Nance Rosen Blog

Peter Shankman of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), has an interest in SnapGoods, where you can sign up to rent out your rarely used electronics. Robin Chase of ZipCar is profiled in Inc. this month because she founded BuzzCar, a service that allows French people to rent their cars to neighbors.

In Santa Monica, Writers Junction co-owners and siblings Jay Gibson and Eileen Gibson Funke wanted a quiet place to write but dreaded the isolation inherent in the profession. So they created a shared workspace they rent out by the day. It’s ideal for writers who need a real place to go once the coffee shop thing gets old. Plus Jay and Eileen can host profit-making events for their community. I recently spoke on personal branding to their screenwriter “tenants” and will do it again this coming Sunday.

Strength coach Jon Torerk at BioMechanix in Los Angeles wanted to build himself an elite facility to train in. So he created an industrial/zen-style super gym where contract trainers pay a small fee to bring their clients. It’s got the exact equipment that professional athletic gyms have, plus video games, movies, a conference area, kitchen and even a place to nap. And, Jon can work out whenever he wants.

This is a new take on “follow your passion.” It’s more like “share your passion.” Or, build it and they will come. “They” according to Seth Godin, are your tribe. The basic concept is seeing that your taste, desires or stuff are probably really attractive to other people like you.

What’s great is that you can afford more and better stuff when you share. And, there’s a fun quotient here. Something good happens inside and out, whenever you are with your tribe, even if just one aspect of your lives brings you all together.

Warning: this is not a business concept for only children or people with poor boundaries. You have to be able to play well with others. You must set clear rules and standards for the behavior of your clients. You also must have the right apps or check-in/check-out procedures to keep track of what’s going on. And, make sure you are making money.

Good people skills

Your personal brand plays into this business scenario. You must have good people skills. You must be generous in nature. You must be able to bear the bent edges or spilled coffee, or whatever dings are going to happen in a shared environment.

You like-ability is going to be part of the sell as well. Successful shared services, equipment or space business begin with positive buzz from people you know. In this business model, without others you are nothing, or at least you make nothing.

Elliot Erwitt is a photographer and filmmaker who was getting lost in Los Angeles until she found that sharing her home with other people’s dogs was the ticket to a great business concept. She’s someone you like instantly. It helps that she sends home professional quality photos of your dog at play and rest. Her business Citizen Kanine has a great Facebook page that documents the field trips and activities of her pack. She also alerts a very large group of followers about dog-friendly and dog-saving tips. For example, oleander is poisonous and a lot of it grows in the neighborhood.

So, look in your closet, bookshelves, garage and backyard. Think about what you have and would like more of – or better. Consider what your friends always admire about you (or what they borrow). Spend some time appreciating yourself. Maybe you’re really patient with grandparents and they love how you play piano. Or teenagers always come to you for advice. A clubhouse concept may fit perfectly in your living room.

Something is bound to bubble up that you can put on loan, for hire or in some way share for profit. Given the current financial markets’ roller coaster ride, it really might be best to invest in yourself and the stuff you like at this time. You might find out what you’ve got is as good as gold. Maybe better.

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During the debt ceiling negotiations, among the punked-style news: a Tea Party leader touted a “massive rally” on behalf of that group (at which less than 2 dozen people actually showed up). He claimed the majority of Americans supported his party’s position because “the phones were lit up and the government websites melted down,” (once President Obama urged us all to contact our representatives to urge them to not default on our global credit obligations).

In that televised interview, a fair-minded host aired video of the small, motley crew who made the “rally.” He then reported the statistics on who had contacted their representatives. Better than two-thirds were in fact largely furious that 61 Tea Party freshman congressmen imperiled our country’s sterling creditworthiness, setting off a $700 billion sell off in the stock market (where our 401K plans are now imperiled) over 5 days.

Credit where credit is due

I bet you aren’t surprised by these shenanigans, because you’ve been punked yourself, and paid for it.

Haven’t you worked with someone who wantonly took credit for your ideas or work product? When your boss showed management his PowerPoint with your points on it, did you stage an uprising? No, you sat through the meeting – and watched him enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Haven’t you lived with someone who was a slacker, and didn’t want to pay bills he owed? Did you just let the house bills go unpaid? And, let him ruin your credit? No, you paid the bills to preserve your credit score – and his, too.

Hasn’t a classmate who didn’t turn in her part of a group project held you hostage? Didn’t you wind up just taking whatever she got to you, while you did the majority of the project – and earned her the same A you deserved?

Credit doesn’t always go where it is due. You know that already. But, what can you do about it?

