Are You Known For What You Do Best? (BIG ANNOUNCEMENT) That Will Ensure Your Are

You’re brilliant at what you do—so why are others getting the recognition and opportunities you deserve? Maybe you’re even showing up, networking, and trying to build your brand, but you’re still not where you want to be.

On this week's episode, I'm excited to share the launch of my new book, Position Yourself—the personal branding planner and the first book in the Own Your Lane® series designed to help brilliant professionals break free from obscurity and become noticed, known, and chosen for what they do best.

It's an Amazon #1 Best-Seller In Global Marketing, which means I'm beyond happy, so it lands in more hands of those ready to get out there in a bigger way.

Today's episode is the recent book launch live show, where I was interviewed on the new book:

• You'll learn what the book is and isn't 
• Who it's for, and why it's needed now
• The three bonuses that are included

Each episode of the Own Your Lane® Personal Branding Podcast highlights one of the four steps of the Own Your L.A.N.E. personal branding roadmap to help you gain clarity, confidence, and a clear path to growing your influence and impact.

L: Launch Your Vision – Lead with clear intention and purpose
A: Assert Your Difference – Define what uniquely sets you apart
N: Navigate Your Presence – Shape your personal brand foundation
E: Elevate Your Authority – Grow impact and influence with publicity

And today's episode shares the first step you need to get out there. Let me know what you think; share a picture of you and the book for the upcoming Own Your Lane Global Wall of Readers.

LINKS

Position Yourself Planner Book

Book Launch Article

Ready to Own Your Lane? - The Brand Leaders® Podcast

Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Transcript

  Welcome I'm your host, Michelle B. Griffin, as an author, speaker, and certified personal brand and PR strategist, I'm here to empower and elevate you to get visible, build your personal brand, And own your lane as a visible brand authority and thought leader in your space. 

I'm super excited you're here. Now let's get going with today's show.  

  Hey, everybody, it's Michelle. And I'm thrilled to make this huge announcement. My first book on the Own Your Lane book series, The Position Yourself Planner is now out. Yes. After a year in the making, what was once a seven step book have now become a platform and a roadmap and a book series. And I cannot wait to share it with you.

Today's episode is the book launch all about who the book is for, how it can help you and why it's needed, why I wrote it. And really, this is for you if you are so ready to put yourself out there, but you're feeling held back, you just don't know what to say, how to communicate it, or, you know, if you're already maybe out there and things just aren't clicking, you feel a little broad and bland and just not sure why things just don't feel right with you and I can 100 percent relate.

I have felt that way myself. This planner is a tool on that journey to get out there when you're so ready. But maybe you feel a little bit unsure, unclear, and of course, unknown, because you really know, hey, I have something super important, super helpful, and transformative that can help others, more people knew about me, if I could reach a broader audience.

And another reason,  we're doing incredible work. I know all of you listening are brilliant at what you do, but we can't help but just see. Others, when we look off to the side, doing the things that we want to be doing, they're getting the opportunities that you dream of, you deserve. It happens to the best of us.

When I work with clients, when I train and speak, it's because we're just not well positioned to where we want to go. Yes, building your brand is so important, but it involves so much more than just posting content, being visible and being yourself, right? My entire system roadmap and this planner is that foundational  first steps.

I made it super easy,  super simple, yet strategic because I'm all about no fluff and all foundation. So I can't wait for you to hear about it. This is just a quick episode. And when you're ready, in the show notes, you can grab the link to the book in Kindle and paperback. But wait, there's more. What's included when you buy either version of the book? 

You get three bonuses. You get almost a 30 page workbook where you can write everything out. You get the Digital Lane Navigator Scorecard. So you take all the answers, you put them in this digital assessment, and it kind of gives you one or four categories.  And then you take all that, and I have AI prompts to give you this reflective assessment report.

I can't be there to review your stuff, so I've given AI the prompts that you can use to get an idea.  Where are the gaps, the opportunities? Where maybe you need to look if you are serious about investing yourself this year or any day is the perfect day Take the time to read this book It's a quick read the lane framework and every clarity checkpoint that you need to be asking yourself  When I worked with clients one on one, I remember someone telling me Michelle you're asking me questions.

