Biz Growth Express - July 16, 2007

Missed a previous edition? Access past copies of ‘Biz Growth Express’ here

Prefer to read this weeks newsletter article on-line? Access this weeks copy here

IN THIS WEEK’S ‘BIZ GROWTH EXPRESS’     ISSN   1649-8127

Hi

I hope your week is starting off in a great way! Welcome also to all our new subscribers.

This week is a busy week for writing, editing and client meetings. Today I’m busy editing a chapter of the Labour Mobility book about working and living in Ireland which comes out this summer – it is a great opportunity to share my personal experience of living and working in this country.

But you might ask how did this opportunity come about? Well I met Managing Director of Labour Mobility company (ELM), Nannette Ripmeester, when we were both speaking at a talent management conference.

In my experience, both speaking and writing are some of the most effective ways to build awareness of your corporate brand and personal brand and something I include in my own marketing mix every single month.

In fact public speaking can lead to many opportunities from joint ventures to meeting potential new clients. I often get asked how I have managed to build my personal profile up as a speaker so quickly. So I’m going to share my top tips for building your brand as an inspiring speaker in our next ‘Biz Growth Live‘ seminar on Monday 13 August – I hope you remember to put that date in your diary this week today.

And to help you on your way, this weeks feature business development article is also about building your brand as an inspiring speaker.

*** STOP PRESS***

Shhh… don’t let anyone I told you, but there is an incredible event that will be taking place on the 18 September all about building your personal brand. It will be a no-cost event that you can attend from anywhere in the world. You can find out more towards the bottom of the newsletter in the section about live events.

*****************

Do let me know if there are specific subjects and experts you would like us to connect with in the months ahead or if you have feedback on the content we provide in our weekly newsletter.

As you know, our goal is your success, providing you with strategies, inspiration and tips that you can adapt, adopt and apply to grow your business. 

I hope you enjoy this week’s edition of ‘Biz Growth Express’.

And if you have friends and colleagues who you believe would benefit from the strategies and tips we cover in the ‘Biz Growth Live’ calls and our ‘Biz Growth Express’ newsletter, I would be honoured if you forwarded this email to them or alternatively you can invite them to register at ‘Biz Growth Live’.

Your recommendation is how we grow! Here’s to bringing YOUR brand to life!

Best wishes

Krishna

FEATURED PRODUCT:’WEB COPY THAT SELLS’

Did you miss last weeks seminar ‘WEB COPY THAT SELLS’, or perhaps you would like to access a copy of the audio tutorial so that you can review the rich content we covered?

Remember that with billions of web pages on the internet and many of them like your corporate website looking to offer services and products to potential client’s, it is important for us to ensure that the words on a web page encourage your website visitors to take action.

In this content rich audio we covered:

You can purchase your copy of the MP3 download of ‘Web copy that sells’ or we can send you a CD of this content rich seminar here.

The audio MP3 download is just €20 (US$27.50 approximately at today’s exchange rate).

If you would prefer a CD, your investment is just €25 including shipping (US$ 34.50 approximately at today’s exchange rate).

You can use the on-line currency converter if you would like to check other currencies.

FEATURE ARTICLE: ‘HOW TO BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND AS AN INSPIRING SPEAKER’

One of the most important skills that we can develop to enhance our business success and our personal success is that of being able to speak and present in from of others.

However, few of us ever get assistance and guidance in presenting and speaking in public.

Being able to connect with an audience, no matter if there are 3 people or 3000 people in a room or at a virtual event such as a webinar or teleconference and being able to deliver a clear and inspiring message is a sure fire way to build your reputation and personal brand.

Whether we speak for a fee or for a free, speaking and presenting can support our goal of positioning ourselves as an expert in our field and can lead to new clients and potential joint ventures.

