Ive Got A Branding Problem. And At Least $600 For You, If You Help Fix It.

Ive Got A Branding Problem. And At Least $600 For You, If You Help Fix It. Last week I got an excellent e-mail that had me ROFL. The timing couldnt have been better, as I have already had this contest in mind. Heres the e-mail: Dude What does this site do? You need to put the value proposition on the front page, in as few words as possible, so I dont have confusion as my first emotion upon visiting. At the very least, the About Us should start with that. Later, you can get to the whole I was born the son of a sharecropper, blah blah I *think* you have interesting stuff: let me know it for sure, right away. OK, now, Ill go back to the beginning and try to figure it out -Dave Dude. Called on the carpet. Again. For all the blog posts Ive written on personal branding, elevator pitches, bragging and the like, Ive grossly ignored the essential branding message. And Dave hit it on the head. This is a problem Ive been dealing with for almost two years now. In fact, its probably the reason why Cheezhead, a popular HR/recruiting blogger hasnt written about JibberJobber. And its probably the reason Michael Arrington and the folks at TechCrunch havent written about me. Because when you come to JibberJobber, you cant really figure out Whats In It For Me? In all fairness, the reason its been so hard for me to communicate this to you is the same reason you have a hard time figuring out what YOUR value proposition is: Were too close to it. There is way more that we want to communicate than what we could say in just a few words. What about the rest of the story? We dont want to have a cliche, me-too value prop filled with meaningless jargon. It is such a draining mental exercise that we go on to other projects, only to leave this critical task on the back burner. Alas, its time. For Dave. And Cheezhead. And Arrington. And the thousands of people who may have come to JibberJobber and left, saying huh?? Its time, for this task to get done right, so we can move on. But I would love to get your help. So, Im announcing a fun contest. I want to get your ideas. Perhaps you can help me in ways that I dont know. Heres the outcome I want: To get a concise, properly-worded, compelling value proposition that I can plaster on the front page of my website, and in my marketing material, and anywhere else I need to put it. The rules are simple (updates will be posted in later blog posts): Enter your submission (and any other ideas for JibberJobber branding) on the Contact Us form. I will confirm receipt of each entry. You can enter as many value-prop/branding-statements as you want. JibberJobber LLC gets the rights to use any and all branding statements submitted in our marketing material. Proposed branding statements must be original, not currently used, trademarked or copywritten. For example, you cant submit Relationships Matter, since that is already used by LinkedIn. Winners will be chosen by vote. Im not sure how I want to do this yet, because I dont want to allow people to solicit votes from friends (thus becoming a popularity contest). I reserve the right to use whatever statement(s) I want in my material, regardless of the winner, voting, etc. All submissions need to be sent to me by Monday, February 25th. Well vote, beat them up, chew on them, and figure out who wins by Monday, March 10th, when we announce the prize winners. Cash prize winner must provide me with a physical mailing address or PayPal account to send the money to, as well as possibly provide information needed by the IRS for tax purposes. The prizes include: The grand prize is $600 in cash (as of right now, it might go up if more sponsors want to jump in contact me if you do), one lifetime premium JibberJobber account (valued at $495), and an eBook of Im on LinkedIn Now What??? and Im on Facebook Now What??? Second place prize is one lifetime premium JibberJobber account (valued at $495), and an eBook of Im on LinkedIn Now What??? and Im on Facebook Now What??? Other prizes, depending on the response, will include other premium JibberJobber packages, as well as more eBooks. This is going to be fun, and hopefully an excellent experience for all involved! I should mention that Im going to lean on some leading branding experts to help me figure out which I should eventually choose. One of these experts is a long-time JibberJobber partner, Deb Dib, whos company is a sponsor of this contest. Ill write more about Deb Dib later, but for now I want to share with you that she is one of the most significant contributors to the career space. She works exclusively with executive clients, and has expertise in (amongst other things) resumes, job and career coaching, and personal branding. Ive gotten to know her quite well over the last year and am excited and honored to have her sponsoring this contest. Like I said, more later. What are you waiting for? Submit your idea for JibberJobbers brand statement, value proposition, bumper