Today, I am honored to share the book in its entirety, free for you to download. No e-mail address required, just download and enjoy.

Or you can view it in your browser and never download it. Up to you.

Launchpad: Your Career Search Strategy Guide (Volume 1)

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0) Before you get started, you need to think about what you want to do and be known for. What would be a great “end” for your brand? What “brand” do you want to sell? This is your VISION for your future.

1) Buy your name.com and set up your website/blog there. This will be your new “home” and you will want to move everything in your life there. If you have a brand name, and your brand name is not already taken, then grab that too. Go to http://GoDaddy.com to register your name, and go to http://asmallorange.com for $25 per year hosting.

$55 for a year is a sound investment that will pay dividends down the road. Point them both to the same spot for now. You can export your existing content from your current WordPress.com blog to your new one.

The only pages you’ll need to set up to get started on your blog are: Blog (these are where you’ll write articles and will be the thing that updates), About (your bio/resume), Services (things you can offer others, with testimonials if you have them handy) and a Contact page (put your e-mail, a phone number (nobody calls, but if you’re worried about only listing your home number, then sign up at http://google.com/voice and forward that to your phone number and post that number). Read my article on how to set up your blog for under $75 for basic instructions.

Set up an e-mail account that is your first name at your domain .com and forward it to your Gmail account. Then add that e-mail address to send as from your Gmail account.

2) Figure out your top 5 topics/themes/services that you have expertise in and passion about. Make sure you can write about them and comment on other blogs who write on these topics. Try to think like a search engine. Make them keyword rich words. Work on writing an article a day, 1 per topic/theme/service and what your opinions are on your new home. Read my article on how to become an expert and my article on how to write a blog article for tips/tricks.

3) Use http://hootsuite.com for your Twitter account, and set up a search column for each of these keywords. You may want to include a column for your location too for folks who mention your city or a few cities nearby.

4) Set up alerts on http://google.com/alerts for your keywords, your name and your location. Subscribe to these via RSS at http://google.com/reader and monitor these words/terms. Click in and glance over these articles daily. Read why I love Google Reader.

5) Subscribe to 10-20 blogs in your niche via RSS at http://google.com/reader Start following other people who use Google Reader in your niche. Star, share and add notes to the best of what you find. If you want to add me, go to http://philgerb.com and add that as an RSS feed.

6) Go to http://linkedin.com and upload your resume and fill out your profile to get to 100%. Get a custom URL and other things to fill out your profile. Read my best LinkedIn tips. Add me as a contact if you like at http://www.linkedin.com/in/philgerb (just make sure you tell me how you know me).

7) Get testimonials from folks you’ve worked with on your LinkedIn profile. Then copy and paste them to your website, and add a link to your LinkedIn profile and your Twitter account to your website.

Set up a monthly newsletter at http://mailchimp.com (they have a free option) and add this to your website (you can do this by adding a text widget to your WordPress blog and adding the HTML code MailChimp creates).

9) Create your 90 second commercial. Start with “This is your name” and work from there. Use your key words, create a video, and share this with everyone you know. This is your “elevator pitch” and will refine itself as years go by. Write it out, practice it, make it your short bio on your website, and keep going.

10) Add yourself to every Twitter directory you can find, focusing on your key words. http://twellow.com and http://mrtweet.com are two of my favorites.

11) Follow as many people as you can in your niche and/or that use your key words. Engage them in real conversation. Ask questions and connect!

12) Write a traditional press release and try every possible way you can think of to launch your new “company” without being spammy. Write up the case study of your findings. Make sure you have enough articles up to show that you are for real. Include lessons learned, step by step instructions, etc. so others can learn from you. Telling people how weeds out those people who just want free help and those who say “Wow, this is too much work. I need to hire someone.”

13) Find some local companies and companies in your niche to spotlight on your site. Write about their efforts in your area, and how you would improve them, using what you’ve learned from your own company. Do case studies, and show that you know what you’re talking about.

14) Tweet on topic for at least 30 minutes a day. Check out my presentation on my 30 minute Twitter solution and the 30 minute Twitter solution instructions. Substitute Hootsuite instead of TweetDeck if you wish.

If you’re looking to brand yourself and get a great job, check out my article on how to use Twitter for the job search.

15) Dive into your LinkedIn network and build it as much as you can to find people in the companies and locations you need. Have a cup of coffee with them, and recognize that nearly 80% of jobs are now filled by employee referrals. The more specific you can get when talking to folks on the inside, the more they can help you.

16) Keep writing, keep tweeting, keep connecting and you will get what you want.

Get started TODAY! You don’t have to do everything I said. Dip in and try something today. Get building your brand today before you need to. The sooner you do so, the better off you’ll be, and the less work you’ll need to do down the road.

What am I missing?

What tips would you add for branding yourself?

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Many people have a plain vanilla greeting, and often you’re not even sure if you reached a human being or just a machine. “Hi, you’ve reached 555-1212. Leave a message.”

