Duncan Nugget® #145: The New “Average”

How was the food? It was good.

How was the movie? It was good.

Can she sing? She’s good.

Nowadays, good is not good enough.

Have you noticed that when people are truly impressed and they really like something they use words other than “good”? They say things like “really good”, “soooo good”, great, incredible, hot, amazing, exceptional, “wow” and of course, awesome! Sometimes they make up words and phrases.

How was the movie? Oh my God! It was like totally awesome. 

Can she sing? She ain’t no joke. She got mad skills.

How was the food? It was Fi! (That’s how young people in Atlanta say that something is “fire”, which means “awesome”.)

In order to build a durable, competitive advantage you need to be more than good. You want to be exceptional.

Good is the new “average”.

Million-Dollar Question: 
What are you doing to be better than “good”?

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Gotta Do Something About Millennials Sexting!

Grrr…This sexting thing is way out of hand. It’s a personal brand destroyer. It’s really screwing up the reputations of a lot of Millennials and damaging their self-esteem. Come on y’all–THINK!!

The Truth About Teens Sexting – ABC News

Personal Branding Tip

In today’s highly competitive market, it is important to be able to distinguish yourself by developing a strong personal brand.

Identity Theft Tip 5 – Somebody Stole My Personal Brand?

Do you share a computer with someone? Identity thieves love to get your info off of shared computers. They get into your bank accounts, Facebook, or whatever. This just happened to a young person I know.

The id thief sent out crazy messages and posted XXX photos. This did serious damage to the young lady’s personal brand and reputation. Not cool.

So…

Be careful when sharing computers. Be sure to clear all cookies and passwords when finished.

The Young and Exceptional™: Dan Schawbel

“You need to be the real you because everyone else is taken and replicas don’t sell for as much.” —Dan Schawbel

 In the world of personal branding, especially for Gen-Y, Dan Schawbel is the man. A Millennial himself, Dan is the author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, April 2009). My copy is already on the way. Can’t wait.

With over 150,000 results for his name in Google (wow!), Fast Company calls Dan a “personal branding force of nature.” He is the founder of the award winning Personal Branding Blog®, publisher of Personal Branding Magazine®, head judge for the Personal Brand Awards® and director of Personal Branding TV®.

As if all of that weren’t enough he is also a Social Media Specialist with EMC Corporation, which is one of the leading technology companies in the world.

When I started looking for The Young and Exceptional™, Dan is one of the first people that popped into my head. Now we get a chance to poke around in his.

Q & A: Can you help me find my brand?

I spoke to you at the assembly here at Claflin University, and I asked you some things, but was afraid to ask the rest out loud, my question is I am applying for the Honors College and I need a brand statement in order to get in, just in case I get interviewed.

My skills that I have obtained so far are communications skills, I have interpersonal skills but, that’s too few to name can you help me find my brand? To get in I have to demonstrate ongoing leadership skills, be academically successful, and develop service for the community.

–college freshman, Claflin University

How To Start Developing Your Personal Brand

(Adapted from My Success Journal: For Young People)

“Hey! Why is my medicine so expensive this time? It’s usually a lot cheaper than this. What’s up with that?”

“Mr. Duncan, you normally get generics, but your doctor instructed us to give you the name brand medicine this time.”

“Not really, it’s just the fact that it’s name brand. The brand is what you’re paying for.” 

—A conversation between Al Duncan and the pharmacist