Sunday, October 28, 2012

10 Things I Hate About Branding


ONE:
Frankly it takes a lot of work to stay on top of my brand.  If only I could just push a button like the Staples "Easy Button" ( which I have on my desk). I hate that I can't!

TWO:
I hate having to remind businesses that their brand is more than their logo. I have every design shop and ad specialty shop to blame for the mis-information I guess. (I could be painting with big a brush too)

THREE:
I hate companies who don't realize that branding is a top down initiative. Without the captain on board, who's piloting the brand?

FOUR:
Just too many great books to read. I'm stuck on historical fiction right now and so slipping in books on branding is a tight fit - I hate that.

FIVE:
I hate those who confuse their brand message with their slogan. There is a difference. I guess since they are both important, I should be happy that they have anything.

SIX:
I hate followers. Why do some businesses still feel they must follow the leader in their category? A commenter to one of my articles recently lamented their displeasure at businesses who copy the leader's image almost to the letter. Sheesh!

SEVEN:
I also hate people online who make the simple complicated in an attempt to screw a few dollars out of your pocket, only to reveal the obvious. If you see something online you want to get into, email the author - I'm sure they'll help you.

EIGHT:
I love it when someone says, "Hey, you're the branding guy!" I hate that it took so long.

NINE:
Sometimes I hate that consistency is worth so much to your brand. I get the itch like many of us to change things up a bit. BUT, my better judgement knows that that would diminish what I have achieved so far.

TEN:
Sometimes I hate focus groups when judging brand image. By their nature they look to criticize regardless if it is even necessary. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Was your brand built on consensus or instinct?

Thanks for letting me vent a small bit, I hate keeping it bottled up inside

Thursday, October 25, 2012

101 Branding Tips Book Signing Tomorrow!

Share this with any friends who are in business.

I have a 101 Branding Tips book signing TOMORROW - FRIDAY (Oct 26) University of Windsor Small Business Centre opening. The Centre is giving away a free book every half hour. This is the UofW's new engineering building.

The Centre is giving away a free book every half hour.

Date &Time:
Friday, October 26, 2012
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Agenda:
2:00 p.m. Doors Open
2:30 p.m. Ed Roach book giveaway
3:45 p.m. Closing stages

Location:
WindsorEssex Small Business Centre
Boardroom, First Floor
700 California Avenue
Windsor, ON N9B 2Z2

Friday, October 19, 2012

Get Your Expertise Out There


We are all experts in something. You might be humble in your discussion of your expertise, but be assured that you ARE an expert. I think that it's imperative, that you share that expertise with your audience and allow them to benefit from with their exposure to you. 

October has been a good month for exhibiting my expertise. On Tuesday past I spoke to 120 women leaders when I presented to Athena International in Chicago. Yesterday I was interviewed on List Builder Tele-Summit, an initiative spear-headed by Donna Ward and Rodney Rich. Next week, I'm featured at the grand opening of The new Windsor Small Business Centre at the University of Windsor signing my new book, 101 Branding Tips. 

All three events were opportunities to expand my reach and profile my expertise. In all cases, it's a great way to meet new people and see how I can potentially help them with their brands. In every case I am providing opinion free of charge to help those in attendance. It defines my brand, and in turn provides me with the opportunity to develop new leads. What do you do to share your opinion? It's a great way to show your expertise in your category. It's very much a three dimensional form of marketing your brand. 

Challenge yourself to stand up and express your leadership topic. Put yourself out there and I can assure you that you WILL benefit from the effort. Outside of self-promotion another worthy effort is to mentor younger people with your expertise. It takes a leader to recognize the value in helping others grow. It's rewarding on many levels.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

How To Check If Someone's A Scam

I got a call today from a person looking to get my business advertising using Facebook. While it was an interesting call, I don't buy on the face of one call. I like to check things out and IF I'm interested I will get back to them.

I found this great site http://www.scamadviser.com where I can enter a URL and it will give me an analysis as to how much I should trust them. It said about 63% trustworthy. I entered my own URL and was pleased that it returned a 100% trustworthy rating. It shows some interesting things. I bookmarked it for future reference. We can never be too careful.
 
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