This is the final post in a series about blogging your personal brand. I’ve written a post for beginners, as well as intermediate and advanced users. Please review those posts before reviewing this one.

1) Podcast your brand on your blog

Whenever I talk about podcasts, I typically think of video, but many bloggers choose to record their voice or an interview through the telephone or a voice recorder and then publish it. You can do the same and there are services that will aid in the publishing process, such as PodBean.com. Audio podcasts are great for people who are scared to show their face or are in situations where they don’t have the necessary equipment to shoot video.

Video is the best way to interact with your audience, especially if you’re charismatic and personable. People can get a sense of you from reading your posts, tweets and social network messages, but when it comes to real interaction and emotional connection, video is king. Purchase a webcam or a video camera and hook it up directly to your computer using a USB connection. If you want to be a professional, and possibly interview other people for an internet type show, then you may want to buy a microphone, a sound amplifier and possibly an HD video camera (they cost less than $1,000 now).

Then you’ll want to get the video on the top video sharing websites in the world. To do this, all you need to do is upload it on TubeMogul, using the name, description and keywords that you feel will be optimize the video for search engines (as well as the video sharing search engines). TubeMogul will put your video on YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, and more.

Finally, you’ll want to use the embed code from the video on either sharing site to use on your blog. You can either post the video as a blog post or decide the transcribe it, in addition to placing the video on the post.

2) Lifecasting

The two best “lifecasting” sharing sites are Qik and UStream.tv. I recommend getting comfortable doing audio or video podcasting before you decide to do live video. When it comes to live video, you have to be authentic, and be cautious as to what you say and do. When you sign-up for one of these services, you are given your own branded web page, where you can use your phone or your webcam to film yourself or other people. While you are lifecasting, people can view this page and see you live, while having the ability to type messages to you. It’s your ability to get to know your audience more and visa versa.

The end result of your time spent lifecasting is a video recording that you can embed on your blog as a post. If you choose to do this, you should give a summary of how your session went!

3) Start your own mailing list

If you want to start a mailing list, then make it different than your blog. A lot of the best bloggers use mailing lists to give their most loyal subscribers additional tips and strategies for signing up. Typically, your readers or viewers that care enough about you and your material will signup for your mailing list to receive more content. Before starting a mailing list, you should think about how busy you are and if you’re able to spend time on such a project. Also, you’ll want to decide how many emails you want to send in a specific period of time and the value that list will receive.

Your mailing list and blog should market each other, which means you’ll want to add links to cross-promote both and any other products or services you want to sell. I recommend the following three email marketing services for your mailing list: iContact, Get Response and Contact Contact. For an example of how a newsletter is attached to a blog, please review Shoemoney’s blog.

4) Place advertisements

There are many different kinds of advertisements you can place on your blog to drive revenue (passive income). Before you start calling, emailing and Facebook’ing possible blog sponsors, you’ll want to create an advertising page on your blog, so people can see the sizes of the ads, what they’ll be receiving in terms of traffic/subscribers and the different options and packages you have.

To find advertisers, you should Google terms relating to your blog and click on company’s that are paying for AdWords. You can also find good sponsors by emailing people who comment on your blog and through natural (organic) search. Email them your pitch and then a link to your advertising page, so they can make a quick decision.

I’ve seen a few different kinds of advertisements on blogs:

• Text links
• 125/125 graphic (possibly animated)
• 468×80 header banner
• 180×180 single post banner
• Product / website review posts
• Sponsored blog posts

You should charge based on your monthly visitor stats, feed subscribers and overall blog credibility and reputation. If you want to see how much traffic you’re bringing in, I recommend Quantcast. Alex Shalman has a great advertising page on his blog if you want an example.

5) Setup an affiliate program

Affiliate marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s marketing efforts. You only get paid for when you people click on advertisements on your site and pay for a company’s products or services.

There are many affiliate programs out there, such as Amazon Associates and Yahoo! Affiliate Programs. Don’t expect huge returns unless you already have a lot of inbound traffic to your website. The money you make from affiliate programs (possibly with other bloggers) will help fund your ongoing blog initiatives and upkeep. If you have deeper interest in affiliate marketing, then you should visit Zach Johnson’s blog.

6) Poll your readers

As a blogger, you should be interested in what your readers think of your blog, the types of posts you’re doing and any topics they would like to learn more about. Also, you may just want to poll them to gather quick feedback, to measure your success or out of curiosity. The best poll service for blogging is Polldaddy, which is actually integrated into WordPress.com now.

7) Build a team blog

A team blog is a blog that has multiple authors. The are a lot of benefits of having multiple contributors to your blog, such as having a variety of voices, more content and saving your time for other purposes, such as marketing the blog. If you’re an expert blogger, you should have a strong network of fellow bloggers to select for your team blog. Using WordPress, you give bloggers permission to write entires and then submit them for your review. You should give them the right to use their avatar, name and a link to their own blog.

I’ve seen team blogs with over 10 authors and they are highly successful. Blogs like Mashable, TechCrunch and The Huffington Post have a lot of bloggers, which allows them to become more of a business media site. You can do the same!

8 ) Use your blog at a platform

A blog can lead to bigger and better things. The most notable are speaking engagements and consulting gigs. By showcasing your interest in receiving those opportunities, you are more likely to garner them. So setup pages with those titles on your blog and if you’ve spoke or consulted in the past, use endorsements, video and a topic outline to show people what you’re made of.

You can also use your blog to sell more of your products, services and introduce people to other sites you own. Your blog will allow you to promote anything you want!

9) Write an eBook / book

After writing hundreds of blog posts, you will naturally want to tie your writings into a book of some sort. Some of you will try and get a literary agent and a publishing deal in order to get your ideas out there, while others will draft an eBook that captures many of your posts. You can sell the eBook and market it on your blog. If you’re interested in having a physical book, you’ll want to have more original content for that, but the eBook doesn’t have to always be original.

10) Start more blogs

When a single blog (or team blog) isn’t enough, you can always start multiple blogs. Obviously, it’s going to take up even more of your time, so think through your current situation before you make the jump. There aren’t too many bloggers who are willing to have yet another blog to build content for. The one’s that do, usually do it on a completely different topic to satisfy their other passion.

When it comes to personal branding, I typically recommend that you become the master of your domain (a niche) instead of trying to position yourself for a large, saturated and boring topic. Well, the economic landscape has changed and you can’t just succeed by being a specialist within a corporation. If you’re an entrepreneur and have a steady business, focused on a niche, then this disregard this blog post. The new means that in order to keep your job, you must be flexible (easy adapt to business changes), learning new functions within your business, and networking outside of your group or organization, while still specializing.

The role of a specialist

A specialist aligns their passion with a specific skill set and contrives a personal brand statement from that. Specialists become the go-to-people in and out of the office. Sometimes a specialist is a natural at what they do, while other times, they have to work very hard to perfect their knowledge in a specific area. Malcolm Gladwell states that it takes 10,000 areas to assume mastery over something in his new book, Outliers. Specialists get called upon when a certain opportunity surfaces or when there is a business challenge that can only be handled by someone of that caliber. As a specialist, you may have to learn complimentary skills as well. Earn an MBA online and brand yourself as a specialist.

The role of a generalist

Generalists have to have a good, not perfect, understanding of a broader topic and many topics across a business. Don’t listen to people that say being a generalist is a waste of time. When I was in school, my resume building strategy was 100% focused on being a generalist. I had 8 internships that covered every single area of marketing and a consulting business. I purposely took classes in marketing research, advertising and other marketing disciplines in order to have flexibility and a wider selection of company’s to choose from upon graduation. Behind my generalist cap, it was clear to the hiring managers that my strengths lied in internet marketing, web development and design. A lot of corporate leadership development programs help you become a generalist and give you generalist titles. The higher up the corporate ladder you go, the more of a generalist you have to be.

When both come together

Being a specialist and a generalist simultaneously is the best route to being successful in a good or bad economy, but it 10x more important in a bad one. For instance, let’s say you specialize in social media PR, but generalize in all of marketing. Your company is going to outsource the PR organization, but sees that you can add value in a product marketing or a communications role. Instead of being laid off like your peers, you get a new job. I’ve already heard these stories multiple times since October. You need to start learning other areas of the business, while mastering a specialty. This of course means you have to work much harder!

Recently, I was interviewed by Rick Burnes of Hubspot about my upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. As of today, my book is doing very well on pre-orders, ranking #26 on Amazon for job hunting bestsellers, #54 for web marketing and #70 e-commerce.  I want to thank everyone for helping promote the book so far and for your ongoing support throughout the past few years.  The coolest thing is that the book doesn’t even come out in stores until April 7th of 2009, which means there seems to be a big need for it already!

Part 1 of the interview:

Part 2 of the interview:

Today, I spoke with David Armano, who is a well-known blogger and visual expert.  He’s best known for his marketing diagrams and speaks at a lot of industry events.  I spoke to David about how he’s grown his personal brand, what it takes to become known in a cluttered world and tips he has for bloggers who are just starting out.  One of the main themes in our talk was how he separates his personal brand from his employers brand and how he’s able to make both brands mutually benefit over time.  I’m in a similar situation to David, so it was helpful to see how he’s handled it.

David, in terms of the way you branded yourself online, do you feel you owe much of your success to your visual drawing? Was there some sort of viral effect with them that got you noticed?

The visuals absolutely had a great deal to do with the visibility I am fortunate enough to have. My first few blog posts were mostly about user experience and brands. There’s a lot of people talking about these topics. Then one day, I did a visual and I noticed that other blogs started using it on their sites and they would link back to me. And as I did more, I noticed the same pattern. Over time, I started building a reputation for doing this—and I enjoyed dong them. People saw value in the visuals—many use them in their presentations. One visual in particular that I created is called “influence ripples” and it pops up all over the place.

The visuals themselves have helped me to build my personal brand as they are often times immediately recognizable, but what’s more important is that I try to provide value with them. There’s a lot of change going on in the spaces between social media, marketing and even the user experience and what I try to do with my visuals is take something potentially complex and boil it down. Those who find value in this, use what I put out there and in return reward me with their attention and eventually trust. But like any brand it has to happen over time. I’ve done hundreds of visuals and posts over the past 3 years which I hope contribute something to the larger conversation.

