Lessons
Class Introduction
12:41 2Defining Brand
09:34 3Finding Your Mindset
04:57 4Winning a job vs. Getting a job
15:21 5Busy Is A Decision
02:45 6Honing your Mindset
07:35 7Generators vs. Drains
19:39 8Developing Your Mission (Statement)
25:32Identifying Table Stakes
13:41 10Characterizing Leadership
19:28 11Crafting Your Message
12:24 12How to Master Presentation
11:43 13The Importance of Being Trustworthy
05:17 14How to Achieve Success at your Interview–Part 1
20:04 15How to Achieve Success at your Interview–Part 2
22:27 16Artificial Harmony
10:13 17Developing Your Methodology
09:54 18How to Get the Interview
25:30 19Tips on Self Promotion
05:49 20Email Best and Worst Practices
07:53 21Creating a Stellar Resume and Cover Letter
05:59 22Set Big Goals and Final Q&A
19:05Lesson Info
Defining Brand
The class is called, "A Brand Called You". So there's this big elephant in the room, at least I think there is, and that is, what is branding? What is branding? What does it mean to brand? And so I wanna talk a little bit about branding. Let's talk, just get some definitions out of the way so that we're literally and figuratively all on the same page about what the notion of branding is. Because branding is not a result. So branding is a result, not a journey. It's a result, it is what you are left with. You don't start out as a brand, you create a brand through specific ways of working and I'm gonna talk very, very seriously about ways in which you create and build a brand but you don't just have a brand. A brand isn't just born, you have to create that brand so my definition of branding is a very simple one and I've done a lot of research in branding and in my book, "Brand Thinking And Other Noble Pursuits" I speak with some of the world's greatest brand thinkers. Malcolm Gladwell, S...
eth Godin, Dan Pink, Virginia Postrel, amazing, amazing thinkers and I asked them all, "What is your definition of branding?" and not surprising, everyone had a very specific opinion about what branding is and they had their own definition. However, they were all different so it's this really squishy, amorphous thing but it isn't really. So I wanted to come up with a definition that I felt was sort of, foundation. Take everything else away, take all the other words, a promise, an experience, all that other stuff and give you a definition, create a definition that succinctly describes this process of branding and so my definition of branding is "deliberate differentiation". That's it. No promises, no experiences. Deliberate differentiation. You want to create something that's different from everything else. If you're not creating something that's different for everything else, why do you need it? There's plenty of brands out there. Over a hundred brands of nationally marketed water. So unless there's something different about whatever it is that you're making, creating, why? Don't need it. So that's the bench mark. So you start with something that's different from everything else and we'll talk about how to get to that and then you very deliberately create that. Intentional differentiation. Thoughtful differentiation. Differentiation with meaning. One of my my partners that's growing brands wrote a book a couple of years ago called "Brand Is A Four Letter Word", brilliant, brilliant man named Austin McGhie and in that book, he talks about what truly great brands are and do and this is a quote from his book. And this was based on thinking about products, thinking about brands that you buy but I actually think that this is a wonderful quote about what brands can do in general because I believe now, that almost everything is a brand and I don't mean that in an overly consumerous kind of way. Brands are doing more than they ever have before and are our history as a species, they define our belief, they telegraph who we are, they allow us to create a sense of who we are that we can project to others and so the most authentic way of doing that, whether it be for a person or a thing, is from the inside out and so if a branded product in a super market is built from the inside out, then how amazing that who you are is built from the inside out, who you are in your heart that you then build from the inside out and so that's one of the things that I'd like us to keep in mind today as we think about how to create a persona that we share with others, the most important thing is that it come from the inside out. It's not an outside-in construction because then it's not based on anything that's real and it's really not being something, it's not able to be something that other people can connect to so branding is the result of sound, strategic positioning. It is the result of sound, strategic positioning. Positioning is what you are, not what you say so in order to be able to understand how to position yourself in the marketplace, you need to be able to understand what you are, who you are and then you build and a great position sits at the heart of either an organization or a being and it drives everything that you do including your communication and for a person, a great position is in your heart and drives everything you do, especially your communication so your communication is essentially how you talk about your unique beliefs and benefits and you state those with stature and sincerity. And that is how you develop a way to talk about yourself and don't worry, we're gonna go through this, literally word by word in the next session where we are going to deconstruct this statement and talk about every single word so that you understand how you can begin to position yourself for the marketplace. When I ask people, when I ask young people, what do they think makes them different from someone else, what is your unique benefit that you will bring to any work environment, the first thing they tend to say is that they're a people-person, they're a good people-person. I'm really not joking. I wanna tell you something, no one cares if you are a people-person, no one cares if you are a people-person, no one. There is no real benefit to being a people-person and I don't even know that there's a definition we could all agree on about what a people-person actually means. This is the bottom line, literally and figuratively, people are going to be hiring you to provide a benefit, they're going to be giving you money to do the thing that you say you love to do or that you want to do because you love it. They're giving you money. You have to give them something back. They're paying you to do something that is going to benefit that organization. I often joke that someone out there in the marketplace must love peach-flavored powdered ice tea. Why? Because it's on the market. Companies don't put products out in the market for very long that people don't buy. If it's out there and it's been out there for a while, it's because people buy it. Companies aren't altruistically putting products into the marketplace thinking, "Oh, this is something they're gonna love, maybe they'll buy it and maybe they'll give us money and then maybe if we're profitable, we'll give some of that money back to our shareholders. That doesn't work that way. Doesn't work that way. There's profit and loss statements that need to be maintained, there's all sorts of fiduciary responsibilities that brand-makers have to their shareholders and so they are providing products in a marketplace that they hope people will love and buy and buy again and buy often. So if you are going to be working and you are going to be hired, you need to be able to communicate what it is that you do that is going to provide a return on the investment that they make for giving you that money. So no one will ever care or want to hear that you are a people-person.
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
B R I LLIANNNNNNT !!!! I love the such solid human being that she is and her grandiosity of holding our shoulder and say : go head! Dare to be your best self, own it. Here are some tips .... !!!! Uhuuuuuuuuu!! So inspiring! Thank you so much, Debbie. For couple of days you were my very BEST FRIEND :) Thanks Creative Live!! This is NOT a live "manual" on technical skills. If that is what you are looking for go some steps down and there are plenty of people teaching that, like traditional schools do. You will only learn what is "there" for you to learn if you are open TO HEAR with sincerity. Debbie tells several things that works and that doesn't in professional field besides showing what successful business look for in the people, or partners. Out standing!! I would love to watch another class with her.
Nancy
I loved this course. Five Stars. I was initially drawn to this course because of the title. I had read Tom Peter's article (with the same name) in Fast Company magazine many years ago, and found it really inspiring. This was before 'brand' was a household word. Anyway, the course is geared more towards designers looking for their dream job than a typical branding course, but as it happens, I am a designer, so it was quite informative. I can also use much of the advice and lessons and apply them to my own business. From contacting potential employers or clients to creative self promotion, there's valuable lesson to be had. I watched and listened to this course in one day, almost straight through. I highly recommend it. Great insight, great advice - whether you're a design student or not. If you're the creative type, I think you'll find this both enlightening and very enjoyable.
Student Work
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