Liz Craig, Writer

Here’s another one of Guy Kawasaki’s five tips for personal branding success (again quoting from that BNET blog post I linked to in my last post):

Make Meaning, Not Money. If you’re into personal branding with the goal of making money, stop now. You will attract the wrong kind of people into your life. Instead, start with the goal of making meaning. What better way to align all your actions with your long-term goals. What kind of meaning will you make? Kawasaki suggests two ideas for inspiration: 1) right a wrong, or 2) prevent the end of something good. What will you do to make the world a better place?

“Life is empty and meaningless, and it doesn’t mean anything that life is empty and meaningless.”

Guy Kawasaki didn’t say that. The leader of my Forum weekend did. That’s the first cosmic two-by-four that hit me in the head at The Forum, an introduction to the Landmark Education curriculum. It sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? But all it’s really saying is that life has no inherent meaning — it’s a fresh, new canvas you can paint any way you want. Whatever the meaning in your life is, you choose it. You create it. You live it.

Early in my career, my life was all about getting together a great portfolio and winning creative awards so I could get more money at the next agency where I worked. These days, of course, I still need money, but winning awards is no longer what gives my life meaning. What does, though, is being in integrity with my own values and helping people create their own successes.

There’s more to meaning than what you do for a living. There’s the spiritual thrill that comes from seeing a great work of art or hearing a Mozart concerto played by splendid musicians. The warm feeling that bubbles up when you’re giggling with a toddler. The expansive feeling when you’re admiring the beauty of mountains or the ocean. The satisfaction you feel savoring a superbly prepared meal. Or the tender love you feel for your parent, your child, your mate, or your best friend. All of this has meaning on a personal scale.

On a broader scale, working for a cause in which you believe can imbue your life with tremendous meaning and the feeling that you’re making the world a better place. You might teach someone to read, coach a kids’ softball team, join an organization that champions the rights of the disabled, work for candidates whose views you share, join the choir at church, or serve on the City Council.

To me, the greatest exemplar of meaning-making is Mohandas Gandhi. His long-term goal was “to become a complete zero.” That meant reducing his ego desires to zero and acting as a purely selfless human being. He held no elected office and sought no fame, yet world leaders sought his counsel, and he commanded tremendous power — through nonviolent civil disobedience — to lead the Indian people in a symbolically important strike against the salt tax imposed by Great Britain. See the 1982 movie, if you haven’t before. Wow. Did he ever give his life — and the lives of his countrymen — meaning! Gandhi died in 1948, having lived to see India achieve independence the previous year.

Gandhi righted a wrong — the exploitation of the Indian people by Great Britain — and made the world a better place by peaceful means. Probably none of us will become the meaning-maker Gandhi was, but all of us, in our own ways, create meaning in our lives.

What gives your life meaning? I’d love to hear from you.

If there’s anyone in the world who knows a thing or two about personal branding, it’s Guy Kawasaki. He’s written a book called “The Art of the Start,” in which he suggests five principles of successful personal branding.

One of them, quoted in a BNET blog post, particularly intrigued me:

Make a Mantra. In three words or less, what are you all about? Kawasaki believes that mission statements are useless. He says, make a mantra instead. FedEx stands for “peace of mind.” What do you stand for, in the simplest terms?

At networking events, people are asked to give their “elevator speeches” or 30-second commercials. Most people describe what they do for a living. But a mantra is not about what you DO; it’s about what you’re ABOUT.

Okay, what you do is sell life insurance. But maybe what you’re about is “helping families be financially secure.” Or maybe your mantra is about an even higher level of consciousness, like, “to embody the peace I wish to see in the world.” That mantra, if it’s truly what you’re about, will infuse your every action and thought with an intention to create peace. The more meaningful your mantra is to you, the more you will internalize and reflect it.

When I was working in community theater, which I loved, my mantra was “creating community.” The community theater experience brought together everyday people, some with acting training, some without, some with family and social connections, some without, to put on a show. And as they worked together, they made fast friends. And they found that their contribution, as small or large as it might be, was valued. By working together, they could complete a puzzle with real meaning. That truly inspired me.

Now, what is my mantra? Well, right now, it’s “creating a lovely home” — for someone else, a potential buyer. I’ll keep mulling over my essential mantra during the process.

Can you get your life’s mission down to a mantra of three or fewer words? Try it. You’ll deepen your understanding of yourself and strengthen your presence in the world.

Me, an early bird? Fuhgeddaboudit! Never in my life have I ever leapt joyfully out of bed with a song on my lips before the real birds are awake. Until today. Well, minus the joy and the song. IOW, I managed to get up early and make it to a breakfast networking event.

