By the thinkBIG Team
Right now the world needs a hero…proactive personal branding will set you apart as a recognisable winner in a pool of sinking fear mongers.
Everywhere you look there's a new reason to be terrified into inertia. Every news day brings more horror, fear, uncertainty, panic and more warnings to hang on to your job, business and hard earned dollars. Thousands of ordinary Australians have lost their livelihoods; hundreds are declaring bankruptcy and thousands more have been forced to sell their homes. And it seems that where there was once trust and ease of business, there is now suspicion and delay.
Consumers/clients/customers aren't as ready to part with the readies now. And it's not over yet. According to presidential candidate and #1 New York Times best selling author, Ron Paul, "You can't stop the problem of too much spending and too much deficit and too much monetary inflation with more of it."
Now more than ever, people are being forced to choose where they stand. Thousands are terrified into enacting and enabling debilitating scenarios that will be more detrimental to their circumstances than when they started. Others, however will be inspired to greater things. Oprah Winfrey, US President Obama, Tiger Woods, Anthony Robbins, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Australia's own AFL legend, Kevin Sheedy and hundreds of other leaders in their field apply personal branding techniques to achieve consistent, amazing results that few of us would ever hope to realise. These exceptional leaders have said goodbye to money worries forever. But, the secret to their survival and continued success is available to all of us. Personal branding for extraordinary success is available to everyone – from the love lost to the financially destitute, it's all about ‘stacking the odds in your favour'.
Leading edge business entrepreneur and Personal Brand Image guru, Jon-Michail of Image Group International, warned of the current downturn many, many months ago, telling clients to beware complacency and the false security that comes with prosperous good times.
"Now, it is more imperative than ever to have a personal brand that means something – that is genuine and moral and trustworthy. It's no longer good enough to get by in the same ways we used to. Every communication has to mean something. Every transaction has to be exceptional and everyone your customers deal with has to be a person of worth," says Jon- Michail of current sceptical attitudes to business.
"There have been so many so-called pillars of our society that have crashed and burned, that people are finding it difficult to trust anyone. The company name can no longer protect you. It is down to you and you alone. Trust yourself, personal branding is the most effective way out of a sea of uncertainty. Now is the time to step forward and present yourself as a ‘brand' that people can trust."
Personal branding is a thorough makeover from the inside out. It's about personal pride, dignity, honesty, integrity and a passion to achieve the best there is in any chosen field. It's about enmeshing the physical with the emotional, spiritual and intellectual aspects of our selves. It's about putting together a package that is strong, secure, forward thinking and dynamic. It's about answering questions such as: What do I really want? What am I about? What do I love to do? What do I want to improve? What is the best and most authentic way to present myself to the world?
Senior executives from some of the country's leading companies, including Fortune 500 companies, entertainers and elite sports stars from over 18 countries have long known the need for personal branding, and many have acted upon their instincts to improve their personal branding, and undertaken the reforms and advice given by Jon-Michail and his team at Image Group International.
According to Jon-Michail, this has simply underscored the benefits of personal branding.
"It's a well documented fact that customers will stay with a name or person that they trust – through the bad times as well as the good. So once you've undertaken personal branding, your customers will naturally create an emotional attachment to your product, business and you. You will be set apart from other businesses as trustworthy and strong. You will naturally communicate leadership qualities. You will grow more solid business relationships and project credibility in the market place. Purchasing decisions will be easier for your customers and you will be able to deliver above market financial returns, despite the economic environment. It is the single most powerful thing you can do to succeed where others are failing."
You the parent, can benefit by enabling and informing your children with insights and skills that will help them through any financial/social climate. You can show them how to live in the real world – give them the solution to life problems – solutions they will never find at school. You the love partner, can benefit by strengthening the connection between you and your lover, between you and the others in your life who are most beloved by you.
You the income earner, can benefit by earning hundreds of dollars in just one hour, by helping others achieve their dreams.
You the communicator, can benefit by mastering communication secrets that will allow you to boost your income by working less. Alice (not her real name) age 41 went to IGI recently. A bank executive who was soon to become redundant, she did not want to lose her esteem or hard earned inroads into the market place. She wanted some serious personal branding to make her a recognisable asset. Once she had undertaken the Diagnostic Risk Management Audit™, she was able to not only raise her profile and personal brand, but was offered a promotion rather than a redundancy.
There are many more similar stories, and as the downturn fuels more fear, the greater the number of individuwals who refuse to succumb and the greater the number of clients seeking out professional expertise.
