Reebok has one. So does BMW. And You and I do too.

So, what exactly do you, me, Reebok, BMW, and all other organizations have in common? We all have a brand.

That's right. A brand. As Tom Peters wrote in his article "The Brand Called You" for the August/September 1997 issue of Fast Company magazine, "We are the CEO's of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."

This concept of a personal brand is new to me. I've only recently heard about it in a session on branding as part of the Career Enhancement Program (CEP) that I'm taking part in this summer at work. To be honest, I don't fully understand it.

As we discussed it in class, this is not unusual for people of my MBTI type (click here for more on this). We have to really be sold on the idea. For us, we should just be able to be the best employee we can be, do the best work we can do, and the rest should just take care of itself.

But I'll try.


Part I: What is a personal brand? Where does it come from?

Simply put, your personal brand is your organizational reputation. It is the match between what you would say about yourself, and what others would say about you. It's what comes to mind when your name comes up.

Your personal brand is the combined information from a variety of sources:

• Stories people tell about you and that you tell about yourself. 
• Beliefs that people have about you. For instance, if you keep a sloppy workspace, people may believe you do sloppy, haphazard work.
• Indirect exposure, i.e. if a third party asks your boss about you, they have indirect exposure to you. 
• Direct exposure, you with a co-worker. 
• Perceptions such as what people think about your personal appearance. 
• Personal experience--what people know about you outside of work. 
• Professional experience--what people know about your career and plans for the future. 

For a brand to be effective, it has to be powerful. It has to show how you are different from the others. Also, it has to be relevant. If you won "Employee of The Year" 10 years ago, but nothing since...well, who cares? It really comes down to: what have you done lately?

Part II: The Recurring Elements of a Brand

There are 5 elements of a brand:

Personality

• Your personal style and energy
• Others' emotional responses to you as a person
• Perceptions and beliefs about you

Product

• YOU are the product--not just your role
• Total sum of your skills, experience, education, potential, knowledge, etc
• Features vs Benefits--as an example from the Peters article, a feature could be that you anticipate and solve  problems before they become crises. The benefit is the client saves money and headaches just by you being on the team. 

Wrapping

The things that "wrap" your product, such as appearance, word choice, meetings, reports, e-mails, etc. 

Marketing

• The strategic and proactive actions you take and behaviors you use to build and maintain your desired brand and reputation.
• It comes down to this: "It's not just what you know, it's who knows you know it."

"I Inc" Mentality

• Don't wait to be invited.
• Want to be the best. 
• Be accountable.

Part III: Assessing and Developing your own brand

In the few days since taking the class, I have made some progress in this part of the process. But sitting there at the table in group, I really struggled. 

Initiation

First, clarify the desired outcomes of your project. In this case, develop my personal brand. Start by asking yourself: how am I known? How do others experience  me? Do I have a following--an appetite for what I offer? 

Next, determine who will be involved in the project. Who is the Marketplace for "I, Inc"? Start with the answers for the third question above. 

Planning

Create your plan and determine a timeline----what steps do you have to take to complete the project? Define each step, decide who needs to be involved, and set a deadline for completion. I'm still working on this part. My coach, leader, and program cohort will help me with this. 

Execution/Monitoring/Controlling

Put your plan into action, manage changes, gather input and feedback, and work to complete the tasks required to achieve your goal.


As I said before, I've been struggling with this idea. But I'm starting to come around--even just writing this post has helped. By the end of the summer, I'll have it. 

**In addition to the Peters article mentioned, material for this post came from the "Enhancing Your Brand" Participant Guide put together by the Talent Management team of the BCBSMA HR department**

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

About a month ago, I applied and was accepted into a program at work called the Career Enhancement Program (CEP). Included in the program are various excersizes and group meetings meant to teach you not just about the company, but also about yourself. In the end, you should be armed to take your career to the next step.

One of the requirements is to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Commonly known as a "personality test", the MBTI surveys how you would react to and feel about various situations.

