Small Business Trends

We are giving away 5 copies of the new book by Dan Schawbel that’s making waves, “Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success.”  (See the review of Me 2.0 by Ivana Taylor, our book editor.)

For a chance to win a copy of the book, all you have to do is give us YOUR best personal branding tip, by leaving a comment below.

Out of the tips we get, we will randomly choose 5 people to receive a book (courtesy of the author). I’m happy to say, this drawing is open to readers anywhere in the world. You have until Monday, April 13, 2009 at 11:59pm California time to leave your tip and be entered in the random drawing.

To get your creative juices flowing to think up a good tip, we’ve collected a few personal branding tips already:

• Bill Jelen, Mr. Excel (@MrExcel on Twitter) – “Trademark your brand. Have your face drawn by an artist in your area of expertise, such as Nitrozac and Snaggy who do techno geek stuff.”
• Brent Leary, CRM Essentials (@BrentLeary on Twitter) – “I wanted people to think of my name when they heard the term CRM. So I named my company CRM Essentials, and my blog Brent’s CRM blog. That way “Brent Leary, CRM Essentials” is on every business card, article, blog post, webinar, interview and anything else I’m involved in.”
• Loaay Ahmed, Knight’s Capital (@BusinessTherapy on Twitter) – “A brand vision is to know where you want to be. A brand mission is to know what needs to be done to get you there.”
• Brad Farris, Anchor Advisors ( @blfarris on Twitter) — “Be consistent. Use the same language, colors, themes, voice everywhere you appear; web, print, business card…”
• Ivana Taylor, DIY Marketers (@DIYmarketers on Twitter) - “Choose a favorite phrase that says what you’re all about and use it in a sentence at least 3 times a day.  Mine is ‘It’s all about getting chosen’. “
• Zane Safrit (@zanesafrit on Twitter) - “Now’s the time.”
• Joel Libava, The Franchise King (@franchiseking on Twitter) - “Be yourself, and be true to your core values. Even if people disagree with you, stick with who you are. Personally, I can come across a little too aggressive for some. But my motives are good, and I am ethical. That is what is important. I am just not a good politician.”
• Leslie Carruthers, The Search Guru ( @thesearchguru on Twitter) –  ”I’ve always had a page on our site offering myself as a speaker and contributing writer. The pages serve 2 purposes — one we actually do receive inquiries from them, and second they position me and the company as someone who is an expert and chosen by others.”

Do these tips get you thinking?  Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment below with your personal branding tip.

UPDATE: THE COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED. THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AND WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY.