Top: CerebrateSV Hike at Mt. Madonna; Bottom: Publisher Mitchell Levy, Karen Kang (me) and Melbourne Social Media Expert Kate Kendall

I re-learned three things this weekend:

1. Listen to your heart
2. Your core values drive personal branding
3. Deep relationships with a small number of people trumps networking in numbers

I was honored to be a part of a small group of extraordinary people at CerebrateSV http://bit.ly/bCQhtH.  Over the last three days, on a mountaintop south of Silicon Valley, we talked about ourselves, our ideas and our passions.  The experience as one attendee put it was “magical.”

All the participants were hand-picked as much for their accomplishments as for their authenticity of spirit.  The gathering worked so well because we learned to trust one another in a short amount of time.

Rajesh Setty (http://twitter.com/UpbeatNow), the co-organizer with his beautiful wife Kavitha, is a man of incredible love for humanity.  We followed his lead to open our hearts and minds to new people and new possibilities.  I went into the CerebrateSV event with no preconceived notions.  Only that Rajesh said that I would not regret it.

I am amazed at what has transpired over 48 hours.  I have new friends who I know I will be connected to for life.  I have new business partners who will collaborate with me on projects that could not happen without their help.  I have speaking and consulting opportunities that would not have come my way otherwise.  But, all this came without expectation on my part or theirs.  That is the beauty of the Cerebrate concept.  Put a small number of people in a setting conducive to sharing and collaboration….and see what happens.

Just listen to your heart.  Follow your core values and let your brand flow from the inside out.  Deepen your relationships with shared experiences.  Let’s all CEREBRATE!

(Photos above from Darius Miranda; photos below from Raj Setty)

http://bit.ly/cQZpe3

1.  Identify your desired professional brand (what you want to be known for)

• The best personal brands provide value to others, and connect on a rational and on an emotional level
• Rational Value: Your job function, expertise, experience and evidence
• Emotional Value: Your personality, brand associations, likeability, trust factor, behaviors and image
• What are the skills, qualities and brand attributes of sucessful people inside and outside of your organization?

2.  Assess the gap between your desired brand and how you are perceived today (your reputation)

• What do others say about you?
• Consider getting formal or informal 360-degree feedback
• Prioritize your areas to improve and put them into your branding plan

3.  Create an “elevator pitch” that captures your unique brand positioning

• A 15-30 second answer to “What do you do?”
• Find ways to weave elements of your elevator pitch into a conversation without sounding canned
• Be clear, compelling and CONSISTENT

4. Develop key value messages by stakeholder

• Customize your value messages to the “care-abouts” of different audiences (such as CEO, CFO, department heads, team members and rest-of-world)

5.  Build a personal branding plan

• Focus and do a few things well!
• Your branding plan should include:
  • Areas to improve that affect brand perceptions
  • Challenges to overcome
  • Priority actions
  • Measurement

6.  Model and identify your Brand Ecosystem

• It’s not what you say, it’s what others say about you
  • Focus on the small number of people who have the greatest influence  on your career and reputation
  • Pre-sell yourself and vet your ideas with influencers before broadening your communications efforts
  • Build long-term relationships and your network of references and advocates (third-party endorsements are key to credibility)
• Provide 2-way value and be consistent in communications

7.  Implement your branding plan

• Credible, visible brands advance faster
• Don’t think of marketing your personal brand as promotion, think of it as education that benefits all.  Becoming a recognized brand enables the world to leverage your talents.
• Understand how to brand beyond words
  • The emotional response to your brand will come from personal interactions: how you behave, your vibe, your voice, your gestures, what you wear, your likeability, your confidence
  • What are image and behavior areas that affect your brand?
  • What are cultural differences in non-verbal branding?

8.  Leverage portable branding in the age of social media

• Establish and monitor your brand on Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
• Know that online mentions, photos and videos are part of your portable brand
• Help yourself and others to create a positive brand for you
  • Consistent use of profile words and profile photos
  • Provide value online through articles, micro-blogging, knowledge sharing, thought leadership and links

9.  Deliver on your brand promise

• Be true to your core values
• Align your messages, actions and image with your brand
• Deliver what you promise

10. Manage your brand as your most valuable asset

• Your brand is dynamic and is enhanced or undermined by your words, gestures and images every day
• Breaking the trust with your brand and stakeholders is hard to overcome
• Invest in your personal brand, and you’ll reap the rewards!

