For the past few months I’ve been in touch with several reluctant sales people from around the world, and we’ve been sharing tips and techniques that has made selling a little bit easier. None of these contacts are Anthony Robbins clones or Dale Carnegie wannabe’s, BUT the one thing they did have in common was that they are introverts in an extroverts world. They’re tired of the books on sales that assume you love to put yourself out there.

So guess what? I’ve taken this valuable conversation and put them together in a little eBook that I am giving away for the asking. It was a pleasure putting together this information because of the insight it gave me. This is my first offering in the eBook realm. I call the effort, “The Reluctant Salesperson: An Introvert’s Guide to Selling.”

If you see fit to add this eBook to your reading, I’d love it, if you’d drop back here and let me know what you think. One thing about blogging that I find immensely gratifying is the breadth of opinion - all of it with the goal of helping all of us improve how we do business.

…for all the reluctant sales people who may be too shy to drop by my site and pick up a copy, I don’t mind if you get a friend to do it for you.

All the best.

Brand Champions are advocates who promote and or refer your business to others. They are passionate about your brand and are active in your promotion. Many times even brand champions don’t have a clear understanding of what you do. So - here’s your chance to strengthen existing brand champions and empower others who could potentially become Brand Champions for your company. Lets tackle each of the stakeholder groups to shore up support for the team:

Employees:

• develop brand training that exposes the employee to the brand’s core capabilities
• give the employee a brand statement that they can use to properly explain the brand promise or key positioning strategy
• provide employees with apparel festooned with the brand logo and/or positioning statement
• be sure that they are aware of the company’s proud history
• develop a model where an employee has input on possible opportunities
• make available educational opportunities that can help employees make your product offering or service better
• make it possible for employees to belong to influential community groups
• for employees that have direct customer contact, be sure that they exhibit traits complementary to the brand personality and values
• help employees understand that a properly managed brand will benefit their incomes into the future

Suppliers:

• make sure suppliers know where they stand in the food chain of your brand
• let them know what is expected of them and how that impacts the growth of your brand
• be sure that they understand the culture of your company
• provide suppliers with apparel festooned with the brand logo and/or positioning statement
• be sure that policies regarding gifts or favors compliment brand values

Customers:

• provide them the opportunity to tell your story
• referral programs to reward their enthusiasm for your brand
• regularly survey them to be sure that you are exceeding their expectations
• make it a brand policy to go above and beyond what is expected
• get bodies in front of customers, don’t reply to heavily on email
• look for ways of enhancing the relationship with customers ( track their personal and professional motivations )
• provide customers with apparel festooned with the brand logo and/or positioning statement
• record testimonials from customer advocates, (don’t pay for these statements)
• quickly address problems and issues with professionalism
• nurture loyalty among customers by building relationships from sales transactions
• keep customers on top of changes and improvements to the brand

Management/Share Holders:

• be sure that everyone is singing from the same song sheet
• provide Management/Share Holders with apparel festooned with the brand logo and/or positioning statement
• be sure that this group understands and are loyal to the brand values and personality
• with every decision that effects the brand, be sure that the information flows down efficiently to the other stake holders
• be aware of executive decisions that could conflict with the brand
• audit your brand from time to time to be sure that the brand is not wavering in its focus
• be aware that the leaders of the brand impact it directly - implementing change should always compliment brand legacy

At the end of the day, Brand Champions will deliver a winning game plan. Branding is a team sport in the strictest sense of the word. If you have a tendency to go it alone,
you might find that your brand is stagnant. Your best chance at winning is when you allow stake holders to become part of the branding team. TOGETHER, YOU COULD BE A LEADER IN YOUR CATEGORY!

I regularly drop into blogs and business consultant’s websites to check out some tip or suggestion that I may find of use. I can’t tell you how many times, I’m confronted with a brand image that absolutely contradicts the message they’re sending. As consultants, they are by nature a people business. Their job is to help people with problems and situations in their area of expertise. What sort of message are they sending if their sites and blogs are totally void of humanity. Not a single shot of a person. I want any consultant I hire to like people.

Businesses in the manufacturing sector are also guilty of this error. Lots of shots of real estate but nothing of people actually working the shop floor. One , that made me chuckle said that it was “their people that made the difference”. Guess what was missing in their literature?

The restaurant and hotel industry are great for this - lots of shots of expansive dining rooms, luxurious guest rooms and health clubs with no “body” in any one of them. As people, we all love to look at other people. We are a social species by nature. How you position people emotes a certain attitude. Diversity among the people we use, sends a powerful message. We go where the people are. Have you ever noticed that people are more apt to check out a new restaurant or store if there are people there when they get there. Nothing is more alluring than a parking lot full of cars at a store opening. There is nothing inspiring about a health club with no sweating bodies in sight. Humanity inspires us.