This kind of behavior is entirely weird for me. Always has been. When I was in school, my mother — a happy, chirpy early bird — delighted in throwing open the door to my room at 6:30 a.m. and singing, “Good mooooorning! Rise and shine! Get up, get up, you sleepyhead!” Then she would grasp the windowshade, release it and let it flap, flap, flap loudly at the top. She greeted morning like a long-lost best friend. I didn’t, to say the least. One morning, while thrashing about to cover my head with the sheet, I accidentally kicked my dear mother in the head. Yes, it was accidental.

Theater hours used to suit me fine. Up by ten, in by noon, work a little, then get ready for the show, do the show, go to a bar ’til midnight or so, then do the same thing all over again. Perfect. Except I made zero money.

But theater hours are only a fond memory now. I need to get up and get out to network! Make connections! Get projects! Make money!

Amazingly, today I arose at 6:00 a.m. and appeared at a 7:30 breakfast event not far from home, with clothes on and everything. And I have another early networking thing on Thursday — this one about 20 minutes away — at 7:00 a.m.! Will I make it two days in the same week? Tune in Thursday and find out.

Someone at today’s breakfast (which I admit was quite productive) remarked that morning networking events were better than evening ones because anybody who got up that early was serious and not there simply to socialize.

I think that’s right. I had more good conversations this morning than at most evening networking events. So I’ll have to change my “system preferences” now, if I want to connect with the people most seriously interested in doing business. It might be worthwhile, despite the pain. Is it true that making money cures pain? I hope so.

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.”

Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can. -Lowell Thomas

He starred in “High Adventure With Lowell Thomas” for many years, traveling around the world to show America what life was like in remote, exotic parts of the globe.

Why should we build our personal brands? So when someone hears our name, they instantly think, “Ah, that’s the person who (does or is something specific).” Like, “Ah, Jane Frogge. She’s the one who helped my friend get a job last fall.” Or, “Ah, John Jantsch, that’s the guy who created Duct Tape Marketing.” Or, “Susan Gorman, she’s the one who pitched in to help with my son’s bake sale for Haiti relief.”

Oscar Wilde said, “The only bad publicity is an obituary.” But short of that, there are plenty of so-so or unfocused (even negative) “reviews” of you out there for people to hear, unless you’re consciously building your personal brand around positive attributes, accomplishments, or emotional values. What value can you be to others? That’s the question your personal branding should answer.

In this article, seven experts share their secrets for building their personal brands. Well worth reading.

On the other hand, I have a love-hate relationship with the word, “branding.” So many people use it to mean “a logo.” But it’s so much more than that. In this article, Josh Kaufman says “branding” is an overrated buzzword. But then he offers several tips as to how to improve your reputation, which is really what it’s all about.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank

When you were in high school or college, maybe you dreamed of going off with the Peace Corps and digging wells in Africa, or bringing technology to people in remote jungle villages. Those are worthy dreams. Did you follow them? If not, there’s still plenty you can do to make a difference. Right now, starting right where you are.

Start by thinking about ecology. I mean your inner ecology. Your thoughts — are they positive? If not, they could be harming your health, and you could be polluting the atmosphere around you with negativity. Whatever your mental attitude, it’s catching. Make sure you’re infecting people around you with a spirit of helpfulness, optimism and kindness. Everyone around you will benefit and feel uplifted.

But “improving the world” means something much bigger, doesn’t it? you ask. Sure, if you’re in a position to do that. Bill Gates, with billions at his disposal, can make enormous humanitarian projects happen by signing a check. I assume you don’t have BG’s economic resources. But you have plenty of human resources to draw on. Creativity, empathy, and energy, just to name a few. And those are all you need to start improving the world.

You don’t have to take on the whole world at once. Focus on the things you can control. Most of them reside within yourself. Your attitude, your appearance, your way of relating to others, your viewpoint on life.

Ask yourself what you think the purpose of life is. Is it to gain the admiration of rich people? To make a bundle and retire to Costa Rica? To have a mini-mansion with an Olympic-sized pool in the backyard? Or maybe to scramble up the career ladder as fast as possible?

I’m not going to say those ideas are wrong. But they’re all “gimme” things geared to puffing up your own ego. I will suggest that most of them won’t (a) make you happy; or (b) improve anyone else’s life to any great degree.

It appears that the thing that makes human beings happiest is helping and interacting meaningfully with other people. Like spending time playing with your child or grandchild. Checking in with elderly neighbors to see if they need anything at the grocery store. Volunteering to teach one person to read. Or even something simple, like picking up a discarded hamburger wrapper or soda can and throwing it in the trash. Seeing a clean city makes everybody feel more like keeping it that way.

Smiling at people. Really taking in what they have to say. Understanding the viewpoint of someone you disagree with. These are little things, but still, they can begin to make your world a better place to live.

