Todays Women in Business

Join Me At The Worlds First Global Personal Branding Telesummit

If you have wondered why I've been absent from posting here over the last few weeks, it's because I have been really busy organising some huge events and also participating in many events as a speaker.

One event that is a must for your diary is a global personal branding telesummit taking place on 8 November 2007.

I have had the priviledge of being the chair of the organising team who have all gifted their time to bring this event to life. We have attracted some amazing speakers who are authors on subjects related to personal branding.

All of these speakers are gifting their time to support us in our goals of reaching 100,000 people across the globe with this FREE event to educate people about personal branding.

Yes the event will cost you nothing to attend - just the cost of your phone call so make sure that you register. And if you are not able to attend the event due to your schedule, we will be making the recordings available after the event for you to access.

I will be attending 12 hours of programming from 3pm on Thursday to 3am on Friday morning as a moderator for the programme, during which time I will have the opportunity to participate live on four sessions:

• In conversation with David Meerman Scott, author of the great book "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" about how to build your personal brand online
• In conversation with Stewart Emery, co-author of "Success Built To Last" about the strategies of world leaders of the most successful companies
• In conversation with Tim Demello, John Jantsch, Guy Kawasaki, and Andy Sernovitz about how to create brand evangalists to build your business and your brand
• In conversation with Leigh Branham, Orla Graham and Tim Zastudil about how to build your employer brand to win the war for talent.

This event is FREE to attend. If you would like to join me, you can register at the personal branding summit website - and if you can not attend then we will be recording all the seminars.

I do hope you will join me - there is a truly world class faculty - and remember you can access 24 seminars all for the price of your phone call.

Trust: the heart of your personal brand

As I continue to reference here and over at Biz Growth News, building your personal brand as a leader takes many forms and we can build or destroy our reputation in just one action or comment.

Today I received an urgent call from a client who was distressed by a conversation she had had with a potential designer. She had been connected to this person in good faith by her local printer as she wanted to work on developing a new visual identity for her business.

What threw her was the downright rudeness of the designer. During the course of the conversation they completely savaged the website and reputation of one of her colleagues, quoting what can only be construed as gross fabrications and lies - yet they had never met my clients colleague or knew anything about thei business.

They then went on to be dismissive of her business without knowing much about it.

When you are in the early stages of developing a business, it is easy to be put off course by people who are "nay sayers" and this conversation today was of little help to my client.

I was only too pleased to have been on hand to talk to her.

Bottom line, this designer has done nothing to further their reputation or credibility. As my client stated:

If they are like that about people they do not even know and they are talking about someone I respect hugely, there is no way I could put my trust in them.

In that short conversation on the phone, that designer has put into question one of the most important things we must develop for healthy relationships in business and our personal life - trust.

It takes time to develop, a moment to destroy and an eternity to rebuild.

While we may have beliefs about our own expertise against that of others, don't forget that to be dismissive and rude about others says more about us than it does of the other person.

Safe to say, my client now has the contact details of four designers I have recommended to her!

Round up of blog carnivals for July 2007

If you are looking for great articles about business success, I suggest you take a look at the following blog carnivals for July 2007:

Carnival of sales management success

Make money blogging

Teaching PR

The personal development carnival

The secret of getting what you desire

Do let me know what tips and strategies you apply to your business.

Build your personal brand through your profile

Whether you are in an organisation and developing your career or you are the leader of your own professional services practice, one thing you can be sure about....

.... at some stage in the next 12 months you are likely to be asked to present yourself on paper.

That could be for a proposal you are submitting, a job you are applying for or a profile you have to present as a speaker at a conference.

But when was the last time you reviewed your personal profile or CV? And does it accurately reflect your expertise and experience?

I was recently working with a professional association to support them building their brand on-line. They had developed a new web site which gave the members of the association the opportunity to add their details to the data base, providing them with increased visibility.

However, the quality of the personal profiles was so poor, they certainly were not likely to attract interest from potential clients or strategic joint venture partners.

I was also recently working with an executive who was looking for their next career move and we were working on developing their personal brand. However when we looked at their personal marketing materials - their CV - it certainly did not enhance their reputation.