In the use of people shots, one simple tip in setting up the shot is an old design rule. Never have the model looking outside of your frame. It sends the eye away from your message. They should be looking in - our eyes follow their eyes. One that I employ is cropping. In a head and shoulders shot, cropping off the top of the head sends the readers eyes downward into the eyes of the model. When ever I use pictures of people I am always careful when choosing their use. I want the message to be consistent across the board and their use must compliment my brand. Even my own picture sends messages. One shot I particularly like is to a peer of mine - not friendly enough. “You are much friendlier than that picture suggests”‘ she often tells me. When we got together, she shot one that was more appropriate in her mind. It is the one most often seen of me out there.

Use people (images) to your advantage. Have them in your corporate colors. Be sure that they are of the correct demographic. Don’t have a genX ‘er in your materials if they are not your target audience. The wrong shot can alienate as powerfully as the perfect shot. Overall, remember that when choosing people shots for your brand, they must conform to your brand message. Don’t sacrifice this important point on the alter of creativity. Your brand communicates a specific message to its audience who are willing receptacles.

Say Cheese!

One of the issues you will have at the end of your branding process is buy-in among employees. Stand back and take a visual on your employee group. Most are your garden-variety employee, but a few, while good workers are out-spoken and quick to judge. Other employees look to them for direction. They typically see initiatives coming down from the corner office as “just more work”. They do their best to put a negative spin on the initiatives and are a drag to getting things done. We call these folks, “wrenches” because they throw a monkey wrench into everything you do.

The trick is to include the Wrenches in the branding process. The theory is simple and basic - you want the wrenches to become advocates for the brand initiatives. If they are part of the solution, then they will use their energies to push it through to the employees stakeholders. Just imagine how empowered they will feel being included in the high-level branding sessions with the leaders of the company in attendance - actually wanting their valuable input.

Now, when the brand process is complete and ready to roll roll out to the employees, you have their key mouthpiece on your team. That monkey wrench is now a brand hero - everybody wins.

If there is one thing that many small businesses love to mess with, it is their brand image. Perhaps it is their chance to get creative, in an otherwise numbers oriented existence. It is also the one area that gets the greatest abuse in regard to the “holy Grail” of brand - CONSISTENCY. One area I’d like to address is your web presence.

Does your website reflect your brand accurately? Let’s take a look at 5 cyber-consistency challenges:

ONE: Over-all brand image of your website.

If I met you at a networking event and you passed your card on to me - when I got back to my office and went directly to your website - would I see something familiar when the opening page appears?
Your business card is my initial exposure to your brand image. I begins my journey down Brand You. If upon opening your web page, I am faced with an entirely different esthetic, then you are doing your company/brand a HUGE disservice. Your visitor now has to adjust their interpretation of your brand from another perspective. Ideally, you want their brand experience to reinforced from their initial exposure to Brand You. Don’t get tempted with the urge to get overly creative if it means moving away from what was already established on your business cards.

TWO: If your brand is information oriented, your website should reflect this.

Let’s say Brand You, has established itself as an expert, then your site should be focused on delivering information on your category. It should give the visitor the distinct impression that Brand You is indeed that expert. It should show that you are there to help them. Outside of the web, your collateral material should also portray this.

THREE: Your promise should be the same on AND off-line.

Whether your customer meets you at an event or on-line they should hear only ONE brand promise. The power of consistency goes a long way to getting the trust of a potential customer when the promise they hear is repeated at every point of contact. Also be sure that the promise is acted on, not just a hollow statement.

FOUR: There is more to a domain name than you think.

Your URL. Is it specific to your brand. Ideally it is the same name as your brand name. So if your company is called - The Acme Company then ideally the URL would be The AcmeCompany.com. If that isn’t available don’t be tempted with acronyms like TAC.com, while representational, it does nothing to make them think of Acme. If I called your office, you now answer the telephone with. “good morning Acme”, not good morning TAC. A good alternative would be something descriptive of Acme. Maybe something like, “TheAcmeAdvantage.com”. Now we’re thinking something positive about Acme.

FIVE: Is your website presence passive or pro-active?

Determine how your website can be an asset to your brand. If it is strictly informational, then it is a passive tool. Get the information out and make it easy for the customer to contact you. If it is to be pro-active, then you want your customer to stay around your site longer. Give them tools and information that they can use. Become a valuable resource for them. Which ever of the two strategies you follow, be sure that it is in sync with your brand.

CONSISTENCY - there is no more powerful word regarding your brand experience. With it, each element builds on the next. It leaves confusion in the dust. Without it, it is a harder, more expensive route to take. Never compromise. Take a hard look at your brand as it exists right now. Are there any loose ends that could use a tweak or two to assure that everything you do is consistent?

In the business world, there are networking groups built on the concept of boosting. When you give someone a boost, you are helping yourself as well. When you give a boost, you are giving of yourself for the betterment of someone else. You are not expecting an immediate reward but you will definitely feel good inside from your effort to help someone else. Mentoring programs give a boost to young professionals. For every person that you give a boost up, you build a strong bond. They don’t forget your selflessness in helping them to succeed. They in turn become powerful advocates for you.

