Make a Name for Yourself: Eight Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success [Hardcover]

Robin Fisher Roffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2000

One of America’s leading brand strategists shares her step-by-step program for creating an unforgettable identity in today’s marketplace.

Do you ever go to work and think to yourself “there must be more?” Or feel that your true talents and abilities aren’t being utilized, or even recognized? Are you a freelancer or entrepreneur who isn’t sure how to rise to the top in today’s competitive environment? Wouldn’t it be empowering to be able to work in a field you feel passionately about and be successful and well paid?
In Make a Name for Yourself, Robin Fischer Roffer shows you how to develop a unique, personal brand strategy for success by identifying your extraordinary attributes, thinking about your values and passions, and by learning how to use them in today’s marketplace. In short, you'll uncover a focused direction for your career that celebrates you.

In the information age, brand marketing — the process by which a product creates an emotional connection with its audience and sets itself apart from the crowd — is more important than ever. Roffer knows that branding isn’t just for big corporations or products like Nike, Coke, or Yahoo. She is not only a pioneer in this field, she has used brand marketing strategies to catapult her own career. In Make a Name for Yourself she shows you how you can brand your own unique traits and talents for career success and personal fulfillment. In a step-by-step program she covers:

* Unearthing your authentic self to develop a brand that reflects your natural talents, abilities, and passions
* Defining your long-term career goals and dreams
* Adapting and selling your brand to your target market
* Identifying and overcoming personal roadblocks
* Packaging yourself to reflect your chosen brand image
* Launching, maintaining, and building your brand

Inspiring case studies, analyses of well known brands, and thought-provoking exercises will help you create all the essential brand elements. And unlike other career advisors who simply push networking or other external tools, Roffer also offers methods for working on your inner self to overcome fears and decipher realities. Make a Name for Yourself is for anyone starting out in the workforce, beginning their own business, changing careers, or trying to make it in the corporate world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A marketing consultant for Web sites and television networks, Roffer applies the principles of brand-building to the popular self-help imperative to create a personal "mission statement" in this up-to-the minute career strategy guide. "Branding for people is about finding your 'big idea,' the core you, and putting it out in the universe to fulfill itself," she says, citing Oprah, Martha Stewart and Madonna as examples of women whose professional "brand name" is immediately recognizable and definable, and the cornerstone of their success. By breaking branding into eight steps (such as "dig deep to unearth who you are"; "go after your target audience with a vengeance"; and "recruit a squad of brand cheerleaders"), Roffer clearly guides her readers through the same process and exercises she uses in developing marketing identities for her clients. Whether a woman's goal is to scale the corporate ladder or to launch her own business, Roffer's lessons on developing a thick skin, creating a no-fear zone, handling professional jealousy ("never play the victim in business") and having a professional coach or mentor will resonate. Agent, Barbara Lowenstein. (Jan. 2)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

One of America?s leading brand strategists shares her step-by-step program for creating an unforgettable identity in today?s marketplace.

Do you ever go to work and think to yourself ?there must be more?? Or feel that your true talents and abilities aren?t being utilized, or even recognized? Are you a freelancer or entrepreneur who isn?t sure how to rise to the top in today?s competitive environment? Wouldn?t it be empowering to be able to work in a field you feel passionately about and be successful and well paid?
In Make a Name for Yourself, Robin Fischer Roffer shows you how to develop a unique, personal brand strategy for success by identifying your extraordinary attributes, thinking about your values and passions, and by learning how to use them in today?s marketplace. In short, you'll uncover a focused direction for your career that celebrates you.

In the information age, brand marketing ? the process by which a product creates an emotional connection with its audience and sets itself apart from the crowd ? is more important than ever. Roffer knows that branding isn?t just for big corporations or products like Nike, Coke, or Yahoo. She is not only a pioneer in this field, she has used brand marketing strategies to catapult her own career. In Make a Name for Yourself she shows you how you can brand your own unique traits and talents for career success and personal fulfillment. In a step-by-step program she covers:

*Unearthing your authentic self to develop a brand that reflects your natural talents, abilities, and passions
*Defining your long-term career goals and dreams
*Adapting and selling your brand to your target market
*Identifying and overcoming personal roadblocks
*Packaging yourself to reflect your chosen brand image
*Launching, maintaining, and building your brand

Inspiring case studies, analyses of well known brands, and thought-provoking exercises will help you create all the essential brand elements. And unlike other career advisors who simply push networking or other external tools, Roffer also offers methods for working on your inner self to overcome fears and decipher realities. Make a Name for Yourself is for anyone starting out in the workforce, beginning their own business, changing careers, or trying to make it in the corporate world.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (December 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767904915
• ISBN-13: 978-0767904919
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Fisher Roffer

The premiere brand strategist for the digital age and leading reinvention specialist, Robin Fisher Roffer has provided the rocket fuel that has ignited the launch pad of dozens of brands all over the world.

As the CEO and Chief Creative Officer for Big Fish Marketing, Roffer has launched and reinvented brands such as A&E, AMC, Aon, Animal Planet, Bloomberg, CB Richard Ellis Investors, CNN, Comedy Central, Discovery, Disney Channel, FX, History, Lifetime, MTV, Oxygen, Sony, TNT and TV Guide.

Drawing on her experience in creating some of the world's leading brands, in 2001 Roffer became the pioneer of personal branding when she penned her first book MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF: Eight Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success. The critically acclaimed and top selling book guides readers to build a concrete plan to find professional success by applying tested branding principals to personal image, enabling them to hone themselves as their own best asset.

Roffer's latest book, THE FEARLESS FISH OUT OF WATER: How To Succeed When You're The Only One Like You shows professionals how to stay connected and relevant at work while maintaining a unique identity, how to fit in without blending in, and how to transform exclusion into high impact.

Utilizing material from her two books, Roffer now develops and leads corporate training programs and workshops for top potentials and sales teams at powerhouse companies like Philips, Mattel, Cox Media and UBS. The programs teach executives how to build their own personal brands to create lasting impressions and increase revenue.

An acclaimed speaker and media personality on the topics of career reinvention and personal branding, Roffer often keynotes conferences for major corporations, business organizations and universities. She appears as a career expert on national TV and radio shows, and is a contributing career writer for Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine.

Prior to Big Fish, Roffer was Manager of Creative Services for TNT. There her education in branding went into high gear as she crafted advertising campaigns designed to create awareness for TNT's original movies. Later she directed affiliate-aimed advertising and promotion for CNN, Headline News, TNT and TBS.

Roffer left Turner in 1992 to start Big Fish Marketing. With her former employer among her first clients, she struck out on her own with industry insider experience and an entertainment point-of-view. Today her client roster includes over 25 TV networks, a global cosmetics company, along with clients from the worlds of energy, insurance and finance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth its weight in gold!, July 14, 2004

By 

Carole Pivarnik "I bring dogs to life with wa... (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Make a Name for Yourself: 8 Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success (Paperback)

I love this book. I couldn't read it fast enough the first time--it is well written, well organized, and easily understood. There are many useful examples of women who have successfully branded themselves using a variety of strategies. The 8 steps suggested by the author for defining your personal brand identity are within anyone's grasp. That's the beauty of the book--you don't need a big hunk of startup capital, you don't need a PhD, you don't need to aspire to a six figure income. Anyone can jump RIGHT IN and use the principles today. I have begun the process and find it very do-able even in the context of an insanely busy life. It is forcing me to think more clearly about my business goals and really define what I am offering to my customers. It is equally applicable to someone on a career path within a company as it is to a small business start-up like mine. Highly recommended...wish I could give it 25 stars. Amongst all the business books out there, this one provides the missing piece that can really help you differentiate what you offer to your employer or customer and maybe more importantly--the value or benefit THEY perceive will come from working with you.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An uplifting get-to-it book critical to business success, February 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Make a Name for Yourself: Eight Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success (Hardcover)

This is one of two books (the other being 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)that have entered my life at critical times and contributed significantly to my success. Different from 7 Habits, this book focuses specifically on marketing your strengths and how to do it. Just like 7 Habits, it calls you to a new level of understanding about yourself and what to do about it. It is fun and easy to read and delivers valuable info and steps to celebrating what makes you different. I always knew that what drove people crazy about me as an employee would be the very thing they would want in me as a entrepreneur/consultant(which I have been now for 11 years). Making A Name For Yourself reinforces that your uniqueness (your brand) packaged correctly, will bring you happiness and success whatever your career. This book does it with humor, how-to-steps, and a universal understanding of women that refreshes hope and inspires you to succeed. Many steps above most self-help books.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Propelling Personal Power, August 9, 2004

By 

J. Ann Lazarus "Business Coach" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Make a Name for Yourself: 8 Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success (Paperback)

It is the rare book that is written by a "big time expert" that actually connects with the needs of small business owners. Usually such books miss being practical because their picture of perfection is too far from the day-to-day realities of reader. Not so with this book and I heartily and frequently recommend it. Either Ms. Roffer is a particularly insightful teacher, or she is, despite her level of success, delightfully attuned to the every woman. If you are building a library to support your journey to thriving, take this one home and get out your highlighter.