Your career depends on your ability to withstand these crises.  Perhaps the future of your company depends on that. Thus, you need a way to remain calm and confident in spite of the madness around you.

Being effective regardless of victory or defeat

You need to be effective at producing an income, controlling costs and doing work that moves your career forward: no matter who is attempting to defeat, default or otherwise deter you. How?

As a career and business coach, my recommendation is that you set up several options whenever that is feasible. For example, line up several job interviews. Don’t stop looking because you got one call back.

And, even when you are happy and hired: create something on the side that you find personally meaningful and at least potentially profitable. Or, make sure you keep up with your connections, so if you have to leave a company: you have people who care about you – not who hear from you only when you are out of work.

Avoid having all your eggs in one basket

In business, choose two vendors whenever you can chunk off 20% of the work. That leaves you with an option if one tries to hold your work hostage for more time or more money. Cross train your employees so no one person is the only person who knows how to do anything that is mission critical.

Having a set of alternatives: a plan B, C, D, E, F, G and so on, is the best insurance you can have in your career and business. It doesn’t make you disloyal, it’s just good policy.

In terms of the debt ceiling dealings, I learned sometimes the only alternative is watching cute kittens on YouTube.

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In the current debate on whether to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, you are seeing a perfect example of the power of NO, and how that one word defines the personal brands of people who use it to mean, “No. Absolutely not. Not now. Not ever. Uh-uh.”

Al Dunlap – a famous corporate takeover king during the 1980’s was called “Chainsaw Al,” because he was absolutely certain that ruthlessly cutting employees off payroll would raise short-term profits. He was absolutely right. Shareholders loved him. That is until the loss of valuable employees destroyed long term investment strategies, because once Al and his pals took their profits: these companies were shredded.

Absolutism works until if fails

On the other hand, how is that for personal branding? “Chainsaw Al.”  Can you imagine how it felt when you heard that Chainsaw Al was on the acquisition team alighting on your company? Like Attila the Hun was in the neighborhood. A very powerful personal brand.

All absolutism works absolutely until it fails, catastrophically. In the meantime, those people who win by virtue of a “take no prisoners” approach make dramatic heroes (oddly, even among the prisoners). It’s the Stockholm syndrome.

Fear or inspiration?

Absolutists inspire and frighten people with their certainty.  In either case, what’s enthralling is the depth and breath of their disregard for anyone else in the room. That’s how they can take what is “ours” and make it completely “theirs.” Like your lunch money in third grade.

So by its nature, absolutism is anti-social. Because absolutists enjoy the freedom of being concerned for only their own position, and like Al Dunlop, train a blind eye on consequences they won’t experience, they have an amazing advantage in negotiations. They are huge in business. Monsters.

Casualties abound

If you haven’t yet worked with a boss or colleague who takes this approach, you are in for a doozy of a career killing experience. Not theirs, yours.  Because these people are such terrors, a whole lot of bodies have to be bloodied and broken, before corporate gets a clue that the mayhem maker is worth tackling.

I’ve had it happen in my career.  It’s shocking to be hired to do a job, and then meet the person who makes it her job to make sure you can’t do yours. A decade later, I met her at a farmers market in LA. She was sitting there sunning herself, and waved me over to say hello.

I can tell you she had absolutely no idea what she’d done, even though by then she had been cut loose. The company? It’s been limping back. She absolutely had an impact. Much bigger than I did.

Disappear rather than dialogue

Absolutists are walking tall among us. So be careful about what you’re learning from the government or corporate scene, who inspires your actions and what you take away from the behavior of those who are in charge.  Remember, the clearest sign of their presence is that they disappear rather than dialogue. That you feel disrespected and oddly awed at the same time.

As you create your career and yourself, ask yourself if absolutism is something associated with you and your brand? I’m hoping you say: absolutely not.

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Being indispensable is a good threshold test for measuring the success of your personal brand. Being indispensable – the right person to answer the question or otherwise direct the action – means you are the ONE, the ONE we count on to get it right or make us right or otherwise make the right thing happen.

It is a wonderful and terrible thing to be indispensable. It gives you job security, client control, superior relationships with the most important people – and those people will take your call (or return your email).

Close to invincible

For the feelers in our group: indispensable feels close to feeling invincible. It’s a very good feeling. You know you’re overdoing it when you feel like the world can’t rotate without you, which will never be true. Keep in mind that once in a while even Batman must look at the Gotham sky with the beaming klieg lights summoning him and think, why don’t they call Iron Man today? So, make sure you have a DND button or sign or a way to signal that even superheroes need a nap.