Based on the work of Carl Jung and created by mother-daughter team Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers during WWII, the team first published the full MBTI in 1962.

The Types

Isabel Myers developed four pairs of  "preferences". Everyone has all eight prefrences within them that they use according to the situation, but within each pair, you will skew towards one or the other.

The pairs are:

Where you focus attention:
Extraversion (easily relate to the outer world of people and things)
Introversion  (easily relate to the inner world of ideas and impressions)

The way you take in information:
Sensing (interested in what the five senses show, what exists in the present)
Intuition (use imagination to see new possibliities and insights, focus on the future)

The way you make decisions:
Thinking (base decisions on objective analysis and logic)
Feeling   (base decisions on values and people-centered concerns)

How you deal with the outer world:
Judging  (like to have things decided, life is planned and orderly)
Perciving  (don't want to miss anything, life is spontanious and flexable)

Once your questionaire is analized, to find your type, just take the first letter of your preference from each pair. There are 16 different types.


My results

How did I come out? My type is ISTJ--Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. Remember--these are prefrences--we all have all eight within us, and we switch depending on the situation.


What this means

Like all things, all 16 types have benefits and negatives.

A few of the  benefits for my type:

• Strong sense of responsability and great loyalty to family, organizations, relationships
• Work with steady energy to fulfill commitments
• Go to any trouble to complete something seen as neccessary, but balk at doing anything that doesn't make sense
• Perfer to work alone and have accountablility but will work in teams when needed and when roles are clearly defined
• Have a profound recpect for facts
• Practical, sensible, realistic, sysematic
• Clear and steadfast in opinions
• Believe standard procedures exist because they work. Support change only when facts demonstrate it will bring better results. 

And a few negatives:

• If not developed in Thinking--may not have reliable ways of dealing with the world and instead may be preoccupied with thier internal memories
• If not developed in Sensing--may rush into premature judgements and actions without considering new information
• Generally don't share their wealth of Sensing observations and memories except with close friends
• Others see ISTJ's standards and judgements, but may not see the individual, sometimes humorous, private reactions

I think this is generally pretty accurate. It certainly sounds familiar. 

"Show" "Business"

"There's no business like show business"

                                                             ----Irving Berlin, for Annie Get Your Gun

Berlin's song is meant to be a satirical take on what life is like in show business. But it's true, there really IS no business like show business--an industry that is a special hybrid of the creative and the rational. 

The creative--the "show"--is made of actors, actresses, musicians, writers, set designers, hair, makeup, and wardrobe people, and countless others pooling thier talents to put on a performance that the audience will, ideally, love and talk about in the future. 

But then there's the rational side--the "business".  Like any other industry, there has to always be someone in the office, so to speak, taking care of HR, payroll, hiring, firing, and the thousand other things that have to be done to keep the business in business. 

Above everything else, there's marketing and promotion. Ultimately, nothing else can happen unless these are successful. And in a small business like mine, where I have to be both the creative and the rational, I do it all. 

While my formal training is complete, well, as much as training is ever complete, I have kept my membership at Such A Voice  (SAV) open so I have access to various one-hour webinars. I have recently taken one called  "Taking The Sales Out Of Your Voice", hosted by SAV's Jilllian Nielson. Jillian presented a step by step guide to active marketing-- another way of saying "hitting the streets and hustling work"--as opposed to passive marketing, such as joining a pay to play site like voices.com. (The webinar is geared for VO, but I'm sure the concepts would translate to any industry.)

There are nine steps to the plan, divided into "Getting the Job" and "After the Job".

Getting the Job

Step 1:  Figure out the smaller towns in your area. Ad agencies like to use talent from bigger cities as this adds credability to the job, and makes it easier to get jobs. 

For instance, I'm pretty much right between Boston, MA and Manchester, NH. There are many smaller towns in this area. 

Step 2:  Google a list of ad agencies that handle business in your area (For me, between Boston and Manchester). Focus on any located or have work in the smaller towns, then elimate any that don't have a website. 

