Someone says the spelling above is not right but that is the title of a film I watched. So pardon the title spelling. Those who are close to me know I am not a huge fan of movie and films. When I take the chance to watch one it must be that I am fascinated by the title (which I presume can teach me something new).

I am a huge fan of anything that can spur me on to pursue excellence as well as increase my value. So when I saw the title I felt it may contain some nuggets that will help me achieve my goal. One of the hidden challenges I have and which some keen observers of our community will have noticed is that my writing style is not at the best level.

I keep struggling with this each new day and sometime I am embarrassed with my post or structure in other piece I have done. Interestingly, when others give me their materials to read all my senses are always alive. So I wonder why I could not apply that to myself. If I must be honest, sometimes this discourages me from writing a post here as I knew some international readers may judge my brand with this shortcoming.

So one of the reasons that attracted me to the film was what I can learn in my pursuit of happiness with regards to my writing style. The storyline is about a young man (Chris Gardner) who had a disordered childhood. He never had the opportunity of meeting his father until he was twenty eight. This young man decision was to be a role model for his young boy but unfortunately his marriage was threaten by poverty to the extent that his wife could no longer endure and she left. He went through hard times but he eventually made the glorious limelight he desired. So some of the personal branding lessons I learnt from the film are:

Have a goal: Whatever circumstance you find your brand today should not determine where it can possibly be. A written goal, dream of a better future will keep the energy inside the brand to glow. Without a goal and dream, there will be no life inside the brand. Each time Chris goes out, he dreamt and saw how he could become better as he saw others leading enviable life.

Trash excuse: everyone has a ton of excuses that can stop them from achieving their goals. Chris dreamt of becoming a certified stock broker/dealer despite huge financial burden. He could not pay his house rent and was sent packing. He has to sleep in ‘free Dorms’ where light will be off at a regulated time. Despite this he would light candles to read.

Take calculated risk: despite the fact that Chris did not have money, he went ahead to enrol for the job of his dream and started reading at any available opportunity.

Develop confidence in your capability and brand: never allow the situation to determine your confidence level. When Chris’s wife left because she could not go ahead with him, and his house owner ejected him, Chris’s confidence level did not drop. The height of this that really touched me was that he was ejected and detained in police custody a night before his job interview. Chris never allowed this to affect his performance at the interview panel. Imagine someone leaving police custody without shower and moved straight to interview panel?

Hold on, be consistence and damn present circumstance: Chris’s life showed a high level of consistency, persistence in his dream. He works his ‘ass off’. Nothing could discourage him from moving ahead. Though once a while he shed tears in the midnight when he thinks about his situation that seems not to have expiry date.

Enjoy the moment: You do not have to wait till major breakthrough comes before you celebrate yourself. Live each day at a time. The first day Chris made an income of two hundred and fifty dollars he took his son and they went to sleep in a hotel room instead of sleeping in a Dorm they were used to. He and his son had fun. From this story I am learning to be happy with myself, my writing style even though it is not near what I desire. I will keep improving till I get there but be happy with the moment. Do you have anything to share? Transparency, honesty and sharing keep life going. Over to you, Use the comment section.

Many people/brands search for magic wand that will place their brands on the pinnacle of success. In my little research, I have come to understand that the obvious are not seen. Many have eyes that are not trained to spot their opportunities.

Opportunity can fall on a person’s laps if the laps are well positioned. In a recent chat with a group of college graduates, I discovered many of them are looking for outstanding opportunities meanwhile they are squandering the ones that are available to them unintentionally. In the bid to take hold of ‘outstanding opportunities’ many had messed up their chances to success.

Every brand has target audience. Every audience, client has families, colleagues that they have influence on in their decision making process of what to buy or not through auto suggestion. These families, friends ‘receive referral advice’ with regards to a particular brand. This is why brands should not overlook their opportunities that are close by and why they should see from their target perspectives in order to take advantage of their immediate opportunities. To me this is the secret to ‘big successes. So let us examine how brand’s audience rate most brands. This list is no means exhaustive.

Brand’s aesthetic/image: people are moved by sight. Sight influences many clients’ feeling. So how much concern are you giving to your brand image: online/offline? Many have great blog contents whose designs are not appealing. This lack of attention to design often robs many of greater opportunities to excel.

Feelings/Impression: Branding is all about impressions. Impressions are formed based on personal biases and not on great facts, reasons. ‘I feel good’ is a popular byline of a noted beer here. People fall in love with what makes them feel good about themselves and they are willing to spend their entire dime on that. Does your brand work hard to make sure the targets egos are fanned? So, while looking for big breakthrough, does your brand know your target’s biases? What do they associate with certain vibes your brand sends out?

Communication tool/innovation: realize that people buying decisions are not based on logic. This has been substantiated and there is no reason to argue with facts. So how coherent are your brand’s communication tools? Are their compliances at all level? One of the things that made me stay with the church I am attending today is because when I first joined, I received a personalized encouragement email from the senior clergy every week and that was close to a decade now. At that time, most congregations did not use that tool even till date.

Association/ Colleagues: What kind of imagery is associated with your brand? For personal brands, who are your closest friends? If you keep company with those who dictate the phase in your society, your personal brand will be consider as powerful by association.

Have you critically assessed these areas in your effort to brand’s breakthrough? It is important to consider and manage these spots well in the brand’s search for relevance as these may constitute a cog in the wheel of that brand’s ‘big success’ mentality. Do you have any other lists that can help? Share with us.

Sometimes we can be sincerely wrong because we do not take enough time to study how something works. Even though we put enough energy into it, the fact remains that our efforts can still be in disarray. Or what is the need for speed when destination is not properly determined and mapped out before one sets out for the journey. There is a lot of noise out today in the name of personal branding. Most of these noises are good but because they have titled their efforts on an aspect at the detriment of a complete package, their efforts have made them to become a unique idiot- sorry if it hurts. This is majorly due to the fact that they are only doing cosmetic and dirty branding without knowing as Dr. Rampersad said. Dr. Rampersad outlined certain factors that can make that happen and I quite agree with him. So let us examine these factors and watch against these so that we can avoid being sincerely wrong in our personal branding effort.

1. Focus on personal marketing: We have noted in the past that personal branding that is focused on personal marketing alone will never go anywhere. Personal branding is not only about marketing; it entails several other communal benefits to the community or niche.

2. Image building: In addition to the above, if a brand concentrate on building or selling cooked up or real image without other vital concerns of personal branding, it will be seen as a ‘Me too’ game. Like we know Me too game will never remove one’s name from the pack. If it does anything at all, it damages the ROI.

3. Self promotion: This is always seen by the niche as egocentric and pursuit of selfish end. It does not add much value to anyone than the person involved. It is a matter of time before such individual earn the name of a jerk

4. Personal selling: this may be good, but if this is done at the expense of other mutual beneficial efforts it can boomerang and followed by outright rejection of the brand through negative response instead of desired response.

To get full benefit of personal branding, understand who you are, unearth your real personality, have a vision, craft unique selling point out of your own uniqueness, offer value and continuous value, ensure you have sound integrity and build an enviable, untainted reputation. These all help so much and do not hurt your brand as the identified points above. Have a great day.