I was introduced to a great resource on personal branding this week. William Arruda has a company called Reach. This guy is the real thing. He comes from the ad agency, Ogilvy, and has adapted the concepts of branding in the corporate arena to individuals. My thanks to Michel Neray for interviewing William Arruda as part of his "In Conversation" series. Michel’s company, Essential Message, is another great resource for solopreneurs.
The Reach website has some great resources if you are interested in what branding looks like for an individual. Who should be concerned about personal branding? Anyone who wants to be distinctive in the value that they provide, independent of whether their customers are internal to a company or external. Independent of whether you work for someone else or for yourself. Arruda’s definition of branding is "Unique Promise of Value."
Quick tip: Take an hour to read Arruda’s blog and get up to speed on the personal branding concepts. He talks about the concepts and then reinforces them with real life examples on the blog.
One of the resources is a tool called Reach360. For those of you in the corporate world, this is sort of like 360 feedback, but instead of the feedback being on your performance, it’s feedback on your brand (or lack thereof….). It’s an online survey tool that asks questions about your brand and then compiles the info into a report for you. All responses are anonymous–you don’t know who has responded to the survey or their answers. You fill out the same survey as a self-assessment.
Request: I’m trying out the tool and would like your help. Unlike in the corporate world of 360s, I can invite as many people as I want to give me feedback on my brand. If you feel you know me enough to provide feedback (e.g., you are a regular reader of this blog), send an email to carol@carolrossandassociates.com with the subject line: "Reach360" and I’ll include you in the survey. I’m entering email addresses into the tool on June 30th, so email me before then. Thanks in advance for being willing to play.