June 08 Personal Branding Winner of the Month – Heather Gardner

personal branding award After almost two years and 19 Personal Branding winners of the month, it’s time to shift the emphasis a little.

I started this personal branding award for two reasons.  First, it was to recognize those who are showing, or growing, their personal brand through current technologies.  Most of the recipients are (or were) bloggers.  A handful only had static websites.  A few of them extend beyond their own blog or website, and I recognize that in the post I wrote about them (see bottom of this post for the list).

The second reason I started this personal branding award was to show YOU that YOU can do this too!  It’s not just for the elite, or the early adopters of blogging or other technologies.  The strategy of developing and portraying your personal brand is a strategy that you should seriously consider.

June’s winner is one of my favorite people.  I “met” Heather Gardner on the My LinkedIn PowerForum a number of months ago.  I found her to be brash (in a good way), passionate, and anxious to help people.

Heather Gardner - Recruiter and Personal Branding award winnerSo how am I shifting emphasis?  I’m not going to talk about her blog.  And I don’t think she has a static website.  Even so, she is doing an excellent job sharing her brand all over the place.  I can sum it up in one word… Heather is:


engaged.

Of course, she’s married with kids, but she is very engaged in discussions online.  She is active enough in various places that many people know who she is, what she does, and what value she brings. It’s not her full-time job, so she can’t do it 8 hours a day.  Nonetheless, she’s out there.  Here are some things she’s involved in:

My LinkedIn Power Forum – Heather is quick to share, ask, give advice, participate and encourage.  Many people have benefited from her involvement there, and I’m sure she has branded herself as a very helpful, knowledgeable and resourceful recruiter (and employment expert).

Recruiting Blogs Ning network for recruiters – Very active here, sharing with and learning from her peers.  When I created my I Just Got Fired slideshow done she asked if I was going to put it on RecruitingBlogs.com, which is something I hadn’t thought of.  It showed me that it is on her mind, and she’s involved there, and guess what… there are over 9,000 recruiters on that little social network!  Powerful, and a great place to be involved.

Twitter – some think Twitter is bunk, and others like it when it isn’t down (which is too often).  Nonetheless, it’s an amazing place to develop relationships, learn about other people, and share “who you are” with your followers.  Of course, Heather is there, active, with hundreds of people following her.

LinkedIn – of course she’s on LinkedIn.  She’s not just there – she is engaged.  She has asked three questions and answered 12. How many have you asked or answered??

Blog – Yep, she has a blog, too.  I find her style and perspective to be quite insightful and engaging.  And with titles like Honey does this blog make my “BUT” look big? and “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours” Promiscuous Web 2.0, how could you not be interested?

She’s elsewhere, like Facebook.  I’m sure she’ll be other places, too.  But the point of this post, and the reason I’m recognizing her, is because it’s the next natural step to what I’ve recognized over the last almost two years of this personal branding award: being engaged.

Heather is definitely engaged.  And the relationships she’s building will benefit her for many years to come.

Heather Gardner, congratulations! You join a special group of professionals and have earned a coveted link from my monthly winner’s blogroll area (on the left), six months of premium JibberJobber (you can transfer/award this to someone else), and a cyber-high five! And, a new addition to the prize list is the two hour (!!) minute recording of Blog Marketing 201 – 501 (part of the CEO Training for Me, Inc. – listed at $49.95 (but much more valuable than that!).

Feel free to post the You Get It award on your site!

Here are the past winners:

15 thoughts on “June 08 Personal Branding Winner of the Month – Heather Gardner”

  1. Wow!!!!!! Thank you Jason! You rock! I just love reading your blog…. and golly, I was surprised to see today’s post with my name on it! That you took the time to write what you wrote is so wonderful and I am truly flattered to be added to your list of talented professionals that “get it.” I’m blushing 🙂 and yes, I’m forwarded to everyone I know… including my mom, who doesn’t normally do blogs.
    Thank you again Jason!

  2. @heather gardner – ROFL – maybe your mom will become a regular JibberJobber reader: :p

    @Gautam – no, no one enter’s this contest… it’s not really a contest, it’s just a monthly recognition with prizes. I find examples that I like, keep them in a list, and them pick from that when I’m ready to post for the month. Sometimes I solicit input, and I’m happy to take any suggestions… I’ll need to blog more about this process.

  3. Congratulations Heather. Like Jason, I met you via My LinkedIn PowerForum a few months ago and cannot disagree with any of the points above. Take a bow @heathergardner, you deserve it!

  4. Heather totally rocks! I am often in awe of her passion and endlessly positive approach toward connecting with others in innovative ways. She approaches the working world with a desire to truly get to know others and without any fear or hidden agendas. The consummate work-life juggler, she gives me hope that it is possible to do it all and do it all well.

    Congratulations, Heather! I look forward to continuing to learn from you for a long time to come.

    Irene

  5. I am a proud parent. At times I have felt my daughter dropped from another planet. She is creative and intelligent. She is going places and cares how she travels. Good job, Heather. You deserve the recognition. Mom

  6. @Animal – hillarious… only because I know the “whole” story … :p ROFL

    @Irene – we agree, she’s dang cool… I bet a bunch of people think she’s cool because (a) she is, and (b) she is engaged 🙂

    @Cathy – very few things put a grin on my face quicker than when someone’s mom comments about their kid on my blog 🙂

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