I am frequently asked for a copy of my personal profile and what I have some to learn is that we need to have a core profile available at a moments notice so that we can adapt it to the needs of the audience requesting our profile.

You see it is much easier keeping your profile up to date and relevant than having to create it the first time.

So if your personal profile or CV is out of date, here are this weeks personal branding action steps to ensure that your profile projects your personal brand.

THIS WEEK'S PERSONAL BRAND ACTION STEPS

1. Print out a copy of your current personal profile and identify which elements are no longer current.
2. Update your profile - whether it is a CV or professional profile make sure that it does not exceed 2 pages.
3. If you are not sure if your profile accurately reflects your personal brand and expertise, ask a colleague or friend to review it and provide feedback.
4. If you need additional assistance consider the support of a resume writer or personal branding coach to help you create

TERMS OF REPRINT: You are welcome to publish this article in your own online ezine or news letter, providing the article is printed in its entirety and is left unedited and you include the copyright notice and the following statement:

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2007. All rights reserved. Reprinted from 'Biz Growth Express', a Oneocean Ltd publication for leaders in professional services practices, featuring inspiration, strategies and tips to build your brand, attract your ideal clients and enjoy greater success with less stress.  Subscribe today at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com and access free weekly teleconferences where we interview experts from across the globe on how to build your brand and expand your professional and personal success.

No-Cost Training: Speak your way to success

Have you been asked to present to a group but have found yourself fearing the event?

Are you concerned about what it takes to be an inspiring and credible speaker?

Perhaps you know that you should be speaking to build your personal brand and expand the reach of business but you are not confident about your skills?

Well in our next content rich audio tutorial, I will be taking you through 5 biggest mistakes to avoid if you want to build your reputation as a compelling and magnetic speaker.

I'll also be sharing strategies you can employ so that you attract more clients and more business opportunities whether you speak for free or for a fee - guaranteed.

Over the last 24 months I have spoken live at conferences in Ireland and overseas on over 100 occasions (and many more hundreds of times leading virtual events including teleseminars and webinars) and each time I speak it results in more clients, new strategic partners and more profit.

So if you want to discover the strategies I have employed, be sure to join me on the 13 August at 1pm ET/6pm Ireland and the UK for a content rich 60 minute seminar on how to develop your skills as a professional speaker. Register today at Biz Growth Live.

If you have questions about how to 'Speak Your Way to Success' you can post your questions before the call here:

http://www.bizgrowthlive.com/asklive

Networking Strategies Part 5: Women in Business, 27 June 2007: Evaluating Your Networking Plan

Networking strategies for success part 5 of 5 - get ready to take notes as we provide tips on how to evaluate your network.

In this show we cover how to evaluate the effectiveness of your network - be that online or offline - so you ensure that you achieve a return on networking investment (RONI).

Networking Strategies Part 5 Show Notes:                                       

00:58  How do we evaluate our networks and measure the benefits?
06:38  What you can do if you are not getting a perceived benefit from the networks you participate in?
12:19  How do you determine if you are "giving" too much to my network - how can you turn this around so that your network help you, or how should you disengage?
17:26  What if people are asking too much from you as a member of a network?
18:24  Conclusion

How To Leave Us Feedback

Do share your thoughts on this audio tutorial. Perhaps you have found some of the strategies and tips we share have worked for you or perhaps you have ideas and suggestions you would like to share with our listeners. You can choose one of 5 different ways to get in touch so why not:

1. post your feedback the comments section
2. leave comments at our media centre, you can call +1 214 615 6505ext 6842. As this is a US based number you make low cost calls from Ireland using AllFreeCalls.ie or from the UK using AllFreeCalls.co.uk
3. leave an audio comment on out site here at Todays Women in Business - just plug in your headset and micophone and you can leave a message
4. leave an audio comment on our Irish media centre at          086 8163096      
5. or send us an email at connect(at)todayswomeninbusiness.com

The value of values

When we consider our values, very often we consider these in terms of what drives our personal behaviour.

However how can values actually be attributed to bottom line benefits?

This is the subject of next weeks “Biz Growth Live” call with author and consultant Paul Kearns whose recent book “The Value Motive” presents a framework for understanding why value should be the leader’s top priority.