So here are ten steps for building your brand as an inspiring and confident speaker:

  1. Understand your audience – Make sure that you research who will be listening to you speaking or presenting. What is their previous experience of your subject matter? What are the areas that they are going to be most interested to hear about? Being able to address their key areas of concern and offer a clear and compelling answer to their problem will ensure that you get remembered after the live event.
  2. Develop relevant content – Very often as experts in our subject matter, it can be easy to be over zealous and wanting to deliver too much content that we leave our audience confused and ourselves under time pressure. If you are speaking for only 30 minutes, then identify the three key messages you want to deliver.
  3. Become a great storyteller – Take the time to research stories and content that reflect your audience and use the language that they are familiar with. Your efforts in customising content will enhance your standing and reputation in the eyes of your audience. Using stories to bring to life your presentation will help your audience connect to the content.
  4. Create an on-line resource centre – Ideally you will provide a handout or materials to support your presentation. This is often required by an event organiser or circulated as pre-read well before the event. I recommend that you create a unique page on your website or business blog with references to key materials and additional resources specifically for the presentation. This will certainly be perceived as value adding by event organisers and attendees at your presentation.
  5. Keep the technology simple – I recently attended an event where a speaker used 116 slides for a speech of 60 minutes – yes they were flicking through one slide every 30 seconds. Your ultimate goal is to be able to speak without the aid of PowerPoint slides. You can be sure that too many slides and speaking directly from them will not present you as a confident and capable speaker and presenter. If you do need slides or plan to include other audio or video materials to support your presentation, make sure that these do add value to the presentation.
  6. Practice before you speak – Make sure that you feel confident and comfortable with your content. Ideally practice in front of others and record yourself on audio so that you can listen to how you sound and where you need to enhance the delivery of your presentation. Ask for feedback from your colleagues on how compelling and clear your message is.
  7. Get there early – On the day of the presentation, make sure that you arrive in plenty of time to reduce the stress of the event. It’s healthy to be a little nervous before you present as that keeps you on your toes. Arriving early enables you to check the layout of the land, ensure that the room is set up as you want it to be and that the organiser of the event is ready with the information they need to introduce you to the audience.
  8. Linger afterwards – Unless you are presenting to a board meeting and you are asked to come into the meeting just to deliver your content, wherever possible, make sure that you clear your diary to be available to stay at the event after you have spoken. This provides you with an opportunity to further connect with your audience and other speakers and access feedback about your presentation.
  9. Follow up – If you make a promise to send the attendees information after the event, make sure that you do so within 48 hours. Don’t forget to follow up with the event organiser thanking them for the opportunity to collaborate. Be sure to also ask for a testimonial that you can then add to your marketing materials and website.
  10. Take time to reflect – after the event, do evaluate what you learned. What worked well with the audience? What can you learn from other speakers that you saw present at the same event? How can you enhance your presentation in the future? Keep notes on file or on index cards of your key learnings so that you can refer to them for your next presentation or speech.

THIS WEEK’S ‘BIZ GROWTH’ ACTION STEPS

  1. Plan an event – If you have not already got a speaking event or presentation planned in the next 90 days take time this week to reflect on who you would like to present to, on what subject and who can help you make such an event happen.
  2. Review your performance – If you have recently spoken or presented to an audience, review that event against the 10 steps to building your personal brand as an inspiring and confident speaker. Are there areas that you could enhance your performance as a speaker or presenter and who could support you in taking action.
  3. Access guidance – If you are looking for additional guidance on enhancing your reputation and personal brand through speaking, make sure that you note in your diary to join the ‘Biz Growth Live’ seminar on Monday 13 August 2007, ‘Speak Your Way To Success’.

Building your reputation as a compelling and inspiring speaker will build your reputation and lead to greater professional and personal success.

But remember great speakers were not born; they nurtured and developed that skill and you can too.

EMPLOYER BRANDING INSIGHT OF THE WEEK:’WHY WE NEED TO DEVELOP A MAGNETIC EMPLOYER BRAND’

So just why should be develop an employer brand? Is it worth the time, effort and resources?

With the ever increasing challenge to hire and retain great people, especially in professional services firms where your people are in fact the product you sell, it is critical that we put in place strategies to attract and retain great talent.

The recent international Workplace Survey from Robert Half identified that the reasons organisations in the UK are developing and implementing an employer brand strategy included:

The survey was conducted with over 5000 HR and finance managers in 17 countries across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States.

Only 23% of companies surveyed with fewer than 50 members of staff had a formal employer branding strategy versus 69% of businesses employing more than 200 people. Yet both types of organisation are in the market for essentially the same talent.

In the UK, 44% of the HR and finance managers survey stated that their company has a formal employer brand strategy in place compared to a worldwide average of just 32%.

Globally 32% of companies have a formal employer branding policy, and the companies included in the research indicated that over the next 2 years:

Developing a compelling and magnetic employer brand supports the building of your reputation as an employer of choice.

