“Million Dollar Bill” presentation

The video above contains some highlights from a talk I gave last month to the employees of a publicly-traded technology consulting firm. I was brought in to share some of my knowledge on branding and how we can apply techniques used by corporations to further our own personal goals. All in all, it was a great hour spent interacting with some amazing professionals, we had a packed room with 100+ of the company’s staff across various departments.

For those of you that are too busy to watch, here are some key takeaways from the video you can put into action:

• Own a word: We should learn from Al Ries and work towards owning a specific word in the minds of our peers.  Owning a word which describes us as an individual focuses our effort on the things we’re best at. This is the quickest way to build a “brand” within our chosen career path.
• Endorsers and Co-Signers: Aim to find mentors and authority figures who are willing to vouch for your work, this is an instant dose of legitimacy. An endorser’s trust is something you must first earn, of course.
• Personify your passion:  Inject your personal hobbies and passions into anything you do.  Passion is infectious and it will transfer onto anything you bring within close proximity, giving you a leg up on the competition.
• Turn your shortcomings into strengths: Find a way to leverage your “shortcomings” into working for you, not against you. We see examples of this in history and nature all the time.

My next speaking engagement is a short talk at TEDx MillRiver in April, but I’m also looking to do a lot more of these longer presentations across the main topics I discuss on this site like: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, etc. For the next two months companies and event organizers can enter to win a free presentation from me. For more details visit the speaking page.