How to use Personal Branding to achieve goals (1) Find work -Special Sant Jordi-

The 23 April, book day, which in my Catalan land is a real feast of books and roses in the streets. Sant Jordi Day it's Valentine's Day here, and we celebrate by giving away and getting nice words on paper, essences and colors.

To celebrate this unique event, I've decided to "unlock" one of the book's star chapters in stages."If you don't contribute, you don't matter", and leave you here the 1st part of the chapter entitled How to use Personal Branding to achieve goals, dedicated to finding work.

If you go just in time, I'll sum it up for you in a minute:

What it is "If you don't contribute, you don't care" and what it's related to finding work

In case it's your first time here, I welcome you to Guillem Recolons' digital home, My house. Here I deal with many issues, but there's one that's the engine of my life, and that if you keep reading it may be a driver of yours: personal branding, understood as the process of managing your personal brand.

Well, After 25 years dedicated to the trademark, In 2005 I decided to move to the personal brand side. You see, I went from the divine to the human, and one of the consequences of that experience was the publication, in October 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, from the book "If You Don't Contribute, don't matter., edited by the Rasche Publishing House and prologated by the digital humanist Joan Clotet. 

This will be the first Sant Jordi that I can enjoy walking through the streets of my beloved Barcelona watching and buying books, and also trying to sell ;-) Mine.

chapter 7: How to use Personal Branding to achieve goals

The book consists of 7 Chapters, and the 7th summarizes the ways to achieve objectives once the process of the previous chapters has been completed.

So you can see the full context, I leave you the infographic of the whole book, ending with an annex / glossary with definitions of the most relevant words in the context of personal branding, created by 200 leading people in their respective sectors.

And now it is, chapter index 7, the one with good luck is this: 

In this chapter I deal with eight essential applications of personal branding, based on the exit we want to give it and whether we approach it as personal (Career) corporate.

My advice is to read the eight apps and then try to delve into the ones you require for this moment depending on your situation. To deepen, I invite you to visit the readers' area in www.sinoaportasnoimportas.com where I have placed several articles of mine and other authors to expand the information.

Here are the eight apps: 

7.1 Find work A tour of the most controllable and powerful resource on the network, if we know how to generate good content, if we move relationships well and apply the Pareto principle.

7.2 Improving at work It's as hard as finding a job, but the strategy to achieve it is different, and focuses essentially on generating value, internal recognition and to be very clear to whom we report.

7.3 undertake Not wanting to work for others is a utopia; even if you're an entrepreneur you'll always depend on your customers. But the good thing is, you don't work for a single client. (a company), And that changes everything. Here, the business model is the key.

7.4 Managing fame Fame can be a little ephemeral. Professional athletes know this well. Managing the momentum is essential to find out which model is behind the boom. Here it is vital to diversify (with some focus and no dispersion) and find scalable business forms.

7.5 Making money Well, yes, that also exists. Those who think this is going to sell smoke are wrong. Monetizing is possible, just like selling through social media (social selling). Here it is about anchoring the main business model and analyzing parallel projects.

7.6 Improving trust in the organization. Is it an oxymoron to talk about personal branding in a company? Employee Advocacy programs or Internal Brand Ambassadors are the balm for improving internal and external communication, and with it the climate and attachment to the brand.

7.7 Prepare the best spokespersons. Organizations need spokespersons capable of bringing brand vision internally and to stakeholders. This is where I deal with Executive Branding programs, the impulse of the "makers of change".

7.8 Attract and retain talent. The previous two steps make it easy to attract external talent. Here I deal with keys to Employer Branding programs.

And today we focus on 7.1: Find work

7.1 Find work

Many of the clients I've treated in recent years in personal branding consulting were looking for work, well for being victims of the crisis, ERE, or for entering the world of work for the first time. I'll be honest with you., this is not easy at all, and less if you're not willing to give up previous prebendas as salaries, schedules, contractual stability and working conditions. It is also complicated when the candidate has passed the barrier 45/50 since, inexplicably, our world doesn't value experience. And it gets fully complicated if your beliefs are overly limiting and don't allow you, For example, contemplate the possibility that work is believed by you.

If I had to summarize it in a sentence, I'd say the personal branding won't make you find a job but the job will find you. Sounds strange? It's possible, But it's real. Branding works professional recognition, so it's not uncommon for after a period of work the personal brand effectively your name is associated with a number of values and value proposition (don't confuse them) match what a headhunter or investor is looking for.