Increasingly candidates not only take into account the salary and benefits you provide, but assess:

With 35% of companies not planning to pay attention to building their employer brand strategy, there is probably no better time to get to work on nurturing your employer brand so that you win the war for talent versus your competition.

THIS WEEK’S EMPLOYER BRAND INSIGHTS

Are you clear about how your employer brand is perceived by both candidates that you would like to attract to your business and your current employees?

If you want to create a compelling employer brand here are three actions you can take to assess how your employer brand is currently perceived:

  1. Ask recruiters – Connect with recruitment consultants and executive recruiters that you work with and ask for their insights to your employer brands strengths and weaknesses versus your competition.
  2. Ask your current staff – Access insights from your current employees on why they choose to stay with you. I highly recommend doing this through focus groups with a trained employer branding facilitator so that you access the true perception of your employer brand. If you have a multi-generational workforce, it is important to segment your focus groups to ensure that you access insights from the different communities.
  3. Ask potential employees – Undertake focus groups with candidates who would be potential employees. Using ‘projective exercises’ you can access what they think of your company and your reputation and if you would be a company they would consider joining to further their career. Again, segmenting these groups by function, demographics and geography will unearth rich data on which you can take action.

If you are looking for assistance in developing a compelling employer brand, you can also hear me speak on this subject at the forthcoming HRIreland conference taking place in Cork on 25 and 26 September 2008 – and if you can not attend the conference, you can contact me at connect(at)oneoceangroup.com.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP OF THE WEEK: ‘PREPARE YOUR PROFILE’

Whether you are in an organisation and developing your career or you are the leader of your own professional services practice, one thing you can be sure about ….

…. at some stage in the next 12 months you are likely to be asked to present yourself on paper.

That could be for a proposal you are submitting, a job you are applying for or a profile you have to present as a speaker at a conference.

But when was the last time you reviewed your personal profile or CV? And does it accurately reflect your expertise and experience?

I was recently working with a professional association to support them building their brand on-line. They had developed a new web site which gave the members of the association the opportunity to add their details to the data base, providing them with increased visibility.

However, the quality of the personal profiles was so poor, they certainly were not likely to attract interest from potential clients or strategic joint venture partners.

I was also recently working with an executive who was looking for their next career move and we were working on developing their personal brand. However when we looked at their personal marketing materials – their CV – it certainly did not enhance their reputation.

I am frequently asked for a copy of my personal profile and what I have some to learn is that we need to have a core profile available at a moments notice so that we can adapt it to the needs of the audience requesting our profile.

You see it is much easier keeping your profile up to date and relevant than having to create it the first time.

So if your personal profile or CV is out of date, here are this weeks personal branding action steps to ensure that your profile projects your personal brand.

THIS WEEK’S PERSONAL BRAND ACTION STEPS

  1. Print out a copy of your current personal profile and identify which elements are no longer current.
  2. Update your profile – whether it is a CV or professional profile make sure that it does not exceed 2 pages.
  3. If you are not sure if your profile accurately reflects your personal brand and expertise, ask a colleague or friend to review it and provide feedback.
  4. If you need additional assistance consider the support of a resume writer or personal branding coach to help you create a personal marketing document that reflects the unique brand that is you.

BIZ GROWTH TELECONFERENCE – 13 AUGUST 2007:SUBJECT : ‘SPEAK YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS’

Guest Expert: Krishna De, Personal Branding and new media marketing expert

Dial-In Number: + 1 218 486 1300

Access Code: 312581 (there is no #) / Self Mute: 4 *

Time: 1pm EST/EDT New York
         6pm GMT/BST Dublin/London
         7pm CET/CEST Paris/Madrid/Berlin

Have you been asked to present to a group but have found yourself fearing the event?

Are you concerned about what it takes to be an inspiring and credible speaker?

Perhaps you know that you should be speaking to build your personal brand and expand the reach of business but you are not confident about your skills?

Well in our next content rich audio tutorial, I will be taking you through 5 biggest mistakes to avoid if you want to build your reputation as a compelling and magnetic speaker.

I’ll also be sharing strategies you can employ so that you attract more clients and more business opportunities whether you speak for free or for a fee – guaranteed.

Over the last 24 months I have spoken live at conferences in Ireland and overseas on over 100 occasions (and many more hundreds of times leading virtual events including teleseminars and webinars) and each time I speak it results in more clients, new strategic partners and more profit.

So if you want to discover the strategies I have employed, be sure to join me on the 13 August at 1pm ET/6pm Ireland and the UK.