No one has ever asked me Well, this is a very proactive way to step back Realize, you know what? I have something so important I need to regroup and get out there and this is exactly how to do it. I can't wait to introduce you to the book, how it can help you, and how to do it. So, this is the first of many in the Own Your Lane book series. 

So, I want to hear from you. Have you gotten the book? Read the book? Are you having a roadblock? Let me know. Send me a link on LinkedIn or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you. Let's get going. 

  Woo hoo hoo. And we are here for the book launch party today. Special, special day for Michelle B. Griffin, and we are introducing her new book baby to the world today. First of all, what is this book and what makes it different? You see this cute little paperback. This is a positioning tool. This is your self assessment tool, because before you can really get out there or you should get out there, you really want to be well positioned. And so my whole own your lane framework and road map is the strategic way to do that.

But before you can do that, I find that people don't take the time to really clarify what makes them different, what they want. All the things we just rush out. I've said this for years. We need a foundational roadmap and this is the first step. Think of this as your self assessment tool that I am here guiding you along the way.

When I worked with my clients, we'd do these deep dive assessments. They'd say, Michelle, Oh my gosh, you're asking me questions. No one's ever asked me. And I'm bringing it right here to you in this assessment planner tool book. So that's what it is. 

 I love it. And it's exciting because it is just so simple to use.  I made it short. Guess what today is today is national short attention span day. Yes, there's a day for that.

And that's so fitting because I like simple strategic and cut to the chase.  No fluff, all 72 pages of good stuff. This is your tool to get out there in a bigger way. So this is you, you're brilliant at what you do. There is no question. You've got skills, talents, but you realize you need to be out there in a bigger way. Maybe you're not, you know, people don't really know you or you're known like this much and you need to get out in a bigger way.

You have trouble communicating who you are, what you're different. You know, you go to these networking events and people say, Well, who are you? Or what do you do? And you just want to freeze up or sometimes we see, and this happens to all of us. We see people sometimes less equipped than us who are getting all those opportunities that whatever it is we want.

And it's like, Oh my gosh, what about me? Why am I not out there?  Well, it's because maybe we haven't taken the time in our busy life, to get really well positioned. So therefore everything else becomes easier. We rush out of LinkedIn, all the personal branding advice. It says, host content, be visible.

And I've said it too, but I've also said we need a foundational plan. So this book is for those experts who are ready to break free from obscurity and become noticed. Known and chosen for what they do best. I love that. So, one of the things about your book, Michelle, is that it's part of a series.

And it's part of the Own Your Lane series. And  this is number one, the first book in the series. There'll be many more to come. If we were to talk about, what is the own your lane series, but also what does own your lane mean? Because it's right at the top of this book. What does that mean?

That is you taking control of your professional presence, so all the good things that you know, do and want to get out there, you're well positioned. So the right people see you, notice you and choose you, we can be brilliant, but if no one knows us. Or can understand us. That's another thing.

If they can't understand us, if we're just too bland broad, that's probably the number one thing and the reason why, we're just so close to ourselves, to what we do. We can't see it. So, when I work with clients, that was the number one thing to really extract that and help them be well positioned for the opportunities they want.

So in your lane is a four step process. I spent all last year refining. What used to be seven steps to four simple steps, you know, simple strategic. So it's launch your vision. What is it you want and what you believe in when we also have a North star, like a brand, our star guiding our work. Why do we do what we do?

Gosh, it helps us get out there in the days where like, no, and you realize it's not about me. It's I'm getting out there because I have value to bring others. Then we assert our difference Jillian. The number one thing like I just said is we're just too broad, right? We need to go what makes me different.

Why should someone remember and choose me? I'm helping you do that with step a then in navigate your presence This is where you shape your personal brand how you want to think about you feel about you and how you Communicate online and off and in LinkedIn. That's a big part of it. And then E Elevate your authority.

See, I have a background in PR, master's in PR ever since I was age 17, I knew I wanted to work in PR and so I brought the PR publicity angle in because that's the area where I didn't see a lot of personal branding take place. So this is a way to elevate by getting publicity on podcasts, speaking, media features, whatever it is you want. 

