I had a great radio interview today by one of my great friends and mentors, Ilyce Glink for her radio show on 750AM in Atlanta (which will air on November 11, 2007). Ilyce and I became friends when she was the WGN TV(Chicago) finance and real estate expert. She was a huge factor in the success of Money Smart Week in the early days when my team and I launched it at the Chicago Fed. Ilyce is a very successful entrepreneur and author who continues to inspire and amaze me. These days she sits on an advisory board to HGTV, has a regular column in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, has a successful radio show, and some really cool online businesses. Ilyce has made herself into a brand by working hard and making very strategic decisions about what kind of work she does and what kind of organizations she is affiliated with.

Today Ilyce and I talked about what job seekers need to do to find great jobs which was also the topic of my September 2007 Ultimate Resumes newsletter which you can read by clicking here. As I was talking to Ilyce, a hugely successful entrepreneur who hasn't had to look for a job in years, it occurred to me that the skills that successful entrepreneurs have to have are some of the same skills you need to find a job working for someone other than yourself.

Successful entrepreneurs are focused, tenacious, strategic, resourceful, creative marketers with a high energy level. Those traits are the same ones that job seekers need to navigate a successful job search. As a job seeker you need to have a strategy, research your options, create marketing materials to help you sell yourself to an employer (resume, cover letter), and you need a lot of energy to make it all come together.

Ilyce has spent years writing columns, producing TV and radio segments, writing books, and generally working hard to create the Ilyce Glink brand. The same is true for successful professionals: they have to work hard to create a personal brand and they do that by committing themselves to their goals day in and day out over a period of many years.

So my question for you, the reader, is, "What are you doing to build your brand?" Are you focusing your energy in the right direction to move your career forward? Are you aware of the value proposition that you have to offer a potential employer so that you can articulate it when you interview? Do you have a resume that really markets your unique skills and accomplishments? If your answer is "no" to any of these questions you might step back and re-evaluate your personal brand and try to create a plan to get on track so that whenever you are ready you can take the next big step in your career.