Style of Business - Page 10

Key Tips for Creating the Perfect Brand Strategy

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Brand strategies don’t create themselves, even though you wish they would at times. For new entrepreneurs, coming up with a brand strategy isn’t exactly easy. It’s one thing to take an existing brand, pick it apart and explain why it works…but coming up with your own branding workup isn’t always so easy. It’s much easier to work backwards than it is to work forwards.

Many new entrepreneurs looking to create their first start up make the mistake of doing the opposite — finding an existing brand, deciphering their success and trying to use these components in their own branding. It’s always best to be original — but that’s just one key tip for creating the perfect branding plan. Here are a few more to consider before putting the finishing touches on your newest branding schematics.

Understand What Branding Is

This is a common mistake new entrepreneurs make with their first business. They often think of marketing and branding as being synonymous, but they really aren’t. Branding isn’t just logos and a business’ website or slogan. These are part of a brand, but the most important aspect of branding is something intangible. It’s the essence of a business and it isn’t something you can necessarily pin down as one particular item.

A Brand Conveys Purpose

Look back on how a brand is intangible. Marketing is much more concrete in how it’s presented; from graphics to blogging content, marketing is a pitch that you can sum up quite easily. Marketing should also directly state the point you’re trying to get across. Something like “Our business can guarantee you a five percent increase in follower traffic” is directly related to marketing.

Branding, however, conveys an intangible purpose. It’s more so a “bigger picture” type of deal as compared to marketing. A brand identity puts a business in a certain position, like being formal or casual, being trend focused or best-practice following. Some business’ have brands that are more philanthropic, while others are profit-based.

Branding is Emotional

When you read a book or watch a movie, what’s playing out on the big screen or within the pages affects your brain in some way. It’s not about a direct ideological correlation — reading Romeo and Juliet won’t lead you down a naive and romantically disastrous road — but it’s instead about making you feel something. Branding works in the same way.

Except branding is supposed to lead someone to act on certain emotions. It plans an idea in someone’s head in a way that doesn’t require reason or numbers. A good branding strategy injects a business with an emotional edge that plays to a consumer’s feelings. Branding should make people feel like they belong, like they matter and like they feel connected to a business.

When you consider the emotional aspect of branding, what purpose your branding truly has and understand what branding really is, you’re on your way to a truly killer branding strategy.

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New! SOB Episode with Meiyoko Taylor – Speaker and Personal Development Leader

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A wonderful talk with Meiyoko Taylor – an Internationally recognized author, speaker and personal development leader. In this episode, we discuss one of the most common factors that hold us back – FEAR!

Meiyoko works extensively with people from all across the world, showing them how to take control of their life, find their passion, and unlock the greatness that is within. With his new book, “Find Your Amazing- 5 Steps to Transforming your life”, Meiyoko continues helps people unlock their true potential and create their own version of success, firmly believing that “When your passion, purpose, and talents are in alignment something “amazing” has to happen”. Follow on Twitter @MeiyokoTaylor.

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5 Must Read Books for the Busy Entrepreneur

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Reading shouldn’t be something that you give up because you’re an entrepreneur on the go. Sometimes we get so busy that we leave behind hobbies that we feel take up too much time, like going to the movies or reading. You may not be able to squeeze in the romance or spy novels that you used to love, but if you don’t want to lose the spark of love for reading, consider opening the pages of these five books about useful and entrepreneurial topics.

“Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers” – Timothy Ferriss

This book is a long read, but it’s well worth setting aside the time. If you want a crash course on how to be insanely productive, buy this book and read it cover to cover again and again. Strategist and podcaster Tim Ferriss shares the productivity secrets he’s learned during his time interviewing entrepreneurs, and this book contains more than 200 different interviewees from “The Tim Ferriss Show.” Ferriss ensures that all of the insider tips have been applied to his own life, and they’re certainly tried and true.

“Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble” – Dan Lyons

A delightfully entertaining read, Dan Lyons has written a book about moving from his job as a journalist to a position at software marketing startup — HubSpot. This hilarious and insightful look at entrepreneurship and the inner workings of a startup company can both bring a smile to your face and make you reconsider where your life is going.

“Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” – Adam Grant

Our world isn’t dictated by those who keep going down the same old roads over and over again. The roads less traveled are the ones that contain the most beauty, and this is true for entrepreneurs who come up with new ideas. Adam Grant takes readers on a trip through how modern leaders can break the mold and truly explore the world as an innovator and creative, not a follower who sticks to the safer methods.

“The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed On Your Own Terms”

Founder of MindValley, Vishen Lakhiani knows a lot about life and how the mind works. In his book, Lakhiani flips the script on everywhere we know in his world — life, love, work and more. The book explores how our thought processes are are driven by rules, generational thoughts and old concepts of what success really is. This book isn’t just about changing how you think about business, but also how you think about societal constructs in general.

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” – Daniel Kahneman

This is an “oldie but goodie” volume that any and all entrepreneurs should have on their shelves. Daniel Kahneman’s award winning book explores the two systems that make our minds work — one is fast and emotional, the other is slower and more logical. As a psychologist, Kahneman explores how both of these mind center’s shape our everyday judgements and how they apply to our lives in a entrepreneurial context.

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New! SOB Episode with Entrepreneur, Author & Speaker Lakia Robinson

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Don’t miss this episode! Online entrepreneur, author, and speaker Lakia Robinson drops in to talk about her thriving business concept, the #PrayPlanHustle initiative, her new book: The Truth about Ugly Women, I Want Beauty Within, how she stays motivated and her future plans. You can follow her on Twitter @LakiaInspires.

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4 Motivation Crutches and How to Avoid Them

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Self-activation is the art of self-motivation. When you’re self-activating, you don’t need any sort of outside reward or stimuli to get you going. For instance, saying “if I succeed I’ll eat one of those cookies that I usually save for diet cheat days” isn’t being self-activating — there is a reward put in front of you in order to move you forward.

Within that example, that cookie is a motivational crutch. When we find that we’re only allowing ourselves to be motivated because of an outside stimulus or other source outside of ourself, we’re falling victim to relying on something that might be unhealthy or that won’t always work in order to finally succeed.

Here are four common motivation crutches and how to avoid using them while still coming out on top.

Food and Unhealthy Rewards

Many professionals find themselves using food as a reward. While treating yourself isn’t inherently bad, studies have even shown that using food as a reward creates unhealthy eating habits within ourselves. It’s okay to say “I’ve worked hard so I’ll have a night out on the town,” but using food as a consistent motivational tool isn’t a good idea.

The Praise of Others

How often have you done something well just to hope to receive praise from someone? When you’re a child and your id and ego are developing around how others (namely parents and guardians) see you, thus developing your self esteem, it’s perfectly alright to feel like the approval of others is an immense motivator.

However, a professional adult should only concern themselves with the approval of others as a way of keeping their job. Focusing heavily on outside criticism creates an environment where the opinion of another person is unreliable, and therefore a person’s ability to motivate themselves is also unreliable.

Apps and Planners

Applications and planners designed to help you go through your to-do list are great for those starting out on a productivity journey. However, these should be like training wheels — the idea is to one day get rid of them in order to move onto that big kid’s bike.

Note that it’s perfectly okay to stay organized via an app or a planner, but many people look at motivation through the lens of clearing off a checklist, not actually absorbing experiences and doing tasks to the best of their ability.

Punishment

Sometimes motivation comes in the form of a negative — the stick matters more to someone than a carrot being dangled in front of them. Someone who uses procrastination as a motivational crutch will put something off until the very last minute, using that added panic and urgency to help them get the job done.

Others use punishment more literally, using the idea that they won’t get something or will be reprimanded as a means of working towards success. This sort of mental masochism isn’t healthy, and it often leads to more stress and mental health problems than necessary.

When we practice self-activation methods, we avoid these crutches. The best way to motivate yourself to rely only on yourself and understand that you can do it with no outside help. You’ve got this, and that’s all you need to succeed.

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The Most Common Branding Challenges New Entrepreneurs Face

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Branding isn’t easy. Some assume that it’s just slapping a logo onto a product and calling it a day, but so much more goes into creating a brand. A brand is a company or a person’s personality made marketable and/or tangible. When you create a new business and need to work on branding, you’re crafting a very human aspect of a business and then figuring out how that human aspect appeals to an audience.

Because branding takes experience to truly get right, new entrepreneurs can easily fall into branding traps and make rookie mistakes. Seasoned entrepreneurs can easily make branding mistakes, so how can newbies avoid these pratfalls?

The key to avoiding mistakes is knowing what they are. While branding holds a lot of mistakes specific to the brand in question, there are a variety of general mistakes that they should know about and avoid.

Going Over the Top

New entrepreneurs and small business owners have a tendency to want to go big or go home. Remember that when you’re first starting out with a business, this is your most vulnerable time — especially financially. It’s a good idea to be willing to invest a generous amount into your branding, but there’s a difference between spending a lot and creatively coming up with a lot.

A brand shouldn’t be complicated. Going all out and creating complicated branding schemas can be very detrimental to brand success, especially when the business in question is newer. Spend money, but spend money on something you think will work.

Non-Digital Integration

Some businesses have a very online presence, and that’s where they perform best. Online marketing and branding are very popular because they reach larger audiences and are often cheaper than non-digital options. However, this doesn’t mean non-digital options should be ignored.

If you have a business that has the potential to exist outside of the Internet, don’t let this possibility pass you by. Even if it’s something as simple as buying business cards with your business URL on them, invest in some sort of tangible, “IRL” branding mechanism.

Taking the Next Step

Many brands start out with a bang but end with a fizzle. Branding isn’t something that’s a one and done operation — it takes maintenance. Many early businesses make the mistake of considering branding to be something they do once and sprinkle throughout their marketing strategies, but this is completely inaccurate. Make sure to keep working with your branding, even after the initial brand launch.

Not Paying Attention to Analytics

Online branding is something that should be paid attention to in the context of analytics. If you send out a tweet that’s relevant to your branding strategy, assess how well that tweet is doing. How many interactions does it have? What’s the retweet to interaction ratio?

Paying attention to branding analytics is one of the easiest ways to tell whether or not what you’re doing is succeeding or failing miserably, or even somewhere in between. Whether you use free analytics resources provided by social media and Google, or you pay for your analytics tools, one thing is for certain — analytic data is necessary for branding success.

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New! SOB Episode with Artist/Musician & Producer Nkenge 1X

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I had a great time speaking with the very talented Nkenge in this latest episode. We discuss Nkenge’s musical background, his passion for creating new material, his single and upcoming album. We also talk about how he’s taken his career into his hands and created opportunities for himself.

You can check out his single “Wayment” on Spotify or connect with him on Twitter @nkenge1xmusic

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4 Tips for Motivating Others as an Entrepreneur

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Entrepreneurs often start their business journey thinking about being a stand alone individual, adjusting their work hours as they please and leading a life of flexibility. For some that might be the case, but most find that as their business grows, so do their responsibilities. With these responsibilities comes a need to structure their lives.

This also comes with a lengthened list of employees. As an entrepreneur’s employee roster grows, so does their responsibility to care for and motivate these integral parts of their business. Worker morale is a vital part of team success — when teammates are motivated, productivity goes up. With increased productivity comes more and more success.

Here are four tips any entrepreneur can use to keep their staff motivated, thus more productive.

Regular Conversations

If you talk to employees in standard businesses run by corporations, you’ll often hear employee complaints that revolve around not being heard or consulted. In businesses such as these, the people at the top often don’t understand how work flows in lower ranks, thus employees want more contact with their higher-ups in order to communicate these flaws.

While entrepreneurs and small business owners often have a more direct access to their workforce, this doesn’t mean that employees don’t want to have these same conversations about their thoughts on how the business is running. Sometimes the way to motivate people isn’t to talk, but to listen.