And Jillian, one last thing, this Own Your Lane is a roadmap for you on your terms and your timeline. It's not cookie cutter. It's the way out there, but you choose your own direction with my guidance. And this is the first step to get you out there. I love that. You've done such a nice job of breaking that down and it just makes so much sense. It's simple and strategic. It took me a whole year to make it happen. It's so good today to finally get it out there, a year ago, tomorrow is when I announced Own Your Lane, the book and it's now become the platform, the roadmap and a book series. I want to shout out to Chris Stanley, who help me realize this could be an amazing mini book series. We don't need to be weighed down. Information is a commodity. What we need is connection and implementation. And I'm bringing that here with you. I'm your human connection, cheering you on and showing you the easy way to get out there.

I'm really wanting to get this into more hands. My whole mission is to help brilliant people break free from obscurity, get out there in a bigger way, and I want you to have this. But let me tell you this.  I love over delivering. So you're not just getting this book, there is an almost 30 page workbook. If you read the Kindle and you like to write, there's an entire workbook that takes all the assessments. Plus, there's the Lane Navigator scorecard in digital format, because once you go through the assessments, Then I have a digital scorecard that shows, this is where you are, the four areas I see where you are. Then, in the age of AI, you know, AI is what everyone's talking about, I created these AI custom prompts.

So you take all this information, and then we put in AI, and then it'll help you summarize and just see. Now, I'm not someone who says AI will write our stuff. I'm just using this as a summary tool where I think AI is brilliant because I can't be there to summarize it for you. I've trained AI or given the prompt. And then, of course, what I'll have down the pipeline. Jillian is a course, a workshop, and more books along the way to help you solve the problem at hand at that moment in that whole Own Your Lane Roadmap series. That's exciting. And especially the whole AI bit. You just kept the best kept secrets for last of letting us all know about that. Take advantage of this. And especially with all the extra goodies packed in. Leslie says, I love that you recognized your block rather than pushing for a standard single books. For those also thinking about writing a book on your framework or expertise, this is going to help. So February 1st, 2024, I launched own your lane. I had a different cover. I was just going to write my seven step and it just evolved. And I realized going through it as my business model changed and I saw where I wanted to go, 

launched my vision. I realized I need to make this simple. Strategic and really prime for people to take hold of it, remember and take action. People just need a quick win so I don't want people to be bogged down. I want you to get a quick win. That's why this is only 72 pages.  I can see future books, maybe on, how to pitch for a podcast, how to write your expert bio, how to put together your publicity toolkit, how to, find your right message.

I mean, everything in this lane. Format, I'm going to be writing a mini book on so that if this is your problem, you grab this, maybe someone down the road, that's their problem. So they don't have to go through a stack of pages to get what they want. And again, no fluff, all foundation is kind of my motto and, and that's what I'm doing. And eventually here's what I foresee. Eventually, the yellow book behind me is the cover for the flagship Own Your Lane book. All the case studies, stories of people  in a story, a case study of how they're doing it.  How many times do we love reading stories of people, how they struggled and they found success and in different contexts, men, women. Different industries. That's what I'm shooting for so that's the behind the scenes. I especially love the case studies because then you can see how it's applied because when we read a case story. We're putting ourselves in the role and going, how would this help me? So by seeing somebody else, because a lot of times all this information is great, but I'm not sure how it applies to me. And then when I go through whatever they're struggling with, I'm probably struggling with too.

So it helps me.  Go through the process. So I love that. We're all excited for that. Then it will become a course and a workshop I have designed, and when you get the workshop and the course, a one page roadmap, you are going to write after you assess.

We're going to put your one page road map together. The L, the A, the N, and the E. All the high level stuff. None of the fluff. Just the foundation you need to get out there. And it's your living document. But, you know, it can evolve a little. It's not set in stone. But this is your plan. Can I say we make plans for everything, Julian?

We make career plans, financial, retirement, baby, marriage, party plans, even vacation plans. But we don't make visibility plans, for our professional presence. And that's what this roadmap will do when I get my course and workshop out there. 

