I’m very particular with my suits and tailoring, but I’m not a fashion expert. So I asked the team at the online style consultancy Haberdasher to share some wardrobe tips.

Men:

1. Nothing is more important with a suit than fit, so get it tailored. Here’s the formula: the jacket should be large enough so as not to crowd the shoulders, yet when buttoned, be smooth against the stomach.
2. Pants: If they’re correctly draped, they should create a clean line, visually, from the top of the suit all the way to the bottom.
3. Color: a dark conservative suit in navy, charcoal, or pinstripe with minimal pattern and texture exudes power and authority. For a friendlier look, olive, tans, and medium gray shades work well.
4. Shoes: Keep your shoes shined. It's one of the biggest things people look for in men's dressing.

Women:

1. Tailoring is equally important for women, particularly for suits.
2. Avoid crazy color patterns and overly bright hues – they can be distracting.
3. Jewelry is a great way to express personality, but less is more: A statement necklace can add dimension to a sharp suit, or simply a great timepiece or gold cuff bracelet.
4. Shoes: Keep them simple, and make sure they’re in good shape. If they’re scuffed or have worn-down heels, take them to the repair shop. If they can’t be rehabilitated, buy new ones.

Haberdasher is offering those of you that live in Los Angeles or Orange County (they are in the process of expanding to other major cities) the first hour free for any of its personal styling services. They only work with men right now, but plan to change that soon. Simply enter the code “Keith” at check out at www.haberdasherstyle.com.

So many people get caught up with the positioning of how to explain a gap in their resume.  There’s no need to be apologetic! Speak with great zeal about your time away. Talk about what you did – people love stories. Tell them about that trip you finally got to take, that project you finally got around to completing, whatever it may be. What did you learn about life and you? Most people WISH they’d had some time off to pursue other things.

And then, of course, let them know you’re ready to dive back into work! After time away, you’ve had time to get your batteries totally charged and are ready to devote as much passion and energy to work as you did to your time off.

How have you made the most of a sabbatical or transition between jobs?

Learn the secret of the 118-second pitch in today’s tip from my buddy, expert marketer and celebrity CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett. It’s from his new book, The Mirror Test: Is your Business Really Breathing?, all about how to best position your company to grow. It’s already on at least three bestseller lists and I highly recommend you check it out. – Keith Ferrazzi

***

Adapted from The Mirror Test by Jeffrey Hayzlett

I had him. I knew it. I had been ready with my pitch and when I got him on the phone, I sold him big time. But as soon as I heard he was hooked, I stopped. I didn’t try to close the sale then and there. Instead, I tried to better position myself to take advantage of his interest and asked him  for a bit of time a few days later.

“Well...”

“Let me ask you, are you an early morning person or an afternoon person?”

“Morning.”

“Great, so are you a coffee or tea man or do you like juice or water?”

“Coffee.”

“Milk or cream? Light or  dark?”

“Milk, light.”

“Bagels, donuts, muffins, or cottage  cheese?”

“Bagels.”

“Great. So I’ll see you Tuesday morning at 7:15.  I’ll bring bagels and coffee and give you a fifteen-minute presentation of  my product as you eat your breakfast.”

Once again, my “118” had succeeded. Now, I could close the sale the way I like: in person.

The 118 is my version of what some people still call “the elevator  pitch”-an out-of-date name for the worthy idea that you need to sell what  your company offers (and you) in the span of an elevator ride. Problem is  that time used to mean up to three to five minutes. Now, it’s mere seconds. Technology has not only made things (including elevators) move faster but also has increased the need for speed and immediate relevance in pitching. You have seconds before I tune you out and maybe two minutes  after that to completely sell me with your initial pitch.

The 118 comes from the 118 seconds you actually have to pitch: 8 seconds to hook me and up to 110 seconds to drive it home -- less than two  minutes with only seconds to spare. The first eight seconds is the length  of time the average human can concentrate on something and not lose some focus. It is also the length of time of one of the toughest rides in the  world: a qualified ride in professional bull riding. In these first 8 seconds, you must be compelling, strong, and focused to be successful. You must hold on as one of the meanest, toughest animals in the world tries to throw you off - just like any good prospect will. Make it those 8 seconds, and I’ll give you 110 more to drive your message home with no bull. But if you have not sold me at the end of the 118, I will start to tune out. At that point, we are moving forward to a sale or not.

I speak at hundreds of meetings, conferences, and events worldwide every year, and I am constantly amazed by the inability of entrepreneurs, business owners, their managers, or their sales and marketing representatives to deliver a great, relevant 118.

The 118, like the elevator pitch before it, sells much more than a  business’s products or services and unique selling proposition (USP). It is an essential piece in building your brand. It conveys who you are, the  assurance your business offers, and the promises you will deliver on.  Think you have a brand? Brand is the biggest business buzzword, but what  does it mean? To me a brand is just a promise made and kept to a customer.  Your 118 helps define what promises your brand will build or make. It connects every promise you make to those around you. Too many businesses don’t focus on these promises and eventually they not only fail to build a brand, they just fail.

The 118 connects directly to the foundation of every business’s growth.  I’m not saying a bad one means certain failure, but I have rarely seen a  good one deployed in the right way fail to help a business grow. How could  it not? It conveys to anyone what he or she will get from your  business.

This is usually where people start to nod their heads as if to say, “I  know.” But I am not looking for an “Amen.” I’m looking for action. This is proof of life, people, and no time to nod in agreement or say, “I know I  should do that” or “I’ll get back to that after I keep reading.” Even when business owners can answer the “Why?” questions (and thus know why they  are doing what they are doing), the typical stammering and yammering when  I ask for their pitches indicates to me a huge inability to convey what they are doing to their team and customers.

So, put the book down and write down your 118. Even if you have a good one, do it. I’ll wait…. ​Need help? I asked a few top performers about the best and worst pitches they received. Here is what a few had to say:

“I was riding up the Gherkin elevator with Will Harris, the marketing director at Nokia. I asked, ‘What if you could get dozens of user-generated videos for less than $1,000 each with www.mofilm.com?" He  signed up before we reached the top floor and then Nokia went on to win the Cannes UGC competition with one of those videos.” - Jeffrey Merrihue,  CEO, Accenture Marketing Sciences (London)

“This [insert idea here] gives us competitive advantage (the only  factor that leads to profitable growth), and trades on the four things we covet: our core essence (what we know how to do and what our consumers consider our credentials/leverage), speed (because speed kills), surprise  (because surprise disorients even smart competitors), and concentration (the only way smaller guys break through enemy lines with ‘fewer  resources’).” - Russ Klein, President, Global Marketing, Strategy, and  Innovation, Burger King Corporation

“The worst elevator pitch is one I hear frequently. It goes like this:  Prospect: ‘What is it that you do?’ Salesperson: ‘I represent XYZ  Company.’ Stop! What does that do to help build the relationship we all  need in sales? Describe not whom you represent but what you do to help people solve the problems they have. Why not answer with, ‘I help people solve the problems of living too long, becoming disabled, or dying too  soon.’” - Robert D. Lowrey, Managing Partner, Northwestern Mutual

“The Best: We make print clickable. The Worst: We do anything and everything a company needs us to do as cheaply as possible.” - Andy and  Julie Plata, Co-CEOs, OutputLinks, Inc., Graphic Communications World

Share your 118.

Tony Hsieh’s Zappos is an Inc 500 alum

Sometimes we get stuck thinking, “I’m working hard, being productive, everything else should fall into place.”

Whether you’re an employee at a large corporation, or the owner of a business, you need to market yourself. You need to find positive brags – ways to tell the world “I’m freaking AMAZING” without them thinking you’re a self-congratulatory jerk.

Here’s five suggestions – not all of them will apply to everyone, but I bet one applies to you.

1. Compete for a booster shot of credibility and prestige by applying for a spot on Inc. magazine’s Inc. 500|5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America (for privately held companies with more than $2 million in revenue). The deadline is FRIDAY, April 30.

2. Find a wing man: Got a friend at work? Make an explicit agreement to shill for each other. Of course you’ll be honest, never inflated, in the praise you convey. But the idea is that you both make a conscious effort to find organic moments to speak positively about the other in front of influencers.

3. Start a Facebook page for your small business or firm. Yes, really! You’d be surprised how willing your friends will be to become fans – it’s an easy way to support you. Just make sure not to abuse the privilege by pushing out info constantly. Use it to communicate big wins, not incremental updates.

4. Here’s another one for people who are employees: Create an internal monthly email update of all the great work you’re doing. Make it interesting by blending it with other company news, news of local events, or links to interesting articles about your industry. Send it to everyone, or to the subset that you think matters, or even just to your boss as a weekly “status update.”

5. Have you ever hit a home run with a client, but felt like you waited too long to ask for a testimonial? Write them and ask! There’s no statute of limitations on this one folks. If they can’t remember the details, just bring them up to speed and offer to write it for them!

How do you toot your own horn?

Free cups of coffee for voters. (Starbucks.) Free overnight shipping for randomly selected customers. (Zappos.) Free hotel stays (Microtel Inns & Suites).

These are all ways businesses have “surprised and delighted” customers by going well beyond the call of duty with a creative, novel act of generosity that says, “You are having an experience.”

Create a moment that knocks a customer out of their routine, and you instantly build a stronger relationship. You’re also almost guaranteeing that they’re going to pass that story on: “Guess what happened to me today?” Boom! Word of mouth.

“Surprise and delight” isn't a new idea, but I wanted to remind people that creative gifts aren't just a strategy for corporations. I got to thinking about it this week when a friend shared with me the story of a meeting he'd just had with a potential vendor; afterwards, she not only paid for his parking but gave the attendant a kind message to pass on to him as well.

Point is, you don’t have to have a multimillion dollar company to go above and beyond with creative gifts or acts of kindness that tell clients – or even  employees, colleagues, friends, or loved ones – that you’re paying attention. In fact, the best way to surprise and delight is to do exactly that: PAY ATTENTION. Seek out small details that you can surprise people with later.

That said, here’s a few of my own techniques that I’ve used to jog people from the “business as usual” frame of mind that gets in the way of making true connections. [Click 'more' to read them!]

1. Bring on the Bucks. On the way to a meeting, I’ll call the contact’s admin and casually let them know I’m stopping at Starbuck’s – “Can I get anything for you? How about your boss?”
2. Bon appétit! Talk to their admin. Find out when they’ve got a personal dinner planned. Call the restaurant and, depending on the level of the relationship, let the host know that you’d like to either send them a dessert, a bottle of wine, or pay their entire bill.
3. Happy birthday. It doesn't take much to shoot a contact an email on their birthday. Sometimes I like to make a phone call instead. You’d be surprised how much such a call can make a difference to someone.
4. Send a Christmas card – on Thanksgiving. Or Valentine’s Day. Or St. Paddy’s. This is an oldie but goodie that I recommended in Never Eat Alone and have done every year since. Why be one card in a million at Christmastime when you can claim a lesser day as your own, and use that day to shout out to contacts with your unique card? Pick Groundhog Day and I guarantee you’ll stand out.
5. Hello, how may I help you? Are you the owner of a business with a dedicated customer service line? Every so often – maybe once a month – man it for an hour. Explain when you answer that you’re the owner of the company and you’re working the phones today so that you can personally serve your customers. Even if you have to hand them off to someone who knows the gritty details better then you, making that connection will make a lasting impression.

How about you? How have you surprised and delighted the people in your life and business?

People constantly ask me, “What do I have to offer?” I especially hear this from young people who are looking to approach more senior players. But among both young and old, there are so many people who’ve yet to discover their unique selling proposition (USP) – that “secret sauce” that can open doors to new contacts. We all have one, sometimes many. It’s up to each of us to identify and develop it.

Your USP might be an expertise, a hobby, or even an interest or passion for a particular cause. Here’s one suggestion to build your reputation around that USP: Start a club or organization.

All clubs are based on common interests. Members are united by a similar job, philosophy, hobby, neighborhood, or simply because they are the same race, religion, or generation. They are bound by a common proposition that is unique to them. They have, in other words, a reason to hang out together.