BARF!

Who am I calling, and why should I care enough to leave a message with you?

“Hi, this is Phil. Leave a message. I’ll call you back. Thanks.”

That’s a little bit better. At least I know I called Phil. Does he check his voicemail often? What if this is an emergency? Is there another way to reach Phil?

“Hi, you’ve reached Phil Gerbyshak. I’m not available to take your call right now, however your call is very important to me. If this call is between 7:30 am and 5:30 pm, please feel free to give me a call at work at 414-555-1212. Otherwise, leave your name, number, a brief message, and your favorite 80s rock band after the tone, and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Thanks for calling. Make it a great day!” Hey, now that’s pretty good. There’s another number to reach me at, I let the caller know they’re important to me, I injected some humor into the situation (favorite 80s rock band, favorite 80s baseball/football/basketball player, you use what works for you), and I closed with energy: “Make it a great day!”

Most people do leave me a message, most laughing by my request for favorite 80s something or other, and then tell me what they need. Then I call them back as soon as I can with the same energy as I have on my voicemail greeting. After all, who wants to talk to someone plain vanilla boring?

Not me!

Energy is another key to your voicemail greeting, so practice having energy.

Reachability – Put some alternative methods of reaching you, and you’ll ensure people leave you a message with the information you need to make it a great day!

Variety matters. Change your voice mail greeting at least once a month. 12 times a year to change your greeting. That’s not so hard, is it?

Include your uniqueness. How many other people can you name who have the same greeting as you? If the answer is more than 1, you’re not being unique enough. Think about this as your signature phrase, where people think of you when they hear it. My friends leave me messages that tell me to make it a great day because I’ve added that as my signature to my voicemail greetings.

What does YOUR voicemail greeting say about you?

I’d love for your feedback on my greeting. Call me anytime at 414.640.7445. If you’re a little more shy, leave your favorite greeting in the comments below.

And don’t worry…My greeting isn’t what’s listed above anymore. I’ve already changed it!

Guy Talk photo credit to CarbonNYC

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Two Quotes:

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." – Warren Buffet

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and five seconds of stupid behavior to ruin it. Remember: Google is (and diamonds are) forever."  – Phil Gerbyshak

Points to Ponder:

Google is FOREVER!

I teach this in every social media talk I give.

If you put it on your MySpace page, someone will find it.

If you put it on your Facebook profile, someone will find it.

If you put it on Flickr, someone will find it.

If you put it on your blog, someone will find it.

And though that’s a big risk, that’s NOT the biggest risk.

If you do something mean to someone, and they write about it, it’s on the Internet FOREVER!

Google is (and diamonds are) FOREVER!

Are you acting like it?

Diamond (pink) courtesy of clagnut

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His day job is delivering wine seminars. Some would say Gary V is the best at wine there is. I don’t watch him for that, though I’m sure he’s great at it.

I know of Gary because he’s the best video blogger in the world. He’s passionate, he’s powerful, and he’s totally uncensored. It’s entertaining, and energizing, and it always makes me smile.

A recent video from Gary is one that I HAD to share with you. It’s called Execute on Being YOU and it’s super powerful and VERY inspiring! It’s a reminder to you and me to be who we are, and not worry so much about what other folks have to say about you.

Don’t ignore what they say…just don’t let all the nay sayers define you.

You are who YOU ARE! Don’t let ANYONE tell you differently.

Go watch Execute on Being YOU and tell me if you don’t feel differently about who you are! Go ahead. I’ll wait

That’s the essence of Make It Great!

It’s YOU defining YOUR success!

It’s YOU being the amazing, powerful, gifted, GREAT YOU!

Execute on Being YOU! Execute on Being YOU! Go ahead…Execute on Being YOU!

Photo of Gary V and Chris Brogan, courtesy of b_d_solis

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I don’t like to too my own horn. I’m way better at tooting other people’s horns and helping them brand themselves. 

I said it, I feel better.

So recently, my friend Naomi from Itty Biz (and one of Naomi’s friends named Havi Brooks) sends me this note about signing up for this course she’s doing, called Self Promotion for Wimps. It’s all about how to self-promote yourself without self-promoting yourself. 

And me, being the non-self-promotion guy that I am, ignored her email. So I’ve already missed one of her classes, and I’m a week behind in self-promotion for wimps.

But never fear: Naomi is smart. She’s recording the calls, so folks like you and I, who are REALLY not good at self-promotion, but probably really good at doing whatever it is we do, can listen on our own. 

There are 5 more live calls, and they are all recorded too. We just missed the intro call called “Help! I feel like a sham!”

Here’s what they’ll be discussing. 

*  September 17th @ 4:00 – 5:15 pm EST. (Help! what if I fail?!?!)

*  September 24th @ 4:00 – 5:15 pm EST. (Help! What if I succeed?!?!) 

*  October 1st @ 4:00 – 5:15 pm EST. (Help! Monies: I have issues here!)