Don't forget the paperback or the Kendall, even if you get it free or you buy it, you're going to get that almost 30 page workbook. And. With the, assessment questions, the lane navigator scorecard, plus the digital version,  I have the lane navigator scorecard in the book, but you get the digital assessment, plus the AI report prompts to really help you, and 

I love over delivering. So  I could see me adding more to it. So right now it's close to 30 pages. I could see me as I find more stuff for you throwing that in. So this is going to be something  this is a tool and. I want you out there. So let's get there. And also too, like I did with the LinkedIn branding book, we have the wall of readers.

I'm going to start that. So you take a picture of the book. Send it to me because we want to I want to start putting you on the wall of readers. It can be content  I just want to see all the people who are really positioning themselves are ready to step out and become noticed, known and chosen for what they do best and just need that roadmap. So send me a picture and I can't wait to see you. Nothing makes me happier when you see people who read your books and are finding value from it. And that's why I write books and create it on your lane.  We've talked about, so the planner's focus and function. Have we kind of covered all that, Michelle, or is there any more you'd like so. It, it basically introduces you to what I'm doing, takes you through my lane format, and then I have questions.

Pretend like I, you were working with me, and I'm asking you these questions. Very much a lot of these are the same assessment questions. When I worked one on one with my clients if you don't take the time to extract what you know All this stuff we just go through the motions, right? We just do all the things but it really needs to be

let me take the time Let me invest in myself in my future. I am worth so much and I need to be out there So these are the questions I want you to honestly answer. It's not perfect. Just get them out there name it to claim it Then you take it through the lane navigator scorecard, and then you take it through the AI prompts and then you get this clarity, like, huh, this is what I put in, and this is what Michelle and AI she trained is, helping me see.

And so, yes, this is your clarity toolkit to get out there and know what really sets you apart and, and light you up. So I'm excited to see what that is for you. And so, Michelle. What's next?  I'm already looking for what's next because I don't like to stop. The course and a workshop will be coming out later this year because yes, I've started it, but I've got to finish it. More mini books. And I would love to know if people have any special requests on the mini books after you see the lane.  I'm probably going to lean into a lot of the PR stuff.

That's where people seem to be lit up. I gave a great PR masterclass yesterday and it was so well received.  In the age of social media, we're not leaving it. LinkedIn is amazing, but we've got to diversify our visibility streams. And I'm a huge proponent for publicity and PR to really elevate it.

Speaking podcasts, guessing media mentions all that is so possible because the media seeks fresh stories and fresh.  Like you out there and this will show you how exactly how to get out there. And if I could put in a personal request, I remember, so much that you have talked about putting yourself out there and that's like such a, a famous thing for you.

So I'd like to see you put yourself out there book.  In fact, I see behind me, you see that little diagram, that little precious thing. Shout out to Martin Barnes, who I think did that for me in 2021. Cause I started saying PYOT. I have a presentation. I'm going to make a book format and that gives you the PYOT pyramid.

Because I get it. There's people here like, yeah, I want to do it. I want to do it. But when push comes to shove, and I'm like this too, you get scared. You get scared, held back, imposter syndrome kicks in like you wouldn't believe.

This PYOT Pyramid formula will help you. So that might be my next one, because it's mostly already written. So thank you for that, Jillian. And I want to specifically thank everyone who's been here today to take their precious time to be here to help me celebrate. Thank you, Julian. And truly, it is my mission to help more brilliant people like you listening, watching, get out there in a bigger way, break free from obscurity, and truly become noticed, known, and chosen for what you do best.

So this is the way. First step there. So thank you. I love that. And  if you can get over to Amazon don't forget the workbook and the  Digital Lane Navigator Scorecard and the AI prompts to make sense of all the work you've done. I wanna caution you, you don't have to do this overnight. Take the time invest in yourself and truly do it.

When you write it, it makes it happen if you are ready to step up this year, you've got it really truly get this out How else do we know right how else unless you take the time? So I'm cheering you on if anyone has any questions I'd love to connect with you reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm always here to lend an ear and point you in the right direction. Awesome. Okay. Well, bye everybody. We'll see you soon with the next book. Thank you.  Bye bye. 

  That's all for today. In the meantime, are you ready to grow your visibility, personal brand, and thought leadership? Then head on over to michellebgriffin.  com for free resources to get started and get going today. And until next time, thanks for listening.