Personal Branding: Can you help me find my brand?

I spoke to you at the assembly here at Claflin University, and I asked you some things, but was afraid to ask the rest out loud, my question is I am applying for the Honors College and I need a brand statement in order to get in, just in case I get interviewed.

My skills that I have obtained so far are communications skills, I have interpersonal skills but, that's too few to name can you help me find my brand? To get in I have to demonstrate ongoing leadership skills, be academically successful, and develop service for the community.

--college freshman, Claflin University

Since I spoke at Clafin last month, I’ve gotten well over a hundred requests for help with personal branding and brand statements so, I’m writing a series of articles that will help get everybody started. There are 9 questions at the end of the first article that you need to answer in writing.

This will help you with the first step which is Authenticity. Before you can make a bankable statement about who you are and what you bring to the table you have to KNOW who you are and what you have to offer that makes people say “Wow!” All of this has to be authentic..

Who are you? I mean the REAL you. Are you cool with the real you?

While you are working on those questions in the article, practice telling a story that PROVES you are what they are looking for. If they want you to demonstrate something, that means prove it. Proof is one of the seven steps we’ll talk about in the personal branding series.

Since you know that they are looking for leadership skills, strong academic background, and community service you need to be able to tell a SHORT personal story demonstrates each thing they are looking for or one SHORT story that will show all three.

The methodology that most interviewers are looking for nowadays is called the STAR method.

• Situation/Scenario — What was the deal? What was going on?
• Task — What were you working on? What were you supposed to accomplish?
• Action — What did you do? What didn't you do? (ex. I didn't panic)
• Result — What happened? What didn't happen? (ex. The restaurant didn't burn down.)

Take this method, throw in a dash of humor, keep it brief, and you should have powerful story. A powerful, well told story is worth a gazillion dollars. It keeps you from saying something corny like, “Well…I’m a good leader, my grades are excellent, and I like to volunteer.” Yawn.

It doesn't matter where the story is from. It could be church, school, work, clubs, activities, or anything. (Almost.)

Million-Dollar Question: What if I don’t have a story like that?

Then you aren’t thinking creatively enough or you have some work to do. After meeting you, I would have to say that if a story or experience isn’t coming to mind then it’s a lack of creativity on your part.

Come on, man. Seriously. You’re applying to the Honor’s College. You must be an outstanding student with leadership experience or you wouldn’t even be in the running, right?

Work on a story or two and practice them in front of the mirror. Then go to the interview, kill them with your great story, and have fun in the Honor’s College.

Duncan Nugget #65: Warning Signs

"It is only after long-term lack of recognition that simple signals and obvious warning signs become complex challenges and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Work on problems as soon as they begin to develop.”

– Al Duncan
The Millennial Mentor™

Facebook Banned: Chatting with your teacher is a no-no.

Imagine the you are a teacher checking out your wall on Facebook when you notice that several of your students have posted messages. They are all asking you about the same thing: a class project.

This scenario seems simple enough, right? Well...if you happen to be a teacher working in The School District of Elmbrook (Wisconsin) boy, oh boy, are you in trouble.

An article that I read in The School Library Journal explains that, as of February 10, 2009 "communication between staff and students via social networking and IM" has been banned.

What about a student calling a teacher? According the article, "not a problem."

Huh?

Mega-Millennials™ Chris Brown and Rihanna: Emotions Gone Wild!

"When emotions fill the room, logic goes out the window."

--Al Duncan
The Millennial Mentor™

Herpes?

Choking, bites, and bruises?

A sincere apology?

Emotions gone wild!

A personal brand destroyed…

The dream millennial couple bites the dust. Millions of fans and millions of dollars lost. It’s been two weeks and this story still has a long way to go before it plays all the way out.

Millennials are shocked and outraged. Some are in disbelief.

Some tried to make a joke out of it. (There was a mass text message going around. “Watch out for celebrity men with the last name Brown. They beat their women. James Brown, Bobby Brown, Chris Brown…”)

Worst of all, some Millennials are just numb. This is the response I got when I asked a young guy at the grocery store about it:

“I’m tellin’ you... I’ve seen this type of thing so much that it don’t even phase me anymore. I’m sayin’, it’s messed up, it ain’t right, but it don’t phase me.”

I was in the middle of writing an article on Mega-Millennial™ Michael Phelps and his personal-brand-threatening, bong fiasco (I put that on hold to write this) when my inbox started crying out for mercy. The subject lines of all 147 emails had four words in common: “Chris Brown and Rihanna.”

