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My coach Jennifer Sertl recently wrote the Foreword to our book "Personal Branding, Storytelling and Beyond". It has touched thousands of hearts and given a beautiful beginning to our book. And as they say, "Well begun is half done" I am reproducing the Foreword for the blog readers.   Foreword “If a story is not about the hearer he [or she] will not listen . . . A great lasting story is about everyone or it will not last. The strange and foreign is not interesting--only the deeply personal and familiar.” ―John Steinbeck All cultures throughout time have use stories to keep history alive, teach community and create demand. Ever since language began – we were telling stories on walls in caves and now we are telling stories on walls in clouds. Stories are how we breathe. We know now that robots are being taught empathy through literature. So clearly stories transcend technology. Stories are primal. As children we are great at telling stories. We know so ...

Life is unfair” , we all would have uttered these words at some point of time in our lives. In spite of being equally competent, many of us lose out at the workplace because we are/ were :-  not educated at a premier b-school or  educated in a small town or  gentle/ unassertive nature or  introvert or  from poor / middle class family with no connections or  are physically challenged or  suffer due to gender stereotypes and so on. Playing at a Level Playing Field Here is an empowerment tool, which will put you at par or may be ahead in the career race. A book which guides you how to share your KVP (knowledge, victories and passions) to create a brand which helps you overpower your weaknesses. Here are a few examples of the value of personal branding:- A CXO who was expecting to become a CEO was disappointed when his organisation recruited someone else. Thanks to his personal branding and frequent speaking assignments at conferences, ...

A Personal Brand offers a ‘Unique Value’ to the employer /client, in terms of strengths/ passions of the person, like USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for a product. Personal Branding, if done in the right way can benefit the organisation brand also, both in the case of employees and entrepreneurs. So what is the right way and what are the guidelines to keep in mind? Let us look at these guidelines in two parts viz. a)       For Entrepreneurs ·          SME (Small & Medium Enterprises) entrepreneurs, especially start ups can benefit a lot by personal branding as the personal brand (reputation) already exists and it can be built faster compared to a new corporate /product brand. ·          Taking a personal brand to a global scale is also easier compared to taking a corporate brand. ·          P...

Indians are clinging to their cultural roots and community-centric attitudes in spite of a fast changing society. The joke doing the rounds is that, “Indians don’t talk about sex, now they are opening up to talking lovemaking. Indians don’t talk about personal branding, now they are opening up to storytelling (for inspiring others & branding as a byproduct). There are pioneers and thought leaders (esp knowledgepreneurs & CEOs/CXOs) who are adopting social media for personal branding and demonstrating their passion. In fact, personal branding via mass media and books has existed in the country since decades and is restricted to celebrity management, rather than celebrity creation. Social Media is creating new celebrities, fired by their deep passion at work. ( Download the Free Ebook & Read More on Page 12-13 ) ---------------- Brief Profile Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant and Mega Success Coach. He is based in New Delhi, India...

Two Opinions on Personal Branding from UK and India Klout is a powerful tool to assist in your online personal branding (or business branding) efforts. Here are two opinions from UK and India on the subject. Dean Demellweek's Perspective from UK In today's digitalised life, measures of our online influence and reputation are slowly becoming an accepted fact. Soon, a good online reputation will be the most valuable currency in our hands. Like it or not, Klout and other tools are already becoming a part of the recruiting process - especially in industries where building online influence matters (e.g. PR, marketing, sales). Can Klout help us develop our personal brand online? To answer this question, let me start with personal branding fundamentals and how Klout relates to them. Credibility, visibility and having a strong network are three fundamental elements of personal branding. Credibility: Klout Score and Influential Topics can ...

Personal Branding for Journalists Journalists already know the power of mass media and the power of storytelling. So building a personal brand is easy for them. In fact, it is the news anchors/journalists, which actually bring audience to the respective media, with their personal reputation and brand. The Power of Storytelling Storytelling is the easiest way to build a personal brand and journalists are great storytellers. In fact, news is actually called a news story. Using Storytelling as a Personal Branding Tool Social Media Tips But what journalists need to learn is the social media tips and tricks besides the principles of brand management of course. Each social media platform is unique and understanding this uniqueness and capitalizing on it is an essential step in the journey. Personal Growth & Viral Marketing The main tool for success on social media is viral marketing (or other people sharing your content). Other people share your content when the ...