Cover Letter Guide (Page 2 of 4) in pdf

Cover Letter Guide Page 2

important brand – Brand You."

For an IT professional, we devised this brand sentence: “Jon Smith” - a technology

solutions pioneer developing new revenue streams through technology in the

converging worlds of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

2. Get feedback on your 60-second elevator speech.

Brands hire experts to create their ads, then they test them to get feedback.

There's an easy way for you to get feedback: Just grab a video camera and record

yourself giving your elevator speech or your answer to the most popular interview

question, “Tell me about yourself.” Then sit down and evaluate your performance.

The only way to get good is to practice, make a video and rate your performance.

Your personal commercial should elaborate on your brand sentence in an

interesting way. Take another page from the branding playbook and include a

memorable phrase that embodies your brand purpose, like an ad slogan does for

a brand. Try an analogy - put two different ideas together to express who you are,

such as "I'm a cross between _____ and _____" or "I'm like ______ meets _____.”

For example, Tazo Tea defined itself as "Marco Polo meets Merlin." I sometimes

say, "I'm a cross between a P&G brand manager and a career coach."

Even though you've practiced and videotaped your delivery, your elevator pitch

shouldn't seem wooden and rehearsed. The key is to practice, but to avoid

memorization so you don't sound like you're scripted.

3. Create branded marketing materials that break through the clutter.

Every brand has marketing materials: advertising, a website, brochures, business

cards and other collateral that are all designed with a distinctive look and feel and a

message focused on the brand vision - the best brand story possible.

Visit SelfBrand’s website at , or contact Catherine directly at

Cover Letter Guide Page 2