The problem that many people face is where do I start? So, under my experience, I detail some of the steps I would take to come to a good end. If they don't match others you've been able to read from other professionals, Don't be afraid, that's what we're moving forward.

Step 1. Be patient

Many people fall down the road for lack of patience. I no longer remember who said success is based on insisting, Insist, Insist.

Finding a good job asks for an 8h daily dedication. If you're in a hurry, I recommend you directly hire a personal brander, or in this case to a career advisor. You acortarás the process without losing effectiveness. If you have time, or if you've run out of money, Read.

Step 2. Define five companies you'd like to work on

…Or a business model to develop on your own.

It looks like the letter to the Three Wise Men. In case you want to work for others, define the five companies you love the most and where you think you can add value based on your previous experience, studies and desire. In case you want to work for yourself, search 5 success stories that you see possible to structure your way.

This step is indispensable, because it will depend on it the next steps. If instead of finding a good job you just want to find a job, Skip this step.

Step 3. Make a diagnosis

Find out what your current private and public brand is.

You may think you're getting to know the 100%, but I remind you that your personal brand is what others see in you, not what you think. We?

In the context of the private brand you can collect opinions from your nearby circles (Friends, Family, former co-workers, former fellow students, Customers, Suppliers...) with a couple of simple questions: what do you think I'm highlighting? and how do you think it could improve?, but I would also take the opportunity to ask do you see me working at company X? For more data, re-review Chapter 3.

Within the scope of your public brand, check what Google knows about you, what professional networks like Linkedin know. In short, control your current online reputation, what anyone would see by placing your name on the net.

Here you can already make a first self brand, and even a personal DAFO.

Step 4. Define goals and messages

It's clear that the goal is to find a good job, but it's about looking for a broader goal, a purpose: work the vision: What legacy do you want to leave to yours? Once the vision is worked, write your mission. If a doctor's vision is to actively contribute to improving our health, your mission will be to help us in all preventive aspects, curative and palliative. Write your values, the principles that will guide you in your performance. Work your business model, the simplest is that of Alexander Osterwalder, a canvas known as Business Model Canvas that we've already thoroughly analyzed in the chapter 4. And then, with the business model, Vision, mission and values, write your professional message and its variations (elevator pitch, Twitter profile, phone presentation, Cv, ...).

Step 5. Study thoroughly the 5 companies you've defined.

analyzing, find out why they're attractive to you. Discusses his vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies. Analyzes communication. Discover the gap, the gap they have in store for you where you can contribute knowledge that will make them grow and improve – if possible- its appeal to their audiences.

Step 6. Create or share value content

They are heading to the 5 companies you've chosen and make yourself known.

If we're building a house, this is the roof. Many start here without having cemented their brand, and hence his efforts to find closed doors. How to create or share value content? At this point, I assure you that literature abounds.

On the one hand there is the content and on the other the means in which to share it. For content it is ideal to have an international list of references (we all have them) and follow them closely. Google alerts also work well, although now they no longer work for real content affinity but because the source pays (press agencies...). I really like Twitter, where you place keywords and a world of content appears.

As for the media, if you dare with a blog, don't hesitate, it's the best option if you're a constant person. If you prefer less compromised options you can share links on social networks (Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, Facebook) or you can share your presentations on networks like Slideshare or Issuu.

Step 7. Networking begins

Networking with key people in the 5 Companies.

Now that you have already set a reasonably good public brand, it's time to contact non-aggressively with the people who set up the core of your target audience. Use the medium in which you feel most comfortable: contact through acquaintances, using networks like Linkedin, Twitter, sending a letter (no one does it anymore, except to send CV's), attending company events... I leave it to your discretion., But take care 8 hours a day.

Pareto's labour market principle

It is said that a 80% job offers is not published. If you're looking for a job, Don't you think better to go after the 80 and forget about 20?

Do you know the WOM?

What despite social media remains the most effective means of communication that exists is what Anglo-Saxons call Word-Of-Mouth (Wom) and here we could call mouth-ear. I mean, use our nearest circles of influence.

Why? so I said, The 80% job offers never see the light, and you have to fight to get into that 80%, not in the infested 20% Remaining.