How are you able to separate your personal brand from that of Critical Mass, your company? What parts intertwine and has your company benefited from your exposure/visibility/credibility?

On my blog it’s fairly separate as is my personal Twitter account. I make it clear when writing on my blog that it’s my personal opinions. But there is a good deal of intertwining. When I write for Ad Age, it’s predominantly for Critical Mass, but obviously I bring my personality to it. That’s one way the agency benefits from it. I also have relationships with journalists at BusinessWeek and Adweek that were originally initiated from blogging. I see the relationship as mutually beneficial. Whenever I speak at an event, I represent Critical Mass (the name of the agency is on my slides) though I often times get invited to speak because of my personal profile. But in reality, it’s co-branding.

People know me from before I worked with my current employer and that’s just a reality. I get a good deal of leeway in my job and really enjoy the people I work with, so the bottom line is that I try to treat the “co-branding” very respectfully and not take it for granted. If you are going to be in a position like mine, you have to always be looking for opportunities to have your company benefit from your profile. If they are comfortable with it, it can be beneficial to both parties.

What are your top 3 tips for bloggers who want to market their content to the right people?

• A. Focus on the content
• B. Play to your strengths
• C. Get out there in person

First thing for bloggers to realize is that their content has to be solid. They can find an undeserved niche or chime in with the masses, but there has to be something there that gets people coming back. The best marketing for a blogger is the blog itself and what others say about it vs. what they do. People will recommend good bloggers, it’s that simple.

Secondly you have to play to your strengths. Some bloggers are amazingly extroverted and social, they respond to every comment they get and engage people all day long. Others are organized and create useful lists. Still others are great on video. Find out what your strengths are and develop those vs. trying to be like others. And lastly making connections—meeting people in real life is incredibly important.

“Just like with all networking, once you’ve met someone in person it makes a more lasting impression and goes a long way.”

You use “//” and Brogan uses “[ ]” as part of your brand. Why?

I’ve been doing that since long before blogging. Partially it represents the // in Http:// which I think pays homage to my passion for the interactive medium. But also, I just think it looks cool.

What are some personal branding lessons you’ve learned over your career?

Great question. When I first started blogging, I did not feature my photo on my blog, or even on Twitter at first. I wanted to rely on the visual manifestation of my brand (logo, visuals etc.). I was wrong on this. I’ve since changed both and understand the power of a “face”. For a personal brand to be truly effective, people have to feel like there is a “person” behind it. A simple photo helps move you in this direction and it was something I learned on the fly. I’ve also learned that a personal brand can begin by accident, but it takes some work and strategy to have something that really represents something you feel comfortable with. It’s different for everyone and at some point you have to ask yourself “what do I want to be known for”?

So I make fairly calculated efforts in what I talk about and how I talk about them. While I often times talk about social media, user experience and marketing—I also try to communicate visually as much as I can, because my true passion is in the communication. I really enjoy solving problems visually. So I am learning that in order for this to be my “personal brand” I need to be careful not to over indulge on all of the “Web 2.0” talk.

“Lastly I’ve learned that having a personal brand that is sufficiently visible requires working in an environment where your employer not only comfortable with it but want to tap it somehow. This is the best case scenario and can work for everyone if both parties reciprocate.”

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David Armano has over 14 years experience in the communications industry with the majority of his time spent in digital marketing and experience design. An active thought leader in the industry, David authors the popular Logic + Emotion blog currently ranked in the top 25 of the “Power 150” as listed by Advertising Age. David’s writing and visual thinking has been cited by respected sources such as by Forrester, Crain’s and landed him in BusinessWeek on several occasions including their “Best of 2006”. David leads an interdisciplinary group of designers, writers and content strategists for the Chicago office of Critical Mass, a marketing agency focused on creating extraordinary experiences.

Here are 3 questions you should ask yourself before we enter 2009.  The reason why I’m asking these is because I want you to think about how you can keep your job and pursue your passion at the same time.

1.  Are you committed to your current career path for the rest of your life?

This may seem like an extreme and overstated question, but it’s actually extremely important.  Although technology is set to go through rapid advancements from today till the day you retire, your personal brand remains the same.  Your brand is who you are and, although you may gain new skills and stay relevant to your audience, you are your brand.

Commitment is just as important in relationships, as it is with careers and branding. If you aren’t satisfied and convinced that you have chosen the proper, long-term, career path for yourself, then before the ball drops in 2009, start thinking about it.  This questions has nothing to do with your current job.  A job is a stepping stone to something larger.  A career is a chosen pursuit. If, even for a second, you question your career path, you better reflect on it, change it and secure a different position to help get back on track.  The most successful people discover their strengths and pursue their passion.

2.  If you just won a  million dollars would you quit your job?

A lot of people in this world give up before they claim victory or they settle based on their current financial standing.  Many lottery winners revert back to being poor or middle-class because they don’t have a millionaire mindset.  They mentally want to have thousands of dollars and not millions, so they deplete their winnings over a short period of time.  This question takes into account that you just received a full (non-taxed) million dollars in your bank account.  Would you retire?  Would you go on vacation around the world for the rest of your life?

If you answer “yes” to both of these questions, then review question #1.  The most successful people are passionate about what they do and instead of retiring, they continue to practice their “hobby” and get paid. They might not work as hard, especially if they’ve established a strong personal brand name, but they enjoy what they do so much, that retiring is boring to them.

