Kimberly Bordonaro | Peter Sterlacci | Believe. Become. Be Your Brand

13 ‘Mechanics’ of Personal Branding in 2012

December 26, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 7 Comments

In my very first blog post this year I shared how to ‘tune-up’ your personal brand for 2012 by following the examples of three people I dubbed “mechanics” of personal branding: John Falchetto, Jonathan Fields, and Kimberly Bordonaro. In all three cases these folks did not have a broken brand, they simply used tools and techniques to tune-up their brands for the New Year.

This is when I had my ‘epiphany’ for a video interview series called Personal Brand Mechanics. I wanted to share with the world individuals who I felt had a tool box of ideas to help any one of us to build, maintain, and even repair our personal brands. And so the interview series was born.

This past year I had the pleasure of interviewing 13 Personal Brand Mechanics. Each person shared amazing insight and practical advice. Although my questions were different for each ‘mechanic’, I did ask this one question to everyone:

“Imagine someone’s brand has a flat tire. What advice would you offer this person to pump up their tire so that their brand is ready to ride again?”

Find out how my mechanics answered this question and others by enjoying all 13 interviews below. Each one is about 15 minutes long and filled with just amazing tools and tips to tune-up your personal brand. Stay tuned for a new group of ‘mechanics’ in 2013!

7 Ways to Capture Your Personal Brand on Video

July 21, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 2 Comments

We all know the saying that a picture says a thousand words. Video takes those words one step further and makes them real and memorable. In the world of Web 2.0 people want information in bite-sized chunks. Video is a perfect medium for establishing your visual identity on the web and delivering your personal brand in a clear and concise way.

Only a couple years ago using video was going beyond what was expected in personal branding. Today it has become the norm. Consider this fact. In July 2011, ComScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, reported that 180 million Internet users in the US alone watched online video content. This averages almost 19 hours per viewer in a single month! For 2012, personal branding guru William Arruda says that video continues to be a major trend in branding through DIY (do it yourself) and professional platforms. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Branded Bio, Personal Branding, Personal branding tips, Video Tagged With: Gabby Wallace, Get Storied, Kimberly Bordonaro, LinkedIn, Pecha Kucha, personal branding, videoBIO

30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon: Week #1 Recap

June 7, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 1 Comment

WE DID IT! The first week of the 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon is in the can and we SURVIVED!

What an awesome first week with incredible posts from our first seven thought leaders. I am so grateful for how successful the past 7 days have been. The comments from readers and the massive sharing throughout social media proved to me that doing this Blogathon was the right thing. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Here’s a recap of past week with the ‘tweetables‘ from our authors. Tweet away and come back tomorrow for the start of week 2! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogathon, Blogging, Personal Branding Tagged With: 30x30x30 blogathon, Dr Amit Nagpal, Kimberly Bordonaro, Saul Fleischman, Srinivas Rao, Steve Wainwright, Tea Silvestre, Todd Nielsen

Finding the Inspiration for a Brand You Love

June 4, 2012 By Kimberly Bordonaro 12 Comments

30x30x30 Blogathon Post #4: June 4th - Kimberly Bordonaro

Kimberly Bordonaro is our thought leader for the 4th day of the Blogathon. Kimberly recently appeared as one of my ‘mechanics’ of Personal Branding in an interview last month so check out the video. For the Blogathon she continues to provide her unique form of ‘brandspiration’ by helping you to define your brand and rock your success!

See Kimberly’s special offer below and enjoy her post!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Be your Brand, Believe your Brand, Blogathon, Passion, Personal Branding, Personal branding tips Tagged With: 30x30x30 blogathon, brand story, find your passion, Kimberly Bordonaro, personal branding

Haha! Haha! Haha! Mine is Bigger Than Yours!

May 29, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 6 Comments

How many followers do YOU have? What is YOUR Klout score? How many people like YOUR page? Haha! Haha! Haha! MINE is bigger than yours!

Does size really matter?

Well, for some people it does and the focus on social proof is now causing many of us to be concerned with how big we are! Social media is a powerful tool to build our personal brands. When we start out actively using the different channels available, we can fall into the trap of focusing on the numbers and not the engagement. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Online Identity, Personal Branding, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: facebook, John Falchetto, Kimberly Bordonaro, mine is bigger than yours!, Nelson haha, social media, social proof, twitter

Week #1 ‘Teaser’ of the 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon

May 28, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci Leave a Comment

The 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon officially kicks off in just a few days! I already introduced you to the 30 incredible people contributing their thought leadership.

So to wet your appetite and encourage you to come back every day, here is a teaser of the actual content being published in Week 1. As you can see, there is AMAZING stuff here so mark your calendars, add my blog to your RSS feed, and enjoy a solid month of inspiring thought leadership. If this is week 1 imagine what’s in store for the rest of the month! Enjoy! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogathon, Blogging, Personal Branding Tagged With: 30x30x30 blogathon, Dr Amit Nagpal, Kimberly Bordonaro, personal branding, Saul Fleischman, Steve Wainwright, Tea Silvestre, Todd Nielsen

Personal Brand ‘Mechanic’ Interview: Kimberly Bordonaro

May 21, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 6 Comments

“She gets knocked down, but she gets up again.”

It is no surprise that I started this post with a lyric from the song ‘Tubthumping’ by the band Chumbawamba! My next Personal Brand Mechanics interview is with the queen of lyrical inspiration, Kimberly Bordonaro.