sticker or whatever you want to call it now! Ive Got A Branding Problem. And At Least $600 For You, If You Help Fix It. Last week I got an excellent e-mail that had me ROFL. The timing couldnt have been better, as I have already had this contest in mind. Heres the e-mail: Dude What does this site do? You need to put the value proposition on the front page, in as few words as possible, so I dont have confusion as my first emotion upon visiting. At the very least, the About Us should start with that. Later, you can get to the whole I was born the son of a sharecropper, blah blah I *think* you have interesting stuff: let me know it for sure, right away. OK, now, Ill go back to the beginning and try to figure it out -Dave Dude. Called on the carpet. Again. For all the blog posts Ive written on personal branding, elevator pitches, bragging and the like, Ive grossly ignored the essential branding message. And Dave hit it on the head. This is a problem Ive been dealing with for almost two years now. In fact, its probably the reason why Cheezhead, a popular HR/recruiting blogger hasnt written about JibberJobber. And its probably the reason Michael Arrington and the folks at TechCrunch havent written about me. Because when you come to JibberJobber, you cant really figure out Whats In It For Me? In all fairness, the reason its been so hard for me to communicate this to you is the same reason you have a hard time figuring out what YOUR value proposition is: Were too close to it. There is way more that we want to communicate than what we could say in just a few words. What about the rest of the story? We dont want to have a cliche, me-too value prop filled with meaningless jargon. It is such a draining mental exercise that we go on to other projects, only to leave this critical task on the back burner. Alas, its time. For Dave. And Cheezhead. And Arrington. And the thousands of people who may have come to JibberJobber and left, saying huh?? Its time, for this task to get done right, so we can move on. But I would love to get your help. So, Im announcing a fun contest. I want to get your ideas. Perhaps you can help me in ways that I dont know. Heres the outcome I want: To get a concise, properly-worded, compelling value proposition that I can plaster on the front page of my website, and in my marketing material, and anywhere else I need to put it. The rules are simple (updates will be posted in later blog posts): Enter your submission (and any other ideas for JibberJobber branding) on the Contact Us form. I will confirm receipt of each entry. You can enter as many value-prop/branding-statements as you want. JibberJobber LLC gets the rights to use any and all branding statements submitted in our marketing material. Proposed branding statements must be original, not currently used, trademarked or copywritten. For example, you cant submit Relationships Matter, since that is already used by LinkedIn. Winners will be chosen by vote. Im not sure how I want to do this yet, because I dont want to allow people to solicit votes from friends (thus becoming a popularity contest). I reserve the right to use whatever statement(s) I want in my material, regardless of the winner, voting, etc. All submissions need to be sent to me by Monday, February 25th. Well vote, beat them up, chew on them, and figure out who wins by Monday, March 10th, when we announce the prize winners. Cash prize winner must provide me with a physical mailing address or PayPal account to send the money to, as well as possibly provide information needed by the IRS for tax purposes. The prizes include: The grand prize is $600 in cash (as of right now, it might go up if more sponsors want to jump in contact me if you do), one lifetime premium JibberJobber account (valued at $495), and an eBook of Im on LinkedIn Now What??? and Im on Facebook Now What??? Second place prize is one lifetime premium JibberJobber account (valued at $495), and an eBook of Im on LinkedIn Now What??? and Im on Facebook Now What??? Other prizes, depending on the response, will include other premium JibberJobber packages, as well as more eBooks. This is going to be fun, and hopefully an excellent experience for all involved! I should mention that Im going to lean on some leading branding experts to help me figure out which I should eventually choose. One of these experts is a long-time JibberJobber partner, Deb Dib, whos company is a sponsor of this contest. Ill write more about Deb Dib later, but for now I want to share with you that she is one of the most significant contributors to the career space. She works exclusively with executive clients, and has expertise in (amongst other things) resumes, job and career coaching, and personal branding. Ive gotten to know her quite well over the last year and am excited and honored to have her sponsoring this contest. Like I said, more later. What are you waiting for? Submit your idea for JibberJobbers brand statement, value proposition, bumper sticker or whatever