The Personal Annual Report
You may have colleagues who are great at answering the question, "What do you do?" You may constantly read about a peer and their new book/award/speaking engagement/etc. While there are many ways to package you achievements, one format that is familiar in the business world and yet offers tremendous opportunities for personal adaptation is the annual report.

Companies use annual reports to provide information on their past performance, strategic goals, marketing plans, operational objectives, and financial soundness. Annual reports are often signature pieces that allow an outside "investor" to quickly ascertain a company's value and review progress in the fixed space of a limited time - one year of activities.

Individuals can develop a personal annual report to help showcase their activities over the past year. A personal annual report provides details about your professional accomplishments, your strategic goals, your past performance, and your ongoing efforts at self promotion.

Many people will quickly note, "But Joey, I've worked on the same project for two years running and we're still in development. I don't have any accomplishments to highlight!"

Really?

Have you helped keep the project on schedule? Have you made suggestions to improve the finished deliverable? Have you managed the work of other people? Have you contributed to the efforts of the team? Have you pushed the project in new and exciting directions? Have you delivered what you promised you would?

If you can answer any of these questions with a "yes," you have something to highlight. Compiling these highlights in a personal annual report offers a much more interesting and dynamic presentation of your successes than the typical, boring, one-page resume with "Experience," "Education," and "Hobbies" serving as the main headlines. A personal annual report allows for compelling design, illustrative charts and figures, and even (gasp!) photos of you at work! To a prospective employer or team leader, this type of presentation will help you stand out among the masses while at the same time offering candid insight into the type of person you are and what it will be like to work with you.

Once you develop your annual report, you can send it to friends, colleagues, potential employers, and even your current boss. A personal annual report (see sidebar) is a great way to update people on your achievements and serves as a wonderful tool to introduce people to your personal brand.

The E-Presence
Given an audience of ColdFusion programmers, a discussion of the importance of a strong e-presence is probably like telling a jockey about the importance of a good saddle. Nonetheless, it's significant to note that with each passing year, an individual's online presence and digital identity become more critical. With people "googling" each other before a date, reading up on a seller's ratings before making a purchase, and contributing user reviews to product sites for others' consideration, a well-designed e-presence has never been more important.

My informal research of audiences around the country and the world shows that even in a room of technologically savvy professionals only about 45% have their own Web site. Approximately 25% have a blog - and about 10% of them update it regularly. And these are the statistics for those on the cutting edge of technology!

You might ask, "Since not many people seem to be focusing on their e-presence, why should I?"

There are two reasons. First, the lack of conscious focus by your peers and others means that you have a chance to make a big splash without a tremendous amount of work. Second, you're going to need to focus on your e-presence if you plan to earn a living in 2010. If you don't think you'll need to be interacting in society as a professional or an individual then, feel free to stop reading this article right now.

Given the increasing importance of an e-presence, you should ask yourself what your e-presence currently looks like. Does it represent who you truly are? Are you happy with the links that come up when you google yourself? If you tell me your name, can I find links to you in the first two pages of an online search? What are you doing to enhance you digital identity?

If you haven't considered these questions before, now is the time. Make a list of three things you can do in the next two weeks to improve your online positioning. They can be as simple as registering a personal Web site (less than $10 at GoDaddy.com), starting a blog (check out TypePad for ease of use), or just searching your name to find out what's already being said about you (you'll probably be surprised at just how much is already out there).

Evolve Your Offering
Once you've investigated your personal brand, developed a personal annual report, and enhanced your online presence, the work is done right?

Not even close.

A personal brand is constantly evolving. Consider yourself just five years ago - are you the same person? Do you have the same friends? Do you work in the same job? Do you live in the same place? Do you enjoy doing the same things? I'd be shocked to find you respond "yes" to even half those questions - and at the same time disappointed if you did.

Don't be afraid to let your personal brand grow as you grow. As you acquire new skills and develop new interests, your personal brand should meld and morph to include these new personal attributes and skill sets.

Consider the music superstar Madonna. Over the years, her personal brand has gone from "Like a Virgin," to a "Material Girl," to "Papa Don't Preach," to "Who's That Girl?" to "This Use To Be My Playground." Her career as an author has seen tiles ranging from the racy "Sex" to the children's book "The English Roses," and her movie roles have included films as diverse as "Truth or Dare," "A League of Their Own," "Die Another Day," and "Evita." Even her name has evolved from Madonna Louise Ciccone, to Madonna, to Esther, and back again to just Madonna.

While this kind of personal brand evolution is extreme, it shows that a personal brand can go through radical changes - yet continue to showcase the development of individual skills, interests, and attributes. While modeling a career on Madonna may not be the best choice for you, it's possible to find inspiration in her willingness to change directions and constantly reinvent herself.

The Time Is Now
The "IPO" of your personal brand doesn't mean "immediate pay off." The time spent developing and honing your feature will result in great dividends - both financial and personal - but they will come over time as opposed to all in one day like the IPOs of the 1990s tech boom.

The key to launching the IPO of your personal brand?

Getting started.

You have all the assets necessary to investigate your personal brand, express your accomplishments and contributions in a well-designed and thought-out package, and consistently evolve your brand to take you to new heights. Nothing is stopping you from riding your personal IPO to newfound success and accomplishment - and having a great adventure along the way.