Paul Singh

It’s already halfway through May and you should have received your federal stimulus check by now. Do you know what you’re going to do with it?

A few weeks ago, my friend Ramit quoted me when I said that books are the most cost-effective way to invest in yourself. If you buy one book per week, for $20 each, that’s $1,000 per year. If you get one good idea per week, it’s worth it. It’s true - you could spend thousands of dollars for a semester of classes or no more than $20 for a book that you can read in a weekend. Which would you rather do?

Now, just imagine if you could learn just one new idea from the book and then actually apply it the next day. How much do you think that might be worth? (Answer: a whole hell of a lot.)

I’ll keep things simple for you, buy these two books today and start reading this weekend. I’ve recently read them and can tell you that you won’t need more than 4 hours to quickly read through both:

“The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)” (Seth Godin)

“The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich” (Timothy Ferriss)

Once you’re done, I’m sure you’ll have atleast one new idea you can try at work (or school) the very next day. It’s that simple, just get started.

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to get additional tips and early access to some new things I’m working on. Also, feel free to email me - I’m always happy to help you get ahead on a one-on-one basis.

Image Credit: m500

This is the first in a series of posts about rethinking your personal brand.

Times have changed: Smarts, diligence and hard work aren’t enough to ensure career success. We all know lots of hard-working, intelligent people who are stuck in dead-end jobs, unemployed or (worse) unhappy with their current position. Personal branding is about developing a strategy that positions you differently from others.

Know yourself. A successful personal brand is authentic, so you need to be honest about who you are. If you’re timid, shy and easily distracted, you’re not likely to succeed by pretending to be outgoing, loud and focused. In the words of Baltasar Gracián:

Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.

Know your competitors. You can’t stand above the crowd without first taking a look around. It’s important to determine who the current players are and understand their particular strengths (and weaknesses).

Know your target. To be successful, you must not only have a personal brand, but also communicate it to the right people. Marketing yourself to the entire world is very expensive. The key to successful personal branding is to focus on your niche and then become the expert.

Your goal is to be different. Personal Branding is about discovering relevant differences and creating positive perceptions. It used to be about, “Can you do the job?” Today many people can do what you do.

Find out what makes you special and actively try to improve it even further. Real success won’t be far behind.

If you’re unsure about how to apply these tips to yourself, email me - I’d be happy to help brainstorm ideas. Also, don’t forget to signup for my newsletter where I’ll provide more insider’s tips on getting ahead.

Image Credit: kevindooley

A friend of mine called me out of the blue a few months ago, here’s how the conversation went:

Me: “Hey man, how’s it going?”
Him: “Great! Listen, I know you’re busy but I want to start a business”
Me: “Ok.”
Him: “Where do I start?”
Me: “Uh, what kind of business?”
Him: “You tell me!”
Me: “I’m hanging up now.”

First, let me say that I love helping people succeed. I really do. But for the love of all that is holy, please spend a second (or three) to make sure that you’ve got a useable idea before you pitch it to someone.

Ideas are worthless unless you can make them into something useful. Your most incredible idea can turn into a stupid one if the idea simply isn’t doable. I’ve had a few of these. Chances are, you’ve had some too.

What makes an entrepreneur great isn’t the actually greatness of the idea, but the ability to make it happen.

Image Credit: mskogly

This is the fourth in a series of posts about the lessons I wish I’d learned earlier in life.

When I was younger, I loved going to Costco with my parents for a single reason: free food. For those of you that have never been there, they have small kiosks at the end of every aisle where they gave away samples of new foods and drinks. (And, as you know, Indians love free stuff.)

The food sample is one of the oldest and most commonly employed tactics of the grocery business. Give shoppers a taste of a new brand of cookie and it’s a safe bet those customers will end up buying at least a box or two before they leave.

It just makes sense: Let somebody try something tasty, and they’ll come back for more.

Here’s what my friend Ramit has to say about this:

More people should be doing work for free to open up doors to the big rewards. By removing the money barrier for a set amount of time (”I’ll work for free for 3 months, but after that we need to negotiate a fair rate”), you open yourself up to huge rewards. The $20/hour or $50/hour you could get now is chump change compared to what you could with a great network and a proven track record.

Focus on making yourself valuable first, the money will come.

What can you do to start adding value today? If you’re unsure, email me - I’d be happy to help brainstorm ideas.

Ten years ago, Tom Peters defined personal branding:

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

It’s that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable.

You already have a personal brand today. It’s a combination of everything you’ve done in your life to this point - it’s all of your accomplishments, your failures, your skills, your experiences and the stories you tell to tie it all together. If you haven’t already, it’s time to think about what your personal brand represents today and determine what you want it to be tomorrow. Starting today, I’m going to help you.

Here are five tips you can use to get started:

1. See the big picture.
2. Build community, but tend to business.
3. Widen your lens, but narrow your focus.
4. Organize for ideas.
5. Be persistent.

Your personal brand is one of your greatest business assets - you’re either building or diminishing it on a daily basis. With that in mind, I’m going to be elaborating on my five tips over the next few weeks - stay tuned.

Better yet, signup for my newsletter and be the first to hear about some things I’ve been working on, including some stuff you’ll never see on this site and more.

Image Credit: Lisandro Moises