So don’t wait a moment. Start thinking about small or big things you can do to help other people and your community. And start improving your world right now.

The correct answer, when asked if you can do something for a client, is “Yes, I can!”

So what if you’ve never done exactly that kind of project before? You have a working brain and all the research materials in the whole world, literally, at your fingertips!

By saying, “Yes, I can!” I have had interesting assignments ranging from casting talent for training videos to helping a business owner develop a strategic business plan. I’ve written humorous greeting cards and articles for specialty magazines to funeral directors (It’s actually fun!), and helped clients think through barriers and puzzling problems. Sometimes a client just needs a sounding board.

One client needed a brainstorming leader to help them win a big piece of business for a client who before this had given them only small assignments. “Yes, I can do that!”

As a result of the brainstorm sessions, we created a brand personality profile, complete with music, on DVD, and that company (a small graphic design firm) won a $1 million project for an international bioscience company away from a big international PR firm. Good thing, because I’d told the creative director I’d charge him half the fee, and when (notice, “when,” not “if”) the business came in, I’d charge him the other half.

Sometimes you gotta go out on a limb and trust your own abilities to reap rewards. I’m proud of what the small graphics firm and I did together. It was fun, challenging, and a true adventure. The DVD was so successful, when the three-minute presentation was over, the marketing director was getting misty. Wiping her eyes, she managed to say, “You KNOW who we are!” And awarded the small graphics firm the project. Now, that’s a success that’s better than any advertising award you can name

Next time someone asks you, “Can you do that?” unless it’s brain surgery or working on Rolls-Royce engines — obviously something you can’t do without considerable specialized training — say, “Yes, I can!” And go for it!

They say you always teach what you need to learn, and so I’m sharing below some things I’ve been taught and try to practice — not always consistently, I’m afraid — in the hope that these tips may be helpful to you.

It occurred to me that dating and doing business (two areas where I’d like better results) have a lot in common. How you think about yourself has a lot to do with success in both areas.

Let’s say you become interested in attracting a certain client. You do a little research on the client’s business and determine that the two of you would be a good fit. So you start “courting” the client.

You call and ask for a coffee date, just to get acquainted. If it goes well, you’ll meet at the client’s office to chat with a couple of other people on his or her team. And if everyone gets along and feels there’s mutual benefit in joining forces, you’re off on a new relationship. One that you hope will be long-lasting and profitable for both of you.

But let’s rewind for a minute. Before you have a solid relationship, you have to start out on the right foot.

When you approach your potential match, whether a potential date or a potential client, the response you get relies in great part on how you come across to the other person. You want your first impression to be positive, of course. So are you putting forward your best self? Not a phony, over-confident, back-slapping self (“The Pusher”), but a confident friendly, open self (“Genuine Me”)?

Your self-image is based on your habitual self-talk. What you believe about yourself shows, and it will either turn people on or turn them off.

Think of your self-talk as a radio station in your head that broadcasts advertisements to yourself all day long. Tune into it consciously for a day. Make notes about what you hear. Are your advertisements pessimistic or optimistic? Do they constantly judge and criticize yourself? That would sound something like, “I look terrible in this outfit. My belly’s fat, my haircut is wrong, and I’m too short, so nobody will take me seriously. No wonder I can’t do better at (fill in the blank).”

Wow. Do something about the things you don’t like and can change, like the haircut and maybe the belly. But think about the “short thing” logically for a minute. You can’t change it anyway, so you might as well quit beating yourself up about it. Do you know of any short people who get taken seriously? Sure you do. Napoleon, Robert Reich, and Madeline Albright, just to name a few.

There may be a reason you don’t get taken seriously, but it isn’t your height. It may be because you don’t take yourself seriously, so you’re subconsciously cuing others not to, either. Identify what’s really going on. Remember, not all the ads on your radio station are true. In fact, most of the negative ads are either misguided or just plain wrong.

So where do you start rewriting the advertisements on your radio station so they support you instead of tearing you down?

1. Become aware of what you’re saying and believing about yourself.

2. Identify any negative thoughts you continually have about yourself, your future, other people, and the world in general.

3. Catch yourself in negative self-talk, and stop. (Some people recommend snapping a rubber band around your wrist whenever you catch yourself thinking negatively — and literally, snap out of it.)

4. Finally, let go of the negative thought and substitute something positive. Here’s an important point. Your mind can never think of nothing, so you have to give it something else to think about besides the negative thought you just booted out. Affirmations can help.

Did you know that whatever you believe tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy? Positive thoughts and beliefs can radically improve the quality of your life and your success in your business. So watch your beliefs, improve your thoughts, and enjoy a better future.

By the way, here’s a good article about self-talk and that familiar syndrome when we’re stressed — “awfulizing.”