I know myself, when someone I see impresses me with their professionalism and honest business ethics, I am more apt to help them out. I work with them and help them to achieve their goals. Sometimes this is at the expense of regular rates, standard time-lines or background reconnaissance. Sometimes you just instantly respect this person, and wish to give them “a boost up”. What ever your motivation for giving a boost, don’t you find you’re all the better for doing it? There are just some individuals who cross your path who deserve a break, a boost. In the scheme of things the boost will mean more to them and frankly that is the way it should be.

BUT, more times than not a boost today will result in something positive coming your way as a result of this effort at some future point. As any strong networking group will tell you - it is best to give first if you wish to receive. Remember Wimpy from Popeye -”I will gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today?” Give ol’ Wimpy a boost and he will be your advocate forever. Remember your neighbourhood friends - when you gave them a boost over that fence - didn’t they cheerfully share that Coke with you in the shade later in the day?

Giving a boost to someone is good for one’s soul and great for your brand - IT’S WHO YOU ARE.

Namely complete service in everything related to payroll in Canada. Paywiz management, having many years of experience inside the payroll industry saw this opportunity and decided to claim it as their own.

Their brand positioning strategy- PAYWIZ: the ONLY payroll solution to deliver everything.

Clear and right to the point. Due to the fact that Paywiz is a young progressive company they have snatched up the determination to deliver services that the older players simply ignore in delivering traditional payroll services. Utilizing technology and good old fashion spunk, Payroll aims to quickly build a customer base by delivering everything - resulting in a confidence that allows small business owners the freedom to work more effectively at their core competencies rather than spending valuable time tying-up loose ends traditional payroll models leave wanting.

Paywiz’s positioning strategy has invigorated management. The logo is simple, but the message is clear - all encompassing - EVERYTHING. The overall image is clean, simple and accessible. The CEO of Paywiz, Peter Marossis, is authoring a corporate blog called,Everything Payroll Blog. Here visitors can have direct access to the leadership of the company and pick up valuable information that has an impact on “everything payroll”. ( The launch article will be up in a about a week.) As you may be able to determine at this point, ( if you checked out the links) Paywiz’s action word is “EVERYTHING”.

When the North American business community is cringing with each daily news report, there are those of us who see the opportunities a slowing economy presents. It represents the old - every dark cloud has a silver lining story. Myself, I have never been busier. This economy has presented opportunities for my services because companies who want a stronger positioning strategy that truly differentiates them, are turning to branding consultants to help them in finding a better strategy. Traditional marketing with catchy slogans and low pricing have gotten them flat results. More times than not, they are blending in with the regular deluge of desperate small businesses trying to pry dollars from an already thin customer wallet with a quick commodity fix.

Take one step back and look at how you are delivering your services - your silver lining exists. One more example emerged even last evening at a restaurant. I bumped into an acquaintance who is in retail and he lamented that his market has been pummeled by the economy and he didn’t believe he’d be here in another few years. I got the conversation going toward toward his expertise. He mentioned that many suppliers and industry people contact him regularly for his advice on topics.

Now a simple question emerged: “Couldn’t you start charging a consulting fee for that same advice, and aggressively go after it?” He just stopped - looked at me and calmly said - “man Ed, there’s an opportunity there.” - EXACTLY!. Don’t dwell on the negative.

If you refuse to look for the opportunities, you can join the thousands of businesses who moan on about the economy, or you can lead the way to your success. All of us - in the running of our businesses, give away services that we could be charging for. For all the doom and gloom, the vast majority among us are still employed and consuming. The simple truth is that they, like you, only want to deal with the smart companies. Surround yourself with smart thinking, positive influences. Negative thinking will only deliver a negative result.

Follow the example of companies like PAYWIZ who saw holes in the competitive strategy, and boldly filled it themselves.

AS ONE IDEA FLOUNDERS, ANOTHER IS BORN.

The Disney experience is essentially the audience immersed in theatre. The resort we stayed at welcomed you “home” upon entering the grounds and the entire cast consistently wished you to “have a magical day”. I was very impressed by this brand experience. One morning my wife and I went for a walk around the grounds and came upon the main gate from the outside. The guard came out, asking to see ID and once we were identified promptly “welcomed us home”. Are your staff as fine tuned to a consistent brand message?

In all of the attraction areas, is music playing the “soundtrack” of the park. You quickly recognize that everything you see and experience has been “created” to best position the Disney effect. It got to the point where my wife Rose, asked me if the birds in the trees singing were the real thing or a recording? All of this control over experience really does make you forget the real world outside. The effect is absolutely convincing. You forget you are walking around an enormous set. You really want to believe. My wife was actually excited to get her picture taken with Mickey and friends. (I thought it was pretty cool too)

I took away a lesson in how to make customers love you. Give them a consistent message and over deliver on everything you do for them. I loved the experience so much, I was willing to pay $8 to $10 for a Manhattan (my favorite drink). Back home in a restaurant I would shell out half that amount. Everything cost more, but the brand delivers and so I was smitten. When you love something you are willing to pay more to prolong the experience. Are your customers willing to pay more for your experience? Maybe it’s time you have a hard look at how you deliver to your audience.