That should be your worst problem – too many things to do with all your talent, know-how and good judgment. So, let’s figure out how your personal brand can feel like we all can’t do without you.

Best above all the rest

You don’t become indispensable if you cannot carve out what it is you do – or how it is you view the world – or what subject area you are deeply committed to being an expert in. So make a list of things you do well – or want to do. Pick the one that’s most often the thing you do best or can learn to do it at a level above the rest of us.

Then, you’ve got to communicate that “thing” and the way you deal with that “thing,” clearly, crisply, compellingly and relentlessly. Or, have other people evangelizing for your personal brand.

What does indispensable equate to in business?

In business, being seen as indispensible looks like this:  You get referrals, recommendations, testimonials and offers without much effort on your part. You do have to answer your phone, return the email or open the door when opportunity presents itself. But overall being seen as indispensible lowers the overall effort you need for your personal brand promotion, and lets you turbo-charge your mastery over your subject or thought leadership.

Striving to be the one and only expert among your circle (or your circle’s circle) stops the roller coaster ride of feast and famine in new business development and juicy projects coming your way.

Not that the thrilling highs and stomach dropping lows aren’t unendurable. It’s just that after awhile, knowing you are going to get exactly what you want because you are who you are, makes it easier to have time to go to theme parks with real roller coasters – or do anything you really want to do. Even if the thing you want to do is build your empire by doing more, bigger and highly visible work.

If right now, you have more talent than you do recognition for it: let’s work on the fundamentals.

Indispensability’s step one: Give great advice.

Every octosecond on LinkedIn, someone wants to know something. And, in your on-ground life, you’re in casual conversations, much less meetings or presentations, where someone is talking about something that at least brushes up against your expertise, even if they don’t know it.

Take people seriously, and give considered, respectful and forwarding thinking advice. Great advice is never a yes or no. It’s your reflection on the question – which you might understand as only the tip of the iceberg.

For example, make sure to indicate what might be at stake that’s larger than let’s say: should our new logo be red or purple? If you are an identity specialist, you’ll weigh in with the symbolic meaning of color and the fact that while needing to be on trend today, the logo has to have a long life because great brands live long and prosper.

Okay, now you. Consider what you know, who needs to know that, and the best way of sharing your deeper than we knew knowledge.

Because we all need great advice, and you could become our indispensable resource.

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You betray yourself by arguing for the status quo instead of collaborating on something better.

You rebuff a colleague for attempting to help you, because this is how you always do it.

You stick to your routine when you’ve been told to up your game.

There are 60,000 times each day when you have the opportunity to think about what you are doing and improve it. That’s the number of thoughts neuroscientists believe the average human has each day.

Accomplishments and defeats

But, these aren’t just thoughts you are having. These are the micro-decisions that lead up to your accomplishments or defeats. Some of them you probably have down.

1. Wake up.
2. Shower.
3. Show up at work.
4. Meet deadlines and quotas.
5. Consider the consequences of what you are doing and make changes accordingly.

Always consider the consequences

Oh. The list starts to get not-so-easy after “show up at work.” That “meeting deadlines and quotas” thing, isn’t reflexive for most personal brands. Those stellar qualities are reserved for the people who succeed. And, the “consider the consequences of what you are doing and make changes accordingly?” Who does that? Only the hyper-successful.

You know, these are people you at first admire, then envy and finally sabotage. So you argue with them. Or ignore them. Or decide that they are working much too hard, with unreasonable expectations of themselves and others – and you certainly don’t want to be one of those “unbalanced” people!

Unbalanced versus focused?

Unbalanced used to be the polite word for crazy. Now, balance – which used to be a fundamental motor skill that stopped you from tipping over when you walk, is now 16 hours of free time for the eight you generously call work. Apparently, balance is evidenced by people who know which people were voted off Idol, or the island, or Chopped. Maybe worse are the negligently unbalanced: those people who are putting in 12+ hours a day, so you feel like you are killing yourself at work, but the lack of results hasn’t changed a thing you think or do.

Who wants to be one of those laser focused results-oriented, ridiculously hard-working, amazingly creative, powerfully assertive, reliably self-motivated people who refuse to believe that failure is the only option? Has it occurred to you that your latent success gene is being dominated by your “This is what I am comfortable doing” gene?

If your personal brand has a “I work hard – but refuse to work smart” ethic, or a “nobody ever asked me to do that before” skepticism, then we don’t know what to do with you anymore in business. My guess is you have been counseled, coached, coaxed and coddled to no avail – or you’ve been a work around for people who are successfully moving and shaking. There will come a time when you find out that there just isn’t a place, except in dying businesses  – maybe even your own, that you aren’t killing softly every day with how little you think about what COULD be done.

