On brand.
For the lone wolves, free thinkers, and unique creators, here are a few thoughts and ideas to help big dreamers like you go bigger.
Increase Sales: Know Your Audience to Win More Often
My old agency made a big transition when we started to sell to a new group of executives. We had our old pitch down to a science. We knew exactly what the client cared about. But our new audience thought differently—and had a different set of problems to solve. Our old strategy didn’t cater to their needs. When you’re selling, you need to be inside the client’s head. Know their problems, their fears, their values. Know them even better than they know themselves.
Branding strategy hack: Get to know your villain.
Remember that book you couldn't put down? Or that movie you didn’t want to end? Great storytelling is an undeniable art. And the basic principles of storytelling are also the same principles behind the brands you love. That’s how brands come to life—by sparking emotions and inspiring action through great storytelling.
Momentum in Business: Never Lose it Again
I heard a story about an extreme mountain biker who had a bad accident. In her recovery, she says she was most challenged when she started feeling better. She went back to her old habits. She stopped doing the exercises that helped her to feel better in the first place. And this regression only set her back in her recovery. Don't get lulled to sleep by momentum. Same goes for brand development. You may feel yourself winning. Your hard work is paying off. And this is the most dangerous spot.
Personal Brand Tip: Speak to One, Others Will Follow
Think about Sarah as your "ideal" customer. That doesn't mean you exclude other people from benefitting from your content. I like to call Sarah your "bullseye" target because we want to aim for the bullseye, knowing that we'll hit the bullseye only a fraction of the time. For all the misses, we will—at least—be in range.
How to Build My Brand and Have More Fun Doing It
Every winter, my family likes to fall down a mountain and play in the snow.
Last weekend, I decided to get a snowboard lesson to just see if I can make better turns down the hill.
I met Tom Ference (my instructor) and he changed my snowboard game forever.
Failure is Not a Problem
I just got done doing all my forecasting. And I have these really fancy spreadsheets with all these numbers on them. And I've got targets and I've got expectations. I look at the numbers, and they're pretty scary. It brings up a lot of questions, like, what if I fail? And will I be disappointed?
Is Branding Dead? Part 2 of 2
Like I said in my last video, branding is dead. I made a purchase based on a recommendation from a friend. I didn't care about the product's background story, I didn't care about the founders. I just clicked purchase. And done. No brand development necessary! Let me tell you about a very important service that my friend performed for me: Product curation. She did the hard work of comparing the products and selecting the right one, making the purchase, trying it out, and then recommending it to me. Or, someone somewhere up the line had performed the due diligence to spark the word of mouth. And we can all agree that word of mouth is the most persuasive tool out there to build a business. So my question is, where do the "words" from word of mouth come from? If you're an unknown and you're just getting started. Or if you're a commodity—you're one of many. How do you wedge your product or service into the awareness of your potential customers? That's where branding comes in. So is branding dead? Absolutely not.
Is Branding Dead? Part 1 of 2
Did you know that branding is dead? Here I am for the past 20 plus years talking about the virtues of branding and now branding is rendered useless. Oh, back in the 50s, maybe it made sense to sell soap or toothpaste, but now? In this video, I tell you about a recent purchase of mine that went from product recommendation straight to purchase. I didn't read anything about the brand. I didn't investigate the artisan craftspeople that put the product together. Or how it was engineered. I didn't care about the story. I didn't care where it was made. I just trusted my friend and bought it. So here I am investing—or some might say wasting—my career as a brand coach. So, I ask you, why even bother with branding?
3 Ways to Spark a Brand Breakout
I remember when Green Day's album called "Dookie" hit in 1994. I became a huge fan of it. You'll find a song on it called Welcome to Paradise, which was one of the many hits on that album. It reached number 56 on the Billboard charts. Did you know that song was actually on the previous album? It was released three years prior. So Welcome to Paradise did nothing in 1991. And then it did something in 1994. It's the exact same song note for note lyric for lyric. What changed?
Big Promise = Big Results
Have you articulated or written your big promise? All great brands have a big promise attached to it. If you don't have one written, you're missing out on two tremendous opportunities: 1. A big promise is a powerful way to connect to your customers. 2. A big promise is an equally powerful way to keep you consistent over time because your big promise becomes the centerpiece for your storytelling. The big promise consists of 4 essential elements: 1. Articulate the desired end result: This is what your customers want more than anything else from you. 2. Identify the barriers: So what is the action that they need to take, but they're not taking it because they don't know how to take it? With these two elements, your big promise is 80% there. The last two elements are going to help elevate your big promise to the next level. 3. Timing: When are your customers going to get the desired end result? The quicker the better. 4. Eliminate excuses: This is about relating to your customers with what's blocking them inside from doing anything at all. I used this 4-part template for the big promise for the title on my webinar. It has each component baked in. See if you can identify them: How to break free from your draining job and finally pursue the work you dreamed of in as little as four weeks, even if that feels impossible right now. If you can write your big promise, big results are sure to follow. The content for this post was inspired by this article: https://www.marketingcipher.com/4-step-formula-to-crafting-your-products-big-promise/