Remember that it’s what you do that makes you who you are and how you project that to others that makes you memorable.  That being said, if you’re a 30 year old retired millionaire going out to a bar meeting women, and they ask “what do you do for a living,” your answer might turn them off.

3.  Does your current company need your services to do business?

This question will tell you how much “job security” you’ll have in 2009.  If you run your own business, then you can rephrase this to “do your clients need your services to succeed”?  Whichever question you answer, I want you to think long and hard about how important your skills are to other people. 

You will probably be laid off if you respond “no” to this question. The big problem in this economy is that there is no sign of hope.  Marketing and sales positions are some of the first to go because they are seen as “fluff.”  The company’s that keep their top marketing people and find some means to give them an adequate budget will succeed because they can break through less clutter and get the company’s name out there.  Becoming more valuable to your customers and/or company will help keep you afloat!

Best of luck in 2009.

A family catastrophy

It’s Christmas right now and I’m Jewish, so I figured I would have time to record a short two minute video for all of you.  I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas, happy Channukah and a pre – happy new year!  This week has been extremely difficult for me, as you might have seen on Facebook and Twitter.  Aside from my 90 year old grandfather being in rough shape, undergoing surgery and being moved to a nursing home, my grandmother and uncle got hit by a car.  They were both crossing this street and this middle-aged woman hit them.  She blamed the sunlight!  Can you believe that?  My grandmother (88 years old) ended up with a broken pelvis and is in extraordinary pain and my uncle was fine because he jumped onto of the car upon impact.  The really sad thing is that my grandparents are in two different places and don’t get to see each other.

Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern.  I appreciate it!

3 mandatory tasks for your brand

1.  Set achievable goals

Between now and January 1st, please sit down for an hour or two and write down some short and long-term goals for 2009.  You should do this every year.  The short-term goals could be monthly or quarterly and your long-term goal should cover the entire year.  This time next year, you should have check marks next to all of your goals as a sign of completion.  Depending on your current status or place in you career, some goals will be attainable and others will not be.  I recommend that you work with the ones you know you can pull off an work like hell to reach them.

2.  Remain focused

A lot of people are getting laid off around you.  You might have had a close friend or family member that is looking for a new job now.  Do not lose focus, even if you have setbacks, uncertainty and depression around you.  In 2009, you must concentrate on building as much personal brand equity as possible, in order to position yourself when our economic climate changes.  Also, if you lose focus, you might end up without a job.  Be confident!

3.  Network constantly

I’ve always said that any new opportunity can change your life.  Well, people lead to opportunities, meaning that any new person you meet can change your life for the better.  I don’t go to sleep until I’ve met five new people.  In 2009, this will double.  If you aren’t on social networks or aren’t going to network events, you need to start ASAP.  Also, start thinking about whose already in your current network.  Your family, friends, teachers, classmates and coworkers can help as well.  They all have networks already accounted for and, with permission, you can tap them.

Today, I spoke with G.L. Hoffman, who is one of the louder voices in the career and job space. He is an entrepreneur and now author and is here to tell us how to dig our jobs. The main message here is that if you don’t like your job, get out of it and find one that you do enjoy. G.L. shares a few tips you might not have heard before as well.

G.L., what can a dog with a shovel teach us about digging our job?

It’s about attitude, and feeling confident enough in your abilities to show some humor even if the subject is of dire consequence. By showing some humor, you relax and are more yourself. Job seeking can be intimidating and awkward; mostly because we do it so infrequently. Then most advice givers don’t make us be ourselves, we get to the interview all tense and forget to make a friendly connection. The first step is they have to see you working there and then to get along with them.

Why do most people settle for a job they hate?

Inexperience, thinking too small and money. Mostly, they don’t work hard enough to discover the other options. Linkup.com is without question the best job site around. It only has jobs from company websites, and no job boards. It is findable online, but people are not searching on jobs that aren’t advertised. They go to where everyone else goes.

Disclaimer: My company owns and operates linkup.com.

Mostly it is money or they do not think it is actually possible to love what you do and it’s where you work. Some of us grew up with parents who hated it so they think that is how the world is.

Do you recommend that someone who was recently laid off settles for a job they don’t like? What if they have a family?

Sure you have to make sure you eat and provide. But resolve not to let this happen again. Prepare for the next time. Get better at something. Work harder. Figure out why don’t like it and fix that. Most make snap decisions about their job, (“I HATE this job”) when all it takes is a bit of thoughtful conversation with coworkers and bosses to find your way.

Why do you think people who dig their jobs are more successful than those who don’t?

They bring a quantity of passion and excitement that is apparent to everyone, up and down the ladder, internally and with customers. People buy (generic ‘buy’) from people who are excited about what they do.

What 3 pieces of advice, from your book, can you give to us? Try and name a few that are overlooked and not commonly spoken of.

• Most jobs are bigger than the people. This means that you can almost always make you job bigger and turn it into something more fun.
• Don’t get behind going to Europe after college. Show some delayed gratification. Give your parents a break.
• Talk to your mom and dad about your job more. They will have good advice and as parents; we always want to know.