Quick assessment – working harder or working smarter?

Here’s a quick assessment. Are you are making file labels instead of cold-calls? Do you take four hours to write a blog post instead of using one hour and taking the balance of time to jump on social networks to connect with prospects, customers, investors, analysts, suppliers and the media?

A group of managers and I were having a round-table discussion about the best qualities of people we have working for us, and their opposite numbers. Shocking but true, we all had about 25X the “left checks and valuable mail unopened in a drawer” stories for the one that is “the kind of person I would leave my business to if I die, they are so great” story.

Meant to succeed

Personal brands: think about what happens when you go to work. It’s not a place to keep doing all the things that don’t lead to real success for you and your organization. It’s the place where you are meant to succeed, by seeing the possibilities, planning your work accordingly, doing it, changing what you’re doing when it turns out not to work, and surmounting the obstacles and pressure that are necessary parts of life – not just business.

Don’t be stupid. Decide to be bold. Be brave. Be brilliant. Take a fraction of the 60,000 times each day to be smart, and be successful.

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My personal brand has three pillars: encouragement, invention and freedom. While I mostly deal in small freedoms – your right to pursue any goal, any career, or engage in nearly any pursuit that brings you success or joy – occasionally it’s imperative that I should weigh in on our larger freedoms: speech, press, privacy, and the like.

Brand attributes and expression

It’s become an issue because in my country, the USA, freedom is under attack. I am a relatively well-known commentator on communication; hence I am on alert because this attack started with communication: the words you hear and the words you use. After all, words are the seeds of all great and terrible events. So, from my brand and standing to you and yours, here’s what’s at issue.

The USA is being attacked by people who want our government to fail. You may be setting yourself up to fail by engaging in these attacks.

Failure: that would be the stated goal of some foreign enemies and some domestic ones when it comes to the US. Most famously Rush Limbaugh. one of our highest paid talk show hosts, greeted the then in-coming American president Barack Obama with these words: “I hope he fails.”

The rhetoric has become increasingly angry, ugly and dangerous. We have small insults hurled, Sarah Palin calling the press, the “lamestream” media. And, Glenn Beck calling out George Soros on his Jewish religion, saying: “Soros has admitted in the past he doesn’t believe in God, but that’s perhaps because he thinks he is.”

I was asked at a SAG speech last week, what I thought about these performers’ personal brands. It’s clear Limbaugh, Palin and Beck among others, believe that disgracing themselves by disparaging other people’s freedom to report news, serve as an elected official and participate as a citizen in advocating for a cause, is good personal branding. And, it seems from their ratings that insults and low comments are actually pretty powerful when they find an audience that hasn’t been raised in homes or communities that puts value on respect for self and others.

But, don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that because these performers are paid to insult and incite, that you should, too.

Of course, social media has given license to people posting comments that they will regret when they go looking for a job, investor or business partner. Recently, I intervened when friends posted vitriole, calling the US president disgusting names and using gutter language to assess him, the opposition party and our government’s accomplishments and failures.

Hate is forever online

Remember, that it is patriotic here in the US to speak out against the government. It is also a civic duty to learn about the issues. That is what makes a truly free society. It’s just common sense to consider what your words say about you: before amassing a head of steam and a spew of bile toward the people with whom you disagree – or dare I say: hate.

If you want your personal brand to be aligned with these performers: that is in the gutter, and associated with the lowest form of “debate,” that is hurling insults, then you might have been misled about the rules of civil discourse. You are in particular jeopardy if you are upset with the status quo but lack the upbringing and social skills to speak politely, respectfully and thoughtfully.

Consider this: if your personal brand can only be tolerated by people who hate whom you hate, or those who get a rise out of gutter language, sarcasm and hostility – you have role models in the media and politics, for sure.

But, you won’t get the job you want or the partners who would be ideal for your venture if your language is tantamount to your being in a drunken brawl caught on tape and posted on your Facebook page.

Living forever on the Internet, your hate can’t be erased. Think about your freedom to progress before you imperil it with your likes and posts.

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On Thursday, the Screen Actors Guild Foundation is producing the grand finale of a four-part series on personal branding. After months of smart people sharing wise words about blogs, social media and other tactics to network with employers (in this case: casting directors, producers, directors and development executives), about 200 people are gathering in the grand auditorium to hear two hours that might be titled: “The Ugly Truth About Your Reputation,” which is not coincidentally the name of my new book, coming this August. No coincidence about my book title, because this audience is coming to hear me talk for two hours. Just me. Two hours. Hmmm.