If you have questions about how to ‘Speak Your Way to Success’ you can post your questions before the call here.

BRANDING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PODCASTS

As you know, here at Oneocean, we are all about building brands, from your corporate brand to attract great clients, to your employer brand to attract and retain great talent, to your personal leadership brand to build your personal reputation as an expert in your field and expand your professional success.

Access our no-cost podcasts to help you on your journey to success.

CALCULATE YOUR RETURN ON NETWORKING INVESTMENT

If you have been investing in networking online and offline have you considered how to evaluate your network, or as I describe it, have your determined your Return On networking Investment (RONI)? Discover how to find out if your networking is working for you by listening to our most recent podcast:

BLOGGING FOR PROFIT

On the ninth of our “Podcast Sisters” Podcasts, we discuss practical ways that blogging has helped us increase our profits and also reduce our overheads.
Access the podcast here:

You can post your comments and questions against each of our podcasts, so I look forward to hearing from you with your thoughts, ideas and what works for you.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to leave comments at our media centre, you can call +1 214 615 6505 ext 6842 or if you are in Ireland, on 086 816 3096.

BRAND BUILDING AND MARKETING LIVE EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS

There are a number of terrific events that are coming up in the few months that I think you will find them of immense value.

PODCAMP UK – 1-2 SEPTEMBER 2007

A free conference taking place in Birmingham, UK where you will have the opportunity to meet and share ideas with other podcast enthusiasts.

PERSONAL BRANDING GLOBAL TELESUMMIT – 18 SEPTEMBER 2007

Shh… don’t tell any one I told you, but you just HAVE TO HOLD THE DATE for what is going to be an incredible event. I’m Chairing the organising of this event where we will be bringing you the leaders in personal branding expertise from around the world.

Watch out in future newsletters for more information, but for now hold the date. I promise this will be incredible and an event not to be missed.

HRIRELAND CONFERENCE – 25-26 SEPTEMBER 2007

If you are looking to attract, retain and inspire great people, don’t miss this conference. I will be speaking on the subject of ‘Bringing Your Employer Brand To life’

PODCAMP IRELAND – 29 SEPTEMBER 2007

The first ever PodCamp in Ireland – we are working on determining the venue at the moment, but hold the date if you are interested in podcasting. It is sure to be a great event.

RESOURCES FOR EVENT ORGANISERS

If you are an event organiser and are working on developing your forthcoming programme, I would love to hear from you. I regularly help event organisers plan their events and connect them to my network of professional speakers on a wide range of business development and personal development topics.

I am also available to facilitate your meeting, speak at your event, your workshop or as an expert interviewer for your virtual book tour or promotion of your programme or event.

Worried about travel costs? In addition to live face to face workshops, at Oneocean we are one of Europe’s expert consultancies in making use of new media and leading edge technologies including webinars, podcasts, on-line video or teleconferences which means that you can expand your reach and deliver your live event to your community no matter where they live.

I would be delighted to speak with you about your requirements. Just email me at connect(at)oneoceangroup.com today for our event organisers questionnaire.

For details of our most popular live events and workshops, go here.

Wishing you continued success, so until next week.

Best wishes,

Krishna De
Bringing YOUR vision to life!
www.bizgrowthlive.com
www.bizgrowthnews.com
www.krishnade.com
www.oneoceangroup.com
www.talkingcoaching.com
www.todayswomeninbusiness.com

P.S. If you have friends and colleagues who would like to join the weekly teleconference call, they would be very welcome – please invite them to register at Biz Growth Live.

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2007.  All rights reserved.

“Biz Growth Express” is a Oneocean Publication.  Oneocean Ltd is a leading business development consultancy with a difference – we focus on the unique strengths of an organisation and its people to unlock extraordinary performance and growth. You can learn more about our work here

TERMS OF REPRINT: You are welcome to publish extracts from “Biz Growth Express” in your own online ezine or news letter, providing the article is printed in its entirety and is left unedited and you include the copyright notice and the following statement:

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2007. All rights reserved. Reprinted from “Biz Growth Express”, a Oneocean Ltd publication for leaders in professional services practices, featuring inspiration, strategies and tips to build your brand, attract your ideal clients and enjoy greater success with less stress.  Subscribe today at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com and access free weekly teleconferences where we interview experts from across the globe on how to build your brand and expand your professional and personal success.