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Spread Your Thought Leadership, Spread Your Brand

Mary Rosenbaum | April 12th, 2011

How can you use thought leadership as a way of growing your business, improving your career positioning, or getting a job? Expressing your thought leadership is an excellent way to “show” rather than “tell” those who matter to you what you can do for them and how you do it. It enables you to differentiate yourself and stand out from the competition. It lets you “show your stuff” and solidify your personal brand in the minds of others.

There are many obvious ways of doing this such as writing articles for trade journals, speaking at events, creating your own events, participating in group on-line discussions, participating in professional associations, collaborating, etc. But before you even think about which road you want to take you should do some research and take the following questions and comments into consideration.

1. Who is in your target audience? Who are the people you want to get in front of? Are they decision makers or the ones who influence the decision makers? Which segment of the population are you addressing? The most productive use of your time would be to focus on a concentrated area or demographic and penetrate it more effectively through increased exposure.

2. What are their needs and pain points? How can you help them? Clearly identifying your target audience enables you to pinpoint and address their specific needs. Do the necessary research to find out what keeps them up at night. Provide value and stand out or you will end up being nothing more than white noise – easy to ignore. Stay current and timely, adding a twist or different point of view on information that may already be out there.

3. What do you like doing and what are you good at – speeches, written product, interviews? Focus on what you like doing and you’ll have a better chance of being consistent and constant in your delivery.

4. Where should your thought leadership be showcased? Whether it’s a blog, guest posts, newspapers, seminars, or special events your company develops, blanketing areas where your target audience lives is the best way to attain the visibility and credibility you want. Once you have captured your target audience’s attention and earned their following, your reputation, your brand, will expand beyond this group.

5. Patience and determination go a long way in building your thought leadership. It takes time for people to trust you, your information, and what you have to offer. Constant relevant exposure over a long period of time will help you build a consistent and growing following.

The rest is up to you. Do you have other ways of developing your thought leadership? Let us know what worked for you.

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Strong leadership means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @careersguru

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Build Your Tribe of Supporters: Who Is In Your 150?

Mary Rosenbaum | November 19th, 2010

How many people do you know with whom you have a real relationship.? When I look at the numbers of contacts/friends/followers that some people have on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter it appears there are many people who have hundreds and even thousands on their list.

The proliferation of social media sites has created an environment where being “connected” with someone does not have the same connotation it once did. There seems to be some confusion about the value of these contacts and what it really means. Social media enables you to get the word out to vast numbers of people in a very short period of time. On such a vast scale, social media should not be confused with relationship building. Sometimes relationships develop, but those are isolated instances rather than common place occurrences.

Robin Dunbar is the director of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford University, author of How Many Friend Does One Person Need? According to Mr. Dunbar, 150 people are the most any one person can be in a relationship with involving trust and obligation. These are relationships where there is some personal history, not just names and faces and perhaps the occasional shared tweet. The reason for this is simple, it takes energy, time, and mental capacity to build and maintain relationships. According to our brain capacity, 150 is the limit.

Beyond the 150 number, the tie that binds you to greater numbers of people are superficial and never extend beyond the occasional message, tweet, or shared photo. Social media has created a new way for you to “keep in touch” with those you would probably never have contact with again before these vehicles became so prominent.

The question I have is if you are spreading yourself thin by trying to maintain some form of relationship with vast numbers of people, are you diluting even the ones that would fall into the category of “real” relationships? Are you confusing followers with supporters?

I think instead of trying to grow your contacts or following by including large numbers of people who you cannot develop any sort of relationship with, your time might be better spent deepening the ones that could be part of your tribe – those who support you and what you do and those you can support in return.

The challenge is to increase the breadth of your relationships without sacrificing the depth. There are many ways to increase your tribe to ensure that the connections between all of you continue to provide value to everyone involved. So ask yourself:

Have I succeeded in deepening my relationships to a level where I can provide support?

How many meaningful relationships do I have?

Am I anywhere near my Dunbar number of 150?

Do I have the right people in my 150?

If not, what steps can I take to move myself forward?

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum helps careerists and entrepreneurs position themselves so they can stand out from the competition. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

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Twitter: Less is More

Mary Rosenbaum | September 29th, 2010

What is the relevance of having thousands of followers on Twitter? How many of these thousands read your tweets? How many of those would be driven to act on something you recommended?