Step 3: Check out the sites of the rest. If any handle work that requires--or could require--VO, make a note. And if any do event marketing, think about being an MC. 

Step 4; Once you decide who to contact, fill out the Contact Us form with a simple note including a link to your site/demos. If you have the name of the creative director, even better. Something along the lines of:

---------------------

Dear XXXX, 

My name is Bill Georato. I am writing to let you know that I am available for any voice work you may have. Please find below the link to my site: 

https://www.voices.com/people/william51969

I will follow up next Tuesday. 

Thank you very much for your time, and looking forward to hearing from you. 

Bill Georato

--------------------

The point is to introduce yourself and your availability. Be sure to include the link.....Creative Directors don't have alot of time and you don't want them to have to go hunting for you.

While we're at it, don't forget any local businesses you may personally frequent often. I've already given my business card to my doctor's and dentist's office. And keep in mind local school districts---someone has to record thier phone system messaging, why not you? 

Step 5: Follow up! But do so only when you say you will, not before...or after. Ask if they have any clients for which your voice will fit. Even if they don't at that moment, offer yourself as a resource. Ask if you can keep in touch with them---every quarter is good. 

Step 6:  Congratulations! You got the job! From this point on, it's all about communication. Both you and your client will have expectations....keep all lines open. Ask every question you can think of: What exactly is the job? Local, regional, national? Radio, TV, Internet? Is it a private company IVR? 

Don't forget about post production. Are you or the client responsible? What about music? (This is a big one, if you are responable for this, but don't have access to royalty free--be sure to tell them.)

After the Job

Step 7:  OK, the job is done. Time to invoice; you love what you're doing, but you still want to get paid, after all.  But be sure to wait until the job is completely done. You don't want to have to invoice twice: once for the job, and again for any changes. 

It's best to invoice your clients the first of every month. So, for work done in May, invoice in June. 

You want to have a template with your company logo, name, and address. Itemize the bill relative to your agreement with the client. 

Step 8: Track your business. This is good not only for tax time, but just for your own records. Have a spreadsheet, as detailed as you like, listing all aspects of your work: client name, dates, type of job, date invoiced/paid, which media the job was for (TV, Radio, etc). Details, details, details.

Also have an expense sheet. You want to keep track of money spent on memberships, supplies, etc.


Step 9:   Keep top of mind. Send reminders, thank you notes, holiday greetings (audio!). Use social media to keep in touch. 

So there you have it. Everything you need to know about marketing in one blog post! Well, I suppose not really. But it's a great start. 

The Big Idea

It was born in 1857. Its two most prominent people were an Oxford professor and a Civil War Veteran. It took 70 years to complete, and when it was, it literally defined the English Language.

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester, is the true story of how two men from vastly different backgrounds came together and, along with many others, put together the most important dictionary ever created.

The Professor

Born in February 1837, James Murray would grow up to become not the first or last editor of the OED's first edition, but he would be forever known as the most important.

Coming from the Scottish Borderland with an "unpromising, unmoneyed, unsophisticated" start at life, he very quickly proved himself to be an adept student, becoming a lecturer, joining all manner of philosophical societies,  eventually taking a professorship at Oxford.

Later, he would become the editor of the OED, and he fully took charge of the project, which at that point was nearly 20 years old. He instituted a full scale overhaul of procedures. The new plan: have volunteer readers carefully comb through books going back to the 1200's and pick out every interesting word, make precise notes as to the book and page, and cite the sentence the word appears in; then simply send them in. Every reader was given preprinted slips to fill out accordingly.

Murray and his staff would then go through all the slips, which eventually numbered in the millions, categorize them alphabetically, double check citations, write definitions based on the citations and common knowledge,  and send them to Murray himself, who would do the final edits on pronunciation and definitions.

The Madman

William Chester Minor was born in 1834 in the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to missionaries of the Congregationalist Church. There he lived until he was 14 when he was sent to live with relatives in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated Yale in 1863 as a medical doctor.

