks been around for many years, such as BNI and Chambers of Commerce, however the online networks are very powerful in bringing together professionals from around the globe, to connect and share information. It is truly - a Global Village!

Recent statistic have shown, that 83% of recruiters used search engines to learn more about

candidates in 2007, up from 75% in 2005, according to Execunet.com.
43% eliminated candidates based on the search results.

What does it mean? I think it is quite simple - if people want to know more about you, they’ll look you up on Google!
it could be your future employer (in my case it was my ex-employer who suspected I was involved in “extra curriculum” activities), or your future (or existing) spouse, or their family!!

The more information people find online, the better!

why?

In most cases, you can control what people find about you. and you can do that by joining Social and/ or business network, and expose the parts of your life you want people to find out about. In the “Glitz and Glamor” world they use a spotlight, or an angle to showcase what they want you to see.

OK, so what do I do? where to start?

Good question!

1. Start by deciding who you are, and what is it that you do, and you want people to know about:

If you are a small business owner, you might want to get people’s attention to your business, to create business opportunities for your self.
If you are passionate about bird migration routes, you may want to talk to other people who share your passion, and maybe one day go meet them in person, where ever they are in the world!

You may be a home maker, with a Teddybear collection, and you’d like to exchange information about garage sales with great potential, or new designs to make a bear.

2. Once you’ve decided Who you are and What is it that you’re passionate about, set up a profile that best showcases your self, and your passion. Put together a Bio (short for Biography), that extenuates your skills, experience and direction.

3. Register on the appropriate networks, and upload your Bio.

4. Most networks will help you to find your friends who already using the network, and encourage you to invite your other friends along.

Whatever it is that you do, or interested in, there is a good chance you would find a pal online, in a social, or business networking website.
There are also great ways to communicate with your existing friends around the country, or the world, share your thoughts, ideas, pictures, videos  - as much or as little as you want to share.

But what about my privacy????

Another FANTASTIC question!

No easy answer here either. The truth is, once you “go public”, you are giving away part of your privacy - people can now search (online)  and find you!
But, and this is a BIG But: you can now control what you want people to find, and you could also control (with privacy settings) who can see what information: some sites will have very low, if not no-online presence, like dating sites, or restricted networking sites.

Others, like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, will have great Googebility (presence in Google - to make sure people will find you). If you’re new to this world, it is a good idea to seek advice (Try Google :))

If you’re serious about Getting Noticed, and you think it will be beneficial for you professionally, check out Mr Personal Branding, and he could help,  or just leave a comment below.

Happy Socializing!

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This article is also posted over at The Chief Brand Officer

To our readers who celebrate Christmas - Merry Christmas!

Just as important though are the things you can be doing over this Festive Period to start your Personal Brand off on the right foot for 2009!

Commit to Learning - Steve Pavlina wrote a great post back in 2005 that suggested you should contribute 3% of your monthly income to personal development and learning.  Sit down and perform your own SWOT - discover what some of your weaknesses may be.  then think about your target audience and your objectives for 2009.  For example, if you have weakness in the public speaking department and your have a goal to be a better public speaker - because your target audience need to hear your messages; then enrol yourself in a course on public speaking!

Take a day out to discover your MOJO - what are your passions and what gets you really excited every moorning.  A friend of mine Richard Sauerman talks about your Red Wine Midnight Conversations - what are the things you talk about with friends over a Red Wine?  These are your real passions.  As my friend Gary Vaynerchuk says “There is no reason in 2008 to be doing shit you hate…if you like smurfs, smurf it up!”

Read the rest of the article here…

Not what you need to hear heading into Christmas (don’t worry, we will have some good news to0!) but this article sourced from AFP today on The Sydney Morning Herald paints a pretty grim picture of the job market in 2009!

The global economic crisis will push up unemployment by up to 25 million by 2010, the OECD chief has forecast, saying there has been a “truly scandalous failure” of regulatory supervision.

“We’re heading for a loss of between eight and 10 million jobs in the OECD area … and 20 to 25 million in the world as a whole between now and 2010,” Angel Gurria said on France’s BFM radi.

The International Labour Organisation earlier forecast that the number of global unemployed could go up by 20 million to reach a record high point of 210 million people by the end of 2009.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris brings together 30 countries, including all the world’s industrialised economies. The group conducts research and publishes economic forecasts.

Gurria also said that European countries should spend more in stimulus plans to kickstart their economies and suggested that the European Central Bank should lower interest rates because of falling inflation.

