Sports have a way of unifying, challenging, stretching, and pushing us to achieve the impossible.  As people it is human nature to take the path of least resistance.  I truly believe people won’t change until their challenged, I hope April story challenges you the way it challenged me.

There are times in life when someone or something inspires you to greatness, in this case it is April Holmes Paralympics Gold Medalist.  I found April when I was doing a search for Dwyane Wade and his new footwear deal with Brand Jordan.

Note: This is a great brand story.  April is the first woman of Brand Jordan and a great personal branding story who is truly living her passion and a purpose driven life. For more incite to her story check out her Brand Jordan video and follow her on Twitter (@AprilHolmes).

Hajj E. Flemings- Branded Gifts, originally uploaded by Hajj Flemings.

It is that time of year again the Holiday season has rolled around and the Brand Man is here to share his selections of hot branded gifts.

o iPhone 3G by Apple.
o Seth Godin- Tribes: Seth’s latest book that argues that leadership is the best marketing tool to an organization.
o BrandCardz- Brand 2.0 Cardz that integrate the digital + human assets of your personal brand.
o Good Magazine- An entertaining magazine about things that matter.
o ISO50 - ‘1976′ Thermal Long Sleeve- Designed by Scott Hansen, Artist / Musician (Tycho)
o Nooka Watch-  (BKC ZUB ZENV 38)- Timepieces with cool digital displays.
o Puma Black Label Shoes (SpeedCat Re-Luxe)- Cool shoes that are apart of Puma luxury line.

Comment and let me know what you think or list out selections of things you find neat and interesting.

On Valentines Day we typically focus on our love for that special person in our lives. As a personal brand do you love your life? How many of you know people who don’t love their life or their career? Many of us know those people. Some of us might be one of those people. I believe life was meant to be lived, experienced, and enjoyed. I love my personal brand more than any business brand. I love my life and what I do more than Starbucks’ White Chocolate Mocha, more than my Apple laptop, my Tumi laptop bag and more than my Blackberry that keeps me connected with the world around me.

Branding is a love story. It is a story of happiness and it is a story of desire.
Branding is a story of value, it is a story of connection, connecting you with the thing you were always created to be and to become. Branding is the story of the pursuit of happiness, it is a story of passion. I don’t believe that passion can be taught, but every person is passionate about something. One of the major pursuits in life is identification of your passion. How bad do you want to live your dreams? What price are you willing to pay to live your dreams and live a life of significance?

Starting today create your ‘Branding Love Story’.

another Valentine! Originally uploaded by peggy.

Successful brands have learned to love competition. They understand that competition is their friend. Be Competitive: Learn how to compete in your space. As a brand I have learned that it is easier to rest on my laurels when I am the only one in my domain. If there is a high demand for the products or services in your field, you are not going to be the only person on the planet focusing on what you do. So get over it.

I was reading an interesting blog by the Consumerist, ‘Want A Thriving Coffee Shop? Open Next To A Starbucks. Starbucks has helped smaller coffee shops to increase their business by simply becoming their competition. Your competition will either eat your lunch or make you hungry to dominate your domain. Remember . . .

o Coke needs Pepsi
o Myspace needs Facebook
o Nike needs Adidas
o Magic needed Bird

You need your competition and your competition needs you. Are you hungry? Or is someone eating your lunch? Compete or get beat. Quit whining and take over. Personal brands were born to compete.

coffee_wars.jpg Originally uploaded by aboynamedBumper

What is the age requirement to be an official personal brand? There are babies who are born branded. Suri Cruise the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes was on the cover of Vanity Fair.  Shiloh Jolie-Pitt daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie was on the cover of People magazine (People magazine paid $4.1million for first photo rights all money was donated to charity).   Both babies have never developed a personal blog, website, or a successful speaking circuit. Unfortunately, most people are not born into a situation with celebrity parents, making them an instant branding success. The truth is that most people have to spend time and carefully craft their image and their online presence. The good news is that every person on the planet was born to be a successful personal brand, just the timing of their brand success is different.  As Peter Drucker stated, ‘Know thy time.’  What other influential infants can you think of?  Let me know your thoughts.

Suri Cruise is a Real-Live BabyOriginally uploaded by Angelkicker

Day 073: Listerine Shots, originally uploaded by newbiemind.

As a brand, you have to sweat the small stuff. Branding is about consistency, companies hire and promote people that consistently deliver on their brand promise. How many business deals or opportunities are lost or gained because of issues that have nothing to do with a persons ability to perform at a high level? I was reading an article this morning about Jonah Seeman, a Manhattan doorman of 40-years at a four-building complex on East 89th Street, who was suspended for halitosis, (bad breath), which illustrates this point. As a personal brand you can’t afford to allow the small details to cost you big. What three details could you address that would breathe fresh air into your personal brand?

Lebron, originally uploaded by mwklawit.

I am a witness. I watched Lebron James put on a scoring display as he hit 48 points, the last 25 points, and 29 out of the last 30 points on my beloved Pistons in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It got me to thinking about the branding of athletes, but not just any athletes, Nike athletes. How much is a Nike athlete worth? Six of the top ten highest paid athletes are Nike athletes: Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Michael Jordan (who no longer plays basketball), Kobe Bryant, and Lance Armstrong. Nike pays their athletes unreal amounts of money, so that their unreal performances are captured and inked in history with the swoosh.

What comes to mind when you see the swoosh? Tiger winning his first Masters, Jordan winning his 6th world championship against Utah scoring over Byron Russell in the closing seconds, Kobe hitting 81 points on Toronto, or Lance Armstrong winning his 6th Tour De France. Is it the shoes? Do they make you perform better? Do you feel different? What imprint comes to mind when you think of Nike - dominance, victory, or power? Consumers spend unreal amounts of money for a piece of these athletes, their moments, and what they represent (athletically). Do the athletes make the brand value or does the value of the brand make the athlete?