He joined the Union Army, but after the horrors of war, he moved to London, England, when, in 1871, he shot a man to death. The British authorities diagnosed him with what today we would call paranoia and schizophrenia (most likely brought on by the war) and sentenced him to life at the Broadmoore Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

There he stayed (late in life he was allowed to go home to his brother in CT), a brilliant man with nothing to do...until the OED came along. He was allowed to work on the project, and for nearly 30 years, he combed his books and became one of the most prolific contributors to the work.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Now we come the the final major character in Winchester's tale: the Dictionary itself. There have been dictionaries before; the idea goes back to the ancient Greeks. And there were earlier English dictionaries. But none of these earlier projects were bold enough to take on every single word --scientific and common, vulgar and sophisticated; every noun, verb (in all tenses), pronoun, article---- everything in the English language.

When all was said and done, the OED's first edition:

Defined 414,825 words
Had over 1.8 million quotations
One complete set (12 volumes) had 127 miles of paper, and over 200 million letters, numbers, punctuation marks and spaces, all hand set and letter-pressed.


Winchester's book, known in Britain as The Surgeon of Crowethorne, is a mere 242 pages long, but it is an epic tale which is gripping and well written. It is fascinating how two men with such different backgrounds and experiences would come together, and not only be colleagues from afar--Oxford was only about an hour away by train, but it would take Minor and Murray almost 20 years before they meet--but the close friendship they forge when they do finally meet.

Each chapter starts with the OED's complete entry for a word that describes the theme or events of the chapter. This is a very interesting device, and you learn some vocabulary along the way.

I had been eyeing this book for years, and I'm glad I finally took the time to read it. As William Safire said at the time it came out, "The linguistic detective story of the decade." Indeed it is.

A Launch Letter

"Launch Letter".  A few weeks ago, I had never heard that term. Now, I have one of my own.

A launch letter is something a new business sends out to friends, family, and prospective clients with the purpose of introducing the business and some relevant background on the people and industry.  In this case, the business is me, and what better way to start sending it out than a blog post.

So, with no further delay, here it is.

Dear,

My name is Bill Georato, Voice-Over Artist. Why voice-over? Well, I have always had an interest in entertainment, I had one line in my middle school production of A Christmas Carol, but it really started in college. As a DJ on college radio, first at WUMF 100.5FM (University of Maine-Farmington) co-hosting Bill and Matt’s Excellent Radio Show, then at WWLR 92FM (Lyndon State College, Lyndonville, VT) hosting my own show, Bill’s Basement, I learned how to use my voice. Over time, working in education as a middle school science teacher, and later as a health insurance  member service representative and finally volunteer presenter at the Museum of Science-Boston, I honed my voice and presentation skills teaching students and  visitors scientific principles through demonstrations and discussion. These aspects of my career- formal and informal education, and customer care- all have one thing in common: voice and presentation. This brings us to the final piece of the puzzle--formal voice-over training. One day, I was leafing through the local Adult Education brochure and saw a one night seminar being presented by Such A Voice out of Vermont. I took the class and decided that I wanted to pursue this as a career.

The voice-over industry is no longer simply radio and TV. These are still part of it, of course--Mike Rowe’s narration on Deadliest Catch, or Bob Saget on  How I Met Your Mother, for example--but there is so much more. Video games, audiobooks, GPS systems, talking greeting cards, home phone answering machines, and the recorded announcements at the airport are all voice-over. There are all kinds of voice-over in business and education too: E-learning programs, PSA’s, HR orientation videos, and IVR/Corporate voice-mail systems. Even Siri herself.

If you are in need of a voice talent, or know of someone who does, please send me their contact information. It will be kept in good hands. Thank you for your time and consideration, and looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bill Georato

tinyurl.com/williamgvoice

The 1st Annual Spring Sprint Duathlon

As you know, I'm not much of a sports person, but I do enjoy running a little. I've done 5K's, a couple of half-marathons, and even finished the San Francisco Marathon.

This last Sunday, May 4th, 2014, I added a new event to my athletic career: the Spring Sprint Duathlon at Smolak Farms, North Andover, Ma. 