The European Union should “go beyond” the fiscal stimulus plans already announced, equivalent to around 1.4% of GDP, since “all the other major countries are going beyond that”, Gurria said.

He also said that the OECD economies were in recession in the current quarter and would remain so for at least the first two quarters of 2009, with many countries being in recession for most of 2009.

“We predict a recovery at the end of 2009 and weak growth in 2010″ he said.

Commenting on the build-up to the crisis, Gurria said there had been “a truly scandalous failure of regulation … and supervision”, and poor risk management and corporate governance by companies.

Seth Godin is a marketing genius, and author of several best selling books on marketing.

He recently wrote an article on the “Best and the Brightest” which emphasised the change in the landscape as young people no longer queue to be investment bankers!

Here is Seth’s post…

This is a great post by Steve Pavlina from 2005…

The best place to invest your money is in yourself. The rate of return from investing in your own knowledge and skills will be much higher than anything you’ll see from stocks, real estate, or other investments.

In some cases you can even measure the rate of return. Say you buy a book. Even add in the cost of your average hourly rate multiplied by the time it took you to read it. Many books will be lousy. But every once in a while, you’ll get one good idea that gives you a huge rate of return. Like 10x the cost in a matter of months. This is especially true with business and personal productivity books. But often it isn’t a breakthrough idea but rather the continuous exposure to the same ideas presented in different ways that produces a steady return over time. And the results go way beyond monetary. If investing in your own knowledge finally gives you the idea you need to quit smoking, you can measure the lifetime financial savings in the cost of cigarettes, but what is the increased level of health worth to you? What is the idea that allows you to meet and connect with your future spouse worth? What is shedding 50 pounds of fat and knowing you can keep it off the rest of your life worth? What is building a career that totally fulfills you worth?

A trick I learned from Brian Tracy is to invest 3% of your income on your own personal development. I don’t know why he specifically uses 3%, but that seems about right to me. So if you earn $5000 per month, you’d invest just $150 per month on your own personal development. You could buy about 10 paperback business or self-help books; those are typically $12-16 each (but that’s a lot to read in a month). Or you could order about 3 six-cassette or six-CD audio programs; those are usually around $50-60 each, often $20-30 if you buy them used. Or that $150 could go toward the cost of a seminar or conference. Most one-day personal development seminars I’m familiar with are around $100, with 3-day or longer ones typically in the $200-600 range (although they can go much higher, well over $10,000). I find it best to mix and match different types of learning. For example, last month I bought an audio program, a few books, and went to a 3-day seminar.

You don’t have to spend that exact percentage every month. It’s fine to underspend one month and overspend another. But aim for about 3% for the year on average. If that amount makes you uncomfortable, start with 1% the first month and build up gradually. Or just start with a fixed amount like $20 until you get the hang of it.

You can use this budget to invest in improving yourself any way you like. So that includes not just knowledge, but also equipment and services — anything that helps you grow and improve. For example, I used this budget to put together a home gym with a weight station, an exercise bike, and lots of free weights. If you’re feeling stressed, you could use the money to get a professional massage (in my area those are usually $40-100 for an hour). My wife likes spending half a day at the Luxor Spa now and then. If you feel it would be a growth experience for you, go for it. Take sky-diving lessons. Tour a museum. Join a club or association. Buy software to learn to type faster. Take flute lessons. Take tennis lessons. Get a PDA.

This is a pretty easy habit to develop too. Just write on your calendar on the 1st of each month: “Invest 3% in myself.” Then when that date comes up, figure out how much money you made the previous month, and then decide how you’ll spend it. If you can, spend it right away — easy when you order online. Remember that this is an investment; the money you spend here will be repaid in the long run based on how you invest it.

If you run your own business, you can decide whether you want to invest a percentage of your gross or your net income. I use the gross, which obviously gives me a higher budget. Use whatever figure you feel most comfortable with.

Even though I’m shopping-challenged, this is the kind of shopping I enjoy. You can give me a $10,000 shopping spree at the local mall, and I won’t be able to find anything I want. But when it comes to investing in knowledge and skills, suddenly I have no trouble coming up with a wish list. It’s fun to think, “OK, I have $X to spend on my own personal growth. How shall I do it?” Let’s buy 30 shares of better health, 10 shares of financial prosperity, 5 shares of communication skills, and 20 shares of relationship building.

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1. Get a Gym Membership! If you already have a gym membership, get yourself along to the gym the very next day! This is important for many reasons including; it helps you establish a routine (which is CRITICAL during stressful times), exercise makes you feel better, exercise makes you healthier, it is another environment to meet people and network!

