By Karen Post, on March 16, 2012

Are you ready to fight for your personal brand?

Many brands on their top game suddenly find themselves in a truck full of brand trouble. A scandal, bad judgment, a legal mess, a tragic accident or the result of just taking your eye off the ball, the brand goes bad.

Beat up brands can recover.

I look at brands that have fought their way back from near folds and I’m always amazed at the resiliency and dedication I see. In my latest book, Brand Turnaround, I reveal the steps taken by persistent leaders who overcame major brand shake-ups. I call these seven key concepts Game Changers, and one of them is to not give up.

Seems like an easy enough concept, but how far are you really willing to go if your brand undergoes disastrous, brand-killing times? Do you have a plan? How can you ensure that you’ll persist? Can you handle the pressure and whatever hand you’re dealt—even if that means a trip to jail or a big fat market rejection?

People like Martha Stewart, Michael Vick and Arianna Huffington are proof of how to make the best of a bad situation. Without going into detail about all of their stories (you can find that in my new book, Brand Turnaround), they all have some common traits:

• Taking full responsibility for themselves
• Welcoming change and outside help
• Leveraging what they know
• Being completely honest and transparent
• Being resilient
• Employing a multi-touchpoint tool kit

Now put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you’ve somehow got mixed up with the wrong crowd and ended up making a bad judgment call that lands you in the nightly news. You got a DUI and this time you’re going to jail instead of attending your company’s annual retreat. Your business partners might bail on you, the public may be against you or your employees lose confidence in you—so it’s time to come up with a plan for yourself.

First you must understand failure isn’t permanent. It’s a temporary event unless you choose to stay there. Even if you’ve let a bunch of people down, including yourself, regain your composure and find your inner strength. Yes, fear, anger and shame may feel like an eternal zone, but you can put an end to it—pick up the pieces to move forward.

Whether you’re sent to jail, your brand’s reputation suffered from bad judgment calls or a long series of rejections take you out of the game, stop feeling sorry for yourself, get a grip and take focused actions to change your course from loser to a top brand that people want to buy and associate with.

If you are incarcerated you will have plenty of time to reflect and come up with your plan. If you are still operating, but in a big depressed funk, carve out significant amounts of alone time to reflect, shake off the past and map out your recovery.

Have faith, whether that means, reading, meditating or going into your personal spiritual zone. Then visualize where you want to be.

Reverting to old patterns and ways will keep you in the nightmare. Resiliency will return you to glory and make dreams possible.

While you’re away physically or mentally, don’t let your brand die. This might mean temporarily stepping down in your head role. It’s okay to hire a leader to fill in for you or to trust one of your partners to take the reins while you get your life sorted out. Do whatever is best for your future brand. Do remember that the longer you ponder the further you are from brand recovery.

Once you are back in the game, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Reach out to advisors, business connections or professional firms who can help you reinvent or polish up your brand and reestablish trust with your markets. Leverage community outreach opportunities like volunteering or doing public speaking that relates to your new image or lessons you learned from the bad events that can aid others.

Be honest once you’re back in the limelight. Admit to what you did and explain the steps you’re taking to continue to make yourself a better person and a respected brand—and avoid making the same mistake again. Self-deprecation and being able to laugh at yourself could also work in your favor.

Reengage with the public. Even if your former fan club isn’t as solid as it once was, people liked you/your brand for a reason. Invite them to be a part of your new life by interacting with them via social media and being transparent about your intentions.

Establish new relationships with positive people. You may have lost some partnerships due to your temporary set back, but it doesn’t mean that no one will ever want to partner with you again. In fact, you may find that other successful people have made similar mistakes. Connect with them for advice and strength.

Embrace change. Don’t let the past shape your current thoughts or actions. The past brought you brand- and life-damaging consequences, so if you want different results you must try different actions.

Leverage what you know and are passionate about. Most of the successful brands I’ve seen turnaround—especially personal brands—have aligned their core talents and what they love to do with their game plan forward.

