Online presence...

What is the point in being on a social or business networking site if you don't put a photograph of yourself on your page? We certainly remember the names of our close friends and those we do business with, however, most of us have hundreds if not thousands of 'contacts' that we have interacted with over the years and the chances of remembering everyone without a visual reminder is slim.

Furthermore, why do these faceless people feel that its ok to connect without any explanation of how you might know each other or why they would like to know you?

The most common explanation that I've heard is that people want to maintain some sort of anonymity or exclusivity and only connect to those who know them really well. A comedy of contradictions - if you only want those who you know to connect then why have an online presence?

And the most fascinating aspect of this is the negative first impression that we have of this faceless brigade. I am sure that I am not alone when I say that I am deeply suspicious of those who attempt to connect as friends or business contacts without a photograph to jog the memory or explanation - what's the point?

An online presence, which is what this boils down to, is a vital aspect of a personal brand. We live in a world where 'googling' others is considered normal - even potential employers check out their applicants online. Very simply, we need to ensure that every experience that others have of our brand is one that represents us effectively. Masked ball's aside, we wouldn't appear at a party or business event hiding our faces - why do this online unless you want to make others suspicious of your intentions?

What do people say about you?

So what do people say about you when you are not there? When we are actually present, we have the opportunity to influence people - perhaps to convince others that we are the right person for the opportunity, the role, the project, the deal. However, more often than not, most of the important decisions are made when we are not present - and this is where our personal brands need to stand up for us.

One way of becoming aware of how you are perceived is to observe how others introduce you. There are usually three elements to an introduction - your name, what you do, and then the interesting bit - some sort of comment about what you do or how you go about doing what you do - which demonstrates how you are perceived by the person introducing you.

The alarm bells should be ringing if you find that you are regularly introduced in a way that doesn't represent who you are and what you do. Worse, they should be clanging loudly if you find that the people introducing you are at a total loss as to what you do - filling in the gaps with inane comments like "he's a good egg". So... if you are a personal trainer trying to build your client base, something useful like "meet Michael, he's a personal trainer who'll get you looking like Adonis in no time" could be reduced to "meet Michael, he's wearing the coolest trainers here".

Powerful personal brands need to be four things – the first is compelling – or in other words - interesting, unique, memorable, different. The second is authentic – we need to be able to ‘show’ not ‘tell’ if we are to be believable. The third is consistent – without a consistency, we will not be trusted. And lastly, we need to be well known to our market or audience. There is little point in being incredibly good at what you do if no one knows about you.

Women in Business

I found Lina Saigol and Roula Khalaf's article in the FT yesterday titled "Women make gains in Arab boardrooms" particularly interesting bearing in mind that I spent three and a half years based in Dubai. From a survey into boards in the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council, it seems that public companies listed in Oman and Kuwait have more women (2.7 per cent in Kuwait) on their boards than in Italy (2 per cent) and Japan (0.4 per cent).

However, these figures are not representative of the region as a whole where only 30 per cent of woman play a part in their economies versus 55 per cent worldwide. My personal experience of working in the middle east is that women are well respected in business and are a formidable force to be reckoned with. The UAE, in particular, is vitally aware of the impact of having 50 per cent of their 'local' workforce in play - and my impression is that women are encouraged to excel in the workplace.

From a personal branding perspective, I found that the women in business that I met are particularly aware of how they are perceived and the initial impressions that they make. Business is still primarily oiled by relationships and reputations in a far more obvious way than in the UK and USA where the fundamentals are often masked by big company brands. Not that personal brands are necessarily stronger in middle east - rather, they seem to take the lead. I think that we mistakenly rely too heavily on corporate brands in the west - often to the detriment of our careers, and ultimately, the detriment of the companies that we work for.

Style over substance?

I have been working with a client who is in banking over the last few months. With so much turmoil in the markets, she wanted to ensure that her company understood her value. As she should - banking has been hard-hit globally with job cuts reaching frightening proportions and everyone is feeling understandably vulnerable.