*  October 8th @ 4:00 – 5:15 pm EST. (Help! I need a little help from my friends!) 

*  October 15th @ 4:00 – 5:15 pm EST. (Help! I’m still freaking the hell out over here!)

I’m definitely signing up to get the recordings. And I am encouraging you to sign up too, so you can be a better self-promoter.   

I know I could sure use the help. 

One bit of warning: Naomi is a straight talker, and I’d bet Havi is too. If you don’t want something in your face helpful, then don’t sign up for self-promotion for wimps.

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Being the nice guy that he is, Dave also invited someone whose blog I had read but who I didn’t know that well, some guy named Ron McDaniel, CEO of Buzzoodle, and author of the Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing blog. Ron and I emailed each other a few times, and I asked Ron if he’d be willing to share a room with me in DC to save us both a few bucks, and being the frugal guy he is, Ron agreed, and so began what has become an amazing friendship. Ron is one of the nicest guys I know (sorry to blow your cover) and is amazingly helpful to everyone he touches.

His book Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing: 57 Word of Mouth Marketing Challenges for the Entire Workforce is an outstanding starting point for anyone looking to build their brand by word of mouth, and offers helpful tips you can do in just a few minutes.

While Ron started out doing CRM software with a company called Outstanda, I think he’s really hit his groove with his latest endeavor: a Virtual Buzz Assistant community, built to help small and medium sized businesses create more buzz and thus make more money for their company. If you’re too busy to generate your own word of mouth, I encourage you to hire a buzz assistant to help you out.

Ron McDaniel is one of the most genuinely helpful people I know. While no doubt he will make millions of dollars off of the Virtual Buzz Assistant community he is building, he will also help millions of people. Even if you don’t need to build buzz for your company or yourself…who am I kidding! EVERYONE needs to build buzz for their company or themselves, or soon you will be extinct. What I meant to say was, if you don’t have time to build your own buzz, get yourself a Virtual Buzz Assistant and get some help today!

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This is Mike Sansone’s Wordle cloud. I’m working on mine, and will share it very soon.

A few things I’m going to do with this cool tool:

• Insert it into a presentation to make a point at the beginning to show folks what you’ll be sharing
• Insert it at the end of your presentation to show people what you already told them
• Tell someone about your personal brand and what you stand for
• See what the most popular words are in your article so you know what key words you might want to tag the article with

What else could you do with Wordle?

If you do a Wordle with your blog, please leave a link below so we can all take a look at it.

Flickr photo credit from Mike Sansone

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What will we be discussing? Meatballs and Sundaes, of course. And a whole lot about marketing, story telling, and how to avoid creating a meatball sundae.

I’ve read all of Seth’s books, and enjoyed them all. I reviewed his book All Marketers are Liars, and strongly recommend his books if you’re looking to be more remarkable. If you want to be average, stay away from Seth!

Bookmark Make It Great! today, and come back every day, or at least come back the morning of January 15th so you can listen and learn from the master marketer, Seth Godin.

Or if you prefer, go pick up a Seth Godin action figure, yours for only $9.

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Leading us off this week’s 5 for Friday is Craig Harper, who shares 25 Rules for Life. It’s well worth a read and the rules are definitely worth following.

“We’ve all got rules that we live by. Consciously or not. Some of them empower us and propel us towards happiness, significance and fulfilment, and others paralyse us and restrict us to a reality that we don’t really want or enjoy. I always get asked about my beliefs, standards and values; the ‘life rules’ which I do my best to live by. I say “do my best”, because I fail to live up to them on a semi-regular basis. Like you, I’m a work in progress.”

Ron “Buzzoodle” McDaniel encourages us to Explore Personal Brands

“Consider this a tour of personal brands – and if you want to post this article on your blog and add some other examples, you have my permission. The only thing I ask is not to add someone JUST because they have their picture on a blog. They have to really be working on branding themselves.”

NOTE: Ron included my brand among the tour. Thanks!

Andy Sernovitz reminds us about Authenticity in Blogs, and I would argue that you can replace Blogging with Life in his quote.

No teaser, just check out Authenticity in Blogs.

Becky Carroll and Customers Rock! is giving away a free ebook; Customers Rock Tips

“Topics include:

* Taking care of existing customers
* Customer or client?
* Tips for listening to customers
* Stories and the personal touch
* Measuring customer relationships”

David B. Bohl takes us home with Moving Outside Your Comfort Zone

“Moving outside of your comfort zone is, by definition, uncomfortable. But it’s also the only way to grow. You’re not going to get stronger in, for instance, developing new relationships if you only spend time with people you’re already close to.

Yes, it’s hard to get out of your comfort zone, but I have three steps for moving out of our comfort zones and growing.”

NOTE: I recently found out David is from Milwaukee, so look for some collaboration on our front soon!

What are YOU reading this week? Share your favorites in the comments so we can all enjoy a GREAT weekend!

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