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G.L. Hoffman is a serial entrepreneur and author of Dig Your Job: Keep it or Find a New One. Two of his companies have traveled the entire success path from the garage to IPO. He has been featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal and other local business publications and newspapers. Currently, he is Chairman of JobDig, an employment-focused media company that delivers multi-channel recruitment advertising solutions to employers of all sizes in all industries. The company also owns and operates LinkUp.com, a site that aggregates and publishes only jobs listed on corporate web sites from over 10,000 companies around the U.S.

Today, I spoke with Laura T. Coffey, who is the queen of giving business and personal finance advice tips. She is a writer for TODAYshow.com and MSNBC.com. and is here today to coach you through this recession, give you hope and tips you can use to make smarter decisions before you let the recession cast a dark shadow over your career. Laura is very smart and experienced in this area and has advice for people in all positions right now, including entrepreneurs, people who are unemployed and workers.

Laura, I like how you have a short URL for your main advice column on MSNBC.com (long = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15224522, and short = tentips.org). What was your logic behind doing this and using it to brand yourself in your email signature and email address?

Well, basically, several smart and fabulous people at msnbc.com and TODAYshow.com have taken the time to build a home page where my 10 Tips columns would be archived. I was really pumped about that home page, and I wanted people to be able to find it easily and also to identify the “10 Tips” brand with me. So I nabbed the www.tentips.org – that I use for all column-related correspondence with readers. This helps me stay organized, and it makes it easier for me to connect with readers who send me compelling anecdotes and good tips for saving money. I have a domain name for myself and created a redirect that would take people to that specially built home page for the column. I also created an e-mail address – laura@tentips.org.

Can you give a few tips on how to get a job, keep your job or start a business in this economy (2 for each)?

OK, for starters, let me just acknowledge that this is an extremely depressing subject for many, many people out there. As a columnist, it can be hard to provide advice that’s useful across the board because everyone’s career fields and backgrounds are so different. All of that said, here are some general principles to keep in mind during challenging times like these:

When it comes to finding/getting a job:

• Now is the time to network like you’ve never networked before. It’s always important to make a point of getting to know as many people as you can in your line of work – but now it’s more important than ever. By having plenty of friends and contacts in your industry, you’ll stand a better chance of finding work more quickly. Reflect on all the friends, colleagues and contacts you’ve ever made in your industry, and start reaching out to them in a friendly, not-too-pushy way. Ask them whether they know of any openings, opportunities or potentially useful contacts in your field.
• Don’t turn up your nose at new or different avenues of work. Let’s say for the sake of discussion that you’ve lost your job as a white-collar worker. You can seriously harm your chances of finding employment if you’re only willing to seek out the exact same type of work or the exact same pay. Consider working for smaller companies, and don’t view service-sector or blue-collar work as beneath you — especially if money is very tight. After all, no job has to last forever. Also, bear in mind that it’s a buyers’ market out there, and competition is tough for virtually every kind of position – from investment banker to pizza-delivery person. Bearing that in mind, remember to: apply for lots of different jobs, not just one or two; offer to be as flexible as you possibly can when it comes to your work schedule; demonstrate a positive, can-do attitude on job interviews; and remember to send handwritten thank you notes to the people who interview you. While seemingly basic, these sorts of steps are absolutely necessary to make yourself stand out from the crowd.

When it comes to keeping a job:

In his book “The World Is Flat,” Tom Friedman talks about what it takes for individuals to make themselves “untouchable” – that is, free from any serious threat of unemployment despite the flattening of the global economy. He’s writing about how workers can insulate themselves against outsourcing, but I think his advice also applies during the current meltdown of our economy.

To achieve a measure of security and protection, Friedman recommends that people become “special or specialized,” “localized and anchored” or ‘the new middle.’ Here are his definitions of those categories:

• If you’re highly “special or specialized,” that means the job functions you perform simply cannot be “outsourced, automated or made tradable by electronic transfer.” Friedman’s examples of special or specialized workers: Michael Jordan, Madonna, Elton John, J.K. Rowling, your brain surgeon and the top cancer researcher at the National Institutes of Health.
• If you’re “localized and anchored,” you have some protection because your job absolutely must be done in a specific location. This is either because the job involves “some specific local knowledge” or because it requires “face-to-face, personalized contact with a customer, client, patient, colleague or audience,” Friedman writes. Examples of such positions: barbers; waitresses; restaurant cooks and chefs; dentists; lounge singers; masseurs; retail sales clerks; repairmen; electricians; nannies; gardeners; cleaning people; divorce lawyers.
• If you want to make yourself one of the ‘new middlers’ – that is, someone who can snag and keep a modern-day middle-class job with decent wages – you have to show a keen ability and willingness to adapt, change, update your skills and learn new things all the time. Gone are the days of doing the exact same job in the exact same way for years on end. Versatility is key. Friedman also says the holders of the new middle-class jobs must have an ability to collaborate, orchestrate, synthesize, leverage and explain the complex in simple, easy-to-understand terms. These abilities hinge on the capacity to stay alert and see the big picture.

Granted, all of the above may apply to you and you still may feel threatened in this horrible economic climate. But the traits mentioned above can go a long way toward making you be perceived as indispensible and/or irreplaceable. It also goes without saying that now is the time to play well with others and whistle while you work, so to speak. This is not a good time to be a malcontent in the workplace.