And finally, don’t under estimate the power of visual communications. How you dress, what your marketing materials look like and the tools that best reflect the new you—the brand that has turned around—are critical.

This article is based on content from Karen Post’s latest book Brand Turnaround (McGraw-Hill 2011). This article focuses on personal brands, but the book covers a variety of brands from commercial and destination brands, to nonprofit brands.

By Karen Post, on October 2, 2011

Every Saturday I salute someone or a group that deserves a little extra attention for his or her good deeds, super branding, achievements, creative solutions, witty comments or meaningful acts of customer love.

This week my hat goes off to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yes, my hometown baseball team scored big this last week with not only clinching the American League East’s Wildcard spot, their pass to the playoffs, but for inspiring many, including me, that if you believe, you can achieve!!

Entering into September the Rays were 9 games behind the Boston Red Sox and their chances of post-season play were slim. The month proved to be an astounding example of how having a one game at a time mentality, strong leadership and resiliency can produce results and make history.

By the end of the month they had earned their way back as a true playoff contender. Neck to neck with the Boston Red Sox who had dominated a top spot in the division for months, the Rays came back in a final showdown game against the New York Yankees (the #1 team) from a 0-7 deficit and pulled off the biggest comeback (beating the Yankees 8, 7, while Boston lost to the Orioles in the 9^th inning) in Baseball history.

Lessons for all entrepreneurs from this stellar week and the Tampa Bay Ray’s amazing performance.

1) Don’t give up.
No matter how grim it looks. If there’s a will there is a way.

2) Stay loose and love what you do.
The Rays and coaches often speak in interviews of the great fun they have playing the game and how a mindset of being loose, calm and relaxed goes a long way.

3) Leadership really matters.
I met Joe Maddon in 2006 shortly after he joined the team. We were both at Sideburns, a local Tampa restaurant. No one knew him then and we talked for 20 minutes. My immediate impression was this was a poised, cool guy, a strategic thinker who had a very empowering personality. My instincts were on the money. Joe is a first-class leader for the Rays. Even after brutal defeats, he is always positive and praises the guys for the good they did that night. He’s no spring chicken, but projects a very genuine, contemporary, hip style so everyone relates to him from the veteran fans to the youngest players.

No one really know where all this will take the Rays as they enter a tough field of competition to the World Series.

No matter what happens, you can’t help but love this team, their dedication and stamina and salute them today!!

Go Rays!! Good Luck!!

By Karen Post, on September 17, 2011

Every Saturday I salute someone or a group that deserves a little extra attention for his or her good deeds, achievements, creative solutions, witty comments or meaningful acts of customer love.

This week my hat goes off to the fall graduating class at American Intercontinental University and their families. American Intercontinental University is a global learning institution with campuses across the United States, in London England and an award-winning* Virtual Campus called AIU Online.

I was the commencement speaker today addressing over 200 grads, 1300 + university professors, staff and friends and family at the graduation celebration in Chicago.

Held at the Pier, surrounded by Lake Michigan, it was a picture perfect day to celebrate such a meaningful and huge milestone for the grads and their families.

Many of the students have held full time jobs and run businesses while getting their degrees. The class was diverse, it was made up of all ages and all ethnic groups with a common goal of bettering themselves with a solid education. They traveled from around the US and world to celebrate their newly earned degrees.

They all inspired me! (The grads, the professors, the staff, the alumni and the families)
To see and feel such love for life, learning and the dedication to catch dreams was a wonderful occasion.

As promised, here are the words I shared. A taped version of this commencement address will post on AIU’s  Youtube channel soon. I will share the link once I get it. Until then, here is my notes. Pardon any typos, I’m running out the door

At 22 I started my first company. I made lots of money. I had fun. This went on for nearly 20 years. I was unstoppable.