What is a duathlon? In this case, it's  a 5K  (3.1 mile) road run, a 13.3 mile bike race, and a 1.5 mile trail run. Add this up, and you get a nearly 18 mile race--just a little more than a half-marathon. And you do the whole thing, one right into the next. 

It all started at work about a month ago. Team Blue--Blue Cross Blue Shield MA's (BCBSMA) fitness and community involvement group--had put out the calender for upcoming events. I thought about doing this for a few days--after all, the location's convenient  for me, and I do also enjoy bike riding--so I signed up. There were only 10 spots available, and in the end there were only three of us. This gave us the option to race as a relay, but we are individualists, so while we started together, we ran our own race.

But there's one other thing......I volunteered, and was accepted to be, team leader/captain. In this, it was my job to take the team photo, make sure my team-mates had all the information they need, and take attendance on race day.  Not too difficult, but kind of funny that I was captain of an athletic team. 

Race day. I arrive about 6:30 am. Registration opens at 6:45, there is a mandatory meeting at 8:15, and the start is at 8:30. I've got my bike in the back of the truck, my Team Blue shirt, and ready to go. At registration, I pick up my bib for my self and my bike, and meet up with my team-mates, Christine and Angela.

Team Blue: From L--Angela, Christine, myself

The 5K

There were  about 120 competitors, and according to the Athlete's Guide, there were to be two waves: first all the men, then all the women and the relay starters. But in reality, we all started together, and right at 8:30, we were off. Heading down the main road through the farm and out the back gate,we wind our way through the back streets of  North Andover. The road is open to traffic, but we have half the road and there are plenty of volunteers and police to keep things safe. At the half way point, we literally turn around and head back. Once back on the farm, we head into the transition area to switch to the bike race. 

The Bike Race

In a duathlon, just like a triathlon, time in transition counts to your total time. You want to spend as little time as possible there. This is why everything has to be ready and perfectly positioned. 

Every competitor has their own spot in the transition area according to their bib number. I was very lucky with bib # 40; this put my bike in the front row of transition, and I could just run in, strap my helmet on (helmets are required in official USAT events such as this; I would wear one anyway), and get right back out. 

But before we could actually get on the bike, we ran/walked them up the hill to the main gate, and jumped on as we hit the road. From here, it was a 13.1 mile loop around the towns of North Andover and Boxford. Again, the road was open to traffic, but being Sunday morning, there wasn't really much. Volunteers and police were at every turn so it was very safe. There weren't many people out, so it was a quiet ride, and as we came up to another rider to pass, we'd say hello and good job. 

Since I have no odometer on my bike, and there were no mile markers on the road, it was hard to tell where on the course I was.  But I did have my Timex in chronometer mode; since it took about half an hour to finish the 5K,  at the 1 1/2 hour mark I figured I was getting close to the end of the ride (more on my times later.) And that was about right. Off the bike, and back to transition for the trail run. 

The U.S.S Sheldon Cooper ready for launch.

The Trail Run

The final section of the race took me into the apple and peach orchards on the farm. Weaving in and out through the rows of trees--and up and down the hill--I walked most of this course. I was tired, despite taking my Goo and water. Also, I had studied the course maps, including the changes in topology, but you never really know what you're getting into until you actually see it. 

Of course, you do have to run through the finish line, so once out of the orchard, I ran back on to the road and through the finish.

Post race

After running through the finish, I caught up with Angela, and later Christine. While I was the last to finish in our group, we all had a great race, especially since this was the first time any of us had done something like this. We were all happy with our times, and most importantly had a lot of fun in a great setting,  and would do it again. 

Time for food now.  The folks at Smolak Farms put out a nice spread: water, coconut water (which I quickly learned I didn't like), bananas, apples, ham and cheese quiche, broccoli and cheese quiche, and freshly baked banana nut muffins and Smolak's famous apple-cinnamon donuts. So good.

