thebuzz101: Brand Moments

Had to share the latest from “El Hombre Con La Placa Del Nombre.”

I know, it’s Scott - the guy with the name tag but doesn’t the first statement sound TONS better?

Here’s the start and then click on the link to head to his blog and read the rest -

Brands are expectations. Which means it’s your job to prove customers right. (or your connections - it’s not all about “selling” a product or service). You sell yourself everyday. Think for moment about Robert Kiyosaki, BEST SELLING author, of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. He’s not JUST great author - he’s a BEST SELLING author. Nothing happens until a sale is made, even if what you’re selling is YOU.  (see I told you it wasn’t just about groceries!)

To confirm their suspicions about the value you deliver and the value(s) you stand for.
It ALSO means you need to be (somewhat) predicable:

1. In person.
2. Via email.
3. On the phone
4. Throughout all your efforts.

Here’s a list of three ways to maintain brand consistency:

1. RECORD Brand Moments. Keep a log of your branding “moments of truth.”

Click here for the rest!

People Are The Brand -

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career & Image Management

Buzz2Bucks: Inclusion and Community

Many business models focus on marketing their products and services to targeted cultural or ethnic groups. Maria Elena Duron shows us that sometimes to connect to the myriad of communities, one must…CREATE COMMUNITY.

People Are The Brand -

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections:  Personal Brand Coaching For Leadership, Career & Image Management 

Memorial Day Gratitude

It’s Memorial Day, here, stateside. And, while some of my readers are in the United Kingdom, others in Canada and many others in the Far East, I’m compelled to share my gratitude on this day for those who laid the most precious sacrifice on the altar of freedom (last statement taken from “Saving Private Ryan”).

Those of you who know me, know that I’m an Air Force Brat. I spent my youth growing up in military bases, overseas and stateside (stateside is a VERY military description of being on the continental United States). My father made great sacrifices for our country in moving his family around, in serving in Desert Storm and in being a great leader. Now, he’s retired and a “full bird” Colonel and as his daughter, I couldn’t be prouder and more grateful.

Of all the challenges he met as a military man, I believe the greatest was the challenge in uprooting his family. It’s difficult to communicate to “civilians” the great sacrifices a military family makes. When you enlist, your entire family enlists. I do believe the film “Brats Our Journey Home” is the only depiction that comes close to explaining.

Everyday, we military brats said the pledge of allegiance. Every day we listened to the trumpet sound as the flag was raised and stood in respect as the Star Spangled Banner played across the base right before the flag was lowered. I mean EVERYONE stood in respect. Every music was silenced; everyone in the cross walk stood still and at attention (whether you were an enlisted person, a family member or a civilian on base); every transaction was stopped; no one new entered or left the base as guards stood at attention; in fact, every vehicle stopped - no one continued to deliver anything, no one DROVE, every vehicle came to a DEAD HALT;  no one bought a hot dog, hamburger or soda, everyone stood still in respect; even children on the playground stopped swinging and showed respect.

It’s a strange America, here, stateside when I see people “chatting it up” and “feeding their faces” during the Star Spangled Banner. Or, those who don’t even respect enough to remove their hats (even rodeo fans know to do that!). Or, those who continue to change diapers, scold their children, talk on their cell phone or walk around for a place to sit at the ballpark when their national anthem is played.

Fortunately, many have served to ensure that we, stateside and Americans abroad, can enjoy these rights.

And for those who don’t even feel a “tinge of gratitude” or who think “the U.S. is one of the worst places to live” or those who “complain” yet do or say nothing, try living overseas in a third world country. I remember brown outs, martial law, curfews, buying water at the “water station”, the 6 a.m dog truck coming to harvest dogs from people’s front yards for food, and M16’s when I played a soccer tournament.

People Are The Brand - and every service man and woman who represents us and brands our nation. You cannot imagine the things we take for granted that are “privileges” in other countries. You cannot imagine what it’s like to live amongst other nations and be hated for being American.

In honor of those whose back built the brand called “America”, I salute you!!

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career and Image Management

Event Review: The Amazing Face Reader

This weekend there was much to do in the Basin and one of those activities was a training at the CEED Building with the Amazing Face Reader hosted by the Permian Basin Association of Personnel Consultants.

The event was absolutely fantastic! It was great training (I had met and trained with Mac before and every time he’s better and more helpful), it was well orchestrated, it was well attended and it was fun, too!

