Category Archives for "Insight"

Dec 31

The 7 Real Skills You Need To Make 2016 Your Best Year Ever

By Lauren | Insight , Personal Branding

Enough of the New Year, New You hyperbole, mythical predictions and unrealistic resolutions, here are the 7 real skills you’re going to need to build a strong and successful personal brand this year:

Skill 1: The ability to be happy to be yourself?

It’s all too easy to look around and wish you were someone else and all together too hard to try to be someone different to who you really are. It’s much more fulfilling to be comfortable in your own skin, knowing you are being 100% authentic and honest.
Wishing you were more like someone else is not going to help you get the most from the year.

Action star Bruce Lee said “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

Be grateful for all of you, forget what others think of you or what your competitors are like and discover what’s great about you.

It doesn’t work to constantly be seeking happiness, thinking that once you have a brand, then I’ll be happy to be myself. You will become 100% confident in yourself when you celebrate everything you are, your natural skills and talents and create the essence of your personal brand.

Only then can you step into your brand and start to live it.

We are living in the era of the authentic brand, so just be you?

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Dec 23

What Are Your Gifts?

By Lauren | Insight , Personal Branding

Christmas is here and it’s the time for giving and receiving of gifts…but what is your gift to give to the World?

Have you figured out yet, what your one true gift is that makes you so special?
At an evening with Oprah recently, she talked about the ‘thread’ that connects our life, starting very young when we did something effortlessly, something we loved doing, something that simply came naturally.
In her case it was speaking, starting at church as a child and of course becoming one of the most famous TV show hosts and great orators.

What is yours?

Think back…was it singing, dance, did you organise things, draw, read, play acting for your friends and family, play a sport really well, help others, tell stories, teach others, make people laugh…

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Dec 03

Top 27 Personal Branding Lessons from Oprah Winfrey

By Lauren | Insight , Personal Branding

When the World's leading female personal brand speaks, she shares the most valuable lessons she has learned throughout her life to inspire others.

So let's look at her personal branding examples that can encourage you to live your brand like Oprah...

Here are the top 27 Personal Branding Lessons from Oprah Winfrey:

#1: Two days after Oprah Winfrey started kindergarten, she wrote to her teacher saying: "I don't think I belong here 'cause I know a lot of big words." The teacher agreed and she skipped to first grade.

The Lesson: Never let anything hold you back.

#2: When Oprah was recruited to host her own morning show, A.M. Chicago, her major competitor in the time slot was Phil Donahue. Winfrey's open, warm-hearted personal style won her 100,000 more viewers than Donahue in just a few short months. She went from last place to first in the ratings.

The Lesson: Be yourself, engage and connect with your audience

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Sep 17

#whatweretheythinking Five Prime Ministers In Five Years?

By Lauren | #whatweretheythinking , Insight , Personal Branding

australian politics

Five Prime Ministers in five years? It’s not a looking good for the Australian political brand.

First let's consider what all the flip-flopping is doing to the perception of Australia on an international level.

Japan

We are starting to resemble Japan during its tumultuous six-prime-minister period between 2006 and 2012 and look what happened to them. The economic bubble burst with flat line growth for the past 30 years. In that time they’ve had 15 different Prime Ministers and it doesn’t look like it’s going to improve anytime soon. The political brand there is of ‘puppet politicians’ simply managing the country without any reform or reinvention.

USA

How does Australia’s political brand compare with the powerhouse leader of the world, the President of the USA?

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Sep 14

The Worlds Most Enduring Personal Brand

By Lauren | Insight , Personal Branding

What personal branding lessons can we learn from her?

At 5pm Australian time September 9, the world's most recognised personal brand celebrated the fact that they’ve been around the longest.

Of course, I’m talking about Queen Elizabeth II who has out-reigned her great, great grandmother, Queen Victoria as the longest serving monarch.

Her brand was born in a time of turmoil, between two world wars, inheriting a crown at tender age of just 25. Hard to believe today that a 25 year old would be capable of taking on such a role, and encouraging to know that you can start to develop your personal brand and deal with whatever life throws at you from any age.

Lesson 1

You can start to develop your personal brand and deal with whatever life throws at you from any age.

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Aug 28

#whatweretheythinking Sauce Without Substance

By Lauren | #whatweretheythinking , Insight , Personal Branding

Famous condiment brand Heinz can no longer call itself ketchup because it does not have enough tomato solids in it’s sauce.

Aussie Cricket WAGS

Israel's health department this week passed down the judgment after a concentrated lobbying campaign by the brands red sauce competitor in the region.

The ruling is, that in order to be sold in Israel it must have at least 41% tomato to be deemed a sauce (even though less than 41% solids is acceptable for sauces in other areas of the world).

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Aug 22

#whatweretheythinking Ashley Madison Caught In The Act!

By Lauren | #whatweretheythinking , Insight , Personal Branding

International dating website Ashley Madison, where you can connect with someone who is looking to have an affair, has been exposed this week, along with millions of it’s users.

The online ‘hook-up’ agency, which has been operating for over a decade, is no stranger to controversy thanks to it’s promotion of murky ethics, but now has been caught with it’s pants down.

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Aug 21

#whatweretheythinking Plastic Fantastic Singer Gets Waxed

By Lauren | #whatweretheythinking , Insight , Personal Branding

World Leading Female Rapper NIcki Minaj, possibly more recognised by her enhanced looks than her music, has damaged her personal brand and she wasn’t even there to do it!

World renowned waxworks museum Madam Tussauds in Las Vegas, has had to step up security of the curvy celebrities replica, because her fans were posting inappropriate pictures of themselves posing in compromising positions with the waxwork.

The museum selected a posture of the rapper on all fours, from a position she struck in the raunchy music video of her highest charting single, Anaconda, and Minaj approved of the idea.

The Anaconda music video itself leaves very little to the imagination, taking twerking to a whole new level. Even so, the waxwork pose chosen has brought the stars personal brand literally, to it’s knees.

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Aug 17

#whatweretheythinking Cricket Woes Blamed On WAGS

By Lauren | #whatweretheythinking , Insight , Personal Branding

Former wicketkeeper Ian Healy has suggested that WAGS (Wives And Girlfriends) were a contributing factor behind the cricket woes of the Ashes 2015 Australian Cricket Team.

He said “cricket is a sport that requires complete concentration” and that perhaps having family and partners with you too much of a distraction.

Retiring Captain Michael Clarke has responded to this and other comments about disharmony in the team, by telling the media it was “A load of shit”. Further reinforcing his personal brand.

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Jun 27

The Age Of Authentic Personal Branding

By Lauren | Insight , Personal Branding

Is this the age of authentic Personal Branding?
A superstar shocked the world at the 2015 Oscars and it wasn’t because they did something scandalous.

It was because they proved they had something naturally astonishing.
Lady Gaga performed an incredible tribute to the Sound Of Music and with almost zero dramatic effect she stole the show.

She wasn’t wearing meat or some other outrageous outfit, her hair style was relaxed and her pale dress was untypical, old fashioned glamour. She simply demonstrated her extraordinary voice and it blew everyone away.

Lady Gaga was the talk of the entire event. Who knew, beneath all that make believe she could actually, really sing!

And she’s not the only ‘out there’ performer who’s personal brand has benefited from a more authentic approach.

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