The Times and Placement

Here's my stats for the race:

111th place overall, out of 120 finishers
30:21 on 5K run
0:48 in 1st Transition
1:04:49 on 13.3 mile bike
0:36 in 2nd Transition
22:22 on 1.5 mile trail run

Total time: 1:58:54

13th in age group, 63rd in gender.

All in all, it was a great morning out, and looking forward to next year! 


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: The opinions stated here are solely those of the author, and do not  reflect those of BCBSMA, or its management or staff.

Movie Review: Muppets Most Wanted

There are two kinds of bad films. First is the type that is truly terrible, one with little to no redeeming features at all. For example, the cinematic atrocity that is Grease 2. There is an OK idea for a plot--Frenchie takes Teen Angel's advice and goes back to high school--but overall it is a horrid film: writing, acting, and music. I regret that I'm simply aware if this movie's existence. I double regret actually watching it.

The other kind is a film that is so bad that you actually like it, maybe even enjoy it enough for multiple viewings. For example, Dennis Quaid's Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire, or Johnny Depp's 2013 take on The Lone Ranger. These films also aren't good,  Depp's turn as Tonto is nothing short of cringe-worthy, and Quaid's Lewis is way over the top, but there is just something about them that you like. They clearly tried, but obviously missed the mark.

Relative to the rest of the Muppetverse,  Muppets Most Wanted, the latest film in the franchise, is in the second category. Starting literally the second the previous movie ended--in fact the first shot of this film is the "The End" of the last-- The Muppets are back together, with the addition of Walter, and are discussing what to do next. Enter Ricky Gervais  as Dominic Badguy, who offers to work with Kermit and the others on promoting a world tour. But Badguy has a secret, he is the number two criminal mastermind. Who is number one? None other than Russian Kermit doppelganger Constantine, "the world's most dangerous frog". After escaping from a Siberian Gulag, Constantine joins Badguy, and they hatch their plan to steal Britain's Crown Jewels.

This is the main plot to the film. Key to this is that the Muppets believe  Constantine is really Kermit; Badguy manages to convince them that Constantine's Russian accent is really Kermit with a cold. And they buy it. The exception here is Animal, who knows right away something is wrong. "Bad frog," he says, "Bad frog. Bad frog." Meanwhile, Kermit has been captured by the authorities thinking he is Constantine, and has been sent "back" to the Gulag, where  Commandant Nadya, played by Tina Fey, recruits him to stage the Gulag talent show.

The tour travels across Europe as Constantine and Badguy uncover one clue after another--Da Vinci Code style--as to how to get to the Crown Jewels. The plan culminates with the long-awaited lavish London wedding of Miss Piggy and "Kermit", which  Real Kermit, after escaping from the Gulag, crashes. After the expected "Which One Is The Real Kermit?" scene, Piggy finally realizes the Constantine has duped them all.

In the end, the Crown Jewels are recovered, and Badguy and Constantine are taken into custody by Ty Burell's Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon and Muppet CIA agent Sam The Eagle.

This relationship between Napoleon and Sam is probably the thing that makes the most sense in the whole movie. Starting the moment they meet, they are arguing over who has the biggest badge. This is one of the biggest laughs in the film, as each in turn comes up with bigger and bigger badges. From then on, they have their disagreements--"European slacker" versus "Hard-working American"--which makes for some good scenes, and when it's all over, they realize they work well together and have become good friends.

As far as the story goes, Muppets Most Wanted is OK at best. It is an interesting take on a more "adult" subject. Being rated PG limits the filmmakers on what they can do--it is the Muppets after all, but all the explosions and threat of death seem a bit out of place here.

Finally, let me mention the music. It is rather uninspiring. The opening song--a self-deprecating riff on how, generally speaking, sequels suck-- was funny. But the rest of the music was not that great. And don't even get me started on the whole Celine Dion thing.

As one who grew up with the Muppets, I can honestly say that they are normally very entertaining. But not this time. And I'm not sure about the kids either. I went with a group that included two eleven year-olds. Didn't hear a single laugh out of them.