As for starting a business in this economy:

I can’t really speak to what it would take to start a full-fledged business with multiple employees because that’s outside my realm of experience. What I can speak to is starting a home-based business with just one employee: You. I did this a couple of years ago as a writer and editor, and it is hands-down the best thing I ever did. Some tips:

• Devise a plan of attack. Before venturing too far down the path toward self-employment, make absolutely sure a market exists for your product or services. Writing up a business plan can help you determine whether your idea is workable. You should prepare a business plan even if you don’t plan to apply for a loan from a bank or the Small Business Administration. You can visit your local library and check out books about how to write business plans for free.
• Reflect on how easy – or how challenging – it may be for you to fly solo. If companies in your career field frequently rely on independent contractors to handle certain jobs, perhaps you could become one of those independent contractors and start working right out of your home almost immediately. (This is what I’ve been able to do with both writing and editing.) If the independent-contractor route could work for you, you could do business as a self-employed individual or a “sole proprietor” for tax purposes. For details, visit this IRS Web site.

How can someone pay for college (it costs roughly $40,000 per semester for some schools now), while not going broke?

OK, for starters – and I’m really not trying to be facetious here – don’t choose a school that costs $40,000 a semester! That simply isn’t necessary in most cases. This is one of those areas in life where serious bargains and breaks can be found if you invest the time and do some sleuth work. Some ideas:

• Pick the right school. Sure, the country’s most elite private schools have an almost irresistible appeal, but so many other options exist that will allow you to spend so much less. Remember all those high-caliber private schools out there that don’t have the name recognition of Harvard but still need to fill their classrooms. Many of them offer “tuition discounts” (i.e., financial aid). And of course, you could save a bundle by choosing a public university in your state – or, better yet, by opting for a community college for the first two years of that four-year degree.
• Hunt down scholarships. Scholarships are the best way to go because you never have to repay the money. Contact local organizations in your community about scholarships, and do searches on the Internet through sources such as FastWeb, FinAid and the College Board.
• Go crazy applying for grants. Grants are great because they don’t have to be repaid either. You can learn about grant possibilities here. Also consider whether these two grants might be appropriate for you: the Academic Competitiveness Grant, which offers up to $1,300 for students who have completed a rigorous high school program; and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent, or SMART grant, which offers up to $4,000 for undergraduates majoring in physical, life or computer sciences, math, technology, engineering or a foreign language “determined critical to national security.”
• If you happen to have a job with a large company that offers a “Corporate U” – or with an employer that helps cover education costs at schools in your area – tap into that resource so you can improve your skills and bolster your resume. Hundreds of corporate university classes have been accredited, meaning you could get college credit for them if you ever enroll in a degree program.
• Borrow as a last resort. If student loans are unavoidable, opt for subsidized loans when you can. The federal government pays the interest on such loans while you’re in school and during the grace period before repayment begins. For details, turn to the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Information Center, (800) 433-3243); Nellie Mae, (800) 367-8848); and Sallie Mae, (888) 272-5543).

If someone wanted to start a home-based business instead of work for a company, what steps would they take to get started today?

I would reiterate the tips I mentioned about home-based businesses in my answer to question #2, and I also would add that the home-based-business route truly could be a serious consideration for you if your job is in jeopardy in this crazy economic climate. You have to know yourself well enough to determine whether you’re a self-starter and you have the initiative and self-discipline to make this work. It’s also important to have a decent work space for yourself – a place where you stand a chance of concentrating on your work – and to have health insurance if at all humanly possible.

If your spouse has a job that provides benefits for your whole family, then you could be in an ideal situation to take a risk like this and start your own business. But even if you don’t have that ideal scenario in place as far as benefits are concerned, you still may be able to find relatively reasonable health coverage through a business or trade organization in your field. At the very least, you could secure a low-cost catastrophic health insurance plan with a deductible of $2,000 or more.

As a long time journalist, how have you built your own brand and looking back, what would you change about it (if anything)?

To tell you the truth, I never thought much about “branding,” per se … maybe because I got started at this journalism thing in the pre-Internet dark ages of the 1980s! But one thing I did do on an instinctive level, I guess, was keep my maiden name when I got married in 1997. I know that may not sound like a huge thing, but in retrospect I think it made it possible for me to maintain at least a little bit of name recognition. (Not that most readers pay any attention to bylines, mind you!) But anyway. It was really important to my husband that I keep my maiden name for professional reasons … and also because my name contains a built-in joke! (My name has two drinks in it … get it? Laura T. Coffey … Tea Coffee …)

I didn’t think much about the importance of branding until the 10 Tips column began to have a real presence online. That’s when I secured the tentips.org domain name and e-mail address. My goal is to use my columns as the basis for a book someday, so the brand matters much more to me now.

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Laura T. Coffey writes a column called “10 Tips for Keeping Your Money in Your Wallet.” A veteran journalist with 20 years of newspaper experience, she has written and edited for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Prague Post in the Czech Republic, the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, the Peninsula Clarion in Alaska and the St. Petersburg Times in Florida.