Many people might say that they resent the manicured experience at Disney World, but I would challenge them to show me any successful brand that doesn’t succeed by delivering their product on an emotional level. The Disney Brand conjures up a deep heart felt desire to believe that the world is a good place where everyone wishes you a magical day even if for a moment. Even if that belief lasts only a week, it is good for the soul. But what is important to note from a business perspective is, every time I see the Disney name I will be reminded of the great feeling that I felt at Disney World. That brand experience translates into major dollars for the Disney Corporation. It allows them to sell me on many product offerings based on a brand promise that is magical.

We could all use a bit of that magic.

Disney doesn’t appear to ever be sitting still. New attractions and resorts keep adding to the magic. Are you continually delivering new services and products to your audience? Don’t sit still and let grass grow under your brand’s feet. The magic is in your brand - this is your opportunity to control it’s delivery.

In my line of work you get to have a lot of fun working with companies. They come my way sort of lost. Many have achieved impressive success but feel that they can do better and feel that something is missing. While others are absolute start-ups and want to hit the ground running. What is typical in almost every case is the fact that they never considered positioning themselves from a point of differentiation. They all want to go to market with a laundry list of services and shout out that they do everything. Since this is what ‘most’ businesses do, it hardly appears wrong at first glance. But what is also noteworthy is the fact that this type of approach garners no emotion but a resignation to market. Marketing is seen as a necessary evil. They focus on catchy graphics, a visual hook. But, that will not really sell anything - it is simply eye candy. It is your position that counts - what compelling offer intrigues the reader to give you a few moments of their time to indulge you.

Many times eye candy is simply forgetable. How many ads have you seen where you remember the sweet spot but can not for the life of you, remember the pitch and certainly not the company. Not a great way to start off a brand relationship. Offering everything or God forbid copying the leader in your category just tosses your brand into a sea of sameness. You are awash in mediocrity.

Now - take a positioning strategy based on differentiation and watch your stake holders get excited by what they are shouting. When we develop this position they (the customer) are so pumped they can hardly wait to launch this new approach. WHY? - because they now have something to say. The message comes from they’re very core. It is a difference that makes sense, and one that they can build a relationship on. It is something the competition has failed to recognize and it becomes a lightening rod. Marketing is now exciting and they are invigorated.

Taking the effort to discover your difference, will rejuvenate your brand and this will generate income and inject excitement into your brand.

What should be recognized as important is the effect on your brand your compliances have. If your corporate brand values are based on values such as integrity and due diligence, being compliant is very important to you. By complying you reduce the risk associated with running your operation. Deficiencies in the implementation of compliances can lead to unfortunate outcomes that essentially take a sucker-punch to your brand. No business can afford to run rough shod over their compliance obligations. Safety compliances protect your brand from being exposed due to employee injuries. These high profile events draw undesired attention to your company. Any adverse news makes your company look sloppy and insensitive.

Your brand is everything to do with your reputation. Not only is being compliant of importance to the health and welfare of your company but also by extension to your corporate brand as well. Industry compliances are more specific in nature. They typically associate themselves with standards of the type of business you are in. Architects for instance must adhere to compliances that allow them to promote themselves as architects. These industry compliances set the bar high for entry into the industry and protect the public in their quest for your services. Following these compliances assures the public of professional standards of practice. Detering from professional compliances sets your brand up to take the fall. Failure to live up to your compliances and accepting deficiencies exposes your company - and thus your brand. Any loss in professional designation will ultimately cost you money. Your brand loses its expert status in the eyes of your customer.

A third and often neglected area of compliance is the self-administered compliance. These are compliances that you have personally put into place to react to a cultural shift in your industry or to raise the bar from within. Self-administered compliances are very real opportunities. Corporate standards put in place within a company do so to provide an assurance on the level of quality of operation and service within the company. Self-administered compliances are a perfect opportunity to develop a more effective model of operation.

Now that we have looked at the 3 main types of compliances and recognizing their importance to the running of your company and their positive impact on your brand, now we must be assured that they are being implemented effectively. It is one thing to recognize a compliance need, it is another entirely that the compliance is being administered properly. There must be processes put in place to be sure that those rules and regulations are being followed and understood by all stake holders in the company. Any negligence in the implementation of compliances weakens the compliance leaving your brand exposed by association. Your marketing efforts often position your company in it’s best light. You simply can not afford sloppy compliance practices. It has a negative effect on moral and leadership within the corporation.

