It can be hard not to be stressed out with all the negative news out there: Wall Street gyrations, unemployment numbers, corporations cutting employees and tightening budgets. Most of us know someone close to us who has gotten a pink slip or is worried that they might soon.

Ironically, times like this do provide opportunity and a sense of possibility. In fact, when many people look back on their life, it’s the times of struggle that they often recall most vividly – and most fondly.

Why is that?

Often times of struggle are when we are most engaged with ourselves and our lives. These are the times when we are most likely to reach out and connect with others, and when we focus to achieve an important breakthrough for ourselves.

Here are five things that tough times are great for:

• Make new friends. Go to an event by yourself so you’ll meet new people. Find a networking event that you’ve been thinking about and just do it.

• Be generous with your old friends. Generosity is often cited as a key trait of successful people. Reach out to a friend who’s more stressed out than you with the economy offering guidance and encouragement.

• Get back to basics. Cook a meal from scratch. Invite friends over for wine and cheese. Clean out the closet. Remember what’s most important to you.

• Stop rushing around. Cut back some of the things you are doing that aren’t really fun for you anymore. Streamline your life.

• Develop an attitude of gratitude. If you are wondering how, visit gratefulness.org for ideas.

Here are some tips on building a web presence:

• Claim your name. Purchase the domain for your name, as well as claiming your name on Twitter and other sites. If you have a generic name that someone else has claimed, use a slight variation with your middle name or initial.

• Fish where the fish are. Focus on the key business social networking sites and build a presence there.  If you can just be on one, make it LinkedIn since it has the largest business audience and active discussion groups on just about every topic, career interest, alumni association and company. After I put up my profile on LinkedIn, I have been able to reconnect with old colleagues and classmates, as well as a wide range of business contacts.

• Develop a strong brand image. What you put on your profile page of a social networking site and your own web site is something that you can control since you are the copywriter and create director. Make sure they convey a consistent and compelling message for Brand You. Have a professional photo not a snap shot – first impressions are powerful.

• Google yourself from time to time. Make sure you’re up to date on what the       web is saying about you. After all, new people you meet will google you. You google people, don’t you?).  Make sure you don’t put up anything you will regret. It’s not like Vegas. What happens on the web can be hard to remove later if it’s taken on a viral life.

Because she had a family, Rachel limited the amount of time in the evening that she would spend checking email or texts – if she would check them at all. Her boss and colleagues were single and seemed to check email religiously throughout the evening. Rachel felt that was driving her boss’s mistaken perceptions about her productivity.

Here are some tips on how Rachel could handle the situation and start the rebranding process:

• Reach out with a positive message: Set up a meeting but make sure to compose a clear-cut message beforehand. For example, a good message for Rachel to convey might be: “I realize that we both have different perceptions about my performance and I want to change that.”

• Ride in on the elephant: Difficult conversations are hard for many of us, so we tend to avoid them. Of course, that only keeps you stuck in a bad situation. Begin the meeting by saying, “This is a difficult conversation for me to have because I pride myself on being a top performer. And, above all, I want you to recognize that.” You also need to address other uncomfortable things – the elephant in the room – such as the evening emails. Rather than be defensive about your family time, why not suggest a compromise. For example, you can offer to check email once an evening at a specific time.

• Empathize: Make sure that the conversation makes your boss feel understood just as you want her to understand you. Acknowledge that you realize that your boss is under a lot of pressure too. Ask questions and listen to the response. Ask your boss how you might be able to work together with her better in the future. Resist feeling like a victim or reacting defensively. A caring demeanor and eye contact are crucial.

When meetings like this go well, you will both leave feeling that you were able to come to a better understanding of each other. And that will begin the rebranding process.

One study of TED talks found that the most viewed TED talks featured speakers who use animated and active hand gestures.

I was at a speed networking event last month where each person had two minutes to give their elevator speech. The crowd ranged from new grads and MBAs to seasoned executives who were interested in moving up the ladder at their companies or in transition.

Most everyone bombed.

One after another recited a laundry list of what they had done – schools, job titles, dates of employment, how many people they managed, what the company was about.

There’s no story in a laundry list.

Most didn’t even get to their punch lines before their short time in the spotlight was up.

Use the Elevator Speech to Create an Impression

 Your elevator speech is important because it is something that you will use throughout your life to communicate your personal identity. You’ll use it in meeting new people, pitching new business, trying to make a move internally at your company and, of course, in job interviews.

But in reality, every encounter is a potential interview. Yet, most of us are unprepared and we botch the opportunity to make a strong first impression. Or even worse, we don’t make a meaningful connection so that the person becomes part of our network.

The power of threes is an important thing to remember when putting together a talk or story for any type a presentation or speech.

Stories usually have a three-act structure. Classic stories and fables have three obstacles that must be overcome, three wishes that are granted, or three main characters. There are “The Three Little Pigs,” “Three Blind Mice,” “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” “We Three Kings,” The Three Musketeers, and, in more contemporary times, The Three Stooges.

Even today, how many stories have you heard about the rabbi, the priest, and the minister?

We Think Brands Are Better Than Generic Products

Any way you slice it, brands win over products hands down.

A branded item is viewed as better than its generic counterpart. Brands are perceived as

higher in quality.

Brands are in demand.

Brands sell for a premium price.

Generic products compete only on price, by offering a very low price. (And if you’re

reading this blog I doubt that you want to compete that way.)

Personal Branding is Good for You and Good for Your Company

Branding also gives you a template for developing a marketing program directed at your

key target markets. You will learn how to develop specific brand messages, tactics and

a “media plan” for maximizing success with your target market as well as methods of

measuring your success.

Self-branding is not just good for you personally, it is good for the company, too.

Branding teaches you how to be more strategic by staying relevant to the market and the

latest thinking.

It teaches you how to use advertising techniques to build a powerful verbal identity to

express your ideas through signature words and expressions. Branding teaches you how

to package your ideas for a strong visual identity, too, so they will break through and be

remembered. And it teaches you how to use other branding techniques to build consensus

and lead in today’s competitive global marketplace.

What Reaction Do You Want to Get?

Branding shows you how to attract a market. Don’t think in terms of what you want to

Think in terms of the reaction you want from your target market.

And what you have to do to get that reaction.