Recently while doing a Personal Branding seminar at Stanford University, I was was surprised by the overwhelmingly favorable reaction to my Karen Kang Consulting website video (http://kang.com/?page_id=2), which was shown as an example. Basically, the room full of Continuing Studies students, which included entrepreneurs, real estate brokers, job seekers, a policeman and a professional matchmaker, said that they LOVED IT!

The students said that the video humanized me on my website, that they felt they knew me, and understood what my JumpStart Branding methodology delivered. In short, I seemed approachable and gave them confidence I could do the job. These were the simple objectives I had for the video. And, it looks like I succeeded.

Is the video perfect? By no means! However, you don’t have to produce a “perfect” video to create a favorable impression, which is what a video should do. There are tons of low-cost videos on You Tube that do an amazing job of educating, entertaining or promoting. But, you need to understand who your audience is, what message you want to convey and do it in a style that is appropriate.

Has the video helped my business? Yes, I even signed a new client sight-unseen because the CEO said he saw the video on my site. I can’t guarantee the same results, but in an age where Personal Branding is key, video can be a great way to help people to get to know you.

P.S. I’d like to give a shout out to The Spring Agency http://TheSpringAgency.com, a digital agency in San Francisco, that transformed my talking-head video into a much-improved final product with graphics.

Myth #1: Social media and personal branding are synonymous.

It’s true that social media can amplify your personal brand quickly. But, whether it does it effectively is dependent on your decisions about the value you want your brand to deliver. For instance, are you trying to entertain or are you trying to educate about your area of expertise?

Personal branding also works offline, and has for years—it’s just that people didn’t call it that back then. A brand is a reputation. So make sure you act in accordance with how you want your brand to be perceived—in person or on the web.

Myth #2: Personal branding is about how you look and what you wear.

Wearing a power suit might send cues that you are a professional. But, if you are not smart and competent, you’ll soon be known as an “empty suit.” Looking the part can help with first impressions, but you need to deliver on the brand promise of value. Better than buying a new suit would be developing a unique skill set or deepening your professional experience.

Myth #3: The more people who follow or friend you, the stronger your personal brand.

Certainly numbers can help. But what’s more important is having the right friends with whom you have a real connection. A small number of strong relationships with the right people will always trump a mass of people who don’t really know or care about you. When I recommend people, it’s people who I like, know and trust.

Myth #4: Ubiquity builds a strong personal brand.

You don’t have to be on every social media platform. You don’t have to tweet 20 times a day. Be generous with your ideas, your expertise and your support of the community. But, don’t post just to post. It’s fine to let people know what you are doing (so birds of a feather can flock together), and to show some of your personality. Just don’t clog the system with mindless blather. On a regular basis, post something of unique value that adds credibility to your brand.

We are in a global recession of huge magnitude.  Businesses need to adapt their businesses in order to compete.  I am no exception.  Few companies have endless time and money to spend on positioning and brand strategies.  For smaller companies that need help but don’t have the budget, I’ve developed a new service offering for start-ups called The MINI.  It delivers rapid positioning and messages in a fast, bite-sized module. 

With high unemployment and job worries growing, there’s been a tremendous interest in personal branding to boost one’s career.  To answer that demand, I’ve developed a series of personal branding seminars that have gotten rave reviews from the likes of the National Retail Federation, Sun, Asian Business League and SD Forum.  Large companies are now asking me to do seminars for their managers and employees to help them position themselves inside and outside their companies.  It’s a win-win since personal branding helps employees get ahead in their careers, and companies enjoy the benefits of their employees gaining a stronger industry reputation.

As you can see, with tectonic shifts in the business environment, there is huge opportunity.  This example of how I’m leveraging change in my business is something every business can and must do.

Let me know how your business has taken advantage of the down economy to innovate and adapt.