Those who use Twitter and Facebook for marketing purposes believe that the more “eyeballs” that see their message the more likely they will sell their product or service.

Social media marketing cannot take the place of creating a product or service that is needed and wanted. Throwing mud at the wall and hoping it sticks is old school marketing. People today are bombarded by offerings, information, options for just about everything they need, want and use.

It’s not about the numbers. It’s about finding those followers who want what you have to sell or teach them. It’s quality, not quantity. Wouldn’t you rather have a 100 followers who read your messages and take an interest in what you say rather than a 1000 who either ignore or skim the content? I know I would.

I attended a talk on social media a few weeks ago and one of the attendees asked this question: “I send out a newsletter every two weeks with free give aways, free webinar offers, and free consultations. My email list is over 1000 people and I use Twitter and LinkedIn to deliver the same message. My response rate is single digits. What am I doing wrong?”

No one knows for sure but my guess would be that either he has the wrong target audience or is selling something nobody wants or needs. Additionally, his communications with his audience are all one way – out. The lack of connection, human contact, and relationship building – critical to growing a business – all contribute to this lack of response.

So how should you use social media?

– Make sure what you are offering is something people want or need.

– Use social media as tools, not as the only means of communicating your message.

– Relate, communicate, find out if you are hitting the right target.

– Modify your offerings as you learn from your active followers.

– Take your online contacts and turn them into real world relationships.

– Take your time.

What other advice do you have?

As an FYI, I read this great article in this week’s New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell, a favorite author of mine called Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted. It’s a great read.

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum helps careerists and entrepreneurs position themselves so they can stand out from the competition. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru – it’s where I pass along articles I think might be interesting to you.

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What do Three Cups of Tea and Relationship Building Have in Common?

Mary Rosenbaum | May 20th, 2010

Make building relationships an integral part of your personal brand.

I had two very different experiences that made me think about writing on the topic of relationship building. One was an article I read in the NYTimes magazine section this past Sunday. It focused on our fixation with statistics. Watching our stats on social media sites is becoming as ubiquitous for social media marketers as the Dow Jones Industrial Average is for Wall Street professionals. But what are they really measuring? Are they measuring commitment, professional curiosity, respect or search or exchange of knowledge? What they are not measuring is relationship building. And relationship building is a critical underpinning to building your career, your business, and your personal and professional life.

The other prompt to writing this was an event I attended in support of the American Place Theater (www.americanplacetheater.org) where Greg Mortenson, author of “3 Cups of Tea”, spoke. He told a story that clarified what the reference was for the title of his book. It all started when he found himself disoriented and physically weakened from his hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro in Pakistan. When he descended he was taken in by a village elder who offered him a cup of tea. Over time the village elder described what the offering of tea symbolizes:

The first time I offer you tea it is as a stranger.

The second time it is as an honored guest.

The third time it is as a friend.

Unlike major cities, relationships in these small villages develop with time moving at a glacial pace. When the shift from honored guest to friend finally occurred Mr. Mortenson understood the value he derived from the time he spent in building these relationships – personal and professional growth and satisfaction.

Relationship building takes time because it’s built on a foundation of mutual trust. And mutual trust develops through a shared spirit of generosity. And yes, relationships can be developed through social media online (and then nurtured offline whenever possible). But that takes time and what the village elder was saying, as was the NYTimes article, rushing through life adding up your numbers won’t get you what you want in life – friends and colleagues who support one another.

If you are out looking for a job or career change or seeking to grow your own business chances are that your first outreach is to people you know, rightly so. Those people can be considered your first degree of separation – you know them, they will pick up the phone when you call, and you can ask them for something. You have a relationship with them.

Now let’s take a look at our connections through social media. It’s easy to confuse large numbers of followers on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook as something more meaningful than what they really are: people who think you have something to say and they want to keep abreast of what you and perhaps thousands of others are saying. It’s all very flattering and makes us all feel good. And in some situations, these online connections can grow into real relationships, whether they remain online or move offline. But it’s important to keep your eye on the ball – creating more relationships that can fall into the category of first degree of separation – and not focus on just the stats.

We all know how to make friends – get to know them, share some laughs and good times and generally support each other. Building relationships around business is pretty much the same. You want to:

1. Maintain a spirit of generosity. Give without thinking about how you can personally profit from it – whether it’s information, time, assistance. I have always talked about the Law of Reciprocity. Whenever I give to others I know that whenever possible that person will try to give back when they can. It’s not always a quid pro quo but it never fails to result in a positive experience.

