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Karen is the master of personal branding.
Regis McKenna Silicon Valley marketing guru
This book is a goldmine! It will transform how you brand yourself and your company. The BrandingPays system works.
Cristina Nogueira Partner, Walking the Talk, a corporate culture management company, and former SMS&P Sales & Marketing Director at Microsoft
Karen had a methodology for personal branding before anyone knew what it was. This book is destined to be a classic.
Susan Lucas-Conwell CEO, Great Place to Work
Karen helped my company to create a powerful brand position from scratch and transform the way we approach and attract customers in today's global market. Her book will do the same for my own personal brand.
Ryan (Young K.) Yoo Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Park Systems
This is a must-read if you're ready to invest in YOU! Create your personal brand by design versus by default. I experienced a mind-set shift in how I saw myself and my potential.
Monica L. Poindexter Pharma North America, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Genentech, A Member of the Roche Group
This book is a no-nonsense, practical, operational, data-based and strategically sound method for improving everyone's personal brand. It also is very easy to read and understand. Kudos!
Leonard Lodish Samuel R. Harrell Professor of Marketing, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
The wait is over! Karen's expert advice that has catapulted me and my organizations to better outcomes for years is now available "on demand." This book is one you'll want to own and revisit again and again.
Maureen E. McNulty Senior Director of Development, Principal and Major Gifts, Harvard Medical School
BrandingPays is fabulous! It's a practical book chock full of examples and templates that will help anyone be their best brand. Karen Kang is the master of strategic personal branding.
Rene Shimada Siegal President and Founder, High Tech Connect, and regular contributor to Inc.com
BrandingPays is a must-read for entrepreneurs and professionals looking to differentiate themselves in competitive and crowded markets. Strategic personal branding is something anyone can achieve and the book's practical approach includes examples that make total sense.
Jack Koch Managing Partner, ProRelevant, former 3Com Vice President of Marketing, and Entrepreneurship lecturer at Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
BrandingPays is a compelling and actionable book that readers will find highly useful. It should be a reference on every professional's bookshelf. I utilize Karen's personal branding lessons all of the time both at work and in my personal life with excellent results.
Caryn McDowell, Executive Director, Corporate Law, Affymax, Inc.
I first met Karen when I had just embarked on my entrepreneurial journey. In the course of two days, she transformed the way I positioned myself, my business idea and the path forward. She has a remarkable ability to extract the essence of a person's brand equity. This book is a great distillation of all of her years of experience. I would highly recommend it for executives and entrepreneurs alike.
Satya Krishnaswamy CEO, NextPrinciples, and former Global Vice President, Office of the CTO, SAP Labs
A must-have for all professionals looking to up-level their impact. The easy-to-use BrandingPays System helped me clarify and communicate powerfully the value I deliver to my clients.
Marc Levine Ph.D., Executive and Team Coach, Marc Levine & Co.
BrandingPays delivers aha! moments from start to finish. If you want to accelerate your career or start a business, read this book.
Seymour Duncker CEO and founder, iCharts
Karen Kang lays out a powerful step-by-step system that makes personal branding actionable and achievable. Her stories and examples bring the methodology to life, and make the book a delight to read. I highly recommend BrandingPays for any professional serious about career success.
Larry Chang President, Ascend Northern California, and former Vice President of Finance, Global Supply Chain, Hewlett-Packard

Reinvention -- Key to thriving in your career

Globalization and social media have made the world smaller, more connected and infinitely more competitive. The world has changed. Have you? If you don't have the package that will take you to the next level of your career, you need to reinvent your personal brand.

BrandingPays™, a practical guide to strategic personal branding, will help you refocus your skills and experience so you are the best candidate for the job, career and business opportunities that you desire. Perfect for professionals and entrepreneurs, the step-by-step BrandingPays methodology has been proven in Fortune 500 companies, startups and leading business schools.