So, I have been pouring over fresh commentary from the world’s most important people in show business, the decision makers in film, television, stage and online entertainment venues. What I want to pin down is how these moviemakers find lesser-known or unknown actors, select them and give them a career. It’s clear the same rules apply for young managers or college students breaking into business.

What’s the secret to a great audition?

I caught some huge light-bulb moments from Bernard Telsey who cast “The Normal Heart” and “Catch me If You Can, ” Daniel Swee, of Lincoln Center Theater and Jim Carnahan of Roundabout Theater.

Commenting in The New York Times, these casting directors answer this question: “What’s the secret to a great audition?” Their answers are profound for anyone else who is trying to establish a personal brand and find meaningful, well-paying work.

Telsey: “When somebody surprises you and takes you to an emotional place that the material is demanding but you wouldn’t have thought of … it makes you want to be in a room with them longer.”

Swee: “The key to preparing is spending (your) time … figuring out who this character is.”

Carnahan: “One of the biggest traps … is trying to be what we want (you) to be… You’re better off being yourself.”

Spend time, figure out the character

Personal brands: spend time figuring out who you are. Take assessments, indexes, quizzes, or journal, doodle, leaf through paint swatches at Home Depot, and decide what you would do with your first million. Figure out what makes you laugh, cry, feel engaged, gets you excited and keeps you going.  Learn to express exactly that, all of it.

Be you so authentically that revealing yourself gives us goose-bumps, our own light bulb moments and leads us to demand that we want to know you better. Make us feel that our organizations, productions or deals won’t be as great as they could be if we fail to get you on-board.

As actors and screenwriters hear from me constantly: I cannot make you better at your craft. I can only make you act and write better in the online and on-ground environments that get you the opportunity to use your skills. Be earnest about improving your skills and relentless about getting visibility for them.

For the rest of us non-theatrically inclined – don’t dismiss what the casting directors are saying. They could easily be the hiring managers or dealmakers you want to connect with. And, you could be the star they are looking for.

Consider every opportunity to communicate an audition for the greatest job you’ll ever have.

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What’s the one thing you can say to immediately get everyone’s attention, and focus them on working together to get results in a meeting? Well, it’s not one thing actually. You’ve got three ways to get any meeting started on the right track.

1. A Startling Statistic
2. A Dramatic Quote
3. A Success Story

You might have heard hundreds of people start a meeting. You’ve probably spent thousands of hours watching teachers start their lectures. For the most part, they’ve been doing it all wrong.  That’s why you’ve been bored, focused on the donuts and coffee or otherwise used the time to check Facebook or design a new logo for the company you’re starting on the side.

Prepare to be the best

When you run a meeting, that’s what your audience is doing, too – unless you plan ahead. So, take a few minutes to prepare one of the three best ways to grab their attention and laser focus their efforts on the tasks at hand.

Today we’ll focus on your first option, the startling statistic

This is the easiest opening to prepare and it can be the most entertaining way to grab attention. Consider what surprising metric is directly or indirectly tied to the topic you’re talking about. Pile up a lot of these so you always have a new statistic or measurement to shock your audience. For example:

In the solar energy business or tech support explaining data storage devices:

“The sun is so large, it could hold one million planets the size of Earth.” If you’re selling flash drives, “This drive is that exact concept – just turned around. It’s whole lot of ‘space’ in a pretty small container.”

In project management or global navigation:

“About one in seventeen children born in a hospital are given to the wrong parents,” according to playwright David Mamet in a recent New York Times interview. “If people can’t get that right, imagine what can go wrong when there’s less at stake.”

In electronics, quality control or technical writing:

“Thirty percent of all electronics returned by customers for being defective, aren’t defective. They’re returned because consumers can’t figure out how to use them. Returns cost companies $100 billion annually. Think of what saving $33 billion would mean to profitability, job creation and global economic health.”

In financial management, fundraising or oil and gas:

“A gallon of gas in the US today is about $4.50 cents a gallon. Pretty high until you compare it to the price of other things we commonly buy. Starbucks coffee comes to $32 a gallon!”

Getting statistics together isn’t just smart for getting attention in meetings, presentations, and conversations. It’s fun. Get onto your favorite search engine and let your curiosity lead you to asking loads of significant and quirky questions. Then, then sift through the sources to get metrics that create a wow factor for your meetings.

Hearing “wow, you give great meetings!” is ideal for any personal brand.

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