Ask BusinessWeek Columnist Christine Comaford Your Questions and WIN!

July 21, 2008 at 10:59 am | In Book Reviews, People, Personal Branding | 18 Comments

We have had only a single contest here on the Personal Branding Blog. That changes today. Christine Comaford and I have been discussing a brand new contest, where 10 of you can win a free copy of her book and have your business challenges solved ON THIS BLOG. Christine has massive credibility and is willing to share her expertise with my readers (Brand You). Why is she doing this? She loves to hear from new audiences and I told her my readers will have some very interesting questions.

Contest Rules

1) In the comments section, list your top 3 business challenges or questions for Christine.

2) She will pick the most common ones and do a guest post on this blog on Friday to answer them for you.

3) The first 10 to respond within 48 hours of this post will get a free copy of her book.

Let the comments flow! Good luck and may the brand be with you.

Christine’s background

Bill Gates calls her “super high bandwidth.” Bill Clinton has thanked her for “fostering American entrepreneurship.” Newsweek says “by reputation, Christine is the person you want to partner with.”

New York Times bestselling author Christine Comaford-Lynch is CEO of Mighty Ventures, a businessaccelerator which helps businesses to massively increase sales, product offerings, and company value. She has built and sold 5 of her own businesses with an average 700% return on investment, served as a board director or in-the-trenches advisor to 36 startups, and has invested in over 200 startups (including Google) as a venture capitalist or angel investor. Christine has consulted to the White House (Clinton and Bush), 700 of the Fortune 1000, and over 300 small businesses. She has repeatedly identified and championed key trends and technologies years before market acceptance. Christine writes the Growth Strategies column on www.BusinessWeek.com/SmallBiz.

Christine has led many lives: Buddhist monk, Microsoft engineer, geisha trainee, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Her triumphs and disasters are revealed in her New York Times (and USA Today, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Amazon.com ) bestselling business book: Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality.

Christine has appeared on Good Morning America, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX Business Network, PBS, CNET and is frequently quoted in the business, technology and general press at large. Stanford Graduate School of Business has done two case studies on her and PBS has featured her in three specials (Triumph of the Nerds, Nerds 2.0.1, and Nerd TV ). CNET has broadcast two specials covering her unconventional rise to success as a woman with neither a high school diploma nor college degree. Christine believes we can do well and do good, using business as a path for personal development, wealth creation, and philanthropy.

18 Comments »

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  1. Dan, firstly, thanks for introducing a pretty amazing Human in Christine – what a life so far! As for my 3 questions/challenges – then here we go!

    1. We all know that the soft skills like EQ, communication skills, leadership, personal branding are CRITICAL to business success – why then are they not taken seriously?
    2. How much longer can Corporations exist in their current structure i.e. top down strategy, tiered management, focused on shareholder returns only, 9-5 office hours?
    3. How can we increase the number of women on boards (in Australia, 14% of all Non Executive Directors are women)?

    Look forward to seeing Christine’s guest post…

    Comment by Luke Harvey-Palmer — July 21, 2008 #

  2. Dan,

    Fantastic! I can’t wait to hear her words of wisdom.

    My 3 questions/challenges:

    1) What is the best way for companies to empower their staff to embrace their personal brands and use their unique qualities to get things done (as many are fearful to be anything but upstanding corporate citizens towing the company line)?

    2) What is the best way for start up solopreneurs with limited resources to invest their time and money and maximize the impact that investment will have on their bottom line?

    3)How do you apply buddhist principles in an incredibly competitive, cut throat marketplace?

    Question 3 might not be amongst the most popular but I would greatly love to hear her thoughts if she would like to share them.

    Many thanks!
    Megan

    Comment by megan — July 21, 2008 #

  3. Thanks Dan for offering this opportunity! Christine, you are an inspiration, I’m looking forward to learning from you.

    Q: In business networking, what percentage of time should I devote to face-to-face meetings vs on-line (Internet) interactions?

    Q: What’s the best way to initiate contact with a potential partner for a possible joint venture opportunity?

    Q: What percentage of my budget should I devote to marketing?

    Thanks in advance for your advice!

    Comment by Eva Abreu — July 21, 2008 #

  4. I got introduce to this site via someone I follow on Twitter.
    Questions I have
    1) How to start up a business from scratch and build up a sizable cliential/followers/readers?

    2)Why are so many companies still so family unfriendly with long working hours while professing to be pro-family

    3) When will there be sufficient opportunities for mothers to work from home on part time or flexible so that we can cater for our family both financially and physically.

    Comment by Rachel — July 21, 2008 #

  5. Dan, thanks for granting us this fabulous opportunity! As a woman fascinated and guided by Buddhist principles, Christine is an inspiration. My questions:
    1) How do you apply Buddhist principles to your professional life?
    2) What are your techniques for identifying key future trends?
    3) What is the best way to incorporate personal branding into university curriculums?

    Comment by Georgina Taylor — July 21, 2008 #

  6. Thank you, Dan! Wow!

    1. How do you quickly educate staffing on how to become more aware of and improve their personal brand?
    2. How do you feel the personal brand makes an impact in the hiring process? From the employer perspective? From the candidate perspective?
    3. Where do you see the future of personal branding and business going?

    Make it a GREAT day!

