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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of image group international, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image and reputation.

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Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of my podcast. Today, we'll be discussing an important topic close to my heart. And that is, obviously your personal branding matters more than ever today. And why is that? Well, because of all the challenges happening in our community, and of course, around the world. As you're probably aware, we're living in challenging times. And as I've noted previously, we're in what we would call is a world Paulie, crisis, war, trade embargoes, banking crisis, et cetera, et cetera. And the job market, of course, is also uncertain, a lot of job losses, the job losses are only going to increase. And of course, competition is fierce. And business generally is hot and cold, depending on the industry. So it's more important than ever to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd. And what I mean by that, well, as we've discussed numerous times previously, your personal brand, which includes your unique skills, your experiences, your personality, can be the key to today's success in a very, very interconnected world. And what that means is to maximise on the success, and to get to that success, it's about maximizing, of course, your personal brand value, you know, and what that means is you're going to need to action it, and invest in it. So you can position yourself as an authentic authority in your field. So what we say is everyone has a personal brand, very few people have personal brand in personal branding is the activation part of branding. That's why it's essential, otherwise, nothing happens. If you're under branding, it becomes a passive outlet that really is very slow, and just far too slow. In today's digital world, now, look, it's a no brainer. If you want to build a strong network of professional contacts, that includes shareholders that, you know, potential shareholders in the future, investors, media, et cetera, you have to showcase your unique value proposition, as without it, you'll get lost with the competition. So what that means is, if you don't put yourself out there and bring out those differentiations, what you're doing is, is really a commodity, you know, you're not building some sort of uniqueness out there. And of course, today in the world that we live in, you better show some uniqueness. And I've spoken about this before with AI coming in, and so on block, you know, I don't know who you are listening to my podcast, but obviously, you have an interest in yourself to be listening. And of course, you also have an idea that you need to differentiate yourself, you need to express yourself, you need to put yourself out there in some way, even if you're a little bit frightened to do that. What I'm suggesting strongly here is if you don't learn how to do that, effectively, potentially, you might not have a career, let alone a job in the future. And I can give you many, many examples of that of people that come in contact with us that of course, and are in that position right now, because they haven't been proactive in building themselves and of course, their career growth along the way. And before you know it, you've got an emergency and everything becomes too hard. The fact is today's world, if everyone looks sighs and acts the same, then that's the perfect opportunity to be different to stand out. But differentiating yourself and self expressing see, if you're worried about getting canceled because of your self expression. There's nothing worse than self cancelling. So you don't want to do that because it's gonna kill your spirit and you don't want to be living with a dead spirit. So what I mean by that is, you know, we'll share with you some tips today, five specifically to authentically differentiate yourself and self Express. And the first the most crucial, of course, is to know yourself. Now we talk about this constantly. And the reason for that is because if you don't know yourself how you're going to know anybody else, so it's taking the time to discover who you truly are and what makes you unique. 

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You can do that as an exercise. Even simply that you know that question Who am I Are you what makes you unique? What's distinctly different to you than your next door neighbor. This will help you express yourself authentically. And of course, then there from the crowd, it's essential to identify along the way your strengths and weaknesses, values, and of course beliefs. Now, the strengths and weaknesses is important as well, because whatever strengths you are, you want to apply to them. And of course, the weaknesses. If you choose, you can work on them to get better, or drop them totally. And just really go for your strengths. It just depends, you know where you're at, and what you're looking for to achieve. So knowing yourself will help you in creating a personal brand. That is, of course authentic and true to who you are. Remember, your values drive your behaviors, and your behaviors, of course, result into your results. Okay, so your particular behaviors, and that's what I mentioned about behavior before action, action will get you some results as opposed to being passive, you can be virtually guaranteed, you'll have no results. So action is the key here. It's essential to start here first, though, as without this clarity of understanding yourself, the foundations, if you don't understand the foundations, of course, potentially they are shaky, they can be shaky, and certainly incongruent. And you don't want to be incongruent, because in congruence will create, you know, a stating you have what we call as a cognitive dissonance. And of course, cognitive dissonance over long, a short, medium, long time can create all sorts of problems for you. The second way to differentiate yourself is by developing your unique personal style that truly represents you. Now, whether it's your wardrobe, the hair style, makeup, et cetera, creating a unique look is an excellent way to differentiate yourself from others. And by the way, it's your birthright to do that you don't have to look like everybody else. Be willing to experiment with different styles and trends, of course, that are congruent with you, as opposed to doing anything crazy that is incongruent with you. And always remember to stay true to yourself, not become a fashion victim, and do what the fashion trends are dictating, because the danger of that, of course, is you're doing something that everyone else is doing. There's nothing, you know, unique about that. And before, you know, you start to look like a cardboard cutout. So it's important that you maybe get some advice on that go shopping, you know, try out some different ideas with friends, etc, or get professional help. One thing is though, when an industry is pushing something, that's generally to sell something, right, so you want to make sure it's unique to you from a coloring point of view, if you're talking about close hairstyle, from a shape point of view, again, back to wardrobe. And of course, from a thick point of view in the fit is very important. The third way to differentiate yourself is by showcasing your skills. Now, this is where you get to highlight your talents. And skills are in demand and will make you stand out from the crowd. Of course, typical right now, skills that might be in demand will be, you know, digital, anything online. Technology, people are looking for skills like that. But of course, it's not about just putting those skills onto your resume or CV and so on, you've got to also understand them. And of course, become a master at them if you want to get a high value return for them over time. 