Once you have determined that all compliances are in place and that they are being adhered to according to processes developed to that end, it is important now to market compliances to your advantage. Being compliant on multiple levels can become the basis of a strategy of differentiation. Compliance icons can be used to shout this message out to your target audience. Stepping up as a leader in your category, not only raises the bar but puts barriers in place that impedes the forward movement of your competition. In order to match or beat you they have to invest considerable effort and expense to catch up and surpass you. Being the leader allows you certain bragging rights that gives your customers maximum confidence in dealing with you.

This confidence equates to a stronger brand relationship.

We in business have tendency to want to leave no stone unturned when it comes to generating income. Are you targeting your efforts to reach your best target audience? Are you aware of just who this audience is? A good exercise would be to identify this person. To perform this task you have to build a demographic profile. Remember - the profile is of the person that you make the most money from. Once identified, you will want to locate more like them.

Here are some questions to ask yourselve regarding your most profitable demographic profile:

1. Are they male or female?
2. How old would they be?
3. What income level?
4. Are they philanthropic?
5. Are they married?
6. Do they have kids? (if so, what age are the kids?)
7. Are they community minded?
8. Union or non-union?
9. Are they American or not?
10. Republican or Democrat?
11. What vehicle do they drive?
12. Visible minority?
13. Aggressive or passive?
14. Introvert or extrovert?
15. Do they read the local newspaper? 
16. Are they joiners?
17. Are they handy around the house?
18. Do they own a single family dwelling? or a condo?
19. Are they a sports fan or culture fan or both?
20. How much money do they spend with us?

Answering these questions will give to a solid base to determine your perfect customer. Using census data or a market research source, identify more of this demographic profile within your community. If you charted the outcome on a map, you will typically see clustering of locations. This is because similar demographic groups tend to live close to one another. Market to these target locations. This will save printing and distribution costs by avoiding areas not identified as a target group. Now you not only know your perfect customer but where they live too.

Bummer.

Not one to ignore an opportunity to spread my message somehow, I developed an idea I think you’ll find amusing. I decided to develop “pain point postcards”. Before I elaborate on exactly what these are, let me define “pain points” first. As in any business, there are issues that keep you awake at night. These issues are the things that cause you psychological pain. These are the challenges in business that throw up barriers and irritants, holding you back from your goals, resulting in lost income potential.

To take advantage of pain points as a strategy targeting my audience’s attention, I engaged in a little guerilla marketing. I am producing a series of 5 postcards roughly 6″ X 4″ in size. On the front side, the entire surface is black and the text is in white. This is where I boldly spell out the pain point. For instance: “Are you finding that there is nothing that differentiates you from your competition?”

On the back is the brand logo for “The Branding Experts” and contact info ONLY. No answer to the pain point question. My goal is to drive them to a special web-page dedicated to this effort. You cannot get to this page without having seen and picked up the postcard AND acted on it. A great way to track the effort. I will place these cards all over the event and hotel where many of the attendees are staying. The web page will provide solutions to the questions. Distributing these Pain Point Postcards is where you must also be bold. You are no doubt staying at the same hotel as your target audience. Leave them message side up on the reception coffee table. The counter in the john. The counter at reception. Anywhere that they might catch the eye. Ideally place all 5 messages in close proximity, as this is a bigger effect.

If you are even willing to invest more funds to the effort, you could see if a billboard close to the entrance to the exhibit hall or hotel is available on a 3 or 4 day basis. Here you would exhibit your most compelling statement. That and your weblink is the ONLY message here.

Prior to the show, try and get emails of the attendees and do html email blasts with the black and white messages. Expose them to the pain points in as many locations as possible within a tight period of time. I would even go so far as putting magnetic cards on the interiors of the elevators. Pain Point promotions can be invigorating as you become somewhat of a guerilla in your technique. Outside of the billboard, the expense is minimal, it is merely your effort that should be inspired. Try it yourself soon and come back and let us know how the experience benefited you. We can compare notes.

The simple fact is we all have a brand whether we want one or not. Now - you can either work hard to develop and nurture a powerful brand, or you can do very little and let your competition do it for you. An area often overlooked in respect to protecting you brand is compliances. Many businesses in order to operate must conform to a at least a few Government or industry compliances. These are in place to assure your customers that you are adhering to minimum industry and community standards. If you are deficient in any way you are putting your brand at risk. (Not to mention, your professional well being). When a company is deficient, you pose considerable risk to your operation. Many times a breach of compliance will result in a costly fix. If you are guilty of compliance deficiencies to avoid costly but necessary procedures then you are a brand nightmare waiting to happen.

Breach a safety compliance, and your brand takes a hit from the negative exposure a safety accident generates. Security breaches puts exceptional attention by Government agencies on your doorstep. Brand jacking (unscrupulous use of corporate identity) leaves you exposed to myriad of potential negative scenarios - none of which you control. Industry and Governmental compliances are there to protect everyone. I would encourage you to view them as a type of brand insurance. It benefits your brand if you are diligent in their implementation. I would even suggest that you raise the bar and improve on compliances where your team sees the opportunity.

