Spring is traditionally associated with birth. Of course babies are born all year long, but as the snow melts and the grass turns green and flowers bloom, understandably people’s minds turn to birth and new beginnings. Traditional spring events such as weddings and graduations could also be considered “births” of a sort, as new families, lives and careers come into existence.

Okay, enough schmaltz. All kidding aside, I do mention spring as a season of birth for a specific reason – spring is the perfect time to give birth (or rebirth) to a happy, bouncy, healthy new brand! Even when the economy is good, winter is a tough time to launch a brand. Hiring is slow, bad weather and the financial impact of holiday shopping has potential clients and customers hunkered down, and many people take vacations to warmer, sunnier climes. A new or rejuvenated brand may get obscured by the dull, gray background.

But as the days grow longer and people’s spirits lighten, the environment becomes much more receptive to the launch of a new brand. Typically, hiring improves in the spring as companies firm up their plans for the coming year and general business activity picks up. Unfortunately, 2009 is not a “typical” year. Unemployment is expected to continue climbing for the next several months, even as some experts are predicting the worst of the recession is over and we should start to see gradual improvement by the second half of the year.

Rather than let continuing economic woes pressure you into postponing the birth of your new brand, use them as an incentive to get that new brand out of gestation and into the Use this slow period as an opportunity to nurture your new brand beyond the infant and toddler stages so that by the time things do really start picking up, your bouncing bundle of joy is now a strapping young adult, ready to strike out and define itself. Everyone else who waited till the recession ended (or at least bottomed out) to give births to their new brands will be competing against you with “baby brands” – cute and fun, but not capable of doing much and a lot of work to maintain and nourish. If you ever have been or known a new parent, you are aware of how draining caring for a baby can be!

So give birth to your new brand, sooner rather than later. Even if your existing brand is well-defined and mature, it would hardly hurt to add some youthful flourish and energy to what you have. With a little TLC, you will be able to proudly watch that baby grow and take credit for its accomplishments – just like a real parent, without the crying and talking back!

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com

You Will Be Judged by Your Cover

The First Impression is the Only Impression

One of the key reasons I have been able to pull myself out of poverty and into a life filled with personal and professional success is that I have always maintained an extremely high level of vigor in everything I do. Even when I found myself slipping and becoming bitter, acting less than enthused, and holding pity parties (that no one showed up for) I found a way to refresh, revitalize, and reenergize myself. I didn't and still don't depend on someone else to invigorate me. You can't maximize your success or attract success if you are miserable, empty of energy, and negative. Misery has enough company, it doesn't need you to join. Invigorating yourself is one of the eight precepts of a formula for success I developed called Fresh PASSION, which is a fresh take on Preparing yourself, Aspiring to reach your goals, Staying laser-focused, Selling your value, Invigorating yourself, Omitting the negative, and Nailing the brand.
 
Invigorating yourself will give you a huge leg up in making the all-important "three-second impression." In the three seconds it takes you to walk through a door and extend your hand to someone for the first time, that person has already made irreversible judgments about you. You send out hundreds of signals about yourself, and people read those signals and react to them long before you've had a chance to say anything of substance.
 
Success in the new millennium comes to people who are versatile and can make positive impressions in any group. Whether you are a self-employed professionals who have to constantly win new clients and customers to stay afloat, an unemployed individual in search of your next job, or an employed individual who desires to move into another job, the ability to make a positive, invigorated first impression is crucial. To ensure those judgments are favorable, you need to have self-confidence, a positive attitude, and a neat appearance.
 
Ask your friends, boss, colleagues, and other trusted members of your personal network to close their eyes and open them when you walk into the room and give their first impression of you. Compare this impression with your intended impression and work on closing the gaps. You can't see the big picture if you are in the frame; get help from someone who can tell you what you need to hear.
 
Also remember that the greatest temptation to give up, to slack off, and to lose sight of your goals will come just before you are about to succeed. Stay invigorated about achieving exponential personal and professional success—be it for yourself, your career, your organization, or your business.
 
Remember, success in the new millennium comes to people who are versatile and can make positive impressions in any group. None of this is possible without a constant flow of vigor and confidence that exudes from you and is obvious to everyone you come in contact with. You can't afford to allow this turbulent economy with its eroding 401(k)s (actually more like 201(k)s) deplete your vigor—you must stay invigorated in order to make decisions and take actions that will lead to your exponential success. So stay invigorated and make those first three seconds meaningful!
 
Today's success-driven article is a platinum nugget from Michael D. Brown's award-winning and signature work, Fresh PASSION: Get a Brand or Die a Generic®. Based on the methods and attitudes Michael used to escape poverty and achieve continuing success in his own life, Fresh PASSION allows you to build a personal brand based on your unique strengths and abilities that will guarantee recognition in the professional and academic marketplaces.
 
www.TheMichaelDBrown.com

I am excited about the exponential personal and professional success that you can achieve.

I would like to make an investment in your success by offering you a free one-on-one telephone coaching session.  Click the link below to sign up.

http://www.themichaeldbrown.com/promos/fresh_coaching.htm

Wishing you a year of exponential success!

Michael