It is at times like these that our personal brands really do work hard for us, not only in obvious ways when we are present, but more importantly, behind the scenes where we have little direct influence or control.

We often hear cries of 'style over substance' when discussing making our brands known to our market or audience. This is such a misnomer. Being known for who you are, what you do, and how you do it better is, in most cases, all about subtlety rather than blatant self-promotion.

Job Cuts

This week I was invited to join a panel on BBC Radio Five Live to discuss when those in business, politics and sports should resign. With so much uncertainty in the markets and a frightening number of job cuts reported and predicted, the need for a strong personal brand couldn't be more stark.

And it seems fairly obvious that when people should go is a timing issue. Either an unanticipated disaster has occurred as in the case of Terminal 5, or we want to pre-empt a possible disaster as in the case of Mr Brown. And one can argue that Mr Walsh's management style prevented those who thought that a disaster might occur from raising the issue - and their heads did roll. And the latter, well, we are predicting a rather difficult coming week for the British Prime Minister.

Yet more often than not it is worth seeing a possible disaster through to completion for the greater good of the organisation. In the not too distant past, the constant change of leadership had deeply negative effect on the Conservative Party, leaving voters reluctant to commit.

And it is at times like this when that we see people's personal brands having a profound effect on their futures. We are prepared to weather the storm with those that we can connect to emotionally.

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson seems to have positioned himself as the “love me or loathe me” candidate in his bid to win the London mayoral race. And while this is inspired marketing for a distinct consumer brand like marmite, it is inappropriate for someone who aspires to taking on the biggest directly elected job in British politics. There seems to be a key factor missing in what we are now referring to as ‘brand Borris’ - that of a statesmanlike quality.

It is clear that a change is needed, however, I believe that Boris is heading in the wrong direction. We learned earlier this week that his team’s strategy appears to be focused on keeping him on a very short leash to avoid blunders and controversy. However, the cornerstone of any personal brand is authenticity. By becoming bland and appearing to conform behind a well-managed mask, he leaves us very little to buy into and we are suspicious of this new Boris. He needs to work his brand to his advantage, not stem its very lifeblood. He won’t win on protest votes alone.

According to a Guardian / ICM poll, trust is going to be the determining factor in who wins this race. The poll reflects that 42% of those questioned believe that Boris is honest, versus 28% for Ken Livingston. So the issue is one of character, which is remarkably unsurprising. No one buys vanilla - people buy people and we like traits and quirks and beliefs – they demonstrate what people stand for and give us something to relate to.

I suggest that Boris considers what his target audience will be interested in ‘buying’ from someone in the role of Mayor of London. He needs to analyse each potential audience that will influence his success and list everything that will be deeply compelling to each. The result will be qualities, expertise and experience that he should then compare to his own. Anything that appears to be weak, missing, or overlooked should be explored and where possible, developed and incorporated into his brand.

The next stage is to communicate and demonstrate all of this through action in a way that will appeal to his target audience. And no, he cannot simply send the spin machine into overdrive or get another haircut… authenticity is vital if he is to be believed.

Naomi Campbell arrested at T5

Yesterday Naomi Campbell was escorted off a flight to Los Angeles at Heathrow's Terminal 5 and arrested for allegedly spitting at an officer after she was told that one of her checked-in bags had been mislaid.

Naomi, who was seated in first class, became abusive towards cabin crew after she was given the option of leaving the flight until her bag was found, or to continue on without it.

Now much has been said about the humiliating failings of Terminal 5, so I won't labour the point, however, spitting is another matter. It seems that Ms Campbell just can't help herself. Her public displays of aggression, rudeness and guttersnipe behaviour are only reinforcing a personal brand that has much to be desired. Do we care, is it really news, is there anything startling about this?

I think not - when it comes to her brand, Ms Campbell is proving to be horribly consistent. The question here is whether this unchecked ego will see any backlash from the audience that she needs to appeal to. I suggest that Naomi gives some thought to how those who might employ her, her friends and supporters, and the general public will react to this. Will they continue to forgive, or are they quite simply, over it?

