“Op-ed” articles, which typically run opposite a newspaper’s editorial page, are your opinions and comments on today’s news and current issues. They are your opportunity to “piggyback” on the news and are an important element of your personal public relations plan.
Once published, op-eds can be effectively used as reprints. Many newspapers publish as many “Letters to the Editor” as possible. Make yours brief—never longer than five paragraphs or about 500 words—and to the point. Some newspapers specify acceptable lengths. “The People’s Forum” in the News & Observer, for instance, is restricted to 200 words.
The op-ed article is your opportunity to affect a public debate or governmental policy and to improve matters in areas from health to education to the environment to politics. It can bring you considerable recognition and establish you as an expert in your field. But an op-ed must address an issue of interest to the average newspaper reader.
Put yourself in the place of the busy reader and ask yourself why the reader should care about your topic. Offer recommendations and a solution to the problem you are discussing. Urge the reader to take action. If possible, provide tools and information such as the date and time of a public meeting you want readers to attend, or the name and address of someone to whom readers should send letters of protest.
An op-ed is a rallying cry. Summarize your ideas in a strong final sentence or two, and be sure to include your contact information at the end.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Personal Brand Crisis
What’s a personal brand crisis? It can happen to you when you’ve been laid off. Or if you’ve made a big mistake. Or you’ve been publicly humiliated. Maybe you lost a fortune in the stock market or a business gamble. Or you failed to win something important, such as a crucial client account or an award you felt you deserved.
You can fall into crisis mode when your self-image has been shattered and it looks like you’ll never achieve your hopes and dreams. In personal terms, a crisis is an emotionally stressful event or a traumatic change in your life.
Sooner or later, everyone undergoes a personal brand crisis. Like any public relations crisis, it can be brought on by an accident, an omission, a scandal, a layoff, your own misbehavior or through no fault of your own whatsoever. Even if events are beyond your control, you may find yourself feeling depressed, fearful, confused, humiliated or desperate.
These are miserable emotions, but you may find you cannot stop yourself from feeling them. Life may seem pointless. You wonder whether you are a failure or one of life’s “losers.” Your reputation is in the ditch and you’ve lost your direction and sense of purpose.
It often takes a personal crisis of some sort to stimulate real change and growth in a person’s life. Knowing this fact intellectually, however, may not help you in the early stages of your crisis.
That’s why the first step you must take is to remind yourself that your personal brand is a self-created identity—not the real you. Your personal brand is a collection of images, competencies, experiences and values that others associate with you. It’s your reputation and your perceived value, not just in the minds of your public, but in your own mind. Because it is your personal brand that has been assaulted, humiliated, destroyed, overlooked or “harmed” in some way, the reality of the situation is that you are just fine.
Never identify too strongly with your personal brand. It’s not really you. It’s something you have crafted. And because you are the one who has crafted it, you can change that personal brand at any time. You are in charge.
You can fall into crisis mode when your self-image has been shattered and it looks like you’ll never achieve your hopes and dreams. In personal terms, a crisis is an emotionally stressful event or a traumatic change in your life.
Sooner or later, everyone undergoes a personal brand crisis. Like any public relations crisis, it can be brought on by an accident, an omission, a scandal, a layoff, your own misbehavior or through no fault of your own whatsoever. Even if events are beyond your control, you may find yourself feeling depressed, fearful, confused, humiliated or desperate.
These are miserable emotions, but you may find you cannot stop yourself from feeling them. Life may seem pointless. You wonder whether you are a failure or one of life’s “losers.” Your reputation is in the ditch and you’ve lost your direction and sense of purpose.
It often takes a personal crisis of some sort to stimulate real change and growth in a person’s life. Knowing this fact intellectually, however, may not help you in the early stages of your crisis.
That’s why the first step you must take is to remind yourself that your personal brand is a self-created identity—not the real you. Your personal brand is a collection of images, competencies, experiences and values that others associate with you. It’s your reputation and your perceived value, not just in the minds of your public, but in your own mind. Because it is your personal brand that has been assaulted, humiliated, destroyed, overlooked or “harmed” in some way, the reality of the situation is that you are just fine.
Never identify too strongly with your personal brand. It’s not really you. It’s something you have crafted. And because you are the one who has crafted it, you can change that personal brand at any time. You are in charge.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Publicity, PR and Your Personal Brand
Publicity is an important part of public relations. If you or your company builds a Habitat For Humanity house every year for a family in need, that’s good public relations. If you write a news release about the fact and get it distributed and published, so that the public is informed about your company’s good deeds, that’s publicity.
Many consumers want to know about the company behind the products they buy. Consumers are concerned with the environment, with ethical behavior and with social responsibility. Good public relations reassures the public that the companies they choose to give their business to share their values and concerns.
As an example, Parade magazine just reported that Drew Barrymore can represent CoverGirl with “a clear conscience” now that the cosmetic company no longer tests its products on animals. You can bet that Barrymore represents a sizable chunk of CoverGirl’s customer base who feel the same way about animal testing. The company’s action to cease testing on animals was a result of sensitivity to the preferences and values of its customer base.
In the same vein, you must be sensitive to the values and concerns of the public you want to influence and impress. Your personal brand should reflect the same values and concerns.
Many consumers want to know about the company behind the products they buy. Consumers are concerned with the environment, with ethical behavior and with social responsibility. Good public relations reassures the public that the companies they choose to give their business to share their values and concerns.
As an example, Parade magazine just reported that Drew Barrymore can represent CoverGirl with “a clear conscience” now that the cosmetic company no longer tests its products on animals. You can bet that Barrymore represents a sizable chunk of CoverGirl’s customer base who feel the same way about animal testing. The company’s action to cease testing on animals was a result of sensitivity to the preferences and values of its customer base.
In the same vein, you must be sensitive to the values and concerns of the public you want to influence and impress. Your personal brand should reflect the same values and concerns.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Dan Schawbel’s Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success
Leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y Dan Schawbel has just published a book. Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan) is available on all the major online retails and bookstores internationally. The first book about personal branding written for the millennial generation, Me 2.0 is the primer on using the Internet to build a strong brand. It includes a four-step, proven process and focuses on how to leverage social media, such as blogs, podcasts and Facebook, in order to stand out, gain confidence, network professionally and have a successful career.
Me 2.0 has been endorsed by authors, executives and scholars. It is a handbook for thriving, surviving and excelling in this recession, whether you are a job seeker or are looking to change careers. Highlights include:
- An effective 4-step process for discovering, creating, communicating, and maintaining a personal brand.
- Expert insight into how blogs, podcasting, and social networks can position individuals to find careers based on their passion and experience.
- A complementary website (http://www.personalbrandingbook.com/) with helpful templates for each tool in the personal branding kit (i.e. resume, portfolio, etc.).
- Proven advice on branding from leading industry experts.
- Tips on using social media tools for personal empowerment, confidence building, and professional networking in order to attract jobs directly, without having to perform tedious job searches.
- Strategies for creating an online and offline presence for career protection and self-promotion.
Schawbel has written more than 40 published articles in major magazines and online resources such as About.com and BrandWeek Magazine and has been featured in media such as Fast Company, BusinessWeek, MSNBC and Yahoo! Finance.
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