2. Take time away from the computer and make sure you are meeting up with people in the real world. Transactions usually take place in real time and in the real world, whether face to face or on the phone. There is nothing that can replace the connection you make when you can personally shake hands and look them in the eye or hear the tone in their voice during a conversation.

One way to take your online friends offline – create a meet-up in your own town. Out of town? Let your contacts know and make time for some face to face.

3. Call even when you are not selling or asking for anything. In fact, call because you don’t want anything from them. By continuing to maintain contact you are gaining more insight into the other person, learning more about their business, and understanding their needs. Sharing information when you are not looking to gain something helps build a level of trust over time. And trust is what relationships and friendships are based on.

So take the time and move toward that third cup of tea and enjoy the status of friend.

What other pointers do you have for taking relationships into the real world?

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

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Do I Need A Personal Brand? If So, How Do I Know It’s Working?

Mary Rosenbaum | March 19th, 2010

An interesting question came up in a conversation I had last night with an HR representative of a major corporation: “Why is it important for people who work in corporations to have their own personal brand? After all, doesn’t the company itself have a brand?”

Corporations have their own brand and you, as a representative of that corporation express this brand wherever you go, whether it’s dealing with internal or external clients.

Yet each of you brings something unique to the table whenever you promote or provide the services your company offers. Your brand, the way you communicate with others, the way you do your work, the way your successes and failures are viewed by those who matter, have tremendous implications on your career. Understanding the underpinnings of your brand, what makes you unique and what helps you stand out enables you to create your career by design.

Consequently, it’s important to understand how you are viewed, both internally as well as by the outside world. These are some questions you should be asking yourself.

1. Is my reputation, what people think of me, equal to how I view myself?

2. How do I really want people to think of me and to respond to me?

3. Have I been able to differentiate myself and what I do in a positive and productive way?

4. Is the way I am viewed going to help me achieve my professional goals?

5. Is my reputation helping or hurting my work and my future?

6. Is my personal brand (my vision, purpose and values) in alignment with that of the company?

Understanding your personal brand is integral to obtaining satisfaction from your job, enjoying the company you work for, and in obtaining the career goals you set for yourself. Having a strong personal brand plays a critical role in your success in managing your career.

So ask yourself these hard questions. If the answers are not what you expect then you have some work to do; it may be difficult but worth it.

How do you measure whether your personal brand is working for or against you? I would love to hear from you.

Follow me on Twitter @careersguru

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years, Mary Rosenbaum helps entrepreneurs and careerists position themselves so they can stand out from the competition. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

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Blog Your Way to Success

Mary Rosenbaum | March 13th, 2010

In my last post on Social Media Marketing I discussed the importance of using a blog in your business whether you are an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, a small business owner or a professional interested in career management. In addition to increasing the penetration in your particular market, the benefits of blogging are many and include developing brand recognition, exhibiting expertise, creating greater inbound traffic to your website and business, and learning about the needs of your target audience (see an earlier post To Blog or Not to Blog for more insights).

According to Hubspot, companies that blog get 55% more visitors and 97% more inbound links. So if you want to grow your business and create greater credibility the time you spend on this endeavor will be well worth it.

Here are some typical questions, and hopefully some answers, on how to get started building a blog.

1. How can I develop the content?

Research and Read- You can’t get into the conversation if you don’t know what it’s about.

– Join those groups on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook whose members are people you want to reach – potential clients, customers, employers, and those who influence the decision makers.

– Read the postings on these sites and learn about the issues, needs and wants of this community. What questions are being asked? What is being addressed? What is missing from the conversation that you believe would add value to this audience? Which topics are over-exposed?

– Which links are being resent and retweeted? What information and type of format resonate with your particular audience?

The research stage will provide you with ample opportunity to read and learn more about the community you want to join.

2. Once I have the content, then what?

– Make it relevant.

– Write as if you were having a conversation with someone.

– Be authentic – write about what you know and what you believe.

– Write about something you are excited about – excitement is contagious.

– Be generous with information.

– Always be on brand and on topic in every post.

– Always edit, edit, edit and then proof read your work.

3. How often should I write?

Put reading, research and writing into your daily or weekly calendar in the same way you schedule other appointments or meetings.

– Be consistent – write as often as you can, weekly, bi-weekly, bi-monthly.

