Posted on November 27, 2004 by Yaro

This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.

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I’ve been making my way through Tom Peters’ latest literary offering, Re-imagine!, Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age (thanks Helaine). First of all, the book’s design is amazing (typical Peters style). Exclamation points abound! Glossy pages dripping with red, black, blue and every assortment of color combination (truly unique).

And the ideas, while hardly novel, are as relevant and necessary as when they first appeared in the late nineties. Much of the book is focused on the corporate world, but Peters offers up several sections that are especially relevant to the soloprofessional.

Namely . . . "New Business New Brand." Here’s an excerpt:

"I hate Dilbert. I h-a-t-e Dilbert. I laugh at Dilbert … but I hate him … because the strip exudes unabashed cynicism. And I hate cynicism. I am 60. I don’t have that many years to go. I would like to make those years count.

"I care. Passionately. And people who don’t care … appall me. In any walk of life. Street sweeper. Top engineer at Cisco Systems. I care. I hope you care.

"I lived in Silicon Valley for over three decades. There is one guy I take a shine to more than anybody else … who has inhabited and helped form that Valley of Dramatic Dreams. Steve Jobs. Steve is …The One Who Really Made The Revolution Happen. His company, Apple, was the engine of all else that followed. Here is my favorite Steve-ism: ‘Let’s make a dent in the universe.’ How sweet that is.

"Most of us won’t ‘make a dent in the universe.’ But … and every one of us has this ability … we at least can try.

"It’s simple.
It’s impossible.
It demands your attention. Your attention to …
Who are we?
Why are we here?
How are we unique?
How can we make a Dramatic Difference?
Who cares? (Do we care?)

"That is the Heart of Branding. Because Branding is ultimately about nothing more(and nothing less) that Heart. It about Passion … what you Care About. It’s about What’s Inside … what’s inside you, what’s inside your unit, your company.

"There’s more to it. (Of course.) But if you "get" this part of BRANDING … then you’ve got its … HEART."

I ask you … who wouldn’t agree with that? And more importantly, can we live up to it?

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