Kimberly has trademarked this as ‘Brandspiration’ – her unique talent in finding what she calls ‘illuminations in lyrics’ and how they apply to business and branding. Kimberly sees music as the Great Communicator and if you subscribe to her blog you will reminisce over music videos and lyrics all designed with a message to inspire your business, marketing and personal brand. This lyric from Chumbawamba is actually central to her own personal brand and determination to inspire others. Kimberly is also a contributor in week 1 of my 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon so make sure to come back and see what kind of Brandspiration she has to offer. Enjoy this interview with Kimberly. She might even sing a lyric or two! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brand Identity, Brand message, Personal Brand Mechanics, Personal Branding, Personal branding tips Tagged With: Beastie Boys, Brandspiration, Kimberly Bordonaro, personal branding

The 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon!

May 9, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 7 Comments

I am excited to launch my 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon in June – 30 days x 30 thought leaders x 30 amazing posts! Over the next couple weeks I will introduce you to these 30 amazing people. Visit their sites before the blogathon and then make sure to come back every day in June.

Click here to add this blog to your feed, and you won’t miss a day of the 30x30x30 Blogathon!

Why a Blogathon?

Last August I launched my own blog and have enjoyed posting my own thoughts, insights, and ideas about personal branding. I have even branched out into video posts with my Personal Branding with a Spin series and my recent Personal Branding ‘Mechanic’ Interview series.

I have also connected with and learned from so many thought-leaders in personal branding, marketing, social media, leadership, blogging, coaching, you name it. After seeing Todd Nielsen launch a blogathon earlier this year on his own blog A Slice of Leadership, I decided to do one myself and share with you a small handful of thought leaders who have inspired me (including Todd!) Thanks Todd for the inspiration!

Week 1 Preview: June 1 – June 7

Here is a sneak peek at who to expect in week 1 of the 30x30x30 Personal Branding Blogathon! Visit their sites, learn, connect and mark your calendars. Let’s get this party started!

Todd Nielsen - June 1	Todd Nielsen has served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, President, and Vice President of various companies. He is a strong leader and business advisor, who is highly respected for his leadership insights and experience. His blog “A Slice of Leadership” is rated as one of the top leadership blogs on the Internet. Learn more about Todd here.
Tea Silvestre - June 2	Tea Silvestre is not really a chef. She is a small business marketing consultant and recovering English major who really loves to cook. Her mission is to help the solopreneurs, freelancers and micro business folks figure out their marketing, by helping them figure out how to communicate WHO they are and WHO they serve (aka their “Secret Sauce”). Learn more about Tea here.
Srinivas Rao - June 3	Srinivas Rao of The Skool of Life is a blogger who writes about personal development and the things you should have learned in school but never did. He is also an avid surfer. Learn more about Srinivas here.
Kimberly Bordonaro - June 4	Kimberly Bordonaro is a personal branding consultant who teaches Brandspiration to creative entrepreneurs on how to define their brand and rock their success. She regularly blogs about branding with a lyrical twist. Learn more about Kimberly here.
Dr. Amit Nagpal - June 5	Dr. Amit Nagpal is a trainer, author, speaker, coach and 'human being.' His personal philosophy is helping You- ENLARGE as a Human Being, EXCEL as a Social Media Being, and EVOLVE as a Personal Brand(ed) Being. In less than 6 months his blog was listed on Alltop.com Learn more about Dr. Amit here.
Steve Wainwright - June 6	Steve Wainwright is founder and chief executive of Profiled.com - the world's first Professional Portal site which brings together your professional internet presence into one place for business contacts to access in just one click. Learn more about Profiled.com here.
Saul Fleischman - June 7	Saul Fleischman, founder of OsakaBentures, is an overseas marketing man, a business developer with creativity and twenty years of greatly varied experience in company/brand image development. His role tends to be functionality ideation, user experience, and also, marketing communications and community development. Learn more about Saul here.

Click here to add this blog to your feed, and you won’t miss a day of the 30x30x30 Blogathon!

Filed Under: Blogathon, Personal Branding Tagged With: 30x30x30 blogathon, Dr Amit Nagpal, Kimberly Bordonaro, personal branding, Saul Fleischman, Srinvinas Rao, Steve Wainwright, Tea Silvestre, Todd Nielsen

How Can You ‘Tune-Up’ Your Personal Brand for 2012?

January 16, 2012 By Peter Sterlacci 3 Comments

On cold winter mornings it can be a challenge to crawl out of bed, jump on the bicycle and go for a ride. Granted the first few pedal strokes are hard as your body adjusts, but once you get moving the joy of the ride takes over and you soon forget about the cold. Some cyclists ‘retire’ for the winter months and put their bicycle into storage waiting for the warm spring weather to dust off the frame, oil the chain, and adjust the gears. Without a spring ‘tune-up’ the bicycle will squeak, creak, and chatter.

Just as a bicycle needs a tune-up, so does your brand. You do not want to ignore your brand and put it into storage. An effective personal branding strategy really requires consistent and constant brand maintenance throughout the year. However, in reality the end of the year is often filled with finishing last minute projects, preparing for the holidays, and spending time in hibernation!

Your Brand is not Broken. It Needs a Tune-up!

If you have put your brand into storage, don’t worry. Your brand is not broken! It simply needs a tune-up and will be ready to ride again. Start off 2012 right by dusting off your brand and applying these three tune-ups demonstrated by three people I am officially dubbing ‘Personal Branding Mechanics.’ [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Brand Alignment, Personal Brand Reposition, Personal Brand Upgrade Tagged With: John Falchetto, Jonathan Fields, Kimberly Bordonaro, personal brand tune-up