If you simply consider your brand your reputation, then you will appreciate that it takes plenty to build up a brand but very little to destroy it. There are no quick-fixes to repairing a brand that has been tarnished from a missed compliance opportunity.

I will be the first to admit that compliances are not the sexiest topic with regard to brand as compared to brand image, but ignoring it will hurt you from multiple positions - all of which have the potential to be a brand killer.

He essentially outlines four directions the corporate cultures would go. First of all they would either assimilate completely into the new culture or the opposite, separate themselves and the stronger entity would continue their home culture. The other two directions are the softening of the model and probably the more desirable positions. They are that the companies would integrate and benefit from their mutual contributions or they would de-culture and assume an entirely different model unique to either side.

Dr. Rieger then gave real-world examples of this and their outcomes and where they fit into the diagram. His best model was the American company Chrysler and the German company Daimler. Each company has a traditional cultural difference. It was a great example for his model. A question from those assembled intrigued me. It was asked,” Where might a company typically fall into the model, when their motivation to partner is desperation due to a down-market?” - the key word (to me) here was “motivation”.

When desperation is the motivator, how clear is a company in making rational decisions that may in the long term be detrimental? There may be some immediate return in moral support (strength in numbers) but what is the potential damage to your brand, if you are even able to maintain your brand or will it be absorbed into the other partner’s culture? The Dr.’s acculturation model is a good one if one is considering a move to partner but maybe hasn’t thought through the possible brand impact due to differing corporate cultures. The model nicely takes into account egos and maturity.

If your brand is a strong one, but numbers have slipped across the board due to the economy, many companies in their war rooms entertain many solutions. If partnering is considered - the fit is naturally one consideration. Invariably one of the candidates will be the stronger company with the deepest pockets, but lets say that this company has actually the weaker brand at this point in time. Which brand will rise to the surface in the partnering? If both parties can put aside egos, would the resulting corporate make-up see an opportunity in attempting to grow the stronger brand as opposed to the one of the richer company, which may actually be the weaker brand. Would they recognize that the stronger brand has a better chance of returning bigger profits in the long run and benefit more from the combined strengths of the partnering or would the relationship implode?

I contacted Dr. Rieger and shared my thoughts with him. He proposes the following scenario would probably happen based on his research:
“At the end of the day, the stronger (takeover) partner (with the deepest pockets) will be the one to decide how the “acculturation” will take place. If the stronger partner believes that adopting the brand of the weaker has commercial value, then it may indeed choose to adopt that brand name and identity. However, in much the same way that the incoming settlers may choose to “go native” in order to survive in a new land, over time, the conquering settler will seek to modify the “native” culture to better fit their own customs. Often the only aspects that survive of the native culture, or brand, are the external commercial trappings and everything else (management) reflects the takeover partner. Over time, there will be little left of the stronger brand, since all of the “culture” that supported that brand has been stripped away.

A good example is the Sears takeover of Eaton’s (in Canada). Eaton had the stronger brand and Sears kept the name in hopes of retaining the customer base but ran it much like Sears. Customers noticed the difference and the customer base shifted. After a while, even the name was abandoned and takeover Sears became Sears in name as well.

While it is possible to “assimilate” in one aspect, to remain “separate” in another, it is really quite difficult. The result doesn’t last because cultures (and companies) are holistic. Management affects operations affects morale. ”

So, in the world of corporate branding, Dr. Rieger’s scenario adopted the brand image but NOT the brand values. They maintained their own values, which of course would work against the company with the stronger brand recognition. That brand being built on “their specific values”. Without those unique brand values the conquerer fails because a brand is the sum of it’s many elements. (Values are not interchangeable)

When I discuss branding with companies, one key element in our discussions are the company brand values. It is commonly understood and agreed that with out them the company would cease to exist. They are the foundation of the company. So then Eaton’s had to fail. Sears were not prepared to just be a silent partner, and the customers were not prepared to accept the altered brand - it was not what they had grown to love. Once you change the brand values the customer loves, the brand withers. This betrayal of values is what Starbucks is going through this very moment - they moved away from the customer which was the core of their brand values - the customer moved on - now they are back-pedalling as fast as they can.

Right of the top we put cost on table. “How much might this cost me Ed?” they asked. I just as quickly threw $5,000. at them, knowing the reaction - “5 grand, whoa that’s way to much.”

Think so?

Here’s the thing, 5 grand was not the issue. $100 might be too much, who knows. The issue here is passion. How bad do they want it. I know that they just went out the week before and dropped 5 grand on a flat screen TV. It didn’t take much too thought either, as a matter of fact they went out “just to look” and came home with the baby.

