I recently came across a great blog by Donald McMichael (@DonaldMcMichael)… he’s a business strategist with a strong background in finance. His recent blog posts include:
- 5 Fav Business and Strategy Post – August 7th (this is a series he does)
- The Revolution of Content – Sponsored by Mobile Devices
- 7 Secrets of Running a Wildly Successful Negotiation
- 6 Best Business Development Pillars
- Every Company Is A Media Company
Can you get a sense, just from the titles of those posts, about his passion and interest in business strategy?
If not, here’s his tag cloud:
The words just jump out at you… image a recruiter, hiring manager or HR person looking at that tag cloud – it is very clear what Donald is interested in.
If that’s not enough, check out his well-scripted bio (down at the bottom of his website/blog):
Numbers Guy (Finance) by training. Business Development and Strategy (revenue models, partnerships, technology) by experience. Creative by heart.
Donald McMichael has never been afraid of pushing himself. In fact, he thrives on it. Since his first year in business school at Duke, Donald has been working on projects that require him to stretch his thinking beyond convention. It is these critical-thinking and creative problem-solving skills that allow Donald to help organizations fulfill their potential. read more >>
Here’s the icing on the cake… check out his header:
Everyone says they are a problem solver, right? Donald solves problems, too. But he solves, perhaps specializes in solving, the TOUGHEST problems!
Great job Donald – this is fantastic stuff – solid content, great (simple) design, very on-brand and highlights you in a big way!
You’re right, Jason. Thoroughly impressive job of branding! Donald differentiates himself and generates chemistry.
As someone who writes brand communications for people, I know how hard it can be, and how long it can take, to write such precise, concise statements.
Bravo to you Donald!
Donald has presented a clear, concise, and compelling synopsis of his value proposition. Did he work with a Reach Branding Strategist or a career professional? Would love to send Kudos to the career professional as well, if he worked with someone. Is Donald cool with being an Internet-based role model?
Thanks for sharing, Jason…
@Karen, good questions. His seems so good that I thought he did work with someone to get it to this point. I’d like to know that to, but I really haven’t had any communication with him about this 🙂 Just a random awesome find …
A thoughtful and interesting analysis of an impressive and inspirational personal brand. Bravo!
When I’m looking for inspiration my search results increasingly feature blogs that post “best of” and “top ten” lists etc or maybe a screenshot with a brief caption “this is great”, frequently cribbed from someone else. Rarely do they offer explanations for an item’s inclusion, which renders it worthless. The authors of these sites keep themselves anonymous. The sites are well designed, which is deceptive. They’re all heavily populated with affiliate links. Says it all.
Good content curatorship is essential: regular posts by people like you who’ve earned our respect building genuine expertise and whose opinion can be trusted.
This post is a shining example: well illustrated with appropriate screenshots, and considered explanations of WHY you’ve picked this person/site out. Halleluyah! more please 🙂
On web curators:
https://scobleizer.com/2010/03/27/the-seven-needs-of-real-time-curators/
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/131472
https://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_curated_web
This was a great example of how personal branding should be done, but with one glaring error: his cool little branding header has a typo!!!
It should say, “solves tough(est) problems” but that’s NOT what it says! It says “solves tought (est) problems”. There’s an extra “t” right before the left paragraph. I fired off a short email to him as well to let him know. Other than that, it was great!
It’s one thing to write about collaboration, media, management, and strategy — but that’s different than tagging your articles with those words and sharing those tags.
Who decides the tag? In this case, he does. But what if he writes about eating out a restaurant and tags it collaboration because the waitstaff worked together? Just sayin.
An interesting comment, Ari… What is the way in which social media is monitored? Isn’t it self-monitored, e.g. by those who participate in this space?
In your example, if the post were about eating at a restaurant, but tags it differently he would presumably be called-out by his peers. Do you think this system works?