IT’S A SAD THING

“Mr. Duncan, how you feel about that CB Rihanna thing?"

--one of the 147 emails that hit my inbox

Sad and disappointed.

I love young people and I hate to see negative stories like this.

I love my mom, my wife, and my three sisters. If anybody puts their hands on them (or any of my close female friends), there will be PROBLEMS.

I love my father, my three brothers, and my son. I would be embarrassed and angry to see them (or any of my male friends) do something stupid and cowardly like that. Again, there would be problems. If your better half makes you that mad then just leave, man. Just leave. (The same thing goes for women.)

I don’t know what was going on in that car—or in their relationship for that matter—but Chris Brown and Rihanna (if possible) should’ve just walked away.

I know, easier said than done, right?

No excuses. Everybody has hard choices to make.

If you need some help with managing your emotions there are nine articles on emotional mastery in the archives on my website and here’s a free e-book on anger management.

EMOTIONS GONE WILD

A few years ago I was being interviewed on a college TV station and the host asked me, “What is a common problem that young people all around the country have to deal with?”

My response was, “They have the same challenge that everybody has—managing their emotions. Emotional mastery is essential for success.”

Regardless of what happened with this “Chris Brown-Rihanna thing”, this is a case of Emotions Gone Wild. That’s the title of one of my popular college programs. The program provides insight and strategies for dealing with emotions, pressure, and stress. I constantly reiterate the following point:

When emotions fill the room, logic goes out the window. 99.9% of the stupid stuff we all do happens during an E3 (excessively emotional event).

Unprotected sex. Falling for a scam. Spending more money than you meant to. Beating up your kids. (I’m talking about more than a little spanking. I know they’re bad, but are they THAT bad?)

Spittin’ poisonous words to a loved one. Snappin’ on your boss and of course, puttin’ yo’ hands on a woman (or man).

Emotions gone wild.

Whether or not it’s happened to you, you at least know somebody that it has happened to.

MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION: Will you avoid letting your emotions go wild?

Yes…IF you have self-awareness and self-discipline.

This Chris Brown and Rihanna thing has sparked new and needed discussions about domestic violence. MTV even had a special show dedicated to the whole issue.

It should, however, also serve as a reminder about two of the key ingredients to a happy and successful life: self-awareness and self-discipline. Without these two keys you cannot master your emotions and you end up with stories like Chris Brown and Rihanna.

Emotions gone wild.

Boomers and Millennials Are the Same?

Cool (and humorous) blog post that shows how much the Boomers and Millennials have in common.

Generational Smackdown: Baby Boomers vs. The Millennials | TerryStarbucker.com

The Millennials: Moving The Country Leftward - Hotline On Call

The Millennials: Moving The Country Leftward - Hotline On Call

Millennials Cope with Job Loss: Innovation and a Walk on the Bright Side

"Being laid off isn't necessarily a negative thing. It's an opportunity to find something that'll inspire you and make you happy in the long run."

--Chris Hutchins
Creator of LaidOffCamp

Unless you live under a rock--on Mars--you've heard about the crushing unemployment rate. There has been a good deal of speculation as to what effect this will have on the Millennials.

Will they be able to stay in school?

Will they stop spending their money? (But aren't grad school, college, and high school students broke? Define broke.)

Will they lose their jobs?

I've seen examples of yes and no answers to all three of those questions. Regardless of the example, however, the result has always been the same: Millennials being innovative and looking on the bright side. There are some lessons to be learned from watching Millennials cope with job loss.


LAID OFF CAMP

This morning I read an article called Generation Y Goes To Camp For Bay Area Job Search. The article outlines how Chris Hutchins, a recently laid off Millennial who did NOT head for the unemployment line, created something called LaidOffCamp. It's a new spin on the traditional job fair. It's being held March 3rd 2009 at (are you ready for this?) the Temple nightclub in San Fransisco. This is a job fair on Red Bull.

I can hear some people snickering. But, according to the article, excitement about LaidOffCamp is spreading rapidly via Twitter, wikis, blogs, and Facebook. More than 3000 people have visited the website and 300 have registered to attend. This is cool. Instead of moping and crying "woe is me", make something happen.

Be innovative. Take a walk on the bright side. Problem solved. Could it all be so simple?


