Bill Zanker - Get Ahead by Making Yourself a Brand Rather Than a Commodity

Most companies create job slots and then try to fill them. They need accountants, programmers, sales reps, journalists, graphic designers, medical technicians, and many more. They want you to be competent and experienced. And once you're fitted into one of these slots you can expect to make a certain fixed amount of money and no more.. usually around $60,000 - $70,00 plus or minus about $10,000 depending upon location and years of experience. That's how business is organized, and systematized.

There's nothing wrong with it. Company executives want you to be an interchangeable commodity, so they can define you and put a price tag on you. If you allow yourself to become a commodity, you might get a small raise each year that sometimes barely keeps up with inflation. But you'll never get rich, you'll never really advance.

To get ahead you need to break out of the mold and establish yourself as a one-of-a-kind brand that is not easily replaced. Bill Zanker, CEO and Founder of The Learning Annex, says, "Personal branding is the key that opens the vault to riches. If you are one of a small few of people who can supply a particular service or solve a critical problem you can name your price."

The people with the biggest incomes are the people who have become brands within their industry. Take Hilary Clinton. She has established herself as a unique personage on the political scene. Then there's Donald Trump and Paris Hilton, who have used their unique names and public personas to launch multi-million dollar enterprises. Spots stars, actors and entertainers do the same thing. And there are many lesser personage who have carved out personal niches and mini-fortunes by breaking out of the ordinary in occupations such as: screen writers, celebrity event planners, hit song writer, fashion modeling, luxury home realtors, celebrity trainers, bloggers, voice over actors Bill Zanker, gives these suggestions for building your own personal brand:

1) Find a lucrative niche within your industry, and define yourself as someone who specializes in that niche. Get the training and experience you need to give solid credibility to your image. Learning Annex was positioned as the premier company in the self-help industry.

2) Associate your name with companies and people who are well known and highly regarded in that niche. I associated the Real Estate and Wealth Expo with top real estate experts such as Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki.

3) Become and expert at some new "disruptive technology." A few years ago when everybody wanted their own website, web site designers could name their price. Since then this has become a commodity job. But now there is a new opportunity in Web 2.0. Become an online identity consultant, Web 2.0 marketing expert or social networking guru and you too can name your price.