Our key partners or prescribers who are? how can they help us?

In our business model, one of the most important elements are our key partners, Prescribers, those who can help us reach our target audience. If you're looking for a job, your audience are all those professionals who can offer it before taking it to market massively.

Your prescribers are diverse: satisfied customers, Collaborators, Friends, Family, fellow students, former co-workers, schools and in general anyone who meets two requirements:

1. Attest that you are a good professional and that your value proposition is powerful
2. Meet professionals who may have fresh information about job openings

How can they help us? You can imagine that.. Recommending us before the offer reaches the market.

What would be the protocol to make wom effective?

• Seeking a good health of our personal brand. That means that when someone looks for our name or our specialty, find us without macula. In and out of the net. Easy? Yes, it's about being a disciplined and consistent person fast? Three, Six, nine months, One year. It depends on the dedication and whether you have a mentor or not.
• Identify prescribers. Create a comprehensive list of people who can help us, and make sure you have the contact details. I remind you that if someone is direct contact on Linkedin, For example, you probably have access to his email.
• Communicate your intention to find work. But not only that: you have to send them a briefing or summary of what you are looking for and what you think you can add value. Send the CV? for me it's wet paper, something that becomes obsolete in a week, but if you have it, better than nothing. It is better to pass the Linkedin profile link (if you're up to date). And even better: clearly explain your value proposition.
• Don't be stingy. Invest a little. Finding a job is an investment, and it depends on whether it's short-term or long-term. Investing is inviting your prescribers to a coffee, to lunch. I remember investing is spending 8 hours a day looking for work (including supplementary training, if you need it). Investing is hiring a mentor to help you with your brand management: Diagnosis > Self > Strategy > Visibility plan.
• Get recommendations. It's a classic, But it works. Before social networks, recommendations were oral (mouth-ear) or written. There is a great platform for issuing and receiving recommendations, Guudjob; try it there. We now also on Linkedin, For example. Competency validations serve, but above all the recommendations written on the network. I like them because no one would play their reputation by recommending someone not to be worth the job (I'm kind of idealistic, I know).
• Stop "being" and start "being". Don't be a member of organizations, be someone of reference in them. Don't be on the nets, be someone who offers value, Conversation, Action. Be a creative person: dare with a videoCV, For example (if they're well-thought out, it's an accelerator).

Useful data if you're going to use WOM

• According to IAB Spain, social media in Spain, For example, have a 86% penetration, of which an important part includes professional networks.
• The most commonly used networks are YouTube, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Telegram and Snapchat.
• As I read in the 'Infoemployment-Adecco Social Networks and Labour Market Report', The 78% users use social media to look for employment. But remember, we talked about 20% of the job that sees the light.
• According to the same report by Adecco, Linkedin and Facebook lead this with a 66% And 50% Respectively. All other networks are far away, with a 16% Twitter, 13% Forums, 9% Blogs, And 6% Instagram.
• Adecco indicates that the number of companies that use them as a means of attracting talent is 84%.
• Over the past year, The 55% of the human resources professionals surveyed has reconsidered their hiring decision after consulting the networking profiles of a shortlisted candidate, worsening his opinion in a 36% case scenarios.
• In my experience, it's usually a first filter, but it can also be repeated at the end of the process between two equalized candidacies.
• Beware of social media: are a tool to boost the personal brand, but at the same time they can hurt you in your job search. Don't play it all on a card.

What can hurt us in networks is:

• Presence: absence or overexposure.
• Reputation: bad ways, poor content, Plagiarism, very extreme opinions at FSPR (Football, Sex, politics and religion).
• Egocentrism: Talking only about yourself, forgetting our value proposition towards others.

In short, if you're looking for a job, fight over him 80% higher-quality offers in private settings. The 20% remaining is too populated with candidates. And, especially, don't forget to work your value proposition thoroughly.

How to get the book “If you don't contribute, you don't matter”

If you're interested in identifying, develop and project your personal brand and find work, I'll take you to the book page “If you don't contribute, you don't matter“, where you can find all the points of sale of the book, see in more detail some aspects of the book, Reviews, readers' area…

Stock Photos from Sokor Space, Studiostocks, Overearth / Shutterstock

Here's the chapter podcast in iVoox, Spotify, Apple Podcast And Google Podcast.