How can I help? That's the (excellent) question I've been receiving a lot lately, since I just published my first book, Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future. Many kind friends and colleagues want to help spread the word, but aren't sure how best to do it...

In my new book, Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future, I write about career changers and people who have "professionally reinvented" themselves -- like Hank Phillippi Ryan, who built on a successful career in television news to become a mystery writer.

As an...

Annmarie Neal, the former Chief Talent Officer of Cisco Systems and author of the forthcoming Leading from the Edge (ASTD Press, 2013), has guided a lot of careers. In a rapidly changing corporate environment, with traditional career paths and entire industries dissolving overnight, it can be a challenge...

As a former journalist, I'm always amazed at the misconceptions some professionals have about the best way to interact with reporters. Sure, they're after a good story -- but (unless you're running for president) they're not bloodsuckers out to humiliate you or extract state secrets. Here are five ways to...

When many people think of sales, it's still "guys in plaid sport coats with slimy handshakes trying to rip us off," says Daniel Pink, author of the new To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. But that's largely an outdated view, he says, thanks to...

Today's marketplace is crowded: thanks to the Internet, I can buy cat food from Kansas and have my bookkeeping done while I sleep by a guy in India.

So why would I ever choose to buy from you?

That's the question we all have to answer, unless we want...

Revlon, L'Oreal, Lancome, Avon...hadn't they cornered the market on beauty supplies? Why even bother creating something new? The obvious marketplace conversation was about looks--whose shine was the longest, whose eyeliner clumped the least. The missing conversation, Anita Roddick realized, was about values--that what we put on the outside of our...

Social media is the perfect tool for mobilizing your friends and colleagues to take action on a cause you care about -- sending a letter to a legislator, signing up to attend a rally, or spreading the word through their own social channels. But -- in a world of high-priced...

We all want to build a sales pipeline. You know -- plant the marketing seeds, nurture them, and watch them bloom into lucrative clients six months, or a year, or five years from now. The best business relationships require trust, and can't be built overnight. And many marketing activities --...

Media interviews provide the ultimate dose of credibility. After all, if the New York Times or CNN thinks you're worth talking to, who am I to argue? Even appearances in local newspapers, radio programs, or trade publications can significantly bolster your reputation. But, conversely, media hits gone wrong can damage...

Just Do It. You Deserve a Break Today. You're in Good Hands.

Good slogans are insanely memorable -- "You Deserve a Break Today" hasn't seen the light of day since the early 1980s, but most Gen Xers and above can easily tag it to McDonald's, years after the fact. How...

Marketing jobs are sexy. OK, I might be biased. But judging from the number of career-changers and freshly-minted graduates (and their parents) who approach me for advice, the interest is clearly high. After all, where else can you find reasonable (and sometimes excellent) remuneration for a job that lets former...

When you do it right, your marketing plan should guide and illuminate everything in your business -- who you're serving, how you communicate with them, and what you sell (whether it's consulting services, cookies or the chance to help children in Africa). But the truth is, too many plans simply...

There's no better way to win clients than through referrals. Customers -- rightly -- worry about wasting their money on ineffective solutions or providers who can't deliver. Having a trusted colleague of theirs vouch for you takes the risk off the table. The conversation is no longer about your background...

I recently watched Scarface, the seminal 1982 movie featuring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a high-flying Miami drug dealer. The movie highlights some clear business "don'ts" (avoid ticking off Latin American drug lords and don't become a coke addict, for starters). But on his rise to the top,...

Think "high-tech entrepreneur," and you're likely to envision Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs. What you're not likely to imagine is a woman. Dow Jones VentureSource reports that of the U.S.-based companies receiving venture capital last year, only 6 percent had a female CEO and 7 percent...

Creating an effective social marketing campaign starts with having the right goal. Big ideas are great -- one student when I taught a social marketing class wanted to develop a campaign whose goal was "getting people to care about violence in Africa."

But what people? How would we know...

It's easy for social marketers to assume that promotion is all they need. After all, who disagrees with energy efficiency? Who thinks driving drunk is a great idea? Who would argue that kids should start smoking?

But alas, most advocates won't ever get the chance to test drive a $100...

One of the most important -- and most neglected -- parts of a social marketing campaign is evaluation. I'm not talking about typing up a report at the end to hand over to your funders. Rather, "baking in" monitoring and evaluation from the moment your campaign is developed...

Social marketing -- a term coined in the early 1970s by prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Philip Kotler -- applies the insights of corporate marketing to create behavioral change that benefits the public good. Want fewer forest fires? Less drunk driving? Greater adoption of energy efficiency measures? Social...