I asked them at this point - “How much is your personal grow worth to you?” and of course they said - “A lot”, this is where I jumped it an retorted - “Obviously not as much as a big screen TV.” That last comment was just for fun. The truth is they were passionate about their entertainment, not so passionate for personal growth.

At this point in the conversation it got pretty SELF-analytical. My friend wanted to know what might be wrong with them, that they just can’t get their act together as far as their personal growth aka personal brand. My opinion was there is nothing “wrong” with them, they simply didn’t want it bad enough. They love talking about it, they loved planning it, but they don’t really want it, or they would do it. They replied ” no way, of course I want it.” “If that is the case,” I asked, “why is it that for the last few minutes you told me several reason why you CAN’T do it instead of why you CAN?” You can’t find the time to work out in a gym because there is no passion to work out, BUT if your doctor say’s you will die if you don’t, then guess what, your passion to live opens that gym door.

YOU DON’T WANT IT BAD ENOUGH, YOU DON’T HAVE THE PASSION.

Not having the passion to improve your brand, personal or corporate is not really a bad thing but a personal determination of goals. What do you want out of your personal and corporate life? What is your overall definition of success? If you are passionate about a goal, then money is not so much of an issue. What is more important in your life, professional growth or the big screen TV? There is no right or wrong answer to this. It is what is important to you right now at this point in time.

The one thing you have to come to gips with is the truth. Don’t lie to yourself about where your passion lies. If you truly want to grasp greater things then you have to come to grips with your own personal demons and ignite your passion to obtain it. Stop talking about it and DO IT! If the big screen TV is where it’s at right now, then embrace it and enjoy the sucker with everyone you love.

Passion is why we do the things that are truly important to us. To say you are a procrastinator is just a crutch to not have to come to terms with the fact that there is no passion in doing tasks set out in front of you. Find out what motivates your passion and embrace it. If you feed your passions with positive energy, you will do it. Even if you fail in the attempt, the approach is re-directed but the passion doesn’t die, as a matter of fact it is stronger.

Passion feeds on our efforts, just as little effort starves passion. How bad do you want it?

I have been involved in a group exactly like this going on five years now. We got together after a design conference in Phoenix and had a burning desire to carry on the conversation . We are a small group of four companies within a 6 hour drive of each other. I am the Canadian in southwestern Ontario, we have a member from Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois. We meet quarterly on a friday for a full day (8-5). We discuss everything that has to do with our businesses and how to make them better. We harbour no secrets and after all this time we have become very good friends. It is also a fantastic way to network and to expand the breadth of services you can offer. How can you get in on something like this? Here are 10 points to consider if you want to start your own MOOB (Mind Our Own Business) group:

1) Decide what kind of group you want to start. Ours are companies in the same industry: Branding/Graphic Design. You can build a group of varying industries, what is important is defining what your group is striving to accomplish by forming.

2) Choose members who have the same success values as the other members. They don’t have to be at the same stage in their growth, as a matter of fact it is more productive if they are not. It is important that each member is a self-starter, as attendance is important to carry on the momentum in order to last more than one meeting.

3) Choose how the meetings will be structured. Our MOOB group has an agenda, we meet where we can be uninterrupted. We have rented meeting rooms, and even met in a park setting over-looking a lake - very relaxing. Other than the agenda, the conversation in left unstructured and is governed by the host. We each hold a meeting in our city. We also assign ourselves homework sometimes between meetings. Also, we have a segment where we discuss recent books read. The conversation is non-stop and the day flies by.

4) Complete openness if absolutely key to the group’s success. Anyone who is not honest with regard to how they do business is a BAD FIT! Times are not always good. The group cannot help you if you are not completely open with your issues. If you cannot feel secure in opening up in your group than it is a BAD FIT.

5) We do not charge anything. The host covers the expenses of their day. We do not have dues. You can, it is really dependent on your objectives.

6) Sharing in the value of discovered revenue streams. In the course of our sessions, we have developed products that we each sell in our own markets. We have found our MOOB group to be lucrative in terms of ideas and motivation. We are currently trying to develop a monetary website where we can sell recordings of our sessions to our industry. This is a big cookie to bite into, but it will happen.

7) When should you meet? As I have mentioned, we meet quarterly for an entire day. If your group is from the same region, then perhaps you can start with half a day. You will be amazed with how fast time flies by.
The important thing is to give yourselves enough time so that everyone can get the value out of shared experiences. If one member is struggling with issues, you want to allocate enough time to satisfy their questions.

Decide who you don’t want in the group. And determine how new members are chosen. The make-up of the group is extremely important. If there are members who are just takers, then as in networking - they will not be productive members and they will alienate fellow members.

9) What happens if there is conflict within your group? Decide on a course of action if this unfortunate situation occurs. It is equally important to have an exit strategy that can be imposed on members, if it is deemed by the group, that the relationship has soured and they are adversely effecting the group.