Kudos and a landslide of buzz points to Misty Stewart, District Manager, SOS Staffing for coordinating the event!  Very, very well done.

Here’s what went right:

1.  The Speaker Was Well Cared For.

She took excellent care of the speaker - starting with picking him up at the airport and having him already checked into his room along with gifts and goodies from West Texas.  She gave him time to freshen up and then treated him to dinner with her family.  She treated him like a guest instead of a “hired hand”.  Kudos to Misty for recognizing that his energy and gratitude that he would bring to the front of the room would be critical for the event.  And, for genuinely, being a wonderful ambassador to West Texas.

2.  Attendees Were Showered With Gratitude and Gifts

Door prizes, drinks, snacks and fun activities made sure that all the participant’s not only feel welcomed but that they were truly delighted at our participation.  When was the last time you invited someone to an event and they were - delighted?

Timing is everything - and the event was timed down to the last minute.  It ran fast, ran well, no lags, no hitches, no problem - and of course there wasn’t - everything was planned and well executed.

3.  Sponsors Were Appreciated

Lavished with “commercials” throughout the event that were provide as FACTOIDS which made it delightful for the audience to listen to, sponsors received the care and exposure and the appreciation that keeps them successful.

4.  Team Effort

Everyone on the team played a role and you could see them fulfilling their “job description” with purpose and focus.  From bringing the fish bowl, to serving up the donuts, to the curling ribbon on the door prizes, everyone pitched in - without anyone from the audience every hearing “what do I do next?”

What went wrong?

Absolutely nothing.  A 5-star event.  You rock!

People Are The Brand -

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching & Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career and Image Management 

New Audio: Mind Your Own Business

A new audio was posted on the website recapping this morning’s Coaching Tip.  To listen to the audio - click here!

People Are The Brand!

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections:  Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career & Image Management 

thebuzz101: To or At

People in higher level relationships talk TO each other rather than AT each other.

Here’s some checkpoints or benchmarks to see you YOU talk to or at others:

1. Do you know how other people see you and do you care how they see you?

2. Is there a point of view about you that others have that you disagree with or ignore?

3. Am I sure how others see me? What evidence do I have?

4. What do I think people say about me when I’m not around?

5. Ask 3 people and then BE QUIET and hear their answer.

People Are The Brand -

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career and Image Management

Buzz2Bucks: Brand Woes

“People Are The Brand”

It’s my tagline and it’s also a TRUTH. It doesn’t matter what’ s crafted behind the corporate doors or at the “retreat” - it’s the people that are the brand. It’s true for the person that’s belly to belly with your customer, the person in the checkstand, or the teller at the bank or the person delivering the products.

Here in my hometown we’re all “a buzz” about the poor brand of our City Council. And, the responsibility lies not in the “system” or “administration” it falls squarely on the shoulders of the people - the council members - that “represent us” (well, kind of sort of - I use represent “us - the community, the taxpayers” lightly because I believe they don’t).

People Are The Brand - and under the COVER of personnel issues people hope to salvage their brands yet, the community is a little smarter than your average bear! The “secret squirrel mentality” (if I tell you I’ve got to kill you) just doesn’t work anymore. People are too smart - the GenXers and Millennials are often “dissed” for not participating and not caring - but that’s just not true. If you read “Common Census” or spend anytime reading anything written by an economist on the subject, you’ll realize that the numbers show that they are just as active and informed - there’s not just as many of them. And, they express themselves differently - hence, you see post after post, blog comments and text messages all reporting the “temperature” of Council’s brand. It’s always been about “conversations” (and not the backslapping congratulatory conversations about being “masters of the universe” amongst the council) with the key being “the conversations amongst the community about the council”. GenXers and Millinnials just CONVERSE differently through different means and you may just not be IN on the conversation.

While most of the time, I’m proud to be a Midlander today our community brand takes a hit from some bad personal brands that “represent” (used loosely) us. I would though, like to take a moment to thank Mayor Mike Canon and Scott Dufford for their professionalism - again, all brands are personal.

As a taxpayer, paying for a “headhunter” on funds that were not originally budgeted for that (anyway you slice it) is not an expense to be taken “lightly”. Remember, it’s not what you FEED the community that gets them all a buzz and it’s not your positioning. You have a position that your clients, the community, are already talking about - your job is to tap into that conversation so you’ll be engaged with your community. Engagement with the community is more than titling a lead of a committee or going up to pick up your t-shirt or passes for services rendered.

Remember, a brand is personal and people ARE the brand!

