What they do not realize is that a business can bounce back from bad business branding but it can’t bounce back as easily if something critical happens to your personal brand. That is just one reason that the personal brand is more important than the business brand.

There are many ways to build your personal brand. One of those ways is to provide useful content online that enhances your branding. If you are a plumber, don’t just post a webpage with your list of services and contact information. That is not particularly compelling. Besides, the only way people will find you is if they are looking for you, specifically.

A provider of SEO content writing services can help you create relevant content for which people are actually searching. That may include home repair and home improvement how-tos, the best tools for beginners, and guides on when a job is too big for a DIY project. There are many articles that tell you how you can do it, but few that tell you why.

Here are a few more reasons why your personal brand is so important.

Your Personal Brand Stays with You

 
Businesses come and go, even successful businesses can be sold, or change hands by other means. Sometimes, the only asset remaining with a struggling business is the brand. Just look at Blackberry and Nokia. Products sold under those brand have little to do with the founders who made them household brands.

However, there are also examples like Elon Musk. His investors are not so much investing in electric cars. They are investing in Elon Musk, himself. They believe in him. That means if something happens to the Tesla company, his personal brand will survive, and enable him to do other things. The value is not in Tesla. It is in Musk.

Your Personal Brand Allows You to Expand

 
Even if you are reasonably successful with your first business, you still have to start from scratch in convincing people to invest in your second business. If all your branding capital is tied up in the business, investors will not know who you are, or why they should trust you.

Once success means that you are just a person who had one good idea. If you only brand your business, you will have to sell every new business idea. If you brand yourself, that will carry over to your other business ventures. Make sure people are investing in you, not just your latest idea.

Your Business Cannot Survive the Failure of Your Personal Brand

 
Your personal brand can survive a catastrophic failure of your business. Your business cannot survive the catastrophic failure of your brand. Just ask Roseanne Barr. After making a career comeback, she managed to get her show canceled with racist tweets. She has also canceled any hope of a future comeback.

She is not alone. Hollywood is littered with the recent spate of crashed careers due to revelations of sexual harassment and misconduct. Every one of the actors in question has survived bad shows, movies, and other failed projects. That’s just business. But it will be almost impossible for them to come back from personal brand implosion.

That is why it is not only imperative that you build your personal brand but protect it as well. If you hit rock bottom but still have the integrity of your personal brand, you still have capital that can finance your next comeback. You have to protect it from slander, libel, and other forms of attack. Brand consultants can help with that.

The recent failure of the Essential smartphone is a cautionary tale. Andy Rubin, the creator of Android, could not put a successful Android phone on the market, in part, due to the tarnishing of his personal brand.

So never forget that your personal brand stays with you even when your business doesn’t. Your personal brand is the key to your next success. And neither your current nor your future business can survive the implosion of your personal brand.

 
 
What do you do to build and maintain your personal brand? What has worked well?
 
 

Promotional Items

 
Ever see people wearing t-shirts from a far-off city? Or those pens that have a business name and address? Promotional items are a fantastic advertising tool that doesn’t make a lot of top ten lists anymore. With t-shirt blanks combined with your logo and/or tagline, you can embed into the brains of everyone who sees them your own brand recognition.

Think about your local minor league baseball team. They have companies who buy advertising space along the outfield wall, restaurants that offer free sandwiches if certain scores are obtained in a game, and companies sponsoring jersey night with their company logo included on the jersey. All of those things stay on people’s minds as they go about their daily routine and have a significant impact on your business.

Social Media is a Must

 
For the best in low budget marketing, social media should be top on your list. It costs very little in comparison to other strategies and has a huge impact. A Facebook Live Q&A with the CEO, product launch announcements on the blog, and contests for free product or service on Instagram reaches a wide market and nurtures relationships with your target market.

Everyone talks about their experiences with companies online. It may be reviews or comments left on a post. The world sees that interaction and if you handle it well, you gain favor in people who may be considering your product/service or someone who will now consider it. All it will take you is a little bit of time each day and if you don’t have the time, you can hire someone who can take that on.

Radio Ads Aren’t a Bad Idea

 
If you think radio ads are a waste of time, think again. Although we don’t digest the radio in the same way we did before television came along, we still listen to the radio. The biggest radio use is during commuting hours to take our minds off the stressful traffic we are stuck in. Radio tends to keep us actively listening, rather than having passive noise in the background. That means that we retain more when we hear it on the radio than any other time.