2. Revisit your contact list! Download your list of contacts from your email client, or take out your business cards and work through them. Discard those who you think are worth discarding, and then make contact with everyone else either through email or a written note to say. “Hi, I have recently left ABC Pty Ltd, and I wanted to get back in touch to let you know of what I have been up to” Give them a run down of your skills and achievements and what you would like to do next!

3. Update your resume - NOW You should have already been doing this, but if not, then get to it. This will serve many purposes, but most importantly it will force you to think about your skills and experiences, and commit you to writing them down. If you have not had a resume for some time, I would recommend you get a resume professional like Meg Guiseppi.to help you out. A well written resume can make a big difference.

4. Get online You should at least set up a profile on LinkedIn, and consider other sites like Facebook, VisualCV, Tasty Nectar and many other social networking sites that will help you meet new people, and communicate your skills and talents to a wider audience in the search for your next opportunity. For those a little more ‘technically inclined‘ I would most DEFINITELY recommend starting a blog and writing about your passions and interest. It will act like therapy (writing can be calming) and will introduce you to a whole new world of opportunity (I guarantee).

5. READ - now is a great time to read all those books piling up on your bedside table. Visit www.amazon.com or the like and search for the recommended reading under subject areas that interest you. Seek out the best blogs and websites on these subjects and take time each day to read them, stay informed and LEARN!

6. Get invited - seek out some interesting events, and get on th einvite list. Even if they cost good money, these events can be invaluable for meeting new people, starting new relationships, and improving your confidence. The longer you spend away from social situations, the more uncomfortable you will become - so stay social!

7. Be Grateful - self help and personal development guru’s like Bob Proctor or Jack Canfield of the Secret talk all about ‘The Attitude of Gratitude” and how it can change your life (here is a good post on the 5 ways to develop and attitude of gratitude! Be grateful for the great skills you have developed and for those dearest to you like your family and friends. Be grateful for your good health!

8. Take some time out and work on #1 Don’t rush into your next opportunity (unless you have to). You may be surprised how easy it is to simplify your life, get rid of some unnecessary expenses, and afford to take little time out to ’smell the roses’ If your past role took a lot out of you, then it would be a good idea to recharge your batteries and take some time to get to know yourself. This would be a great time to work on DEFINING your Personal Brand, and working out what it is that excites you, and what is unique about you - do you have a Personal Value Proposition?

9.  Attend RE:THINK - and leave armed with new ideas and some fresh insights on what’s next?

Notice I did not mention getting yourself in to your nearest search consultant? This is not that I do not think they can do great work, it is just that this post is about the BEST things to do, and right now, search consultancies may not have too many jobs on offer…your next career step is up to YOU..it is time for YOU 2.0 - reinvented!

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We all have them: dreams, aspirations, bucket lists. We see something nice, we wish it could be ours. Sometimes it is out of our reach (now), so we just let go of it, because “there is no way I can own an Aston Martin”. The thing is - people do! people buy nice things, and expensive things, all the time. Why can they, and not us? People also do things that we say “we can never do”. Why not???

You can dismiss this and say: “well, they are smarter/better looking/ born rich, that’s why”, and move on with your life.
Or you can say: “hold on! I’m smart. I’m good looking. I can get whatever I want!”
The truth is, you can get whatever you want, however remote you think your dream is from where you are, if you put your mind to work.
If you LOVE something, and it is really important to you, you’ll do whatever it takes to have it. If you don’t - it is not important enough for you.
There is no right or wrong. This is just it. Once you have defined, in your own mind, what it is that you want - all you need is a plan to get there, and to make the first step.
We’ve all heard the common saying: the longest journey starts with the first step. Think about it for a minute, and let it sink in.
One other thing to consider: suppose you’re standing in a busy shopping center, or the center of town, and you stop! and look around.
What you’ll probably find are big brands, large signs on rooftops of sky scrapers : they have all started with the first step - an idea, and a passion of one person, to make it happen!
Get this: Banks, property developers, electronics companies, shopping centers, EVERYTHING you see around you, started with an idea, and someone who pursued his idea. That is all it takes.
The following video, tells the story of a mobile phone salesman, working in a shop, which his mother would probably think is gorgeous, although other people may have different opinion (including himself).
This guy, had a dream in him, and one day it clicked, and he made the first step, to fulfill his dream.
My point is - so can you.

If Paul’s story touched you, please share below: