Listen and share instead?

Strategy is integral, but you need strong branding for any strategy to be effective.

From where we sit, we see companies growing and evolving to accommodate their new ideas and bigger visions. It’s exciting to watch businesses grow in defiance of what the news media hands out on silver platters. It makes dramatic story lines, and we should listen with compassion, but those stories don’t have to shape your reality.

I want to caution you, however, that growth and vision may require basic, often costly changes, that shouldn’t be ignored while you’re building. Even if your new idea is simply a better conception of a previous business, how you brand it will absolutely impact your ability to attract the customers you desire – and the ability to make the money you’re envisioning.  (more…)

When is the last time you looked at your email signature?

I wonder how often this detail is overlooked. It’s one thing to add your various contact information under your signature line, but that information should enhance your appearance while sharing additional information about yourself to your reader. It should encourage a reader to connect with you in other arenas as well. In my opinion, if it doesn’t help – don’t add it! More information is not necessarily better information.

Here’s what I suggest:  (more…)

No doubt, you’re being bombarded right now by every sales call imaginable, most of them trying to sell you either search engine optimization (SEO) services or advertising space. Since the second week of January, our phone has rung daily with someone selling one or the other.

Since, like most of us, you’re probably considering your next purchase of ad space, let’s focus on advertising today. Yes, it’s a HUGE topic, so we’re going to take it back to its most basic premise: Advertising is Salesmanship.

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The customer may not be infallible (like you or I?), but it’s a safe bet they know a lot more about their own business than I do. It’s my job to help them realize their vision, not mine. We’re building their brand, not my portfolio. As competition gets more fierce (or if you will, as marketing dollars get more scarce), even established ad agencies are acknowledging that customers must have the final “say” in their own brand.  (more…)