Think about it, you’re sitting in traffic and you might be thinking about what you really want to do over the weekend to de-stress. An ad for a local arts festival comes on and that is now in the forefront of your mind. You have a higher likelihood of going because you heard about it then had you seen an ad in the local paper.

Create a Sense of Loyalty

 
Brand loyalty is a really good thing to have! Not only do you want new customers to come along, you want to keep the ones who have been coming along. Loyalty rewards are a great way to keep people coming back time and time again, especially combined with great service. Grocery stores have certainly seen how well the rewards programs work in their favor. Maybe you are obtaining gas points to save on rising gas prices, spending just enough to earn a free turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, or taking advantage of special sales for rewards cards holders. People love getting discounts and freebies and rewards programs fill those people with satisfaction for obtaining those discounts and freebies.

Marketing will always be a major part of our society. It changes as we change. What works well for you today may not work so well in ten years. Then again some things, like printed t-shirts, never change in terms of their effectiveness. The key to a successful marketing program is the ability to go with the flow and make it work for you!

 
 
What do you think is the most effective way to market today?
 
 

Suddenly… you’ve got a problem.

You could honor the mispricing and lose money. Or, backpedal and anger customers. There are no legal issues with price errors… but it does create chaos. And, it reveals a real problem: Miscommunication.

Here’s how to create promotional consistency.

3 Tools for Promotional Consistency

 
Small business operations typically don’t suffer from promotional inconsistency. They’re agile enough to rapidly adapts since most efforts are done by its small team. Yet, this completely changes when operations scale — a corporation, for example — since there may be hundreds in the ad/marketing teams.
How does a large organization create consistency across all fronts? With tools, of course.

Tools like:

 
Brand Guidelines

The brand guideline explains the businesses’ mission, culture, and personality. This document helps bring onboard new hires and aligns veteran employees. The guideline sets the tone for all other actions — including promotional efforts — to create consistency.
Guideline bullet-points detailing factors would include:

• The target audience
• Creative and copy usage
• Desired metrics
• Company story/vision

This document is a ‘bible’ for how employees interact with consumers. But, also introduces checks and balances to eliminate inconsistencies.

 
Content Management Systems

A large organization has many owned properties for content. This could include social media profiles, their business blog, internal documents, newsletter, print, and more. Each area has separate teams managing these areas — creating a possibility of miscommunication.

Content management systems power most corporate websites and owned online properties. Yet, there are limitations with out-of-the-box options like WordPress. Flaws begin showing once a hundred+ users are in the system simultaneously developing content, online properties, and promotions.

This demand calls for Enterprise Content Management Systems.

Zesty.io explains key factors with Enterprise CMS:

• Increased security features
• Seamless third-party integrations
• Decoupled front/backend

These primary features allow teams to:

• Develop microsites for promotional campaigns
• Leverage checks & balances with promo tactics
• Import/export efforts between integrated apps

Ultimately, it Enterprise-level CMS’s handle the intense workload without chancing disruption from unqualified users mismanaging the backend. It’s much attuned to how companies set up workstations and servers — with permissions and accounts — so things don’t break.

 
Templates & Wireframes

Templates and wireframes are the physical representation of the brand guidelines (see above). These vital elements allow for rapid promotional development. The templates/wireframes also prevent teams from creating variations based on personal preferences.

What kind of templates/wireframes are used for promotional consistency?

• Ad banners
• Business proposals
• Featured images
• Quotes or reviews
• Ebooks and whitepapers
• Email/blog copy
• SEO style guides for content

A promotional template could include set guidelines for promotional pricing and discounts. These items are prepopulated in the social media share, blog posts, and creative designs. Doing so reduces mishaps if several teams roll-out campaigns in tandem.

Think of templates like how a franchise controls their brand image. The creative & copy comes from the top. And, franchisees place them on display. This creates consistency no matter which location a customer decides to visit.

The Value of Consistency and Next Steps

 
The opening example of inconsistent promotional discounts is one of many mistakes possible. These mistakes go beyond sales. Mistakes could find their way into how employees interact with customers. Or, relationship building during outreach activities.

One disgruntled employee tweeting harsh words to followers can sully the brand image. One sloppy promotional campaign could lose trust and dependability with the customer base. This is why promotional consistency matters so much.

What are your next steps?