At 39 I led a company that failed. I lost lots of money and my confidence. I was devastated.

At 42 I found my first gray hair in my head. I was freaked out.

At 43 I discovered hair color. And I was happy again.

Life is colorful, crazy, and challenging.
Life is wonderful and a rewarding journey.

We will all face windy & scary paths, with unexpected potholes.
We will experience great joy too!

Like today, as we celebrate your graduation, your passage onto a new and exciting road—full of dreams and opportunities.

So as you step into this new journey,
Who will you be?
And what will your brand stand for?

Will you be a courageous leader of a big company?
Will you express yourself and be a rule-breaking artist or a passionate writer?
Or will you be an entrepreneur and start your own business?

Whoever you want to be, you can be. IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE.
Look at Lady GaGa, Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs. They are all successful. They are all super brands.
And they all know success is more than an education and even talent.
Success requires a mindset that personal BRANDS matter.

Your personal brand is the sum of all you do.
It is your reputation, your identity and your image—that is captured in the minds of your market, your peers, your clients, your employers, people you know, people you don’t.

Your brand is: what the market thinks about you, feels about you and expects from you.
You are a brand – just like a product on a self that wants to get selected over another.
You are a brand- just like a company that buyers are attracted too.

The marketplace is competitive. You must stand out and stand for something.
I know first hand personal branding works. It can be the difference in getting something you want or being passed up.

I told you about a dip in my career 11 years ago. When I had to shut down a company, and lay people off.
My identity was shattered. I felt like I was in a dark hole with no way out.

In June of 2000, I committed to developing my personal brand. I started with a plan and clear goals.

I said to myself, Karen Post, “I will be an international branding authority. I will travel the world, speak, consult and write books. My nickname will be The Branding Diva. I will be high-energy and bold. My signature colors will be red and black and I will be a non-conventional thought-leader”.

My brand has helped me live my dream.
This past year, I even made history. I was the first woman ever to be invited to address the Saudi Arabian Airline in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After my presentation I asked the meeting planner, “Why did you select me over all of the other branding speakers in the world?”

He replied, “It was your bold brand. We wanted someone who’d rattled our thinking and was high-energy. When we visited your website and saw the name The Branding Diva, we knew you were the one.”

While the formula sounds simple, building a brand takes work, discipline and understanding these key points:

The dress rehearsal is over.
We are all on stage everyday competing with others for the same job, the same promotion, that same piece of business, often we get only one chance to win.

We are judged.
From how we look, to how we speak, to how we shake hands, to how we perform. Everything we do matters, like what we put on our Facebook pages to who we associate with.

Failure and rejection are both Just temporary events.
The road to success is paved with failures and rejection. Successful people take the hit and then shake it off, and get back to stuff they can control.

To build a personal brand
1) You must believe in YOU, exude confidence, stand tall–be an authority in your chosen field. IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE

2) You must know your target market and package yourself consistently, so you are relevant and appropriate. IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE.

3) You must know your competition and position yourself so you stand out. IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE.

4) You must show up and ask for what you want. IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE.

and finally, when you earn your fruit, give back, mentor someone, contribute to a scholarship fund, keep dreams alive, so you can tell a new student, IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE.

There are no limits to your success. Your personal brand counts. Go enjoy your new journey.

IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE! Congratulations to all!

In closing, a special shout out to just some of my new friends: Sergeant Angela Mitchell, Erica J. Reese, Dr. Phylis Gooden, Jennifer and Grover Iverson, Syerita Lockes-Turner, Carol Garner, Omari Martin, Tricia Sigler, Todd Frugia and team, President Tober and a sincere thank you to Amy Crocker with Five Star Speakers Bureau. And what a small world, I even ran into a friend from Tampa, Renauld, Erica’s Uncle!