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career and Image Management.

Mastermind Moment: No Giver - No Receiver

“The only thing that really counts in life is your connection with people. Where there’s no giver or no receiver just great connectors.” - Mac-ism

Are you in the present moment?

Or, are you multi-tasking, thinking about what you “should of done”, or stressing over what’s to come. Bring your whole self to a conversation and watch the results!

Are you unguarded?

When our defensive walls are up it’s too hard to make a connection - there’s lot of barrier to drill through.

Are you authentic?

To give yourself the best opportunity to be authentic - give someone your complete undivided attention.

Priceless.

What a way to start a Monday - finding out really WHO someone is instead of what LABEL they carry!

People Are The Brand -

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career and Image Management.

Event Review: Cancer Society Roundup

The American Cancer Society in Midland, Texas can claim another successful year under their belt! It was a huge crowd, great cause and wonderful venue (the Horseshoe Arena).

The cause, because cancer does touch so very many lives, brings everyone out. They come to make a difference and make connections. As always, Steve Taylor with Kruse Auctioneers, does an amazing job, rallying the crowd, creating excitement and of course, getting the most and highest bids! Sometimes, to me, Steve - himself, is the draw!

Of course, local celebrities like Mike and Dana made the show time fun - they always do! And, tons of people filled the arena so there were many to connect with and lots of fun “people watching” to partake in.

The performer, Darryl Worley, was also amazing! He put on a great show and got the crowd applauding and dancing, waving their hats and lighters to “I just came back from war” and had every person on their feet for “Have You Forgotten?” It was a patriotic and inspiring show.

What went right?

1. The Volunteers

They were everywhere and so supportive! What a great team assembled to do this event. You can really see the “far reaches” of cancer and the care and concern for everyone that worked to bring about this event.

So, what I’m about to say doesn’t reflect on the overall volunteer. It reflects on the planning and structure of the event. I wish I could say more “good things” about the event — you know I always search and want to emphasize the positive.

Yet, here’s what went wrong:

1. The Silent Auction

All I heard from the tables was the “negative feedback” about running the auctions like EBAY and having a “buy it now” option. This meant lots of items left the “auction table” before anyone could enjoy them! (literally, people who used the “buy it now” option and paid for their items could take their goods and run)

I really wonder what this meant for the event. Did they get all the money they could of if they went for the actual auction? I’ve seen the Crystal Ball raise more than “double the value” on exciting silent auction items.

Did the vendors and people who donated the items get the publicity they hoped to from it? Yes, there are many who donate from the “feel good” part of their lives. However, there are also many who donate for “exposure” and recognition. While the pictures of the silent auction items were projected on a PowerPoint that ran through the evening, the NAMES of the businesses and donors was not included with or next to the items (on the PowerPoint that is). On the table, they were there but if someone “bought it now” than all of that disappeared.

It was very disappointing to many at the tables and to anyone who arrived after the items were snatched up by someone - the auction tables looked rather bare.

2. The Schedule

For a second year in a row, this event DRAWS things out too long with huge gaps in the schedule. It takes too long before dessert is served, it takes WAY TOO LONG before the auction starts, it takes even longer between when the auction ends and the performer starts and it takes “what feels like decades” before the dance band can start.

Yes, I know there was a technical malfunction at one point yet that didn’t determine the show schedule. It was printed in the PROGRAM and it ran fairly true to schedule - except that the event ended 20 minutes before it was supposed to (like last year!)

I don’t care how great the performer or the cause is, when your program drags on, and on, and on, people will leave when they get tired. So, here we saw the masses of people departing during Darryl Worley’s great performance. And, it wasn’t because it was not great - it was because the timing on the event is terrible! This event really needs to overhaul and tighten up the time schedule. They can still have all the great things they do as long as they don’t have these long, drawn out, unproductive and detrimental lags in the program.

Those are two major problems that need to be overcome.

1. Take care of the people who support you and make sure they are getting what they want out of the event (not what YOU THINK they want - what they want - which means communicating with them!) If they wanted exposure from the auction tables, many people “lost” that opportunity.
2. Timing. It really is everything!

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections: Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career and Image Management

New Audio: Managing The Generations

A new audio that wraps up the GENERATIONAL DIVIDE conversation has been posted.  Click here for the complete FREE set access!

You are gifted -

Coach Maria Elena Duron AKA The Champion of Connections

Buzz To Bucks Coaching and Connections:  Personal Brand Coaching for Leadership, Career & Image Management