    Comment by Christopher Young — July 21, 2008 #

  7. Great contest, Dan! Listing a top three for business challenges is – challenging! So here are three from the Gen Y perspective that I see come up a lot:

    1) How can young workers manage up to get our vision communicated and accomplished but not be seen as a threat to corporate structures? In other words, how can you help usher in revolutionary change peacefully within organizations?

    2) How can young workers balance the demands of a professional career and the dreams of a full family life? What can we do now to prepare for a balanced future?

    3) In an increasingly fragmented world, how can we apply the power of focus to our daily lives to maximize all our different interests yet remain centered?

    Comment by Tiffany — July 21, 2008 #

  8. Nice idea for a contest, guys.

    Here are my trio:

    1) Many social networking tools blur the line between business and play. Where do you think that line should be?

    2) Do you think that the coming US recession will push salaries low enough that the outsourcing tide will reverse?

    3) How long until we all have virtual assistants, and they do too?

    Comment by Jacob from JobMob — July 21, 2008 #

  9. 1) How should large businesses address issues regarding IP and employee personal knowledge share via common web 2.0 tools? Where does corporate IP end and personal IP begin?

    2) How should business be building for scalable flexibility in the years to come? Clearly this “digital evolution” is not a one time occurrence, and will continue to evolve as channel dynamics evolve. How can large companies build for sustainable evolution and flux?

    3) How do you see the work/life balance evolving over the coming years? Today’s generation is clearly addicted to connectivity. Once we begin to see the ugly fruits that naturally result from a lack of “personal space”, won’t there be a backlash against constant connectivity? How will businesses and employees cope with or solve for, this new concern?

    Thanks, this looks like a great opportunity!

    Comment by Jon Burg — July 21, 2008 #

  10. Thanks for the opportunity to ask these questions!

    1) With the downturn in the economy, businesses are cutting budgets. How can a B2B service provider ensure that business proceeds as usual?

    2) Does outsourcing actually work? There are a plethora of horror stories about outsourcing, from the big guys down to individuals with virtual assistants. Have we just failed to perfect the system yet?

    3) Can the current (comparative) boom in technology and internet entrepreneurship be characterized as another bubble of irrational exuberance? Do you think all of these tools are here to stay?

    Thanks again!

    Comment by Josh Klein — July 21, 2008 #

  11. Great idea!

    My questions:

    1. What is the biggest challenge that faces small businesses in the next 5 years?

    2. How do businesses learn to embrace and benefit from the talent of the Millennials?

    3. What are key indicators that you look for to know you have found a great business opportunity?

    Comment by Eric Boehme — July 21, 2008 #

  12. Dan,

    Great contest, and a great opportunity for Christine

    Comment by Ryan Stephens — July 21, 2008 #

  13. Errr. Didn’t mean to submit that. What I was trying to say was great contest Dan! Also, a great opportunity for Christine to put her book in the hands of some intelligent leaders that should invariably spread the word to their peers, co-workers, etc.

    I am definitely looking forward to her follow-up on Friday!

    Comment by Ryan Stephens — July 21, 2008 #

  14. 1) We talk and blog all the time about corporate this and that but how do small and medium sized businesses take advantage of social media to grow their business?

    2) If I were a small and medium sized business, I don’t have the time or money to invest in a consultant to show me how to make money. So how do I go about utilizing todays tools and free service offerings online to get my company off on the right foot.

    3)Dumb it all down for those small and med. sized business owners who are interested in making money but need to know what are the steps that they can take right out of the blocks to give them a fighting chance in todays economy.

    Thanks

    Marc

    Comment by emersondirect — July 21, 2008 #

  15. Excellent contest! I missed the book, but I would still like to submit questions.

    1. What are critical keys to success for an aspiring entrepreneur?

    2. With this crazy economy, should unemployed, skilled professionals look to start new businesses or should they take lower paying jobs to get back in the job market?

    3. What is the greatest lesson you have learned from mistakes you have made in developing and starting new businesses?

    Thank you!

    Darlene
    Interview Guru
    http://www.interviewchatter.com

    Comment by Darlene McDaniel — July 22, 2008 #

  16. Great idea and post Dan! What an honor to have Christine answer questions. Here is what I have:

    1) What is the best way to handle the work-life balance?

    2) What is the one most important trait to make making a lackluster business excellent?

    3) What is the best way gain influence and recognition in a conservative, slow moving business environment?

    Comment by James Seay — July 22, 2008 #

  17. Dan, more than anything, thanks for turning me onto Christine.

    Christine, your book title (can’t wait to read it) and philosophy are inspiring and mimic my philosophy. Now I just have to mimic your success!

    Questions:

    1. What have you found to be the best ways for solopreneurs/ consultants to reflect a strong client-attracting personal brand/passion into the marketplace?

    2. As a career/personal brand strategist for CEOs my biz growth has been limited by being one person and desiring to be hands-on with my client work. How can I keep that very personal service level yet expand my business?

    3. What are the best ways to capture the power of Web 2.0 for brand extension into the marketplace and still run a successful practice — it seems like the choices are overwhelming and hard to manage while keeping up with client work. Yet staying active and visible on-line is critical for connections, thought leadership and even fun.

    Thanks, Dan and Christine!

    Comment by Deb Dib — July 22, 2008 #

  18. [...] Columnist, Christine Comaford answers the questions you posed in the comments section of my post on Monday. After reading the answers to your questions, Christine has yet another give-away for you. Both [...]

    Pingback by BusinessWeek Columnist Christine Comaford Answers Your Questions « Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel — July 25, 2008 #


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