Inspirational quotes

The CUSBA Linkedin Group had these terrific quotes posted this morning. They were compiled by http://mycomeup.com/ I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

# 1 - IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad
“Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.”

# 2 - Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
“Rule no. 1: Never lose money. Rule no. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”

# 3 - Steven Jobs, Apple Co-Founder
“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

# 4 - Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Steel Company Founder
“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”

# 5 - Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA Founder
“Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.”

# 6 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek Shipping Magnate
“The secret to business is to know something that nobody else knows.”

# 7 - Carlos Slim Helu, CEO of Telmex, America Movil, Grupo Carso
“When you live for others’ opinions, you are dead.”

# 8 - Sam Walton, Walmart Founder
“We’re all working together; that’s the secret.”

# 9 - Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group
“We’re going where no one has gone before. There’s no model to follow, nothing to copy. That is what makes this so exciting.”

# 10 - Oprah Winfrey, CEO of Oprah Winfrey Network
“You become what you believe. You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed.”

# 11 - Ted Turner, CNN Founder
“I just love it when people say I can’t do it, there’s nothing that makes me feel better because all my life, people have said that I wasn’t going to make it.”

# 12 - J. Paul Getty, Getty Oil Company Founder
“If you can count your money, you don’t have a billion dollars.” 

Your Brand Is Spreading Rumours About You Again!

What's your brand saying about you?

It's all over the street - nobody really knows what you do there at ABC Co. It's not like your customers or potential customers are spreading bad news about you, it's more the fact that they're not saying anything at all. There is no buzz. Everybody knows you but for some reason that's not translating into tangible business. You appear to be doing everything right on the ground. But are you really?

From my experience dealing with SME's (small to medium enterprises), a common misconception about marketing is that have to list everything that they do on their business cards, brochures and marketing materials in general. "Ed," they tell me, "if I don't say - it I don't do it!" Maybe you're saying too much. They seem to feel that an overall strategy is less important than a great eye-popping graphics. Manufacturers give more space on their marketing materials to pictures of their plants and group shots of the entire staff. Retailers are preoccupied with getting that price as low as possible and pretending to have great service while remaining closed on days popular with customers. Service businesses are more concerned with their convenience than their customers by relying entirely on email for connections.

The common problem is not that you may be known physically, but you're unknown intellectually. Your customers can't identify you with a need they have for your products or services.  They're confused. It's a common communication/branding problem. The few example above point directly to:

1) No positioning strategy. Your audience "is never everyone" it's always a segment. It's the segment that brings the most cash your way. 

Inevitably if you list everything, you're bound to forget one thing. In the customers mind, since you do list everything, then you must be telling them that if it's not listed - you don't do it. A simple but uncompromising rule. It's much better to chose the service or category that brings you the highest opportunity and separates you from your competition. This will position you as the leader or the go to company.

2) Lack of  communication. Everyone loves those super graphics that are so cool in marketing. The viral video. Anything that will catch the eyes and minds of the viewer. The problem is that while cool, they communicate nothing. Their goal is quantity over quality. Who cares if hoards of people look at you, if they don't translate into business for you. If you don't have a consistent strong ongoing compelling message to tell, what is your brand really saying about your business? You are ultimately responsible for what your brand is saying - make it count.

3) Authenticity. You've seen it I'm sure; businesses bragging how service is the key to their brand and they make you wait on hold for 20 minutes. They open when it's convenient to them and they connect entirely by email because it wouldn't be convenient to drive all the way over to see you. Their entire brand is a contradiction. These are companies that don't live up to their brand values.

To brand effectively you must say it, believe it and live it. Branding is all about controlling your perception on the street. You have the opportunity to define yourself, drop the ball and the marketplace will not be kind. Once the rumour mill takes over, you will spend more time correcting and following, than doing what makes you income and moves you forward. 

It's Not A Book, It's A Brochure!

If you been following some of the posts here, you would have noticed that I have been promoting my new book, "101 Branding Tips." (Shameless plug) What you may not know is that I, under no circumstances actually believe that I will become the next business best seller. My motivation for the book was to expand my audience. It was to bring to the attention of a wider market, my opinion. In doing this, I could potentially increase business. 

Every book has all of my contact information. Each book, whether it is the hard cover or Kindle version, places this information into the hands of individuals who for some reason or another is seeking tips of branding. That said, writing and distributing a book is a novel way to promote your personal and corporate brand. It absolutely expands your expert profile. Having a book in your profile is impressive on many levels. People treat you different. I can't say why this is so, but there is definitely buzz to it. Locally, I can't tell you the number of times I've been approached for an autographed copy. I've been approached by an international business organization to distribute it free to their thousand members and a local company who bought thirty to hand out to their customers. Like everything else, that puts my name and contact info into the hands of another 1,300 businesses. Let's face it my book is more like a 114 page brochure. Readers will really get where my head is at as far as branding goes, and it further increases my credibility. 

Hits on my website are up, comments to my weekly tips  are increasing, and a general awareness of me is also improving. I've been approached for interviews both on and off line. I've developed a presentation on the theme of the book, and so far it's been keenly accepted. This past week as part of Kindle's techniques to promote Kindle books, I gave away 871 Kindle versions. That's 871 business aware individuals that never heard of me prior to their free download. This can only lead to better things. 

Maybe it's time you considered a book as part of your marketing efforts. It will do wonders for your attitude and influence. It has a major positive vibe attached to it. There's no brochure like it.

Download The Kindle Version Of My New Book FREE!

This week only I'm giving away the Kindle version of my new book, "101 Branding Tips." This offer has no strings attached. What I would love is that you return to the Kindle bookstore and leave a review. Don't hesitate go here:

http://www.amazon.com/101-Branding-Tips-ebook/dp/B00A529UMC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352735074&sr=1-1&keywords=101+branding+tips

My goal is to give away a thousand ebooks by this Friday the 16th of November. Enjoy

Great Brand Interview

I had a great experience being interviewed with Ty and Patrick last week. Listen here: http://www.lendio.com/blog/colors-logobusiness-fuel-podcast-11/

Paperback First. Now Kindle Here Soon!

Having written my very first book, "101 Branding Tips" I've learned quite a bit about pushing it to my audience. I've done a few book signings, presentations and PR and now I'm waiting for Amazon Kindle's all clear to add it to the Amazon bookstore. During the first 5 days of my Kindle launch I'll be offering my book for free. That's right Free. No strings attached, just go to Amazon and download it to your Kindle, iPad or Android device. After that it will be $5.99 each.

I will be announcing the launch date soon enough so watch this blog and your inbox if you subscribe to  my weekly mailing. If you do download the free Kindle version, I only ask that you go back to Amazon and leave a review. That will really help me out in promoting my book in all it's versions.

Help me to give my Kindle version away to as many people as possible by sharing this article to everyone you know who might benefit from some great tips to help them succeed in business.

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