you want to call it now! Ive Got A Branding Problem. And At Least $600 For You, If You Help Fix It. Last week I got an excellent e-mail that had me ROFL. The timing couldnt have been better, as I have already had this contest in mind. Heres the e-mail: Dude What does this site do? You need to put the value proposition on the front page, in as few words as possible, so I dont have confusion as my first emotion upon visiting. At the very least, the About Us should start with that. Later, you can get to the whole I was born the son of a sharecropper, blah blah I *think* you have interesting stuff: let me know it for sure, right away. OK, now, Ill go back to the beginning and try to figure it out -Dave Dude. Called on the carpet. Again. For all the blog posts Ive written on personal branding, elevator pitches, bragging and the like, Ive grossly ignored the essential branding message. And Dave hit it on the head. This is a problem Ive been dealing with for almost two years now. In fact, its probably the reason why Cheezhead, a popular HR/recruiting blogger hasnt written about JibberJobber. And its probably the reason Michael Arrington and the folks at TechCrunch havent written about me. Because when you come to JibberJobber, you cant really figure out Whats In It For Me? In all fairness, the reason its been so hard for me to communicate this to you is the same reason you have a hard time figuring out what YOUR value proposition is: Were too close to it. There is way more that we want to communicate than what we could say in just a few words. What about the rest of the story? We dont want to have a cliche, me-too value prop filled with meaningless jargon. It is such a draining mental exercise that we go on to other projects, only to leave this critical task on the back burner. Alas, its time. For Dave. And Cheezhead. And Arrington. And the thousands of people who may have come to JibberJobber and left, saying huh?? Its time, for this task to get done right, so we can move on. But I would love to get your help. So, Im announcing a fun contest. I want to get your ideas. Perhaps you can help me in ways that I dont know. Heres the outcome I want: To get a concise, properly-worded, compelling value proposition that I can plaster on the front page of my website, and in my marketing material, and anywhere else I need to put it. The rules are simple (updates will be posted in later blog posts): Enter your submission (and any other ideas for JibberJobber branding) on the Contact Us form. I will confirm receipt of each entry. You can enter as many value-prop/branding-statements as you want. JibberJobber LLC gets the rights to use any and all branding statements submitted in our marketing material. Proposed branding statements must be original, not currently used, trademarked or copywritten. For example, you cant submit Relationships Matter, since that is already used by LinkedIn. Winners will be chosen by vote. Im not sure how I want to do this yet, because I dont want to allow people to solicit votes from friends (thus becoming a popularity contest). I reserve the right to use whatever statement(s) I want in my material, regardless of the winner, voting, etc. All submissions need to be sent to me by Monday, February 25th. Well vote, beat them up, chew on them, and figure out who wins by Monday, March 10th, when we announce the prize winners. Cash prize winner must provide me with a physical mailing address or PayPal account to send the money to, as well as possibly provide information needed by the IRS for tax purposes. The prizes include: The grand prize is $600 in cash (as of right now, it might go up if more sponsors want to jump in contact me if you do), one lifetime premium JibberJobber account (valued at $495), and an eBook of Im on LinkedIn Now What??? and Im on Facebook Now What??? Second place prize is one lifetime premium JibberJobber account (valued at $495), and an eBook of Im on LinkedIn Now What??? and Im on Facebook Now What??? Other prizes, depending on the response, will include other premium JibberJobber packages, as well as more eBooks. This is going to be fun, and hopefully an excellent experience for all involved! I should mention that Im going to lean on some leading branding experts to help me figure out which I should eventually choose. One of these experts is a long-time JibberJobber partner, Deb Dib, whos company is a sponsor of this contest. Ill write more about Deb Dib later, but for now I want to share with you that she is one of the most significant contributors to the career space. She works exclusively with executive clients, and has expertise in (amongst other things) resumes, job and career coaching, and personal branding. Ive gotten to know her quite well over the last year and am excited and honored to have her sponsoring this contest. Like I said, more later. What are you waiting for? Submit your idea for JibberJobbers brand statement, value proposition, bumper sticker or whatever you want to call it now!