The Power of Purple

Do you have a personal brand?  Are you even aware you need one? I've seen and read several articles recently, from Forbes to Inc., that included statements like this: "By 2020 if you don't have a personal brand no one will work with you. Having a personal brand will be what sets you apart, both professionally and personally." (Inc. Oct. 2017) In terms of a brand, what comes to mind when people ask you what you do? If you answer with tactical answers, you're not speaking from your personal brand. We all perform tactical things. In our professions these can be anything from creating marketing campaigns, analyzing and reporting data, to maintaining client accounts. In our personal lives, it can be spending time with family and friends, running errands, carpooling, and household chores. Those are tasks, they are not reflective of our personal brand. If you have a job, and every one of us does, regardless of whether you get paid or not; developing your personal b...

A few weeks ago Facebook announced it was changing its newsfeed algorithm, pushing down business and "salesy" posts across newsfeeds so users will see more personal posts from their friends. Facebook stated the change was a result of hearing from users who are tired of seeing their newsfeeds cluttered with "ads" and they are working hard to make staying connected more meaningful for users. Since the announcement, I've seen many posts, mostly from others in direct sales, warning "you'll only see your top 25 or 26 "friends" posts in your newsfeeds". They also advise that you need both "likes" and comments to push your posts higher in the newsfeeds of others. It's been proven that this is not true at all. In my opinion, this is a tactic used to get others to help push their posts higher in newsfeeds. It's no secret that posts with both likes and comments are ranked higher than one with no engagement. Back to the new algor...