Personal Branding Services

You are definitely NOT a sheep.

Moreover, this busy, competitive world offers (and demands) precision in how you articulate what you can do and who you are.

Time to claim who you already are. Time to brand.

Once Upon a Time

…personal brands and marketing were simpler to manage. You had a resume, you tried to guard and promote your personal reputation within a narrow industry/geographic set, and you fostered a few key relationships to develop .

You May Have Noticed

…that there is a lot more to it now. Competing in today’s market is a complex and difficult proposition. From managing your professional profile to navigating the digital world, to articulating your expertise and getting noticed among the crowd, you need to contend with:

Greater expectations from buyers in the market
More and wider competition for a shrinking number of roles
The opportunity and implications of global and instant access to information about you
Which tools (LinkedIn, Facebook etc) to leverage, which to manage risk, and which to ignore

A Fundamental Problem: The Marketing Gap

Somewhere in the middle of approaching and talking to 10,000+ senior managers and executives, working with hundreds of corporate clients, interviewing over 1,000+ candidates and facilitating the negotiation of 200 compensation packages, I had a profound realisation. (I actually had it in my first month on the job, but it took a while to define it.)

What I realized is that education, intelligence, talent, abilities and even performance are not directly tied to career success or employability. You absolutely need at least some of these things to be fully employed, and in demand over the course of your career. But there is something missing. And that is effective personal marketing. The Marketing Gap is what stands in the way of millions of people’s prosperity, security, self-actualization and joy in doing work they find meaningful and fun.

So, you are contending with more complexity, more risk, more at stake, and you have less time. More importantly, you likely aren’t a marketer, and if you are, understanding and articulating your own brand is still a difficult thing to do. In fact, it is one of the most important things you can do in the life of your career. And it involves so much more than “dusting off your resume.” And beyond identifying your offering for your market, comes the actual “marketing” – that is the activities that generate and win you profile, a stream of opportunity over the course of your career, however you define opportunity.

And the Marketing Gap is far broader than you might think. It involves:

Your ability to truly understand your assets
And from that your ability to select and pursue work that fits with your attributes
And from that, your ability to target work environments (organizations / companies / roles) that are a good fit with your style, strengths, values
It very much includes your ability and effectiveness to connect with and build rapport with people, in particular, decision makers and influencers
And formulate and articulate your ideas about how you fit with their needs and to describe in compelling ways what you have done in a way that gives you credibility
And of course, to package your offering in the form of cover letters, resumes, etc.
And to effectively use tools like LinkedIn

That is personal marketing. And most people aren’t equipped, or trained, or sadly, even aware of a lot of this. The world is full of intelligent, capable people with wonderfully unique abilities and marketable skills and they aren’t where they should be with their career. Far from it.

This bugs me. It keeps me up at night. And it has been my life mission since I quit my role in the search firm in ’98 to help close this marketing gap.

Personal branding isn’t glitz and wax polish

Nope. Of course, for some clients, it may feel uncomfortable to put the spotlight on their offering.

Authentic. Flows from your Unique Offering

Your brand emanates from what is already present and true. When defined, people who know you will instantly get it.

Market-Focused

We always bring it back to what your target market will respond to.

Credible & Story-Worthy

You have proof (experience, performance) to back up your position
You can (and should) be able to recount true stories that illustrate your brand in action.

Focused & Courageous

Your offering, when really defined, is sharper and narrower than you think. But, in that niche, you have very little competition.
Claiming one space means saying no to others. It takes a bit of courage to say “I am not that.”

Energizing

A Personal Branding Agency for You

Indeed, there are a LOT of resume writing services in the market. We see it differently though. The resume is an output & result of a bunch of other more important work. Hard work. And our clients are looking for the power and confidence and energy that comes from figuring out where they fit in the market. And in your marketing mix, you probably need more than a resume.

How Can We Help

We can’t (and won’t) wave a magic wand. Our clients need to be active participants in the process. First, because the data/inputs come from you – your experience, hunches and knowledge. Second, and perhaps more importantly, because the through the process, you develop self-knowledge, confidence and an understanding that could not be achieved without your involvement. In order for your brand to work, you need to own it and live it.

What we do

We do pull the threads together. By providing the process. And connecting the dots, and articulating ideas, and providing language, and validating what we see, based on our long experience, as viable market offerings.

What if I Just want a Resume

No problem. We can do that.

How can we Work Together

Different clients have different needs and budgets. Here are some options:

One-off interactions: You can call on us at a key moment and we will be there to provide our utmost support and value to your situation at that moment.
Retainer: Some clients like to pre-pay for a block of time in support of their professional goals (anything from getting promoted, to building their personal marketing foundation and profile, to having an advisor on call). We are happy to work on that retainer basis and schedule work time & follow-up on an as needed basis
Regular Frequency: We also offer monthly, quarterly or annual service packages for those clients who appreciate the accountability structure, regular interactions, and ongoing relationship. In fact, there is extra power in this kind of relationship in that the Important, but seemingly less Urgent activities tend to slip. A regular structure helps keep you moving towards your goals.

Define your Unique Offering

In-depth background analysis
Exploration of your strengths & interests
Zero-in on your Natural Markets

Package your Offering

Resume & Cover letter development
LinkedIn Profile Design and Writing

One-Off Interactions / Retainer

In-depth analysis of your professional experience to date