A TALE OF TWO SISTERS

Two young ladies (sisters, Aisha and Juanna) in the Achievers program at the Butler Street YMCA in Atlanta--where I teach soft skills and chair the Steering Committee--called me the week before last during school hours.

"What are y'all doing out of school?"

"We only had a half day so, we're out looking for jobs."

"I thought y'all were working at the hospital."

"We were but we got laid off."

"Aw, man...sorry to hear that."

"That's cool, Mr. Duncan. It was time to move on anyway. Now we can find a job making more money and doing something we actually like."

Huh?!

Can you imagine a GenX'er or a Boomer saying something like that? (I know...bills...responsibilities...family, right? Hold that thought. We'll come back to it in a second.)

That's pretty much the mindset of millennials everywhere. And that's why I love'em. Be innovative. Take a walk on the bright side. Problem solved. Could it all be so simple?


INNOVATION AND THE BRIGHT SIDE

Bills.

Responsibilities.

Family.

Three immovable objects in life. Everybody, including the Mega-Millennials™, has them in some shape, form, or fashion. If you're not careful, they will kill your innovation and darken any bright side.

This isn't about the over-used phrases, "be creative" and "think positive". This is about getting better...constant elevation...making a way out of no way. Here are some lessons to be learned from Chris Hutchins, Aisha, and Juanna:

1. Constantly ask yourself, "How can this situation make me better?"
2. DO what you CAN do and stop focusing on what you can't do. (That's worth millions.)
   
3. Put a new twist on something old. (Man, are we having this for dinner again?!)

Be innovative. Take a walk on the bright side. Problem solved.

Million Dollar Question: Could it all be so simple?

Yes. Not all of the time, but probably a lot more often than most people think.

Identity Theft Tip 5

Did you know that 18-29-years-old is the group most at risk for identity theft? Every 12 seconds another person in this age group has their identity stolen.

HINT: Get some identity theft protection.

The Mega-Millennials™ Top 20 - (Top Millennial Millionaires and Billionaires)

Who are The Mega-Millennials™?

There are hundreds of thousands, of extremely successful young people. But there are some that have reached a level of success, achievement, fame, and fortune that few people will ever attain. They are The Mega-Millennials™.

These ultra-successful, wealthy people, born between 1980 and 2000, are self-made multi-millionaires, record breakers, trendsetters, cultural icons, social media giants, recipients of huge inheritances, and exceptional entrepreneurs with a world-wide reputation that extends beyond their profession and generation. All of this before the age of 30. (Of course, none of this keeps them controversy-free.)

Here are the Top 20 Mega-Millennials™:

Ranking Process:
Fortune Factor: 1 point for every 1 million dollars in net worth.
Fame/Influence Factor: 10 points for every person out of 100 random people that would know the name of the millennial or the millennial's company. (This is my best guess of course. So, don't get all bent out of shape, okay?)
Mega Status: Fortune Factor plus Fame Factor equals Mega Status.
(???): Needs to be verified.


The Mega-Millennials™
The Top 20
(Hey! Did I miss somebody? Is there someone who doesn't deserve to be here? Inaccuracies? Let me know in the comments.)


1. Yang Huiyan
Category: Royalty, Inheritance
Country Gardens Holdings, Mainland China's Richest Person
Fortune Factor: 7400 Estimated net worth: $7.4 billion
Fame/Influence Factor: 10 Recognition: 1/100
Mega Status: 7410
Born: (Month and day ?) 1981


2. Mark Zuckerburg
Category: Entrepreneurs
Founder of Facebook, world's youngest billionaire
Fortune Factor: 1500 Estimated net worth: $1.5 billion
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 2500
Born: May 14, 1984


3. Albert von Thurn und Taxis
Category: Royalty, Inheritance
German Prince, Real Estate, Art, Tech Company (inherited)
Fortune Factor: 2300 Estimated net worth: 2.3 billion
Fame/Influence Factor: 10 Recognition: 1/100
Mega Status: 2310
Born: June 24, 1983


4. Fahd Hariri
Category: Royalty, Inheritance
Construction, Banking, Media holdings (inherited), furniture design studio
Fortune Factor: 2300 Estimated net worth: $2.3 billion
Fame/Influence Factor: 0 Recognition: 0/100
Mega Status: 2300
Born: (month and day ?) 1981


5. Raven-Symone
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Actress, R&B/Pop Singer, and dancer
Fortune Factor: 400 Estimated net worth: $400 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1400
Born: December 10, 1985