Heather Mills McCartney

Yesterday's insightful article by Kira Cochrane in the Guardian "Why we love to hate Heather" details the many misogynistic and stereotyped ways that Heather Mills McCartney has been branded by the press and others. But while she seems to be damned and condemned, doing nothing along route to help herself, there may well be a way to rebuild her brand - albeit slowly and with caution. I know that it's a 180 on my previous blog, and as impossible as it may seem right now, I think that with the right mindset, advice and self-discipline, something can be done.

We know that personal brands need to be deeply compelling to their audience, authentic, consistent and known. Indeed we can almost hold Heather up as a case study for the perfectly executed anti-brand - she fulfils all of these principles, only from a negative perspective. As a personal branding consultant, I believe that if she can do it all so perfectly negatively, its possible to turn it around. With extreme caution and very slowly.

Heather will carefully need to pick a target audience that has some empathy with her cause and stick to this in the short to medium term. She will need to dig deep to find and establish a different, distinct and positive element of her brand and story that will be compelling and of value to this audience - something that is truly authentic, beyond doubt and as yet, untainted. All of this will need to be delivered unwaveringly and consistently over a period of time. She needs to be a living, breathing embodiment of all of the above.

Then, and only then, should the process of communicating her brand begin - very subtly and only in the right arenas. Central to all of this should be a commitment to apply an unyielding self-discipline, to withdraw from the public eye until she is ready and to find a sense of grace and elegance that has been so lacking.

It's going to be a challenge, of that I have no doubt. But then again, life is a series of choices and challenges. Should Heather choose to rehabilitate her brand, she will need some help. She can always give me a call and we can explore this further...

Heather Mills McCartney

Here begins lesson 101 in how to destroy a personal brand. No, I'll start again. Here begins lesson 101 in how to reinforce a negative personal brand. Uh, no, how about: Here begins lesson 101... Oh I give up. It's all just too hideous for words.

Heather Mills McCartney has been lambasted... and it seems that she happily contributed by a thorough self-basting, before offering herself up for a roasting by the press following her High Court, high profile divorce from Sir Paul McCartney. No surprises there. No surprises anywhere in fact. Not at her throwing a glass of water over Sir Paul's lawyer Fiona Shackleton, which Heather apparently referred to as 'baptising', nor the fact that she won less than a fifth of the £125m that she was claiming.

And I don't know why I am surprised that she hasn't learned a single lesson about managing her personal brand, but I am. One would think that all of the pointers are there for her - as clear as day. Would it really take that much to find a touch of elegant neutral ground or a slither of grace? She seems hell-bent on reinforcing all that we have come to perceive as vile, trashy and vengeful. Can this brand ever recover? I think not.

Chelsea Clinton

From prop to propagandist... Hillary's not so secret weapon has been outed. Our enduring memory of a geeky teenager with braces is slowly but surely being replaced with a polished, poised and some would say, convincing speaker.

As the only child of power couple extraordinaire, protected as much as was humanly possible, Chelsea followed in her father's footsteps and went to Oxford. She largely managed to stay out of trouble and the media with only a few hiccups... all of the usual variety associated with her age - partying, falling out of nightclubs. Not even a hint of inhaling.

Post degree, she joined McKinsey in New York and then a hedge fund and was rarely seen on the social circuit, preferring to attend charity dinners and sit on the board of a ballet company. She refused to give interviews. In short, she managed to work hard, play soft and keep a low profile.

Ring in the change. Initially we saw her by her mother's side, silent and supportive. However, as Hillary's campaign went from inevitable to deeply uncertain, she stepped up and is now eclipsing Bill's efforts. It seems that Obama has a new contender for the hearts and minds of the young. We are even starting to hear talk about the 'Chelsea effect'.

And whilst she is still refusing to give interviews and claims no political aspirations apart from getting her mom into the White House, I think that we will watch this space with interest.