Book Contents

  • Foreword by Geoffrey Moore
    • Best-selling author of Crossing the Chasm
  • Introduction
    • The Importance of Reinventing Your Personal Brand
    • What's Inside BrandingPays
    • My Story
  • Chapter 1
    • Take Charge of Your Personal Brand
    • Branding a Political Candidate
    • What Is Personal Branding?
    • Personal Branding Myths
    • What Are the Benefits of Personal Branding?
    • Your Goal for Branding
    • Every Brand Needs Cake and Icing
    • Personal Branding Assessment Questionnaire
    • The BrandingPays System: Five Steps to Your Cake and Icing
  • Chapter 2
    • Step 1: Positioning
    • Position Yourself for Opportunities
    • What Is Positioning and Why Do It?
    • What Is Your Goal?
    • Positioning Triangulation
    • Positioning Statement
    • Who Is Your Target Audience?
    • Problem or Opportunity Statement: What do they need?
    • Value Proposition: How can you provide the solution?
    • Differentiation: Why are you the best one to provide it?
    • Evidence: How can you prove it?
    • Sample Positioning Statements
    • Chart Your Position
    • Iterate to Hone Your Positioning
    • Chapter 2 Summary
    • Chapter 2 Action List
  • Chapter 3
    • Step 2: Messages
    • Message for Clarity and Impact
    • The Elevator Pitch and Your Evidence
    • Sample Elevator Pitches
    • Different Value Messages for Different Audiences
    • Back Your Positioning Claims with Evidence Messages
    • How the Positioning Statement Can Feed Your LinkedIn Profile
    • What Is Your Tagline?
    • Chapter 3 Summary
    • Chapter 3 Action List
  • Chapter 4
    • Step 3: Brand Strategy
    • How to Develop Your Brand Strategy
    • Brand Strategy Platform
      • Core Values
      • Strengths
      • Personality
      • Brand Image
      • Brand Promise
    • Key Brand Descriptors
    • Sample Brand Strategy Platforms
    • Chapter 4 Summary
    • Chapter 4 Action List
  • Chapter 5
    • Step 4: Ecosystem
    • Ecosystem: Leverage Influencers to Establish Brand
    • Taking It to the People
    • What Is the Brand Ecosystem?
    • The 90/10 Rule
    • The Brand Ecosystem Model
    • Take Time for Relationship Building
    • Four Keys for Strong Ecosystem Relationships
    • Common Bond and Likability
    • Two-Way Value
    • Ongoing Communications
    • Relationship Management
    • Identifying Influencers
    • Managing Your Ecosystem Relationships
    • A Word About Networking
    • Chapter 5 Summary
    • Chapter 5 Action List
  • Chapter 6
    • Step 5: Action Plan
    • Build Your Brand Action Plan
    • A 360-Degree Brand
    • Brand Improvement
    • Brand Communication
    • Four Phases of Brand Communication Using the Ecosystem Model
    • Brand Action Example
    • Lessons from Rebranding an Entrepreneurial Company
    • A Word of Advice for Entrepreneurs
    • Chapter 6 Summary
    • Chapter 6 Action List
  • Chapter 7
    • 360-Degree Branding: Vision, Symbols, Words and Deeds
    • The Care2 Story: Rebranding from the Inside Out
    • Vision or Thought Leadership Branding
    • Your Look, Your Image: The Basics
    • Branding in Multimedia
    • Chapter 7 Summary
    • Chapter 7 Action List
  • Chapter 8
    • Portable Branding and Social Media: Getting Started
    • Why You Need to Be in Social Media
    • Choose Your Social Networks
    • Own Your Online Real Estate
    • Your Google Search Results
    • Your Avatar
    • To Blog or Not to Blog
    • Should You Promote Your Personal Brand or Your Business Brand Online?
    • Online Reputation Management
    • Do a Few Things Well
    • Chapter 8 Summary
    • Chapter 8 Action List
  • Conclusion
    • Reinvent Your Brand for New Opportunities
    • Four Stories on Overcoming Diversity Challenges in Personal Branding and Life
  • Acknowledgments
  • Resources
  • Index
  • About the Author
  • Further Reading

Coming soon.

Karen Kang is a recognized brand strategist and the founder and CEO of BrandingPays LLC, a corporate and personal branding company (www.brandingpays.com). She has trained thousands of professionals on the unique BrandingPays™ System for personal branding.

She was a partner with Regis McKenna Inc., the legendary marketing firm that created and launched the Apple brand. She's consulted to more than 150 organizations in the US, Europe and Asia from Fortune 100 companies to non-profits and startups. Her broad experience has included such diverse clients as Ariba, AT&T, Genentech, HP, iCharts, Lavante, Synopsys, Maxtor, NCR, Park Systems, SigmaQuest (Camstar), UC Davis Health System, Webroot and VoyagePrive.

Karen's marketing and communications background gives her a 360-degree view of branding. A former newspaper journalist on both the East and West Coasts, she has held executive positions in marketing consulting, advertising and public relations firms. Karen is a frequent speaker at leading business schools and professional organizations.

She has served on the boards of The Friends of the Palo Alto Library and the Women's Technology Cluster (Astia). She has also donated her time to such worthy non-profit organizations as Girls for a Change, CORO, Asian Business League of San Francisco and Ascend. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mills College, where she holds her B.A. degree in English, and has earned her M.S. degree in Journalism from Boston University.

Follow her on Twitter @karenkang and engage with her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/BrandingPays.

Upcoming events

DateOrganizationEventDetails
11/03/2012SVForumMarketing CampSession: Personal Branding for Entrepreneurs
12/13/2012CSIXJob NetworkingSession: Brand Yourself to Compete in a Changing Job Market
01/14/2013SVForumMarketing SIG MeetingSession: Brand Yourself for the New World Order
01/24/2013Wharton Club of SF and Swiss American Chamber of CommerceSeminar and book receptionSession: Brand Yourself for Leadership and Business Success
01/30/2013Talk Business with Howard RadioBlog radio interviewTopic: Personal branding and book promo
01/24/2013Women in ConsultingBook talkTopic: Brand Yourself to Compete in a Changing World

Coming soon.