Aligning your values and priorities with Cyndee Woolley

Cyndee Woolley

Cyndee Woolley a public relations and branding specialist and author of the book Building Brand You once again joins Enterprise Radio to discuss the importance of aligning your values and priorities.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Cyndee Woolley discuss the following:

  • Tell us what has been going on since your last interview.
  • What is some of this new content?
  • What are some of your tips for 2014?
  • In your book, you talk about aligning your values and priorities. How can people implement that for 2014?
  • One of the things that I noticed in your book is an emphasis on three types of relationships including “inspirational relationships”… What is the importance of these relationships?
  • Looking ahead, what is next on your horizon?

Duration: 14:07

Building Brand You Intro:
Building Brand [You] challenges business professionals to take responsibility for shaping their future by arming them with the tools to create a passionate vision of what they want their life to look like. Author Cyndee Woolley, APR, encourages readers to reject settling for what they ‘could’ do with their lives, and provides easy-to-follow steps and exercises that help readers pursue their wildest dreams.

Building Brand [You] includes a series of exercises to help readers understand their brand value and develop compelling key messages that resonate with their Ideal Customers. Readers will also benefit from Woolley’s simple relationship building system that helps them confidently let go of distracting relationships while organizing and prioritizing the most important relationships to build their business, a network of support and inspirational relationships to stay motivated.

7 Lessons in Building Brand [You]

1. You are Brand [You]
Some business professionals sacrifice a lot to climb to the very top of the corporate ladder, only to realize they don’t like the view when they get there. If what you do in life doesn’t leave you fulfilled, it will certainly leave you drained and eventually repel the most important people in your life.

Building Brand [You] isn’t about living up to someone else’s expectations of you or about setting safety nets for what you “might” want to have someday. It is about setting the direction in your own life so that you can confidently look at yourself in the mirror each morning, knowing that you are Brand [You].

2. Set your sights and your goals for [You]topia
Completing tasks may help you feel busy, but you won’t find fulfillment in tasks. Worse, it takes your future out of your hands.

The foundation of Building Brand [You] starts with establishing your goals, values and priorities so that your brand will take you where you want to go. While many people recognize the value of setting goals, too few take the time to sit down and actually draft out goals that are in line with their values and priorities.

With a solid foundation in place, you can easily stay on track by doing something you love in a genuine and sincere manner. You won’t have to “work” at your brand because it will be a natural extension of who you are. It will be easier to live out your dreams because you are exactly who you want to be.

In this section, we will explore your goals and define what I like to call [You]topia.

3. Value Brand [You] or no one else will
Many brands (personal and corporate) undercut their own value by reducing prices or offering cheap giveaways or gimmicky promotions. These short-term gimmicks may attract some attention, but it is usually the wrong attention. The next shiny new object that comes along will just as easily distract customers attracted by gimmicks. If you want to build long-term success, you need to assess your skills and accomplishments to understand the true value that you offer. Only then will others appreciate that value.

4. Build your network wisely
An evaluation of the commitments of one of my executive clients revealed that he was spending an average of 20 hours per week volunteering at the local chamber of commerce. That volunteer work equaled another part-time job on top of his full-time job and his six other networking groups. Dozens of volunteer hours generated fewer than 5 percent of his business leads. In building your network, we will set up a system to organize and prioritize your relationships so that you can build your network wisely.

5. Brand [You] must be simple, short and strong
In three seconds or less, people are sizing you up and asking themselves an important question: “Are you someone I need to know?”

With Brand [You] in place, you will change others’ perspectives. Instead of wondering “if” you are worth investigating, you will leave them with a strong and compelling understanding of who you are. When they see you, they are going to ask “How do I get to know you?”

6. Smart Brands Speak Up
Fear keeps many people from sharing their accomplishments. At a base level, we are all a little afraid of the potential rejection or even looking like a jerk to friends. Putting yourself out there can certainly be a scary proposition. But the consequences of NOT sharing your story can be much greater.

