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Okay, yes the title may tell you I know a little something about martial arts...but no, I don't. Only as much as the last Karate Kid movie
(which is one of my kids' favorites) and the line from Kung Fu Panda
which says that Kung Fu stands for "excellence of self".

I was thinking about that today after having watched the main character, a Panda named Po, one of 50 jillion times. I think personal brand work is like working out your Kung Fu - it truly stands for mining
and understanding how to portray your self excellence.

I thought I'd share how you can strategically do some kung fu kicks with identifying your personal brand strategy below. One approach is using the SWOT analysis.

SWOT Analysis is a well-known method of identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses, while also examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. All four areas can help you clarify your personal brand and your
distinctive and unique value.

Often carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework will be enough to reveal changes that need to be made in your plan.

Try to work through the following questions and think about what insights you have from this focused work:

Strengths -

• What do you do well?
• What can you do better than anyone else?
• What comes naturally for you?

Weaknesses -

• What could be improved?
• What might you do poorly?
• What comes with more difficulty for you?

Opportunities -

• In what areas do you see possibilities?
• What resources or circumstances can you leverage?
• What trends might you use to your advantage?

Threats -

• What obstacles are in your way?
• Who is your competition and what are they doing well?
• Are you financially challenged?
• What else do you find yourself up against?

About the Author: Tanya Smith, Career & Personal Brand Coach, offers women professionals, with dual roles in a corporate career & solo side business, access to cutting-edge strategies to help them thrive
and promote themselves as experts in a progressively competitive work and
marketplace. Claim your free instant access to two fill-in-the-blank brand templates and a special report, The Beginner’s Guide to A Successful Career
Brand at: http://www.bepromotable.com.

I have really begun to mentally process how the discipline of marketing a business and many of the principles that come with it are just as critical for personal success.

There is great value in developing a personal brand marketing strategy that helps you stand out, and that makes you more credible in the eyes of your select audience. Unfortunately, it is way too easy to ignore because of competing priorities for our time.

• Do you have a personal brand marketing plan or do you personally market yourself unintentionally?
• If you have a brand marketing plan, does it include specific promotional activities and are these tied to events?
• Have you taken the time to identify a target customer, or employer? What desired characteristics have you named?
• Does your personal brand strategy identify ways to sell to and maintain your current clients while attracting new ones?
• What are the demographics of your key prospects? What makes you distinctly different, or unique as compared to your competitors?
• What is your personal brand marketing budget? How will you distribute these funds?

About the Author: Expert-ize your personal brand. As a Personal Brand & Marketing Coach, Tanya Smith offers female professionals with dual career & entrepreneurial roles access to cutting-edge strategies to help them thrive and promote themselves as experts in a progressively competitive work and marketplace. Claim
your free instant access to a special report at: http://www.bepromotable.com.

I've always wondered how anyone got any work done when they spend their days in meetings. I average about 5-10 sometimes even 15 meetings per week. I had to put a stop to it and tame the meeting beast. Read all about it here:

How to Tame the Meeting Beast

How many meetings do you attend in a day?

Marketing is a contest for people's attention. Traditional mass marketing fights for people's attention by interrupting them. A 30-second spot interrupts your favorite TV show, a telemarketer calls right when you are sitting down to dinner. In the past, this has been quite effective. But now, there's been a paradigm shift. There's too much information - too much going on - and we're being overloaded with interruptions.

Last year, the average consumer saw or heard over 1 million marketing messages - that's close to 3,000 per day. No one can pay attention to that many distractions. So what consumers have started to do is ignore them. So how does a small business owner combat that?

Most small business owners complain that "Nobody knows who we are or what we do!" I know the answer to that predicament: "They don't tell anyone!" And if they are marketing and promoting - they are not doing it effectively. They are forgetting who their customer is (target market) and they give little consideration to how to reach them.

Most companies market haphazardly. They are drawn in a million marketing directions and often fail to create a targeted marketing strategy.

Just like The David Letterman Show - Here's a list of Top Ten Small Business Marketing Mistakes:

1. a different logo, look and tagline with every promotional piece

2. Believing one or two print ads will give a business instant success

3. Not hiring professionals to do a professional job

4. Forgetting to make the most of a first impression

5. Not understanding, defining or remembering your target market

6. Creating a marketing plan but never looking at it or implementing it

7. Neglecting to track marketing dollars - return on investment

8. Ineffective use of time and money with networking and charitable giving

9. Selling features not solutions, benefits and value to the customer

10. Not reserving their domain/URL

Have you evaluate last year's marketing plan or do you have a plan at all?

Planning is the key to effective marketing - but it doesn't have to be complicated or costly.

STOP BEING THE BEST KEPT SECRET. STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD.