As Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” This is certainly no less true today – especially on line. As personal branding and online identity strategists, I and many of my colleagues recognize this, and can point you toward several useful strategies for increasing your Google Quotient. Still, when a knowledgeable colleague asked about how to handle social networking decisions, I described my own j...

At a recent personal branding seminar, I identified Twitter as one of my favorite brands. This drew blank stares from people who had not heard of it. On the other hand, it drew good natured but relentless ribbing from those who had; so, I endured their suggestions to tweet my lunch menu and break times, and not to fail to tweet when I boarded my return flight. Despite the running commentary, people actually did begin to gr...

Perhaps no skill set is more critical to managing your career and your personal brand than networking. It is indeed your passport to success! Yet, in my experience, I’ve noticed that networking is something too many people get wrong: whether it’s by being fearful and getting tripped up when they venture out, or by taking an aggressive approach to promoting themselves and whatever else they’re selling. Clearly there is a ne...

Being an avid Men’s Health reader, I’ve nearly devoured my January/February issue with advice for making 2008 a great year. I admit to being a little disappointed with the career section. It offered good advice on ways to improve your job today, how to double your salary in two years, and the eight best days to take off work – but seemed pretty short range in terms of career impact.On the other hand, there was better long-t...

This morning, as I was making myself a cup of tea, it occurred to me that the experience is way better than any of the supermarket brands of my youth. Tazo tea is a brand that not only embodies quality but is packaged in a way that exudes it! It then occurred to me that career success increasingly requires standing out from the “supermarket shelf” of commoditized career descriptors. For example, one of my past clients had a...

Recently, I've been working with outplacement clients who want to pursue sustainable careers; that is, to work in socially or environmentally responsible companies performing activities that make a difference in the world. I think this is laudable and hope they are able to find their ideal jobs and enjoy long tenures doing work that really matters to them.Actually, though, virtually all displaced workers want sustainable ca...

In their book, Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand, William Arruda and Kirsten Dixon make the point that the lines between work and personal life are blurring; they say: “The BlackBerry, ubiquitous Wi-Fi, and mobile phones have created a ‘work anytime, anywhere’ world. This blurring of boundaries between professional and personal life will only increase as being in the office becomes less and less neces...

I just read an article about how much Americans hate their jobs. Turns out that less than 45% of individuals aged 45 to 54 have these feelings. With workload noted as a major source of distress, my first thought was of work-life balance, a problem of job stress as much as a matter of time management. No picnic either way. As many folks have interpreted it, having balance between work and life means having more time for l...

Whenever I talk about personal branding with mid-career people, I often notice a look that suggests just a bit of skepticism, even if they seem to be agreeing. I can almost hear them thinking, “Personal branding? At my age?” You may remember that the idea of personal branding was first promoted by Tom Peters in his landmark, 1997 article in Fast Company. You may have read it and applied it to your career. Or maybe not....

As a career coach, I’ve long been a proponent of helping people determine who they serve and the value they produce in their work. In fact, I think there are several fundamental questions that you need to answer to establish a vision for your career and life. Usually the answers point to more of the right brain activities in your life and work. If you’re asking and answering useful questions to guide your career, great!...