Have More Meetings

Another method of motivation revolves around being able to talk with employees as a collective. A common disconnect that arises within small businesses is not all being on the same page. It can be surprisingly easy to keep information to yourself and want to do things on your own as an entrepreneur; big businesses may feel a greater sense of urgency to keep things consistent across all locations and employees.

Motivated employees are employees who feel they know what direction their going in. You, as the owner or main entrepreneur, have the power to make this happen.

Don’t be a Robot

Entrepreneurs who assume leadership roles often feel like they must be a stone-faced boss, never making any decisions based on emotion. It’s never a good idea to let your soft side leave you vulnerable to being taken advantage of, but employees do react favorably to bosses that understand what it feels like to be human.

Don’t recite stock boss phrases like you’re a computer — show emotions, be understanding, and make your workplace fun by understanding that people like to cut up on occasion. Running a business like a well-oiled machine doesn’t mean it can’t also be a happy place to be.

Let Your Employees Know You

Do you find it easy to feel loyalty towards someone you don’t know? When we find ourselves disconnected from someone, it becomes harder to think of them in a positive way. This is how many people feel about their boss, and then business’ become run on fear or obligation or the necessity to make money and nothing else.

Showing others who you are is how you keep them invested in you. A boss that someone doesn’t know is a boss that is feared, not revered.

New! SOB Episode with Designer & Artist Leah Smithson

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Here’s the latest episode of the SOB – Style of Business podcast. In this episode designer/artist and business owner Leah Smithson chats it up with me about her art pieces and designs. The founder and owner of art outfit Talon and the Suneaters, Leah is a talented artist who not only paints but offers a unique line of wearable goods and custom made jewelry.

Be sure to check her out on Instagram and on Twitter @leahsmithsonart

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Branding Mistakes You Might be Making Right Now

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brandmistakes Not every branding idea you come up with is going to be a winner – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Branding swings and misses can teach you very valuable business lessons, and that’s something you should take away from all of your mistakes. Whether your sales are slowing down or you royally flub up a marketing opportunity, take the positive out of the negative: at least now you know what not to do.

That being said, this is only completely true if you know what you’ve done wrong. For instance, your sales numbers are indeed going down – but why? Without knowing this critical component of the problem, you’re still stuck at square one. This is why identifying these common yet devastating branding mistakes is crucial to your overall success in marketing.

Your brand is purposeless.

A sloppy brand indicates a sloppy business. While many assume that marketing is the cornerstone of every business, it’s actually the brand image – this image should be present in all aspects of the business, from every piece of content tweeted to every mock advertising graphic made in Photoshop.

Because of this, a brand is supposed to have purpose and be easily definable. If you can’t easily come up with a two-to-three sentence long statement about your business’ brand identity, you’re doing it really, really wrong.

There’s no set voice to your brand.

Think about your favorite character on television or from a film. You can identify them by their voice – which is to say, both how they speak and the things they say. Now imagine a completely different voice coming out of their mouth. It’s kind of jarring, isn’t it?

Consumers identify businesses in a very similar way, which is based on how they sound and the way they say what they’re trying to convey. This isn’t necessarily about getting the same voice actor for every commercial either – do you think the same voices have been featured in every Coca Cola add for the past 50 years? No – but the brand image has a certain style to it that’s consistent. That’s the voice.

All of your content and marketing should carry this voice throughout. Without a consistent brand voice, your ship is sunk.

You aren’t investing capital.

New entrepreneurs with new businesses are often squeamish about spending money – and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. It’s good to be conscious of your budget, but remember the old adage? You have to spend money to make money? Sometimes it’s true.

While it might be a lot cheaper to come up with your branding ideas in your garage over a couple beverages with friends, let’s be real – the best branding ideas likely aren’t just going to fall out of the sky and onto the hood of your car or kitchen counter. Spending money on expert branding advice can be critical to establishing your brand as a whole.

It’s unnecessary to pour your life’s savings into branding, but consider this – you get what you pay for, so why not spring for a branding consultant who’s worth the money?

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