Today, I spoke with Leo Babauta, who is one of the most well-known and respected bloggers in the world. He blogs at Zenhabits.net and has been writing for decades on work concentration and management. We talk about his success story, why it’s important to work smart (not just hard), how to stay afloat in the bad economy, what it takes to have a killer blog and the steps he’s taken to build his personal brand over time.

A few years ago you quit smoking, lost weight, tripled your income, started a successful eBook company, created an extremely successful blog called Zen Habits, and began to truly enjoy your life. How did you do it?

One thing at a time.

Seriously, as I talk about in The Power of Less, I’ve found myself to be much more effective at achieving goals and creating new habits if I focus on one goal or habit at a time, and concentrate the full power of my focus on it. I also used a number of effective habit-change principles that I learned through quitting smoking to create each new habit — to learn more about this, join The Power of Less New Year’s Challenge on thepowerofless.com.

So I focused first on quitting smoking, then on running, then on waking earlier so I could run, then on eating healthier, then on becoming more frugal and eliminating debt, and so on. One habit at a time, then focus on the next thing. Before I knew it, the list of accomplishments was incredibly long — more than I ever dreamed possible within a year or two.

It is possible to do more with less, even under intense corporate pressures and a poor economy?

It’s absolutely possible, as I’ve proven and as many others have shown as well. Not only is it possible, it’s even more imperative with intense corporate pressures and the tough economic times we’re facing.

“If you don’t do more with less, you’re liable to lose your job or go into bankruptcy.”

With intense corporate pressures, you have to learn to focus more, and become more effective with the time that you allocate to work. You can spend that time by being incredibly busy, doing a ton of tasks, but at the end of the day having little to show for all of your busy-ness … or you can spend it by focusing on just a few really important, high-impact tasks that will do a lot for your business in the long run. Which is a better use of your time — the high-volume, low-impact approach, or the low-volume, high-impact approach?

With the tough economy, you will also need to learn to cut back to the essentials, so you are not sacrificing quality of life as you become more frugal. It doesn’t cost much to be happy and live an incredible life if you have the things you really love and value in your life, and cut out the rest. I’ll soon be releasing an ebook companion to The Power of Less, called “Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Economy”, on my site thepowerofless.com.

How do we break our goals down into manageable tasks?

Start by focusing on one goal at a time. Pick the first goal on your list of goals — the one that will have the most impact, that you can accomplish in the next year — or even better, in the next 1-3 months.

Then, for that one goal, focus on just the next task you have to complete. If it’s a task that will take an entire day or several days, break that task into a smaller task that will only take an hour or less — 10-30 minutes might be even better, but no more than an hour.

Then focus just on that task, clearing away all distractions, until that task is done. Move on to the next task and finish that one, and so on. You can’t do more than one task at a time anyway, so it’s better to stop trying to switch between tasks and focus on one task at a time, and become more effective.

You have around 80,000 RSS subscribers to your blog. For any new blogger starting out, what would you recommend to them?

Start small. Don’t worry about getting thousands of subscribers – just worry about writing your next incredibly useful post. Creating great, useful, valuable content is the only way to get new readers — if your writing is great, you can attract visitors and keep them. Be genuine, write about what you know about, and be passionate in your writing.

Once you have a dozen or more really useful articles, do guest posts on other blogs, as often as possible. Again, write really useful guest posts and you’ll attract readers to your blog.

How have you built your personal brand over time? What do you think people know you the most for?

I started by thinking about my core message — what was I excited to write about, and what desires in my potential audience would that tap into? From these questions I created a message of simplicity, and I’ve tried to stay as consistent about that message in everything I do and create: from the title of the blog, to its design, content, headlines, to guest posts and comments and emails. If you’re not consistent, you will send a mixed message and your branding efforts will be diluted.

I also tried to find my target audience on other blogs and repeat my brand (Zen Habits) and message of simplicity to this target audience as often as possible. Read more about these topics on my blog for writers and bloggers, Write to Done, in an article called “Branding 101.”

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Leo Babauta, is the famous Zen Habits blogger, which is one of the top blogs in the world and author of The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life. He’s been writing for 23 years and served as a staff reporter, newspaper editor, and freelance journalist for 17 of them. He has done freelance for some of the most popular blogs, including Lifehack.org, Dumb Little Man, Web Worker Daily, FreelanceSwitch and others.

I’ve been asked by a lot of people for an article that introduces personal branding. I went searching through my archives and found that I really didn’t have an up-to-date article that goes over personal branding at a high level. More and more educators are interested in this space and most of my posts are for someone with basic knowledge and skills. Before we step into 2009, I’d like to go over the basics of what you need to know to get started on your brand for next year. “Building my personal brand” should be on all of your new years resolution lists.

The history of personal branding

Tom Peters crafted an article for the August 1st, 1997 issue of Fast Company Magazine, entitled “The Brand Called You,” which explored the evolution of career development, and exposed a new mindset for the new millennium. Basically, instead of relying on a company for career guidance, it’s up to you to take ownership of the brand called you. Personal branding called for everyone to become a “free agent,” which not everyone bought into back then. Now there are tools available for you to grasp your brand and shape it (social media).

