by Peter Montoya

In an age of faceless corporations, free online advice, and companies that deliver rubber-stamped services, entrepreneurs who realize that they are the real commodity, not their products, will set themselves apart from the competition. Let Personal Branding expert Peter Montoya show you how to turn YOU into a “brand” in this brand-driven society and how to use your Personal Brand to generate better results, more clients, and greater profits.

In an era of faceless corporations and online advice, the best way an entrepreneur can succeed resides in his or her ability to market a strong Personal Brand. Individuals who market themselves as “product experts,” or whose services are not adequately unique or specialized, risk blending into the background or being replaced by larger competitors in their industry.

In the face of grim prospects and competition, some thoughtful entrepreneurs are taking a different approach — packaging themselves as the product through creative, aggressive marketing.

As opposed to “product-” or “fact-based” marketing, Personal Branding uses brochures, logos, direct mail, the Internet, public relations, and other channels, not merely the salespeople, to position entrepreneurs as the brand of choice.

Personal Branding promotes an identity of the individual that communicates on an entirely new level and gives consumers a reason to choose your products or services over those of your competitors.

What will your name attract?
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by Travis Wright

Domain Names. Yes. I just scored another one. And another domain name… GoDaddy.com silently took another $9.24 from me again for another domain name. Oh. What about this domain name? What! I can’t believe that no one has thought of that domain yet!! You just have to buy it.

This happens to me several times a week. I think I may be addicted to domain names. Please help me. With the all of the different ways to make money online, being a ‘Domainer‘ can be one of the more lucrative.

CNN.com: “Forget condos and strip malls. Domain names, the real estate of the Web, have been delivering far greater returns.”

REDHERRING: “Parked domains may become a billion-dollar industry, both for paid search operators like Google and Yahoo as well as a new breed of Internet real estate developers.”

WSJ.com: “Internet domain names are a hot commodity again. But unlike the 1990s, when speculators bought up Web addresses in hopes of reselling them later for a big payday, many of today’s purchases are aimed at cashing in on the boom in online advertising.”

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Again, with the Guy Kawasaki? Okay, we love him here. In my personal library are at least 4 of this fine writer’s catalog. In an attempt to bring podcast highlights to Cultivate Greatness viewership, we have a great audio from the StartupNation.com podcast.

In this podcast, Guy Kawasaki, managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, a seed stage and early stage venture capital fund, shares insight about what his VC firm is looking to invest in. Guy also shares some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking for funding for the next great idea.

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You have heard of a quick and dirty way of branding yourself from our resident contributor, Brian Ling aka Design Translator. In the first article, he first discussed the necessity and the know-hows to brand yourself in our competitive world. In this sequel, he proposes a quickier and dirtier strategy to brand yourself with a web 2.0 feel on your company logos.

Know thy enemy and know thyself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know thyself but not thy enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not thyself, wallow in defeat every time.
- Sun Tzu

Well in our case it’s not really the enemy (more…)