1. Define and create a digital copy of brand guidelines if you don’t have one
2. Create checks and balances with promotional workflow and distribution
3. Implement content and brand management tools versus scattered options
4. Train employees and improve communications between teams

It’s a work-in-progress but a challenge worth taking. If it means one less mishap costing thousands of dollars, then it paid for itself. Do you agree?

If you’re blessed with an employer that matches your retirement contributions with each paycheck, consider yourself lucky. Still, keep in mind there is always room to save more.

If you have no retirement saved up, now is the perfect time to find ways to set some money aside for the future. Here’s how.

Create a Precious Metal IRA

 
Have you thought about investing in gold or silver? What about foreign currency? If you have the funds to invest, this is a great way to reap large rewards and returns on your investment in the future. Keep in mind there are strict rules requiring these investments and you should consult with a professional like Treasury Vault who can help you with setting up and administering a self-directed IRA. They can be the liaison between you and the IRA administrator to coordinate the investment and help identify the currency or commodity that you wish to invest in. The process is as simple as:

• Taking your current IRA or 401k and rolling it over to a retirement service provider

• Choose a commodity or precious metals dealer

• Select the exact foreign currency amount or precious metal you want to invest

Investing in foreign currencies and metals is just one way you can secure a future for yourself and reduce the sudden penalties you may face with other investments.

Putting Any Extras into a Savings Account

 
Your tax refund is something you may look forward to every year. You may use this as a down payment on a new car or to pay for part of your annual vacation. While those things are a must once in a while, putting your tax refund directly into savings is a great way to save without seeing any money come directly out of your paycheck.

If you’re unable to put the entire amount into savings, you may want to consider placing a portion into an account. An interest-bearing account is a great way to see a profit return over time. Select an account that has minimal annual fees. Most long-term retirement savings accounts waive these fees as long as you don’t withdrawal funds within the first few years. Diversify your portfolio by placing multiple amounts of money into different accounts. In addition, if you get any type of bonus at work, win money, or are gifted any monetary amount, consider placing these funds into a savings account as well.

Tweak Your Direct Deposit

 
Does your paycheck go directly into your checking account each week or every other week? If so, it saves a lot of time and stress without having to wait in long lines at the bank.

Another way you can easily save for your retirement is to designate part of each paycheck to automatically go into an IRA or another form of interest-bearing savings account. This allows you to save money without having to make a separate deposit. You can create this setup through your employer or your bank and generate a set amount that will allow you to easily reach your future retirement savings goals.

Purchase a Rental Home

 
Saving for the future may mean you have to make some investments. right now in order to reap the benefits years from now.

One way to do this is with real estate. Purchasing a home that has good investment value can allow you to reap the appreciation of the home and property as the years go by. You can get a quick return by flipping properties and then putting the profits in an IRA or you can rent the property out. A profitable sale can lay the groundwork to flip more properties and build financial stamina. A rental is more of a slow-growing investment, as long as you have good tenants and the property value continues to increase. Either way, place all of your profits into an interest-bearing account that can be accessed in the future.

Stocks, bonds, real estate, and just plain saving money each month are all common ways to save for the future. Don’t wait. Start putting money away now. It’s never too late.

One of the first things you need to do is attend training and be informed about all of the facts regarding your employment.

One of the main components of a productive workplace environment is safety. Not only should there be safety measures in place, but you should also carry out safe work practices throughout the day. Here are just a few ways that you can remain safe and productive while also having the proper necessities on hand to carry out your job.

Properly Fitted Safety Gear

 
Aside of a clean and functional workstation, you should also have the right safety gear on before you enter the workplace. This means clothing that fits properly and securely. No bulky shirts, pants and jackets should be considered safe because they can catch on machinery or rip—causing bodily harm or extensive injury. Safety glasses are a must in the workplace. Your employer will likely provide you with the basic safety items to make your job safer. This includes safety glasses or goggles that will help protect your eyes from UV light or flying, loose material.

Keep in mind that most employers won’t pay for safety glasses that need a prescription, but they may offer a discount toward it. Find affordable online prescription safety glasses that you can wear at work.

Always think about your feet as well. While your employer is not responsible for buying you the right boots or shoes for the job, the company may offer significant discounts through special offers through specific manufacturers or retailers. Choose heavy-duty, yet comfortable steel-toed boots to help protect your feet and toes throughout the workday.

A Clean Work Space

 
One of the most important aspects of a good work environment is cleanliness. It starts with keeping your own work area as clean as possible. This means following protocols for cleaning up after work messes as they occur. From there, an overall cleaning up of your work area by dusting and eliminating dirt and grime buildup is extremely helpful. Not only will the area be cleaner, but it will be a more productive workspace as well.

A major factor in avoiding any type of disaster in the workplace is to keep it free of trash and free-flowing items. Containers, cylinders and scrap metal can easily get underneath presses or robots, or you can hit these items with a hi-lo or other piece of moving machinery. The result is an injury that is both unexpected and unnecessary. Always keep your workplace picked up and debris free at all times.

Proper Reporting

 
What do you do if there is something on the job that violates OSHA or company safety regulations? Do you just ignore it and go about your day? No, you should always report a problem or potential safety violation. Initially, you should speak with your manger or supervisor immediately.

From there, they will give you the right paperwork, such as an incident report to fill out and then file it into your personnel file. Part of the process is documentation of the incident and the information that you know in regards to it. All of this is helpful when the state examines company records and documents. In addition, you should also refer to your company handbook when it comes to handling spills and accidents on the job.

Understanding Safety Protocols

 
As an employee, if you’re faced with an unforeseen accident at work, the first thing you should do is get medical attention. This will help ensure that your on-the-job injury is documented properly and you’re getting proper care. Make sure to tell the doctor and medical staff that you were injured on the job, otherwise they might bill the wrong insurance company or you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket for care and rehabilitation. This is important because all of this information is then reported to your employer’s insurance company as well as workmen’s compensation.

All of these details need to be recorded and shared with an insurance claims specialist to ensure that you get properly reimbursed for your medical care and for any time off you’ll need to take in regards to the injury.

Making sure that your day flows quickly at work is important. A safe and productive environment starts with keeping your work area clean and following proper protocols throughout the day. The result is a thriving work environment for all employees.

Yet, the truth is this: Graduate-level degrees do increase your salary. Nearly across the board, grad school grads earn more than their peers who claim only bachelor’s degrees (and under). However, the difference between your current salary and your potential post–graduate degree salary depends on a number of factors, including your field, your employer — and, most surprisingly, your place of living.

Why Location Matters for Income

 
It shouldn’t be an astonishing fact that location affects income. Even within the same company, two employees in the same position might earn different wages due to their geographic area. When companies calculate salaries, they consider a heaping handful of factors, the most influential among them including:

• Local salary competition

• Local cost of living

• Local unemployment and employment data

• Inflation

These factors vary from state to state — sometimes from city to city — because they concern local resources, such as workers, homes, food, and other essentials that are typically produced and consumed in the area. The Balassa-Samuelson Effect explains why different geographic locations see differences in some prices but not others. All you need to know is this: You can earn a much higher salary working in some places — but you might pay more to live there, too.

Still, the salary hike and the cost of living increase aren’t always equitable. Plus, places that offer greater salaries might also offer greater opportunity to advance. It’s difficult to deny that higher salaries are beneficial, so gravitating toward regions with notoriously higher pay is wise.

10 Best States for Grad School Grads

 
If you spend your time earning an online MBA — which likely costs the same no matter where you live or work — you should be interested in getting the most buck for your degree. To that end, you should be primarily interested in securing employment in one of the following 10 states:

10) Alaska

As one of the least populated states, Alaska’s salaries aren’t high to begin with — but neither is its cost of living. Grad degree–holders earn median salaries of $73,871, which is about $19,221 higher than those with undergrad degrees.

9) North Dakota

Recently, North Dakota saw a massive employment boom as the oil fields drew millions of unemployed workers to available jobs. Grad degrees net a median salary of $62, 675 — 38.95 percent higher than a bachelor’s degree.

8) Michigan

Michigan boasts the third-lowest cost of living in the nation, which is notable considering its good treatment of graduate degrees: $69,099 in median salary, which is about $18,744 higher than undergraduate degrees.

7) Maryland

While it has the third-highest median pay for grad degrees, Maryland ranks low on this list for its relatively high cost of living. Grad degree–holders can earn $84,003, which is an astonishing $21,567 higher than undergrads.

6) New Jersey

Commanding some of the highest salaries in the nation, grad degree–holders in New Jersey do rather well: median pay of $85,789, which is $22,483 higher than bachelor’s degree–holders.

