Professor Robert M. Donnelly is an author, educator, and brand builder for businesses and individuals. He has been teaching in graduate and undergraduate business programs for over 20 years. His corporate executive positions were with IBM, Pfizer, and EXXON. After a stint as a senior partner in an international consultancy, he was the CEO of several U.S. subsidiaries of foreign multinational firms. His fourth book, How to Create and Grow Brand Equity, will be published before the end of the year.
What was your inspiration for writing the book?
After working in Corporate America for several Fortune 100 firms, I realized that the 4 P’s of Marketing (Package, Promotion, Price, and Place) apply as much to a person as they do to a product. It also became apparent that to be ultimately successful in life you have to market yourself because no one else is doing it for you. Additionally, every product like every person elicits an emotion. To be successful, that initial emotion has to be positive, not neutral or negative. You have to have a persona that people can engage with and, as a result, want to have a relationship with you. In other words, they should look forward to seeing or meeting with you again.
What should the reader look forward to reading/learning from your book?
How important it is to determine what your unique skill set is i.e. what do you do best and enjoy the most. For example, I say that I am an author, educator, and brand builder for businesses and individuals. If someone were to ask you “What do you do?” what would you say? The book also helps you realize that it is important to take an aptitude test to help figure out what your unique skill set is. It also is helpful in explaining that you need to take a personality profile exam so that you know yourself better, but more importantly so that you can recognize the personality characteristics of all the people you come in contact with professionally, as well as socially. Ultimately, the goal is to “get along,” which becomes more important as you progress in your career. The book also contains information about how to develop an electronic profile, a LinkedIn profile, a website, a network, and how to navigate successfully on social media.
How or what is your writing process?
I am a prolific writer so the content just flows from my many years of experience on personal branding and business in general. I think that any writer has by nature to structure/organize the content that they want to write about. Obviously, some research is necessary depending on the topic. I am also a voracious reader which should be helpful to any writer to keep current on their subject matter.
What are some non-academic books that you’d want your students to read?
There are many, but Napoleon Hill, Malcolm Gladwell, and Brian Tracey have written many books on how to be successful. Steve Jobs, Ralph Lauren (Polo), and Jeff Bezos are great role models. Everybody should look at Steve Jobs’ speech to graduating college students on YouTube.
What are some books in the same domain that you enjoy reading?
As mentioned earlier, Malcolm Gladwell and Brian Tracey have written some of the best tomes in this domain.
As an author, what advice (writing gems) would you give to future writers?
I would think future writers should write about topics that they are passionate about. I am passionate about personal branding and am a prolific writer/blogger on the topic. The more passionate the more exciting your writing will be because it is coming from the heart.
How and to what extent is personal branding imperative to current job system irrespective of the industry students choose? How would you define “your” brand?
The problem with job searches for current graduates is that they want a job, any job. Research has indicated that the majority of college graduates wind up working in jobs unrelated to what they majored in. Without a clear vision of what you want to be, every job results in about the same scenario: you get the job, shortly thereafter you do not like the job and do not want to go there, so you get another job(s) with recurring experiences. It’s not about a job. It’s about a career, which is why it is so important to determine what you want to be and formulate your personal branding around that goal. My personal brand, as I explained above, is that I am an author, educator, and brand builder for businesses and individuals.
How true/untrue is writer’s block?
I believe that some writers suffer from this malady. I do not.
How is your book name different from the other books in the same genre?
Every book has to have a simple explanation of what it is about, just like your unique value proposition. The title of my book, Personal Brand Planning for Life, is self-explanatory. I have also developed a series of YouTube videos with the same theme, e.g. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE Robert Donnelly” and “Want to market yourself more effectively Robert Donnelly.”
How does writing this book and others help in being part of the Stevens Venture Center?
I am an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the SVC [Stevens Venture Center] because of my experience in business, with entrepreneurship, and due to a wealth of experiences as a Venture Mentor. Personal branding is about planning. Students who become involved with the Venture Center need help to formalize a plan for their solution to a problem and then marketing that solution, which in reality will be a new brand.
If anyone wants to get in touch with you or wants to get to know more about the book, how can they get in touch with you?
The book is available on Amazon and it is reasonably priced. My Stevens email address is: rdonnell@stevens.edu
Do you have any other advice?
- Determine what you want to be
- Get the books and get started on developing your Personal Brand
- Keep in touch with me and ask for help and advice in this exciting process of self-discovery
Donnelly also advised that students use their time at Stevens to determine what they want to be so they can concentrate on coursework that will help them achieve those goals. “The time at Stevens is a wonderful opportunity for any student to learn from their professors, be inquisitive, and do their research into what kind of a company do they want to begin your career with,” he remarked.
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