6. Beyonce Knowles
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Grammy Award Winner, R&B Singer, Record Producer, Actress
Fortune Factor: 315 Estimated net worth: $315 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1315
Born: September 4, 1981


7. Lebron James
Category: Professional Sports & Athletes
All-Star Basketball Player in the NBA
Fortune Factor: 270 Estimated net worth: $270 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1270
Born: December 30, 1984


8. Gisele Bundchen
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Brazilian Super-Model, actress
Fortune Factor: 150 Estimated net worth: $150 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1150
Born: July 20, 1980


9. Serena Williams
Category: Professional Sports & Athletes
Professional Tennis Player, most career earnings for female athletes
Fortune Factor: 100 Estimated net worth: $100 million (???)
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1100+ (???)
Born: September 26, 1981


10. Justin Timberlake
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Grammy Award Winner, Emmy Award Winner, Pop singer-songwriter,
record producer, dancer, actor
Fortune Factor: 100 Estimated net worth: $100 million (???)
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1100 (???)
Born: January 31, 1981


11. Hindi Hariri
Category: Royalty, Inheritance
Construction, Banking, Media holdings (inherited)
Fortune Factor: 1100 Estimated net worth: $1.1 billion
Fame/Influence Factor: 0 Recognition: 0/100
Mega Status: 1100
Born: (month and day ?) 1984


12. Keira Knightly
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
English film and television actress, Pirates of the Carribean
Fortune Factor: ??? Estimated net worth: ??? 2008 Earnings: $32 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1000+ (???)
Born: March 26, 1985


13. Miley Cyrus
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Singer, songwriter, actress
Fortune Factor: 50 Estimated net worth: $50 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1050
Born: November 23, 1992


14. Michael Phelps
Category: Professional Sports & Athletes
16-time Olympic Gold Medal Winner, greatest swimmer of all-time
Fortune Factor: ??? Estimated net worth: $50 million (???)
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1000+ (???)
Born: June 30, 1985


15. Alica Keys
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Grammy Award Winner, Singer-songwriter, pianist, cellist, actress
Fortune Factor: ??? Estimated net worth: ??? 2008 Earnings: $15 million
Fame/Inflluence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1000+ (???)
Born: January 25, 1981


16. Daniel Radcliff
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Bristish actor, Harry Potter
Fortune Factor: 29 Estimated net worth: $29 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1029
Born: July 23, 1989


17. Maria Sharapova
Category: Professional Sports & Athletes
Russian Professional Tennis Player
Fortune Factor: ??? Estimated net worth: ??? Earnings 2008: $26 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 950 Recognition: 95/100
Mega Status: 1000+ (???)
Born: April 19th, 1987


18. Carrie Underwood
Category: Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Grammy Award Winner, country pop singer-songwriter, winner season 4 American Idol
Fortune Factor: ??? Estimated net worth: ??? 2008 earnings: $9 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 900 Recognition 90/100
Mega Status: 900+ (???)
Born: March 10, 1983


19. Roger Federer:
Category: Professional Sports & Athletes
Professional Tennis Player, Richest player in tennis history
Fortune Factor: 150 Estimated net worth: $150 million (???)
Fame/Influence Factor: 700 Recognition: 70/100
Mega Status: 850 (???)
Born: August 8, 1981


20. Ronaldinho
Category: Professional Sports & Athletes
Brazilian footballer (soccer player)
Fortune Factor: ??? Estimated net worth: ??? Earnings: $37 million
Fame/Influence Factor: 700 Recognition: 70/100
Mega Status: 700+ (???)
Born: March 21, 1980



Close, but not quite

Aymin Hariri
Category: Royalty, Inheritance
Construction, Banking, Media holdings (inherited), Epok (software company)
Fortune Factor: 2300 Estimated net worth: $2.3 billion
Fame/Influence Factor: 0 Recognition: 0/100
Mega Status: 2300
Born: 1979


Chad Hurley
Category: Entrepreneurs
Creator of YouTube
Fortune Factor: 300 Estimated net worth $300 Million (shared with co-founder Stephen Chen)
Fame/Influence Factor: 1000 Recognition: 100/100
Mega Status: 1300
Born: 1977



Note: Rankings per category coming soon!
Actors, Celebrities, & Entertainers
Entrepreneurs
Professional Sports & Athletes
Royalty, Inheritance
Social Entrepreneurs

Sources:
Forbes Celebrity 100
Forbes Billionaires
Forbes 400
Wikipedia

Personal Branding: Developing Your Personal Brand Pt.1

How to Start
Developing Your Personal Brand

(adapted from
My Success Journal: For Young People)

“Hey! Why is my medicine so expensive this time? It’s usually a lot cheaper than this. What’s up with that?”