You can take your own distinctive UPS and then take the extra step that most people don’t. Start an organization. And invite those you want to meet to join you. Gaining members will be easy. Like most clubs, it starts with your group of friends, who then select their own friends. Over time, those people will bring in even more new and intriguing people.

And you will be their leader.

Today's Challenge: How Can I Help?

For you to get to know the people who can make you successful, they've got to want to get to know you. And to make that happen, you’ve got to USE YOUR CURRENCY -- your unique capacity to help somebody else fulfill their mission or vision of themselves in some way. Defining that currency is the second step in creating a solid Relationship Action Plan.

If you, like many people, don’t instantly know what your currency is and want help finding it, the best way to get started is to dig deep and find out what they need to be more successful. But you also need to take a good look at yourself to ask: How can I help? What do I have to offer?

Take a crack at these questions to get yourself started:

1. What things do you say about yourself and your interests that excite or intrigue people you meet?
2. When did you help make someone else a success at something?
3. Of the times you were able to give, which worked the best and which felt the best?
4. How can you purposely incorporate those currencies into your sales and networking plans?

Bonus challenge: Keep in mind that currency encompasses the small stuff, too. So today, find time to do at least one of these three:

1. Give a colleague a genuine compliment.
2. Friend someone you've lost contact with on LinkedIn or Facebook.
3. Thank someone publicly.

Tell me how it goes!

For more info about the Relationship Masters Academy, visit the FG site.

You must manage your own media. Yes, a PR firm can help you generate those contacts, but early in your career you won’t need them and you probably won’t be able to afford them.

Who better than you to tell your story with credibility and passion? Start making calls to the reporters who cover your industry. Have lunch with them. Create and send press releases. Remember, media folks need you as much as you need them. They may not need your exact story at the exact time you want, but with a little stick-to-itiveness, they’ll come around.

Here are 10 tips to help you break a big story – yours!

1. Know the Media Landscape
Nothing infuriates reporters and editors more, I’m told, than to get a pitch from someone who clearly has no idea what their publication is about or who their audience is.  So spend time reading their articles, figuring out what they cover, and what kinds of stories their publications like to run.

2. Work the Angles
There are no new stories,it has been said, only old stories told in new ways. To make your pitch sound fresh and original, find an innovative slant. What’s your slant? Anything that screams, “Now!”

3. Think Small
Are you Bill Gates? No. Maybe you’ve developed the antidote for the common cold? No again. Well,the New York Times probably isn’t knocking on your door quite yet. Go local first. Start a database of newspapers and magazines in your area that might be interested in your content. Try college papers, the neighborhood newspaper, or the free industry digital newsletter you find in your inbox.

4. Make a Reporter Happy
They’re a rushed, impatient, always-stressed bunch of overachievers. Work at their pace and be available whenever they call on you. NEVER blow off an interview, and try to facilitate the contacts they’ll need to produce a good story.

5. Master the Art of the Sound Bite
Learn to be brief—in both your written and phone pitches. Brevity is cherished in the media. Think in terms of talking points. Pick the three most interesting points about your story and make them fast, make them colorful, and make them catchy.

6. Don’t Be Annoying
There’s a fine line between marketing yourself properly and becoming annoying. If a pitch of mine gets rejected, I’ll ask what else it needs to make it publishable. Sometimes it will never be right in the editor’s eyes, but other times, you can answer a few more questions or dig deeper and repitch the story. It is okay to be aggressive, but mind the signals, and back off when it’s time.

7. It’s All on the Record
Be cautious: What you say can hurt you, and even if you’re not quoted or you say something off the record, a reporter will use your words to color the slant of the article. I’m not advocating being tight-lipped. That’s what corporate communications directors get paid for, and I don’t know anyone in the press who likes them. Just remember: All press is not good press, even if they spell your name right.

8. Trumpet the Message, Not the Messenger
All your efforts at publicity, promotion,and branding need to feed into your mission; if they’re only feeding into your ego, you’ll find yourself with a reputation you hadn’t bargained for that could hold you back for the rest of your life.

9. Treat Journalists as You Would Any Other Member of Your Network or Community of Friends
As in any interview, your primary objective when you meet with a member of the press is to get the person across from you to like you. The reporter is human (at least most are) and your empathy for his or her hard work will go a long way. If they include you in a story, thank them.