When you choose to share who you are – both personally and professionally – you create the possibility of building a common, memorable connection with someone. These connections are about more than a mutual love of peanut butter; they are about finding a common ground of mutual trust that will enable you to work together toward a mutual interest like [You]topia.

Speaking up and expressing your brand enables you to build a strong relationship with people who understand the value of your brand and who will consistently refer the right kind of customers who will drive your growth.

7. Be Relevant or Be Replaced
The smartest brands are always growing and evolving to stay relevant. But how do you know what is working and what needs to be adjusted? In Building Brand [You], you will learn to construct a strong foundation of core values and goals. At the same time, you’ll learn why you need to evolve over time to stay relevant.

Honest feedback from respected sources helps keep your messages focused. This reliable feedback helps you adjust how you express your brand and stay relevant in your profession and in your life.

About Cyndee Woolley, APR

Woolley holds an Accredited Public Relations professional (APR) designation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and has over a decade of experience in marketing and public relations. She has a demonstrated track record campaigns get noticed and generate results. Woolley was a key team member in a public awareness campaign that resulted in the successful negotiation of a contract valued at $210 million dollars for Waste Management.

Woolley is a consultant in public relations, social media, and community outreach strategies. She recently released her first book called Building Brand [You], which is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iBook.

She has led training initiatives in social media and public relations training programs through: The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, American Business Women’s Association, Vistage, Collier County Republican Executive Committee, Miromar Design Center, Naples Area Board of Realtors, HR Collier and for over 80 non-profit organizations at Thinking Outside the Box seminar. Woolley spoke at the 2011 PRSA International Conference in October 2011, the PRSA Sunshine District Conference in 2012 and the PRSA Western District in 2013. Additionally, she was a featured presenter for Full Sail University’s online alumni webinar series and Hodges University alumni association.

Woolley believes in giving back to the community by taking an active role in professional and civic organizations. Through a proactive crisis communication strategy, Woolley assisted the Naples Equestrian Challenge achieve multiple media placements after a lightning strike caused $10,000 in damage. The media coverage generated nearly $15,000 in donations from residents who had seen the story. She is the 2013 PRSA Sunshine District Chair where she is also past Secretary for 2011 and a past president of the Gulf Coast Chapter of PRSA. She is also a past president of the Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising Association of Collier County. She also served on marketing and branding committees for The Shelter for Abused Women and Children of Collier County, the Naples Equestrian College and the Leadership Collier Foundation. In 2010, she helped raise $25,000 toward providing 2 myoelectric arms for an 8 year-old boy by coordinating the 2nd Annual Miracle Limbs Courage in Motion Bike Ride.

Woolley is the immediate past-Chair of the Farm City BBQ, a local tradition that attracts 1,000 representatives annually from Collier County’s business and agricultural communities. Woolley also volunteered on the PR committee for the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall, a tribute to Vietnam Veterans that attracted 30,000 visitors. In addition, Woolley is a graduate of the 2009 class of Leadership Bonita and the 2012 class of Leadership Collier.

Consistently visible at the forefront of her specialization, in 2009, Cyndee created the social media strategy for the first Tweet Town Hall in Naples, FL. To demonstrate the speed of social media, the event was organized in 14 days and attracted over 7,000 participants in South Florida and made headlines on the front page of the Naples Daily News as well as publications across the state. The Tweet Town Hall campaign was recognized with an Image Award from the Florida Public Relations Association as well as a Platinum Hermes Award from the American Marketing Association.

For her leadership and community involvement, Woolley was named among the 2012 40 Under 40 by Gulfshore Business Magazine as well as the 2011 40 Under 40 for Gulf Coast Business Review.

She has a beautiful young daughter. When she isn’t running her daughter to violin lessons, gymnastics or ballet, they are seeking adventure and fun with day trips throughout South Florida.

Building Brand [You]

Links: BuildingBrandYou.com

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