Personal Branding Workshops
It’s one thing to be told what you need to do – and it’s another thing entirely to attend a hands-on workshop where you leave with the task accomplished!
Beth will work with you to develop the workshop series that’s right for your group. The workshops outlined below are only a guideline….
Developing your personal brand is a process. You need to know who you are and what you stand for before you start to put together your “image” and share it effectively. This workshop series takes participants through the process and helps integrate the components into an effective personal brand.
Individual workshop components are designed to be delivered most effectively in a 1/2 day format, but can be shortened to a minimum of 2 hours each. The entire workshop series is conducted over 3 days, or can be broken up into weekly sessions. Shorter workshops are more suited to being delivered over time so that “homework” can be completed between meetings. Component workshops build on the work completed in previous workshops. Personal coaching sessions can also be arranged.
Component 1: Start With “Why”
Learn what personal success and motivation psychology has known for decades, but has been very slow to move into the worlds of career education and business management. It’s all about “why”. Why do you get up in the morning? What keeps you going through adversity? An effective personal brand must not only be built on each individual’s “raison d’etre”, it must communicate it clearly. During this workshop, we will cover the major aspects of personal success and motivation psychology, you will explore your personality type and aptitudes using a number of inventories. We will discuss how personal branding can be used as an effective life-long personal success tool. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of what drives them and what type of work environment is most suited to each person.
Component 2: What’s Your USP?
Twenty-first century career hunting has borrowed a lot from the world of marketing. Once you know what you’re looking for, you need to communicate it effectively to potential employers or clients. Your “Unique Sales Proposition” (USP) is the answer to the question “Why should a potential employer or client hire you?” What makes you stand out from the crowd? During this workshop we’ll cover basic marketing concepts, and work through exercises to help develop each participant’s unique sales proposition. Knowing what motivates you and how you stand apart from the crowd is the basis of your personal brand. By the end of this component participants will also have developed an effective personal brand statement – making them ready for developing an effective message.
Component 3: Expand Your Brand!
It’s time for participants to develop their personal brand messages and begin to get them online! Using the popular and powerful “Linked In”, we’ll create a Linked In profile and discuss how to use and manage this example of an online resume. We will cover the variety of other social media applications that are integrated into Linked In: including WordPress blogsites, Twitter, Slideshare and more. As well, we’ll explore how to interact with others by joining groups and using the “Answer” section to gain and/or share knowledge. We will also write “kick a**” biographies of different lengths for use across the social media platforms that will be integrated into our personal marketing plans.
Component 4: Take Your Brand Online
When you go out into the world to network with real people, your online presence “has your back”. When networking, you will refer potential employers or clients to your online presence. Your online brand needs to provide positive and compelling information of the kind (and in the format) your audience is looking for. For most of us, the “hub” of our online presence is our website (or blogsite). The web URL you list on your business card, all promotional materials and your email signature is your “hub”. From there, online tools are used to enhance your brand. In this component, we’ll cover the benefits of the major blogging platform WordPress and discuss how 21st century websites differ from those of the recent past. With a little bravado and tinkering, an effective and very low-cost online marketing program can be developed using platforms such as WordPress, Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube… and others. By the end of this component, participants will have been introduced to WordPress, used their “kick a**” bios to begin to put together a website, and have started to explore how to pull in information from other platforms to a WordPress web/blog site. Beth also offers a separate series of Social Media Workshops – please feel free to discuss the specific needs of your group.
Component 5: Effective Networking Online & Off
Networking only works when you have a network! Whether dealing with online or offline networking, connecting with people is the key. In this component, we begin planning an effective personal marketing program. We begin with more traditional networking strategies, such as the importance of strategic volunteering. We will also consider niche-marketing community-based marketing strategies. As the personal plans develop, we will discuss the integration of online tools and the appropriate and effective use of social media. By the end of this component, participants will have a well-developed personal marketing plan that integrates traditional career and marketing strategies with the newer online media.
Component 6: Finishing School
By this stage of the game, participants have a clear idea of who they are and their current goals. They have developed a personal brand statement and marketing strategy building up from their strengths and current experiences. We will have discussed the etiquette and appropriate use of both traditional and “new media” skills and applications. During “Finishing School”, we’ll cover on-going personal and professional development as well as have a final opportunity to ask questions about the content and philosophy of the workshops.