4. How should I deliver the message?

By now you have seen many examples of ways to structure your blog postings. Although this is far from exhaustive, here are some ideas for structuring your content:

– Articles on how-to in your area of expertise.

– Provide resources and links that can help your readers.

– Provide your expert opinion along with the opinion of others on current news and events of the day.

– Discuss case studies or client issues you have successfully dealt with that might resonate with your audience.

– Connect your readers to articles, blogs, reports published by others.

– If applicable, write about aspects of your personal journey and how you got to here from there.

– Use video to deliver your message.

– Interview a thought leader in the industry.

– Use some combination of all of the above.

5. How do I get people to read what I write?

– Participate in your community of groups – comment on other postings, answer questions generously, establish credibility and visibility.

– Once you have gained credibility and trust, inform your groups whenever you publish a new post.

– Learn from each posting which subjects and styles resonate with your audience based on comments they provide, number of visitors to your blog, and retweets.

I know these lists are far from exhaustive. I welcome any additional ideas you have for creating a blog that is interesting, well read, and delivers the message of who you are and what your personal brand is all about.

Follow me on Twitter @careersguru

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Social Media Marketing is Here to Stay

Mary Rosenbaum | March 5th, 2010

When I started up my executive recruitment business in the early 80’s the only way to expand and develop my business was through real world marketing and by extension, word of mouth marketing. Much time was spent meeting with prospective clients, candidates, and those who influenced the decision makers. My marketing plan was centered almost exclusively on in-person meetings and presentations. Although my business grew over the 20 years I spent building it, I can only imagine the growth I could have achieved had social media marketing been around in those early years.

Real world marketing is still vital to growing your business and making those sales. However, in today’s world you must incorporate social media marketing in order to obtain many of the in person meetings and presentations that help you close the deal. Because consumers are inundated with messaging coming at them from all directions, they have developed screening mechanisms preventing old world marketing tools from being as effective as they once were.

What are the benefits of social media marketing?

– Build trust, credibility and relationships in the virtual world in far less time than in the real world.

– Reinforce your personal brand in ways that demonstrate your expertise – build brand recognition.

– Find and build a like minded community that enables you to learn new tools and share ideas.

– Engage your target audience across geographic borders without leaving the comfort of your keyboard.

– Convert virtual relationships into real world contacts easier than through cold calling or other previously relied upon methods of spreading the word – they already know you and what you can provide.

– Gain visibility in a more focused targeted way.

How do you start participating in the social media world?

– Create a blog that reinforces your brand and demonstrates your expertise – this is where you give away information that your potential clients/customers WANT to know about. Crafting your blog so it markets your expertise rather than sells your service is the key to success.

– Join Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to engage and communicate with your target audience as well as your like minded community. Use these networks as a way to disseminate your blog postings, share ideas with others in your field, and respond to questions in your area of expertise. This will help you will increase your universe of potential clients, get the word out and create word of mouth buzz.

– Participate and comment on other blogs that relate to your area of interest and expertise – demonstrate generosity as this often results in reciprocity.

What social media tools do you use to get the most visibility in your target market? Please share your ideas and comments with all of us.

My next posting will focus on how to write a blog that helps expand your following and your business.

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To Blog or Not to Blog, Benefits and Rules of Blogging

Mary Rosenbaum | February 1st, 2010

I am always being asked about the value of writing a blog. Is it worthwhile to spend the time especially since there have recently been a spate of articles on the proliferation of blogs and the diminishing value of their content? After all, how many different ways can similar ideas be presented and how do we know there are sufficient readers out there to make the time you spend writing worthwhile?

What would your purpose be in writing a blog? If you are an entrepreneur, a small business owner, a sole practitioner, or a careerist, the odds are that you want to grow your business, grow your reputation, gain greater visibility, and/or promote your career. What better way than to write about the issues affecting your clients or your industry in a way that helps your readers and provides them with some insight into how you think and what you know.

From a personal standpoint I know that writing a blog has solidified how people view me and my services in addition to generating new business. Writing and maintaining a blog enables me to:

1. Get my point of view out there for others to read and comment on

2. Convince or introduce people to new ways of thinking

3. Solidify my brand – what others think of me in their hearts and minds

4. Gets my name out there in front of people I may not have been able to reach otherwise

5. Provide other experts’ opinions and writings to my readers through links and references

6. Start a conversation and create a community with like minded people

7. Get input because I am always interested in learning from the experiences of others

In order to achieve these goals I make sure that I follow these rules when I post on my blog.

