By George Metzger  

It works for entrepreneurs, professionals, celebrities and job-seekers. Almost everyone is beginning to understand that personal or self-branding is what will put them ahead of the crowd. 

If you are different from everyone else and you want to prove it to the world just create the personal branding of YOU. 

So what is self-branding simplified? It is a clear understanding of what your personal attributes will bring to a specific situation or job. It is what makes you unique and it is a clear and common identifier of what you stand for. 

Self-branding will differentiate between someone who is competent and even professional from one who generates a lot of business and income. 

So what if you feel secure and know that you are doing a good job? Does this mean your career life will always go smoothly? No, because there is always someone out there that wants your place so you have to fight for it. 

Many people have the perception that self-branding is phony. They don’t see that they are really that good at selling themselves. The facts are that those who do not self-brand will be branded by others. Maybe they will be perceived as lax or lazy about the importance of their career by not putting any effort into self-branding. If you allow this to happen then you are giving away your power to decide what your own self-branding will be. 

Branding is a process that is created to sell YOU. Famous people have been using this process for a long time to sell themselves. You know from this example that it works. And doesn’t proof that it works prove it to be an effective method? 

Now, you’ve decided to go about the process of self-branding you have to have a strategy to follow. 

Build your self-branding identity to highlight your best skills and personal abilities.

Make a marketing plan that markets the new brand of YOU.

Set personal brand goals for yourself and a time line in which to achieve these goals.

You are now on the path to all new brand YOU.

By Michael Roberts Jr 
There are different levels of business etiquette and email business communications. When emailing people there are different ideas and ways to convey messages in your email. Learning the tricks of perfecting a email is a great opportunity to sharpen your leadership skills and business communication etiquette.

FORMALITY
There is a certain level of formality that needs to be considered and remember when sending emails. When you are sending an email from a business address then keep the email about whatever your business was when you contacted the person. Keep all business emails formal!

SHORT
It’s been proven that after ten seconds people lose focus. A seven page email will not be read in its entirety. Be short, sweet and to the point. Cover the area that is pertinent of you to cover– leave the rest for later if at all possible. Craft from the top to the bottom, then check to see if your most important information is in the top 1/3 of the message.

BE QUICK
Don’t let the receiver have to guess who you are because you’re using a nick name and not the name that you go by in business. In the subject field be specific about why you are writing, while in the body of the email, as mentioned before get to the point. Be concise and polite always ending by thanking the individual for taking the time out of their day to read the email. Last– but not least, make sure the person knows that it is ok to contact you concerning the message.

When you sit down in the mornings (or whatever time you read your emails) to read your email make sure that you make time to respond to the email promptly. There is a chance if you put it off for later you will forget about making a response.

SENSITIVITY
Don’t handle any sensitive issues with an email. Making a phone call or speaking to the individual is important when handling these types of situations. Email is permanent– it is not the place for delicate matters that could trigger emotional responses.

ERRORS
Check, check and recheck the email for any and all errors! Once you press send the email represents you and your company. You lose the hands on, face to face relationship that you would have if a person was in your office. So once you send the email you don’t have the opportunity to go back and change it or correct yourself as you would in person. You must remember to do spell and grammar checks before sending all emails. Setup Outlook to do an automatic spell check for you… That one move could be a career saver.

This article was written by Michael Roberts Jr. the founder of Manage Up.net
His website is dedicated to developing better organizational leadership. The website has eBooks, articles, and online training for managers. Don’t miss the opportunity to sharpen your skills and take your career to new levels using insightful knowledge from an expert in management. Visit http://www.manageup.net/ today and receive a FREE eBook to get you started.