10. Be a Name-Dropper
Connecting your story with a known entity—be it a politician, celebrity, or famous businessperson—acts as a de facto slant. Bottom line: The media wants recognizable faces in their pages. If your story will give them access to someone they otherwise haven’t been able to get, they’ll make concessions.

And remember: Once you’ve put in all that hard work and landed a nice article, it’s no time to be modest. Send the article around. Give it to your alumni magazine. Update your class notes. Use the article to get even more press coverage. I’ll attach a recent article about me to an e-mail and in the subject line write,“Here’s another one of Ferrazzi’s shameless attempts at self-promotion.” Most people get a kick out of it and it keeps you on everyone’s radar.

Have fun!

3 Ways to Create Career-Catapulting Competitive Edge
By Frances Cole Jones

If you’ve been laid off - or want to ensure you won’t be;
If you just graduated and can’t land your first job;
If you want to position yourself for promotion;
You need The Wow Factor - that special something that sets you apart from the crowd.

To get you started, here's one new habit, one piece of vital information, and one thing you can do today to wow tomorrow.

One Habit to Practice: Actively Create Camaraderie
While it may seem a bit pedantic, it’s often helpful to think through three potential topics for small talk prior to your arrival at a meeting, a lunch, or a job interview. In my experience it’s best to choose from a fairly broad range of possibilities: say, local sports, current movies, and—depending on the crowd—nearby restaurants or attractions that you have researched. What this does is smooth over transitional moments such as waiting for the last meeting participant to arrive, for the waiter to bring your menus, or for the elevator when you’re ready to leave—all of which can be awkward if silent, or potentially deal-breaking if the topic you choose at random lands badly with your listeners.

One Piece of Information to Know: The Art of Interrupting
Most of us have a few tactics for what to do when we’re interrupted. We’re less confident, however, when it comes to interrupting others—though this can be necessary if you’re running a meeting that’s gone off track, or are overseeing a team that’s gotten into a wrangle. Given this, here are a few pointers:

The difficulty begins when many of us interject, “May I interrupt you?”  The trouble with this particular choice is that it doesn’t carry the necessary heft to stop the person in their tracks. Consequently, I’d ask you to begin by saying, “I’m going to interrupt you.” – a choice which ensures your control of the remainder of the conversation.

After that, you might go on to say, “This sounds like an important idea, but I don’t know that everyone here needs to be in on the discussion—can you and I set another time to discuss it?” Or, “I don’t know that that level of detail is quite required here, but maybe you can follow up with Jane tomorrow?” (Throughout, your physicality and tone are going to matter a lot: my request is that you sound both firm and encouraging.)

One Action Step to Take: Bypass Bureaucracy
We all know the frustration of listening to a pre-recorded voice telling us to “Press or say one for sales; press or say two for technical support…” Similarly, we’ve all had the experience of being told, “No, I’m afraid he’s not available this week. May I take another message?”

Here how to bypass this bureaucracy: If you are dealing with an automated system, regardless of the situation, the best choice to make if you want to speak to a human being is to press the button that mentions sales as I guarantee they will have staffed the section that’s in charge of taking your money. Once you have a person on the phone, introduce yourself and ask him or her their name. Then explain the situation you’re trying to resolve and ask how they would suggest you move forward. When they say you need to call another number, request both that they perform the transfer and that they stay on the line until there is an actual third person on the phone.

If you are trying to resolve a situation via the web, and have sent emails to their suggested customer service mailbox to no avail, check around on the site for the contact information for their public relations or press office.  At this point, I don’t recommend sending them an email, as that’s too easy to ignore, but giving them a call. Again, I guarantee this is one area of the company that will be staffed with living, breathing people, as maintaining their public image is likely a priority. Once you have someone on the phone, the same procedures apply: introduce yourself, get his or her name, explain your situation and ask how best to proceed.

So whether you’re starting out, starting over – or starting to think you’re ready for a bigger piece of the pie-- I guarantee implementing these three tools will help ensure your wow factor.

Media manager and trainer Frances Cole Jones is the author of The Wow Factor - check her out!