I’m a bit late to the party, finally getting around to reading Never Eat Alone, the consummate book on networking by Keith Ferrazzi. Lots of valuable information here – especially pertaining to long-term career management and the value of relationship-building.

I came across a concise summation of the value of branding:

“Good personal brands do three highly significant things for your network of contacts: They provide a credible, distinctive, and trustworthy entity. They project a compelling message. They attract more and more people to you and your cause, as you’ll stand out in an increasingly cluttered world.”

In a nutshell, there’s your rationale for clarifying and communicating your brand in your resume and other career marketing messages. Too many people try to create a resume with all the “right” information when instead it should contain “your” information. What makes you unique and distinctive? Shout it out!

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter over at the Career Management Alliance blog provides some EXCELLENT resources on blogging, twittering, and other online tools – all as related to job seeking.

It’s easy to feel like you’re behind the curve on all of this stuff. (I freely admit, I have never “tweeted” and don’t follow anyone on Twitter.) But at the very least, learn about it so you can appear to be up to date with technology. And who knows, you might find a whole new pastime, news source, circle of friends, or even a job!

Watching your 401(k) drop,  your industry or your company falter, even your job teeter on the precipice can be scary! My friend (and career expert extraordinaire) Andrea Kay offers a great take on this in her recent newsletter:

 ”The world may be in an uproar. But that doesn’t mean your career goes up in flames. What’s happening ‘out there’ (which you don’t control) does not control your career… please do not–I repeat–do not feel powerless.”

Interestingly, I haven’t seen or felt any despair, desperation, or even resignation from the people I’ve been working with these past few weeks. In every case they’ve been jazzed about future opportunities and eager for their next career challenge. Perhaps I attract clients who are unusually resilient and optimistic — two of my strongest traits!

If you’re stressed about the current economic situation, look away from the macro and toward the micro — not the entire crisis/recession/credit crunch picture, but instead your own skills and strengths, the companies that will need people like you, the opportunities that you see in this interesting environment. Then go forward with vigor and confidence toward those challenges/opportunities. You’ll feel powerful, not powerless.

P.S. Andrea’s new book, “Work’s a Bitch and Then You Make It Work: 6 Steps to go from Pissed Off to Powerful,” can be your invaluable guide along the way. You can check it out (along with my many books on career topics) at Amazon.

Yesterday I spoke with a client who has been in an active job search about six weeks. He called for a quick “tune up” to be sure he’s maximizing his opportunities. We agreed that he is doing everything right – targeting his companies, finding the right people to talk to, making direct contact, arranging meetings, discussing how he can add value to the organization. He sets a benchmark of 6 direct-contact phone calls daily. In these six weeks he’s had 2 third interviews (flown to HQ cities) but was not selected for those jobs.

We fine-tuned his message a bit to better explain his reason for looking, but all in all he’s doing everything right and I predict it will simply be a matter of time before he lands a great opportunity.

Formula: Preparation + Method + Gumption + Perseverance = Interviews + (eventually) Offers