Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

When it comes to the internet, you really never know where you will meet and connect with others. As a Tom Peters supporter, I tend to review and comment on his blog from time to time. Through comments on a single post, I met media and marketing entrepreneur, Ian Sanders, who insisted I receive his latest book, called “Leap! Ditch Your Job, Start Your Own Business & Set Yourself Free.” Don’t you wish you could ditch your day job and start a multi-million dollar business? Well then, maybe this book will help you achieve that goal. Ian has 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, with clients such as MTV Networks (his business is based in the UK). You can find his blog here.

I took time to speak to him about his new book and you can follow our interview below. Have a great weekend!

How is “LEAP!” different than any other career resource or self-help book?

There’s a stack of self-help books out there full of finely-tuned theories about business success; promises of magic formulas that will make millions for the readers. This is a more honest book; (there’s no great intellectual basis to my approach to business) – it’s an instinctive intuitive approach to business that many people can relate to. And what’s more it works!

In what ways has work changed and how do people need to prepare for what lies ahead?

Whether we work for ourselves or for organizations, the world of work is changing rapidly. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, success stories are about leveraging intellectual capital for commercial benefit. That means, we need to be good not just at doing the job but also at coming up with innovate ideas and fresh perspectives for new ways of doing things. We need to have a pioneering spirit once again. In the world of the micro-entrepreneur, where workers are quitting their jobs to go it alone with no rules and no limits, the opportunities are huge. People need to be innovative, enterprising and flexible. To creatively and rapidly deal with opportunities as they arise. You have to be smart and quick.

What inspired you to write this book and who is the target audience?

‘Leap!’ is a very personal project in that is the total validation of who I am, and what I represent. Over the years many co-workers and contacts asked me for advice so I decided to write my experiences down in a book. The target audiences are varied: executives who are considering taking the Leap; people who are working in small business/have already Leapt; people in ‘proper jobs’ who want to reinvent or reinvigorate their professional identity.

Your subtitle is “Ditch your job, start your own business & set yourself free.” What if people enjoy their job and feel free and comfortable in their current position? Should they read a different book?

Good question. The whole principle of the book is that it is a relevant read whether you are comfortable in your current position or whether you want to take the leap. One reader emailed me to tell me that she had read the book but decided to stay in her current position. But she stressed that ‘Leap’ had inspired her to ‘own’ her daily job too which has given her a new energy, focus and direction. I think it’s for anyone and everyone who cares about their job and wants to add value in all they do, and make a difference to themselves, their customers or their employer.

Can you describe the main philosophy behind the book: attitude, enterprise, success and worklife?

The book is across 4 themes; very simply ATTITUDE is about being prepared to go it alone; ENTERPRISE is the magic ingredient you need to be successful; SUCCESS has ideas and tips on how to grow your own business; and WORKLIFE addresses some of those inevitable challenges that come from living and working in what I have billed, ‘the scrambled up world of work’, a world of no rules, great opportunity but significant personal challenges.

Throughout your book you consistently use a “!.” What is the meaning behind this?

Whilst I am weary of gratuitous use of an exclamation mark, what I am trying to communicate in the book is the need to be dynamic – or in Tom Peters’ language to be ‘Wow’! My love of the exclamation mark is about making a difference, about being active not passive, dynamic not mediocre; it’s the positive energy and passion every entrepreneur needs to succeed!

In the book you describe the 6-point business plan. Can you describe it for all the personal brand’ers out there?

Sure. You and your readers are familiar with the science of business plans. Thick-wad presentations and documents with market assumptions, financial forecasts and projections. Like a lot of things in business, I think the ‘Business Plan’ can be over-complicated. My approach here is to distill it down to the basics: in six bullet points can you articulate your business proposition? If you can’t, you have a problem. The six points are:

• 1. What one thing makes your business different, makes it stand out?
• 2. Who are your target clients? How are you going to sell your product or service to clients?
• 3. How are you going to keep your costs down?
• 4. How are you going to maximise revenues?
• 5. How are you going to deal with competition?
• 6. How can you grow the business? What will you need to deliver that growth?

Chapter 14 states “why being a chameleon can be a good thing.” Can you explain this philosophy?

Many of us choose to wear a number of different ‘hats’ as part of our professional offering. Not only does it make for a more varied portfolio but it also gives us the tools to be more enterprising. We are not just specialists in one single area, but skilled in many; so we may have a number of professional identities as part of our Personal Brand e.g. writer, consultant, manager, marketier. I know that you Dan wear a number of hats in your professional life: being a chameleon is about being open, flexible and broad-thinking when it comes to how you define yourself.

How is your book connected to personal branding and what do you want my readers to walk away with?

You and your readers are familiar with Tom Peters’ ‘Brand You’ concept. For me, ‘Brand You’ and the concept of personal branding is at the heart of all our professional lives whether we work for Google, IBM or for Me Inc. To succeed, we need to be focused on building a personal brand: defining our strengths, and where we add value; communicating that to our target audiences; and ensuring that spirit pervades all we do and all we are. I am passionate about personal branding; and for the Go It Alone generation it is even more relevant and necessary. It’s a crowded, competitive market out there and success is about ‘Survival of the Fittest’. He or She who is able to define and communicate their point of differentiation in the marketplace – WINS. Without a personal branding ethos, you will struggle. Personal Branding permeates all I do and is part of the Leap! philosophy.