5) Idaho

The Gem state respects grad school degrees, offering them the second-highest pay raise in the country. At 44.03 percent higher than lower-level college grads, a median salary of $60,922 — and a low, low cost of living — is what grad degree-holders moving to Idaho can expect.

4) Washington, D.C.

By living in the nation’s capital, grad degrees can demand the second-highest dollar-for-dollar salary increase as well as the highest median salary of anywhere in the U.S.: $88,431, which is $23,945 higher than bachelor’s degree–holders.

3) Utah

By percentage, Utah offers the greatest increase to median salary thanks to a graduate degree. Grad degrees can take in $67,575, which is 44.85 percent higher than bachelor’s degrees.

2) Virginia

Near D.C. and Maryland, Virginia offers competitively high salaries to grad degrees. The median salary for an advanced degree is $81,401, which is $23,914 more than for a bachelor’s degree.

1) California

The cost of living is high in the Golden State, but they treat their grad degree–holders well. The median income for earning a graduate degree is $82,299, which is 41.88 percent higher than bachelor’s degrees net.

 
 
Do you have a grad degree? If so, what is it in and where did you get it? If not, are you considering getting one?
 
 

You don’t have to have an MBA or 50 years of industry experience to succeed as a small-business owner, but you do need a specific set of skills. This short guide should help you determine whether you have what you need to bring a small business to success.

Can You Be Decisive?

 
What is your favorite food? If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? What is the best way to flavor chicken? If you can’t answer these questions quickly and with certainty, you might have a problem with indecisiveness — and if that is the case, you might not be ready for entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs make hundreds (if not thousands) of decisions every day. They must decide who they will hire, how to price their product, what their brand colors will be, and which markets to enter, and why. By constantly second-guessing your decisions, you are delaying action and preventing your business from thriving. Decisive leadership is vital to small-business success.

How Do You Feel About Risk?

 
Business is inherently filled with risk; it is the entrepreneur’s job to mitigate risk as much as possible. However, it is impossible to avoid all risk, so you must be somewhat comfortable with taking chances to remain comfortable, confident, and successful.

Unfortunately, some people are more likely to take risks than others — which is to say: Men endure risks better than women do. Under stress, men are likely to increase their risk-taking, while women are likely to reduce their risks. The reasons behind this phenomenon are varied and poorly understood; it could be a biological difference in the brain or a gendered cultural upbringing. Regardless, you should be aware of your relationship to risk before you become an entrepreneur.

Do You Like People?

 
You might be the hardest-working, most brilliant person in the world, but if you can’t work well with people, you won’t be a good entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are almost always around people, be it their employees, their customers, or their investors.

You must always be willing and able to make decisions, answer questions, and sell your business. If you have an extreme case of introversion, you should consider a less people-focused line of work — or bring on a partner to do all the social heavy lifting.

How Much Energy Do You Have?

 
Entrepreneurs do not work 9-to-5 jobs; entrepreneurs do not work 40 hours a week. When your business is young, you will be working constantly to keep it alive and growing, which means you will be getting up early, staying late, and coming in on weekends.

As you might expect, this requires boundless energy — of both the physical and the emotional varieties. You need your body to be strong enough to stay alert and focused while you are making important business decisions, but you also need to remain emotionally invested and committed to your work. If you often suffer from lack of energy, entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you.

What Are Your Hard Skills?

 
Soft skills are those you can’t easily learn in formal education; they are difficult-to-define personal attributes that make you better at completing certain tasks. Conversely, hard skills are specific abilities you typically only gain from intensive instruction: accounting, foreign language, computing, law, design, etc.

Ideally, you should have hard skills that pertain to both business and the industry of your intended small business. These days, you can find resources online for some business-related hard skills, like finance. However, if you lack any experience or education in business management or your business’s industry, you should probably return to school for targeted education in certain fields.

Do You Have Follow-Through?

 
In most cases, a business isn’t a short-term experiment. Unless you are hoping to sell your startup to the highest bidder as soon as possible, you should be planning in terms of decades as well as months. When properly managed, a small business can last a lifetime, providing you with a satisfying career and a sufficient income.

However, for your business to survive into the future, you need to be able to commit yourself to the business and see projects to completion. If you are the type of person who becomes overwhelmingly infatuated with ideas for short periods of time before abandoning them for the next big thing, entrepreneurship is not for you.

 
 
Are you considering entrepreneurship? What industry or industries are you considering starting a business in?