Transition Solutionz Series - Show Recap #1 Tuesday 1/27/09

01/27/2009

I would like to thank Travelport for sponsoring this morning's Transition Solutionz show.

Broadcasting pioneer and branding expert Libby Gill kicked the show off at 10am and provided extremely practical advice on how to create your own personal brand and not only survive your "transition time", but to come out on the other side more fulfilled.

Libby has authored a number of books and is working on one that will be out this fall, called "You Unstuck". She is also a contributor to a new book by Martha Finney, called "Rebound".

Thanks to Libby making the introduction after the show this morning, Martha will be on our show on February 3rd at 1130am ET. Now, that's what I call social broadcasting!

Libby's top advice to those in transition:

1. Living and breathing your brand - the first "sell" is yourself
2. Allow yourself a 5 minute pity party, but just 5 minutes and then move on
3. Stand out from the herd - articulate what you do better than anyone else and what you are passionate about (crafting a "sticky" message)
4. Broadcast your brand widely through multiple media - blog, write white papers, articulating your "brand" throughout your various forms of communication
5. Deal with your weaknesses by using them to make you memorable

Libby ended by telling us to to clarify our brand message, simply our approach (and our lives and finances) and to execute by coming up with a call plan.

We look forward to having Libby back next week to talk about branding as a key to growth during turbulent times.

At 11am we were joined by Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton, partners in life and in Courage Crafters and the authors of Go for No! This gem of a book is a very quick read, written in allegorical style. Andrea and Richard took what was originally focused on a sales tactic and masterfully tweaked their message for job seekers. Yes is the destination, No is how you get there!

Andrea and Richard told the story of how they met (Richard heard NO over 400 times in his marriage proposal to her before she said yes), and how they hit on the Go for No secret. They built on Libby's message about executing by reminding us that if we are afraid to hear NO, we may not make the first call, making up the prospective employer's mind without even talking to them.

At 1130am Lorraine Howell put the cap on the days message, building on Libby's advice, by talking about how to articulate your personal selling statement in 30 seconds or less. Lorraine is a former broadcasting executive and the founder of Media Skills Training. Her book is "Give your elevator speech a lift".

Lorraine gave us a very helpful acronym (PAR) to use in crafting a top elevator pitch:

• Problem - state the problem that existed
• Action - state the action you took
• Result - articulate the result that you achieved

Make it fun (smile) and realize that the pitch is a conversation starter, not the closing argument. The goal is to get someone to say "tell me more!".

Thanks to all of our speakers today and to our sponsor, Travelport.