Putting a market value (a price) to what you do and what impact you can have on your clients - is tricky. And, if you are a subject matter expert who is a consultant, coach, mentor, guide or advisor to others - it can be even more tricky. Because, we are talking about what is essentially an intangible value that you'd have to clearly articulate so that people "got it" - and then would understand why they need you. Defining your marketable value Before you can discern what your marketable value is – i.e. the price that someone is willing and motivated to pay for your services - there are a few crucial elements that you need to establish: What's the problem that you solve? Who do … [Read more...] about Pricing your service or value

The more you can pull your own personality into your day-to-day marketing, communication and delivery of your work - the more you will be future-proofing your place in your work marketplace. Why do I say that? There are few things that Artificial Intelligence can’t touch right now, and that’s your ability to: Feel and experience things (as a human and not as a data point) Know the context of what is going on in front of you, and Critically question the thinking behind different problems, challenges or solutions that are on the table. What makes you the unique human you are - is what we need to double down on. So, in this post we are going to start with personality (which AI … [Read more...] about PERSON-ality In Your Personal Brand

Personal brand used to be something you'd only attribute to mainstream celebrities. However, I'd hesitate to say that many of them are not actually developing their personal brand. (In a way that will make a difference longer term.) They may be launching products off the back of success in their field (film and TV, sport, business, beauty, etc) and counting on the fact that everyone recognises them for [insert relevant thing here] - but do they share themselves...so you actually know them? At least six out of the ten examples that I see - do not. When the hype dies down after launching whatever they are doing, they are left with what we all are: who we are, what we stand … [Read more...] about The Rewards of Personal Brand

As you well know, the humans we focus our work on, here at Harbour 32, are knowledge workers - people who have intangible value that can be tricky to articulate, demonstrate and put a marketable value on. While I can support and facilitate my clients in identifying their strengths and indeed their genius… they also need to calibrate where they sit in comparison to others in their field. In this blog post I’m going to help you to look at one element of this contextual comparison and that’s in defining what kind of subject matter expert you really are, at the heart of you. Are you highly proficient, or are you the crème de la crème of experts…and indeed a thought-leading … [Read more...] about When are you a Thought Leader?

The zone you get into where time disappears, your spirits are most uplifted and you are doing “the thing” that gives you the most energy – this is your genius zone. In my conversation with Finola Howard, a growth strategist, she reminded me that when you focus 80% of your time on the thing that you are BEST at, your business will soar along with your joy success meter. A bit further into the conversation we honed in on what your ‘BEST’ really is and where your uniqueness lies. We spend so much time when we grow up from young people into adults focussing on how to ‘get a job’ and put all those foundations in place that we're told are the "right thing" to do. Also as young … [Read more...] about Goldilocks Genius Zone

The keys to mastering the Trust Game lie squarely in being very intentional about bringing clarity to how you express yourself with the outside world, and then sticking to it – over time. We all know you don’t trust someone overnight and you certainly need many points of reference that help to make a decision about engaging to work with someone. We must remember to marry our limbic (gut) instinct that says “yes, I want to work with you” with our more logical, frontal lobe that desperately wants you to verify that instinctual decision with hard facts. Simon Sinek’s “Infinite Game” theory teaches us that playing the longer game of finding a win-win for everyone for the long term is … [Read more...] about The Trust Game

At the end of April, Shelley and I went to  You Are The Media’s Creator Day in Poole, and returned in equal parts - exhilarated and exhausted. An event made all the better with our amazingly, glorious Shelley as one of the speakers 😄. She did us so blooming proud! We came back fizzing with ideas and ready for a long nap! Which is why it’s taken me a little moment to get my thoughts in order and typed up for you! Here is a little round up of my key takeaways… If you were there, you’ll have felt the vibe, and if you weren’t, this will give you a flavour and maybe to convince you to come a play around the YATM campfire next year? Build spaces where you belong YATM Creator Day is the … [Read more...] about The Strength of Personal Brand

This is intelligence that, hopefully, you are constantly re-evaluating throughout your brand’s journey. How do you compare with what is available in the marketplace you are in? What is it that you bring to the table, why should customers/clients choose you and who is it exactly that you serve? Why is Brand Positioning important? By narrowing this down into key phrases and intel you can use - you can communicate this (very clearly), over and over again to the outside world. This may be through networking, marketing campaigns, sales conversations or even in your team interacting with your customers/clients directly. If you are foggy about what you do, what value you bring and why you are … [Read more...] about Brand Positioning