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So whether it's your expertise in a particular field, or your ability to connect with people, you know, and that's also a big skill, connecting with people building rapport, building relationships, opening doors, virtually that, you know, as a connector, these are all important skills, make sure you highlight them. And of course, make sure that you know, the uniqueness of them and the value that you bring to a particular situation. What this all means is it's a demonstration of your thought leadership. You know, not motherhood statements, but true thought leadership and deeper, a deeper understanding of something as opposed to something superficial. And what I would call is very, very light. The fourth way to differentiate yourself, of course, is by connecting with others that I sort of alluded to just before now, you might be thinking but John, you know, I'm an introvert. And unlike networking, well, what I say to you is this, in my experience, the greatest results in all my work over the last 3040 odd years have been produced by introverts. Why? Because introverts by nature, are shy and don't feel you know that it's necessary to do that. But once they discover, you know, the opportunity that comes with speaking out expressing themselves, building relationships, they never go back, you know, and it's a common feedback to me is John, I wish I've done this a long time ago, because all of us deep down wants to connect with people. You're unbelievably look what's happened the last three years with COVID. And people all over the world not connecting and living in isolation. Of course, a lot of them are sick, a lot of them are depressed, et cetera, et cetera, because human beings by nature wants to connect with people. And of course, if you look at connection, per se, it creates oxytocin in the system. Oxytocin is the love drug. And of course, if you're not connecting with people shaking hands, if you're not, you know, hugging people, if you're not occasionally kissing people, yes, all this stuff that's not politically correct to talk about right now. Yes, that's actually what gives you the oxytocin, the love drug that makes you feel comfortable around people, and, specifically, you know, a care element that, of course, happens when you don't engage in any of that. And this also includes, of course, the men listening to this podcast, because all of these aspects are part of human connection. And in my opinion, essentials, you can't fail by establishing relationships with others. Now, having said that, of course, you can fall, right, but the failure is part of the success. So establishing relationships with others, especially those with similar interests is a great way to express yourself and gain valuable insights, you know, attend purpose identified networking events, and I mean, purpose and densify. Because don't just go to any event, for the sake of ticking off a box, go there. With any intention, you know, that you're potentially there'll be two or three people in this particular space that you'd like to connect, and, of course, build the relationship, participate again, in purpose, identify online communities, you know, don't waste your time, there's enough of that happening already. Engage with people who share your loves and interest. You know, over time, I promise you, you'll gain much insights, and they will help you create a personal brand that is authentic, and relatable. Certainly, we've been doing that a long time. The clients that we work with, it's certainly something we recommend. And there's never been a time where they haven't come back and said, I love it from the perspective of the opportunities that exist, I can give you just, you know, four clients stories this week, that have certainly come back with that feedback, you know, but to get that sort of result, you got to put yourself out there because if you don't put yourself out there, it's not going to happen, I promise you. And finally, the fifth way to differentiate yourself is by embracing your passions, you know, being proud of what your passions are, find ways to pursue passions that also include the loves outside your career and business and definitely be proud of it. Now, it could be something like art, example painting, you know, sculpting, writing, or playing music, your passions can help you not only stand out, and be your unique aspects to your personality, or, but also inspire you to a bigger and better future. And I love your passions by the wife, you go into the depth of it could also be things that you love, as a child, because normally what we love as children at times has been taken away from us from the perspective of conditioning and society and things like you know, could have been parents, the school system, whatever, you know, telling you that it's not worth doing that because of course, it's not going to be a well paying job, ie art, or music or gate, when really, it was something in your spirit. 

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And you got rid of that for whatever reason. And times now, you might want to consider bringing it back and bringing you back to being a whole individual that you truly are. So embracing your passions will also help you create a personal brand, of course that is authentic, and meaningful. And I think being meaningful and purposeful is essential today, because basically, our clients, obviously a career driven, they certainly are not John thinking they are in careers. And this is an important distinction. That means then you've got to create a plan to build your career. But our conversation now has extended beyond Korea, and it's really Korea with a purpose. Because if you haven't got a purpose in your career, what your career will become is actually a job. And that's the last thing you want to be doing because eventually that has an impact. So personal branding is a holistic process that you know that represents you in all its glory. It's everything about you. You know your career, your business, your community interests, your hobbies, your personal endeavors, all that you choose to share with the world. Remember, if you're a private person, that's fine. Just show what you choose. You know that you want the world to see and I really get it if you're private you know some things you might not want to share that is your rights. So there you have it, okay for today, you know, the top five tips to differentiate and self expressed that I know Richard, and I believe will make a difference to you and certainly get you out of your comfort zone. And it is important that you get out of your comfort zone, because outside of your comfort zone, then is where the magic happens, where the possibilities exist, as opposed to the safety net of staying behind the curtain and occasionally peeping. And I think that's an exciting way of doing it, if that's what you choose to do good luck to you. It's certainly not what we recommend in building a brand and of course, getting recognized out there because the idea here is to really get known from the perspective of how great you are, as opposed to hiding behind that. 

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Now, just to sort of reiterate, by embracing these recommendations, you are on your way to authentically be recognized and be self expressed. So the reflection for me when I share this with you is this, you know, life is too short, not to express yourself. It's a sad life to live and die with a song, you know, inside you to never have been sung. And I mentioned at the start of this podcast, that we're all living in a poly crisis that in my opinion will get worse. You know, the media lies to us. Yes, it's not even misinformation anymore. Straight out lies specifically, we know we're in a poly crisis, things are a lot worse than they make it out to be. But at the same time, there's no fear here, because what better way to embrace the, you know, this moment in history in time, you know, and create unlimited possibilities, because that's what I truly, truly believe. And that's what of course, what we do ourselves. And of course, that's what we do with our clients. So that's it for today. So I want to thank you again for tuning in. As always remember to subscribe to our podcast and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. You can also follow me on social media. My Twitter is Jon_Michail, my LinkedIn is Jon Michail. You can find me as Image Group International on Facebook. Until next time, take care and keep on elevating your personal brand. Cheers. 

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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass" Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops, please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.