By Karen Post, on March 29, 2011

I hate to break this news to you, but I’m breaking a promise. A few months back I told you I would blog every day in at least one of my three blogs, marketing/branding, entrepreneur or free biz finds. I’ve given it my best and believe I’ve pumped out some good and useful content since then. It’s not easy to write every day, but then again when you follow the tips I’ve learned to make blogging easier, it can be done with joy and without much pain.

Then came being an entrepreneur, running a small business and life, and my noble commitment became a big challenge for me. One that was causing a high degree of stress and maybe this over demand place I signed up for was even jeopardizing my health.

This past month has been monumental. I traveled to Saudi and made history, spent a week in New York City, got inspired, did my thing for the local economy, was featured in the New York Times and then went to Nigeria where I was a guest lecturer to an audience of 500 marketing and leadership professionals. All while blogging daily, servicing my consulting clients, managing my team of support personnel, writing a new book for McGraw-Hill called Brand Turnaround and playing 15 matches of tennis.

Then, just as I got unpacked, I signed up for a week-long comedy school that included a five minute bit, complete with memorized new and hopefully funny material. The class was in Tampa, produced by Jeff Lawrence of the Laughing Buddha Comedy School, who preforms around the country and is based in NYC.

I attended the first class on Tues., it was fun, saw many of buddies Frank Robertson, (a broadcast and media consultant) and Scott Farrell, (a proud stay at home dad) and met some great new friends too, Susan Guidi, another entrepreneur who runs Advanced Ultrasound Services in Tampa.  All in all, it was everything I wanted it to be. I’ve done comedy school before, so I knew the basics going in. And I knew there would be homework.

That night, I couldn’t sleep, I tossed and turned about all my commitments and now this one with a short deadline. Then I experienced a major anxiety attack, where you feel like you are going to have a heart attack and really die!!! YIKES!@#%!!!!

After about an hour of this agony, I got up, rubbed my big, happy, crystal Buddha’s belly on my dresser and had an important epiphany.

This is freakin, self-inflicted stress and pain and you, Karen Post, can stop it. I pulled out my writing pad and made a list of my: “had to do, must do” responsibilities. Comedy class was not on the list.

What was on my list: finish my book, take care of my clients that I am under contract with, and take care of me. The rest will have to wait and I know it will take care of itself.

My brain has a certain amount of brand-width, there are so many hours in day and I do not want to do anything that is not my best work. PERIOD.

The moral to this story and the 3 entrepreneurial essentials.
Know your band-width and respect it.
1) Don’t kill yourself, know your limits, and say no to things that are not in the top priority zone, especially if they can impact your true goals and dreams.

Exercise your rights as an entrepreneur.
2) As an entrepreneur, you get to control a lot, so don’t fail to use this privilege and power.

Change your mind  and alter your plan, if you need to. And don’t beat yourself up for it.
3) It’s OK to opt-out and change your mind and that’s what I’m doing. This is different than dropping someone in the grease with no back up options. This was not my case, no one was going to be disappointed if I didn’t take the comedy class at that time. I called my comedy instructor and told him my situation, my plate is over-floweth, I have to deliver my best stuff, my book, my clients, my team and right now just can’t do the class. He understood.

My game plan forward.
I’m taking an official break from daily blogging. For the next 4 weeks, my head is immersed in client service and completing my book and taking care of me (tennis, massages and a trip to Aruba to write and recharge).

You may see some random blog posts during my hiatus, but not making any commitments, as I’m islanding it in Aruba island for a week, I’m speaking at the Southeast Entrepreneurial Conference in Tampa on April 1 and I’m addressing Pizza Hut’s Annual Franchise Convention in San Antonio.

In my absence, my fabulous assistant, Lauren, will be spot writing on Internet marketing. Lauren has been with me for almost 7 months now and I believe she is the 8th wonder of the world. She’s an Internet and social media whiz and teaches me a lot everyday. I know she will bring some great articles and tips to the blog. Jocelyn one of the co-founders of Oddpodz may kick in a post too. She’s in Savannah, building her consulting, research and branding practice and helping other entrepreneurs succeed too.