1. Don’t try to sell them anything. It should not be a sales piece for you or your business.
2. Offer information that would be valuable to your particular audience.
3. Be consistent, stay “on brand” to solidify how others view you and what you offer or do. If they expect you to write on particular topics, meet their expectations.
4. Maintain continuity and post regularly, if not every week then at least every other week.

5. Never bad mouth others (unless they are criminals or are already viewed as “bad guys” by the world).

When done correctly blogging can be a valuable tool to growing your career or business; but promoting your blog is critical to making the time you spend writing worthwhile. Using Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, as well as publishing on a variety of content related ezines you increase your readership exponentially.

Are there other benefits you derive from writing a blog? Are there other rules you adhere to when writing your posts? What other ways do you promote your blog?

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Does Your Business Need a Tune Up?

Mary Rosenbaum | January 27th, 2010

If you own a car you know that like it or not your car will need to visit the shop for a tune up sometime this year. Whether your car is a 2009 BMW or a 1995 Dodge for it to function at peak performance the engine has to be checked out and cleaned, the oil changed, the tires rotated, and the windshield wipers replaced. When was the last time you gave your business a tune up?

If you want your business to operate at maximum efficiency – getting new clients, getting former clients to come back, getting the type of word of mouth that helps generate revenues as well as buzz – then it’s probably time for a check up. Here is a check list I use periodically to help ensure that the time I spend growing my business is time well spent.

1. What is your reputation – what are people saying about you and your business?

Is what you hear in line with your brand, with what you expect others to think about you?

This is a great time of year to check in with your former clients to gain a better understanding of :

– whether you delivered on what you promised

– how the work you did for them impacted their business or their lives

– what needs they currently have and how you can help

This should provide you with some good information (possibly some great quotes to use in the future) as well as demonstrate your concern and follow through with your clients.

In my experience following up with past clients has always resulted in new business – either repeat business from my client or a new referral. Additionally, continued input on how you are performing is always a prerequisite to continued success.

2. Is the message you are sending still resonating with your target audience?

Have the needs of your audience changed? Even if it’s a slight shift are you capturing the need in your pitch, your presentation, your power point, your blog, your tweets, and your website? Try to look at your website with new eyes. In fact, ask others to review it to see if it’s still current. A website has to be dynamic and change with the changing times; as does the messaging you put out through social networks or through any formal presentations you make.

3. Are you using the right tools to get your message out? Are you in the right places?

Yes, marketing in general and social media in particular can be very time consuming but if done properly it can provide a lot of visibility for you and your company. That’s why targeting the right audience and focusing your message on that audience makes it easier for you to get your hands around where you should be spending your time selling. The world is a big place, but a laser focus enables you to figure out where you have to be to get in front of those people who need to know about you. So take a look at where you spend your time speaking, blogging, tweeting, linking in. What return have you gotten on your investment of time? As I said earlier in this blog, change can be good and is often a necessary part of growing a business. A constant review of your communications plan is vital to ensure that you are reaching the right people at least most of the time.

So even if the service light doesn’t come on and you think you are firing on all cylinders, get that tune up so that you are working more efficiently with better focus and better results.

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Staying Authentic and On Brand for the New Year

Mary Rosenbaum | December 17th, 2009

This is a great time of year to take stock and see if what you are doing is working for you and if it’s not, what needs to be done. For me what I do professionally is so much a part of who I am that my resolutions blend between the personal and the professional. So these are some of the beliefs I live by and the resolutions I am making so I can stay on track as a human being, a coach, a strategist, and an entrepreneur.

1. Create the life I want to live and make it happen.

2. Keep my plate full because the more I do, the more I can do.

3. Do the work I love. I know when I do work I love I am excited about it and that excitement is contagious and has a magnetic quality that brings people to me.

4. Work with people that appreciate my work and from whom I can learn to be better at what I do.

5. Always give clients 100% of what I can deliver and know that that is what they deserve.

6. Keep change a constant in my life by looking for new ways to grow and new things to learn so that I stay motivated and energized.

7. Be open and say yes to new possibilities, new alliances, and new relationships.

8. Never compromise my values even though sometimes it seems like it’s the easier way to go.

Happy Holidays to all my readers and let’s hope of a New Year that’s filled with health, promise, excitement, prosperity, and happiness.

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