If you have questions about how to link corporate and personal values to bottom line profit, you can post your questions before the call here.

You can register to join this no cost teleseminar here.

Building a strong personal brand by managing expectations

Very few people you meet have a short "to do" list in today's busy world of work.

Most often than not, we are under pressure to finish a client project, draft a proposal or spend time directing the next steps we need our team to take to grow our business.

The reality is that our personal brand is nurtured or under mined with every action we take.

One of the key learnings for us all is how we manage expectations - be those expectations of our clients or our colleagues - as this can impact our reputation and therefore our personal brand.

I recall many years ago when involved in a key project that the director of the division I was working in advised the project team that they realised we had a challenging deadline and wanted to keep the project on track with regular progress meetings.

The project was very expansive and far reaching into the organisation and many things could impact the ability to complete the project within the agreed timeframe.

We had to deliver the project on time, within budget and to the specific key performance indicators. But to do that successfully we also needed to clear and unambiguous where we were going to be off track so that action could be taken.

As an example, if one element of the project was running behind the project plan, we had the responsibility to communicate this as soon as we were aware so that we could manage the expectations of all the other members of the team who were interdependent to our project stream.

Managing the expectations of those around us will support us building a strong personal brand that is respected by our colleagues.

If you are not sure if you are managing expectations here are three actions you can put into place today:

YOUR PERSONAL BRANDING ACTION STEPS

1. Get clear - be unambiguous about your expectations and establish clear outcomes and deliverables
2. Check for understanding - ensure that the people who need to know about your expectations understand what is required of them.
3. Manage expectations - if you find yourself off track in terms of what you have promised to deliver to a client, colleague or business partner, let them know as soon as possible. Do not wait for the deadline to come and go as that is a sure way of damaging your reputation.

Managing expectations is a key strategy in bilding your reputation and building a personal brand with a positive reputation. It's also something often overlooked and not managed well. So with a little attention you will stand out from the crowd.

Networking Strategies Part 1 of 4: Women in Business, 25 April 2007: Hosted by Krishna De and Ann Green

Networking strategies for success part 1 of 4 - get ready to take notes as we provide an overview why networking is one of the most critical business capabilities for us to master to support our professional and personal success in the 21 century.

This is the first of a four part series on networking and we provide an introduction networking.

You can listen the Women in Business podcast by clicking the player below or you can download it to your PC by clicking the download MP3 link; or you can find us in iTunes.

Networking Strategies Show Notes:

00:00  Networking strategies introduction
02:14  What is networking?
07:41  Why is networking important today?
12:20  How can networking help build your professional success?
13:37  Examples of why people network
15:56  Introduction to networking show ends

Do share your thoughts on this audio tutorial by posting in the comments section and if you have found specific strategies that have worked for you, we would love to hear from you.

If you would prefer to leave comments at our media centre, you can call +1 214 615 6505 ext 6842.

As this is a US based number you make low cost calls from Ireland using AllFreeCalls.ie or from the UK using AllFreeCalls.co.uk

Enhancing Employee Engagement: Women in Business, 18 April 2007: Hosted by Krishna De and Ann Green

Continuing our series on employee engagement to enhance organisational performance, get ready to take notes as we provide an overview of how to enhance dialogue and engagement with your people and how to define your communications and engagement policy.

You can listen the Women in Business podcast by clicking the player below or you can download it to your PC by clicking the download MP3 link; or you can find us in iTunes.

Enhancing Employee Engagement Show Notes:

00.00  Employee Engagement: introduction
01.33  Engagement and communication strategies
08.38  How to create tow way dialogue with employees
11.51  Formalising your engagement and communications policy - what to consider
15.24  Anonymous or attributed feedback from employees - the options to consider
18.00  Employee engagement - conclusions

If you missed the first part in this two part series on employee engagement, you can listen to the previous show which introduced the concept of employee engagement to enhance organisational performance.

Do share your thoughts on this audio tutorial by posting in the comments section and if you have found specific strategies that have worked for you ,we would love to hear from you.

If you would prefer to leave comments at our media centre, you can call +1 214 615 6505 ext 6842.

As this is a US based number you make low cost calls from Ireland using AllFreeCalls.ie or from the UK using AllFreeCalls.co.uk