So until next time . . .

By Karen Post, on January 30, 2011

Running shoe is by Newton.

I’m still in Houston and today is the Chevron Marathon. Thousands of ambitious runners are headed for the finish line as they run, walk or crawl 26 long miles. Achieving this goal after months of training and preparation is huge.

The day will be painful, challenging, rewarding, joyous and emotional for most. Sounds like a day at the office when you are entrepreneur. I’ve recapped 26 steps that these runners have taken and you can apply to reach your goals.

1.) Start. Set your goals.

2.) Create a simple, doable plan – how will you get to your goal?

3.) Develop a working schedule that covers: research, training, execution and anything else that needs to be done.

4.) List out all your smaller milestones that are needed to meet your big goal. Make sure you set accountable measures and deadlines.

5.) Design a wellness plan that includes diet, exercise, supplements and stretching rituals.

6.) Re-think your sleeping zone, your bed, the noise and the lighting so you can sleep for 7-8 hours every night.

7.) Relearn the importance and practice of breathing often and in a full cycles.

8.) Research and buy the best equipment you need to achieve the ultimate performance.

9.) Decide who your positive support network will be including business associates, friends and vendors.

10.) Kindly lose any negative, non-achieving friends, business associates and vendors from your world.

11.) Exercise your mind by using both sides daily. From crossword puzzles to something creative like doodling.

12.) Hydrate daily with water, not wine. Wine can be consumed in moderation, but water needs to be drank at least 6 times a day.

13.) Establish daily learning rituals from reading the WJS, to listening to podcasts and watching webinars and practice what you’ve learned.

14.) Work on improving mental toughness every hour. Shake off mistakes and disappointments. Believe in the power of your mind.

15.) Push yourself beyond what you think you can do.

16.) Identify a handful of people that inspire you, follow them and learn from them. Whether you know them or not.

17.) Carefully assess your competition, their strengths, and weaknesses.

18.) Seek out legal advantages that will accelerate your journey to the finish line.

19.) Keep your eyes and ears wide open for potholes and flying objects.

20.) Practice, train and be disciplined everyday.

21.) Recover, refresh and revitalize often.

22.) Show gratitude and appreciation to people you know and people you don’t know.

23.) Visit, read and recite your goals every day.

24.) Affirm in writing what you believe and can achieve. This is your story that you own, read it out loud everyday.

25.)  Stay laser focused on your goals and dreams.

26.) Don’t waste emotions on feeling guilt, worrying, dwelling on the past or things you can’t control.

Bonus step

27.) Be proud everyday of every little step you’ve taken.

For more on entrepreneur list-styles, view:
Celebrate loving being an entrepreneur everyday.
Can being happier change your entrepreneur results?

By Karen Post, on January 27, 2011

Two years ago I tried to make this happen. I invested over 100 hours, submitted it and it was rejected at least 14 times.

About 8 months ago, I came up with a brand new idea, invested around 40 hours, submitted it again and I was rejected again. This time by 10 groups.

I received some feedback from one of the rejecting groups. This time, the rejecting group offered a call to discuss it’s short comings. I agreed, listened, went back to work, made significant adjustments, invested another 50 hours and $1500 and resubmitted it.

I waited patiently. I had nightmares about it. I dreamed about it. I thought about it everyday. This time it was different. I believed in my soul, I was going to make it happen. I was going to score a big milestone.

Today I got the call. The big, fat green light was mine!
I was accepted, not rejected.
This was confirmation my hard work and ideas were very worthy of something amazing.

Hopefully by next week I can share all the details of this incredible event.

Now it’s up to me. It’s my responsibility to make this light shine brightly on millions around the world.

If you have a dream and a goal, keep pounding away at it. If you get rejected, learn why, make it better and don’t give up!

Check out this Book review – Crush it! by Gary Vaynerchuk