Web 2.0’s impact on personal branding

Before web 2.0 changed our world, it was really hard to get enough press to really stand out. There weren’t blogs, so you’d have to get your local newspaper, or mainstream media to write about you. You could go to a networking event and meet five to ten people each time. You could sit in your college class and meet ten new people. Web 2.0 amplified how we network, first impressions and personal visibility and self-promotion forever.

Me 1.0 was hidden behind a corporate brand, without an outside voice and not being able to afford excessive promotion (PR & advertising). Me 2.0, as I call it, is when you get to stand in front of your company, at the cost of your time and with the ability to carry your voice across the world in a matter of seconds (think Twitter). I’ve captured this change in my new book, rightfully called, Me 2.0.

Why personal branding was inevitable

There are two main reasons why personal branding is becoming a core part of our culture. Sadly, it’s nothing revolutionary! First, we are all being judged all the time, even when we’re sleeping (our online profiles are still up!). Second, we have to constantly sell our ideas to teachers, managers, venture capitalists, our friends and family, to make things happen in our lives. We have to convince them to take action.

Personal branding defined

In 2007, I gathered a group of international brand and career experts to collaborate on a single definition for personal branding. After analyzing the definition and reciting it in a few presentations back then, I felt it was too long, thus no one could remember it. For 2008, I shortened it to “how we market ourselves to others.” Personal branding is a process.

Personal branding: how we market ourselves to others.

The personal branding process (DCCM)

1. Discover: The first thing you need to do is to figure out who you are, what you want to do in life, while focusing on your strengths, passions and goals. After that, you should create a development plan that aligns your short-term and long-term goals and, finally, a personal marketing plan.

2. Create: There are traditional and non-traditional ways to create your personal brand. The traditional ways include a business card, professional portfolio, resume, cover letter and references document. The non-traditional ways include, a video resume, LinkedIn profile, blog, Twitter and your existence on the various other social networks. While you create your brand, ensure that the content, including pictures and text, are concise, compelling and consistent with how you want to represent yourself.

3. Communicate: After you’ve created your brand, it is only natural (and human instinct) that you want people to see what you’ve done. Depending on your audience (hiring manager, teacher, clients), you may want to tweek your materials accordingly. To properly communicate your brand, through self-promotion, you need to have your story down pat and find the right sources that would be interested in what you have to say. I would recommend promoting others before you promote yourself as well. Communication consists of guest posting on blogs, writing articles for magazines, becoming your own personal PR person (pitch to the media), attending networking events and speaking.

4. Maintain: As you grow, the brand people see has to grow at the same time. For every new job, award, press article, and client victory (to name a few), everything you have created has to reflect that. The reason is simple:

You want to use what you did in the past to get what you want in the future.

Also, as you become more popular, your reputation will be knocked around and tossed throughout the web, from blog post, to tweet, to video, and more. You’ll want to keep a close eye on where your name is. To do this, I have created a post giving you free tools to do so.

Personal branding depends on your career status

High school student: If you’re in high school, personal branding still applies to you because getting into a top college is very competitive. Your goal is to position yourself as worth of a top school, so getting good grades, good SAT’s, interviewing at schools, networking with alumni who can endorse you, writing a compelling essay and all things social media, will help you.

College student: A college student is interested in either getting an internship, starting a business or getting a corporate job upon graduation. They have to compete on experience and network extremely hard in order to get a job. They need to position themselves as superior relative to their peers. This means, becoming a leader in college organizations, meeting as many people as you can, forming a personal branding toolkit and starting when you’re a freshman are critical to your success.

Corporate employee: If you work for a company, and enjoy doing so, then personal branding becomes the cornerstone for how you move up the hierarchy and become recognized as a leader.

Entrepreneur: An entrepreneur needs to think about branding his or her company, as well as him or herself in the process of establishing a business. The entrepreneurs brand must reflect the company, yet be set apart from it simultaneously. The entrepreneurs brand is VERY important in securing venture capital. For instance, if Jason Calanis wanted seed money, he has a better chance of getting it than someone without a track record of success (he sold Weblogs Inc for millions).

Consultant: These individuals are obviously all about personal branding because it’s all they got. Many consultants brand themselves as masters of a specific trade (at least the good ones). They are able to track value and attribute it to the work they provide for clients.

3 laws of personal branding

Authenticity: You need to be yourself because everyone else is taken and replicas don’t sell for as much. Furthermore, you need to define your brand before someone else does for you!

Transparency: It’s better to be straightforward and honest, then lie, and have your actions work against you.

Visibility: The notion that if you aren’t known, you don’t exist.

5 benefits of personal branding

Promotions: Anyone who is ambitious and works at a company will want to move up. By building your personal brand, you become the best choice for a promotion.

Happiness: By aligning who you are with what you do and appending goals to it, you can turn “work” into a “hobby.” You can position yourself on a topic you love, so you get paid to do what you would count as a hobby.

Compensation: Personal brands command premium prices. Just like Apple and Gillette can charge more for products you can get for less, you can do the same.

Business: People want to purchase from other people who they know, like, trust. When you make those people happy that they chose you, by giving them great results, they will refer you to even more people.

Perks: Strong brands get perks. For instance, I get free books from authors and other bloggers get free products, such as limited edition Pepsi cans. Celebrities, like Halley Berry, don’t have to pay for anything because of who they are.