Where in the world did the phrase ‘elevator speech’ come from? When was the last time you actually talked to someone on the elevator, try like never. You enter the elevator when the door opens, getting on trying not to make eye contact with anyone, and purposing not to invade people’s personal space. You are waiting anxiously for the door to open at your floor so you can exit. It is an unwritten rule, a code of honor that we all unconsciously follow. The phrase ‘elevator speech’ (a.k.a. Message-2-the world) is your 30-second message communicating who you are and what makes you significant packaged in an unforgettable way.

Every person (personal brand) will have an audience of one with a person of influence. But the question is what will you say? Will you be prepared? Will you tell that person your life’s story or your brand story (read the blog post, My Brand Story)? Your message-2-the world is the platform for your personal brand to stand out and be distinctive.

What is your message-2-the world?

Next year (2008) is going to be the year of the personal brand. It has been over 10 years since Tom Peter’s article, ‘The Brand Called You’ was printed in Fast Company magazine in 1997, and it is the perfect time to jump start your personal brand.

I could list 10-15 items to focus on for the new year, but why. Most people create New Year’s Resolutions and within a short period of time they are back to their old ways. According to CBS experts resolutions don’t go past the 8th of January. As a personal brand there are millions of things that you can do from blogging, joining linkedin, creating facebook/myspace pages, writing articles and the beat goes on to establish your brand. Listed below are seven brand points that will be important in developing your personal brand in 2008. Revolution / Resolution bulletin Originally uploaded by ryanhartsock

1. Be Consistent: Consistency is the hallmark of brands personal and business.
2. Be Visible: Develop your online presence, attend key networking events, and incorporate your image whenever possible (business cards, website, blog, etc.). It is always good to put a name with a face.
3. Be Competitive: Learn how to compete in your space. Successful people have learned to love competition.
4. Be Focused: Brands are most effective in their niche.
5. Go Digital: Network and work the net. Social networking is here to stay, learn it and leverage it.
6. Live your Dreams: Identify what you to love to do and do it.
7. Think Differently: Your brand will be limited by how you think. (Moving at the speed of thought)

My ‘Brand “YoU” Resolutions’ are to be a consistent, visible, competitive, focused individual who lives his dreams. What are your ‘Brand “YoU” Year Resolutions’?

Is your vision broken, originally uploaded by h_flemings.

Except from The Brand YU Life: Re-Thinking who you are though personal brand management

Are you a visionary thinker? Having a vision has little to do with what you can actually see. Seeing what is tangible doesn’t necessarily mean you have vision it just means you have sight. In fact, sight is affected by the other four senses and can be a barrier to vision. Vision is about recognizing the intangible and making it real.

Every successful brand (Coke, Nike, Apple, Microsoft) originated with a visionary man or woman whose imagination, presence, courage, and passion were vital to the growth and success of the brand. Are such individuals unusual? Are they born with an innate ability? No. Vision can be developed.

A visionary sees a desired future and develops a strategy to bring it into sight. One way this is accomplished is through visualization. Visualization is defined as the formation of mental visual images. Visualization is a tool that athletes and highly successful people use. Your mind is a powerful instrument that is capable of helping you process information to produce greater results. When your mind creates an image on the inside, it cannot tell the difference between the real thing and the image. This is the reason that visualization is so powerful: The picture that you see on the inside becomes your reality and you then begin to act on it.

Examples:

o Tiger Woods visualizes putting the ball in the cup every time he steps on the green.
o Michael Jordan visualized taking last second shots to win games.

The power of visualization is an awesome tool. It is your internal video camera. It is time to develop positive audio and video content that is internally generated. Everyone is created with the ability to create images on the inside. As you begin to think about your personal brand and where you see yourself, a picture is being downloaded internally.

Visionaries visualize, visionaries “see things,” they even talk to themselves. Other people sometimes think they are a little off, until the vision becomes reality. The visionaries then become “eccentric,” “a great mind,” and “brilliant.” A visionary sees further, sees more, sees before others and is willing to do the work needed to cause the vision to materialize. Although we are not all born visionaries, we all have the tools and skills we need to develop visionary thinking in ourselves. As a personal brand it is your responsibility to package and position your skills, abilities, and talents. Live your dreams and develop your brand.