There was an interesting piece recently on Good Morning America about flowers, and how using a drop of ordinary bleach in flower water keeps the flowers fresher longer.  Who knew?  So, I wondered, did the first person who tried this do it by accident or by design?  It got me thinking about how there’s always an alternative way to get things done.  In other words, if the conventional approach is tired or no longer working, look for an unconventional approach that many times will accomplish even more.  You may surprise yourself!

As Thomas Edison said, “I never failed once. It just happened to be a 2000-step process.” 

He kept trying different approaches and each one sparked a new idea for the next approach.  

This most certainly applies when it comes to your personal brand.  After you’re solid on what your brand's core values are, look for the unconventional ways of building your platform and expanding your brand.

• Make up your own rules as you go along.  Give yourself permission to stop and say, ‘let’s zig instead of zag.’

• Be flexible and keep your eyes open to new ways to say and do things.  The inspiration can come from the most unlikely sources!

• Be inventive.  Edison also said, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”  Look at the 'junk," or the tossed aside ideas, as a pile of potential hidden treasures. 

• Think outside the box within the box.  Lynda Resnick, author of Rubies in the Orchard, and the unconventional marketing guru behind brands such as POM Wonderful, says that in order to uncover the hidden gems in your brand you need to focus on the intrinsic values inside the brand – think inside the box. 

• Step up and take on a project that scares you!  It makes you feel alive and can spark new ideas just because you’re out of your comfort zone.

So, start to look for and embrace unconventional ways of doing things, to set aside conventional structure and rituals and walk boldly and courageously into the unknown.