“Mr. Duncan, you normally get generics, but your doctor instructed us to give you the name brand medicine this time.”

“Does it do anything different? I mean, it costs twice as much. Is it twice as good?”

“Not really, it’s just the fact that it’s name brand. The brand is what you’re paying for.”

—A conversation between Al Duncan and the pharmacist

If I asked you to think of your favorite place to shop, different images and words would immediately begin popping into your head. I could also ask you to think about any company or successful person you know and once again images and words would immediately come to mind.

Those words and images aren’t popping into your head by accident. Successful people, companies, and organizations spend a great deal of time, energy, and resources (that includes money) to make sure that people are thinking certain things about them.

They want people to think these things so that they will associate or do business with them. This is known as branding. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product, service, or individual.

If you never thought about or worked on your personal brand, now is a good time to get started. It’s a crazy, competitive world, especially if you’re in the Millennial Generation.

Also known as Generation Y, the Millennial Generation is estimated to be--depending on whose data you use--between 85-95 million strong in the U.S. alone! That’s the largest generation in the history of the world. The Millennials have changed the game forever and if you want to excel at the game of success, you had better have a strong personal brand.

Your earning ability is largely determined by the perception people have about the quality and value of your service and your character. That means that your personal brand could be the difference between you getting the internship, scholarship, job, or promotion instead of someone else getting your internship, scholarship, job, or promotion.

Your personal brand will be the difference between a venture capitalist investing in your business or someone else’s. Your brand could even be the difference between you getting a date or not! (Who wants to go out with someone whose brand is: complete loser?)

The bottom line is:

Your personal brand has a huge impact on whether or not someone will associate or do business with you.

So, let’s work on your personal brand right now. It starts with Authenticity, the first step in my most requested college program called Get on the BRANDwagon™: Rising to the Top in a Crazy, Comepetitive World. Below you will find 9 questions. The answers will help you lay the foundation for your personal brand.

Understand that this is going to take a little time so, keep checking back because I’ll be writing a ton of articles on personal branding over the next few weeks. In fact, I'll walk you through all seven steps from my program on personal branding.

With your strong personal brand you'll be poised to Rise to the Top in a Crazy, Competetive World.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you are writing your answers:

It’s a personal choice. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions.

Keep it professional. Stick to answers that will help you achieve your goals. I know you want to be the coolest person ever, but trust me—I know from personal experience—being paid and successful is very cool.

It’s not permanent. Your brand doesn’t have to be written in stone. You may want to change things down the road and that’s okay. If there's a problem with your personal brand then work on it, but eventually you are going to have to settle on a core brand that you can build on. Consistency is one of the keys to a successful personal brand.

Keep it real. Seriously. Just be yourself. It’s okay to put down things you are striving for, but don’t be a faker. Authenticity is at the core of any successful personal brand.

Have fun. Relax. I know a lot is riding on your brand, but that doesn’t mean that this has to be a pain in the butt. Well…at least not all the time.


QUESTIONS FOR BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

1. What is one thing you are passionate about?
2. What is one thing you want to do in life or die trying? (Keep it legal!)
3. What special qualities do you look for in a friend?
4. What do you like most about yourself?
5. What is your greatest gift to the world?
6. If you could have any type of career you want, what would it be?
7. What is the one thing you would do if you were 100% guaranteed to succeed?
8. In terms of your career and being successful, what is your greatest fear?
9. In one positive, professional word, how would you describe be yourself?

Congratulations. Now that you have taken the time to answer these questions (you did answer them didn’t you? In writing?) you’re well on your way to crafting a powerful personal brand. You'll learn how to craft these answers into the foundation for a strong personal brand in the next several articles on Personal Branding.


Up next: Part II - A few more things about Authenticity.
___________

Duncan Nugget #46: Diversity

“We all have different experiences, different ideas, and different perspectives. But we all share the same primary emotions.”

Al Duncan: The Millennial Mentor

Personal Development

Entrepreneurship - Financial Literacy - Money