10) Make it fun. All of our members really look forward to our meetings. We are passionate about MOOB. We were even written up by HOW magazine during our first year. We either have lunch in, or go out to some cool place in the host city. We also typically, go out for supper also. We don’t use Robert’s Rules but just freely jump from topic to topic. We laugh it up alot.

That’s about it really. If your group’s makeup is different types of companies, it can easily be developed into a networking group as well. Peer groups are sometimes called “best practices groups”. No matter what you call them, they are an excellent way to help you grow personally as well as professionally. You could develop a virtual group over the web as well. It doesn’t really matter so long as your group values are sound. I have found it another great way to further develop my personal brand.

Because we are called MOOB, I suggested we wear those cow-horned hats that Fred Flintstone and Barney wore at their lodge. It’s not important to note the reaction my suggestion earned.

Is your brand in a whirl? Many a CEO have ignored the signs and are afraid to contact their brand doctors. Some fear the embarrassment of having admit that they have long ignored the obvious and suffer from denial. Many simply have no idea why they are suffering and are just confused and anxious. If you are uncertain, here are a few things that might alert you that your brand is suffering from WhirlyBrand:

Symptom: Your business completely blends in throughout it’s category. There is nothing to distinguish you.

Diagnosis -WhirlyBrand: People confuse your company with that of your competition? I’m afraid you’ve become - a commodity.

Treatment: The dreaded “D” word - differentiation. Yes, you have to discover what it is that used to make customers love you. Why were they willing to pay more for your services as compared to today’s situation where you have been reduced to a price and easily replaced. You must discover ways to put your company back on top defining you as the leader in your category. What makes you absolutely different. What is your difference that no other company can lay claim to. Nobody said this was going to be easy.

Treatment: You’ve got to give the team something to live for. As the visionary, you must step up to the table and inspire them again. Develop a positioning strategy that has the competition shaking their heads. Don’t carry on business-as-usual. Get their input and carry out their recommendations. It will empower and motivate them. They will become super advocates - they are a part of what makes your company great!

Treatment: You’ve been playing follow the leader for too long. Identify icons and images that compliment your brand values and personality. Develop a brand strategy for your brand image components. Make sure that nobody goes against this strategy and even assign a person to patrol its use. Your have got to take back control of your image.

Treatment: Develop a statement that says exactly what you do that distinguishes your company. It must be compelling enough to ignite conversation. Perhaps it is in the form of a question. Whatever the structure the cure here is to compel.

Treatment: Assert yourself. Start doing speaking engagements on your area of expertise. Write articles, “start a blog”, engage people with your wisdom. Define who you are and what you stand for. Ideally it is an extension of your corporate brand, each complimenting the other. Don’t assume people know what you do - tell them!

Don’t panic if some of these symptom sound awfully familiar. If your company has WhirlyBrand - take notice, it is serious. If it goes unattended it can be terminal. BUT the good news is WhirlyBrand can be cured. Once you’ve had a brand physical, you will then be on the road to recovery. Nobody has to suffer from this troublesome malady.

The cure does take determination and resolve, but the best news is, NO RUBBER GLOVES ARE NEEDED IN THE TREATMENT!

If you want to increase the value of your personal brand, I believe that there is no better and faster way than blogging. I have been involved with putting my opinion out there for all to view and rebuke for a little over year now. I AM NOT A WRITER by any stretch of your imagination. As a matter of fact I don’t type home-row but use a quick hunt and peck technique perfected over many years. I consider myself an, “Opinionator”. It gives an air of respect to my open views on things that I am passionate about.

You don’t have to be a computer geek or fork out wads of cash to get up and running. Do as I did, and jump in for free to start. I use Blogspot.com. So here is the deal, once you register with Blogspot:

1) Decide what you want to talk about.

2) Give it a name that will help your readers remember you. Heck, you could even use something as simple as “Your name”.

3) Once inside Blogspot, choose one of their templates.

4) Blam! You’re up and running. There is not even a step 5.

Now for the work part.

First off, write up 3 to 5 articles to post right away. Readers want information and one article doesn’t cut it. Then make it a commitment to post a new article, opinion, or new information on something EVERY WEEK. This is key. Another key duty is to go out into the blogging world and find blogs that compliment your topic and leave comments on articles that you are interested in and feel you can contribute to. When you post comments you are automatically linked back to your blog. I would also, suggest registering as yourself to increase your personal brand. The more your spread your word the more will come back to check out your blog. And so it begins to grow.

Many folks out there promoting the virtues of blogging, are interested in monetizing your blog - or you making money off your blog. If this is what interests you, there are lots of resources to help you accomplish that. A great one is with a gentleman named “Yaro Starak”.

Since I have started blogging I believe that I have increased my corporate and personal brand quite a bit. I have gotten very nice interviews from television and radio media, who frequently google blogs for ideas for stories, or for research to flush out existing stories. I recently did an interview with a national trade magazine on the importance of branding in the spa industry. Also I’ve done web interviews and have been asked to write for other blogs.

All of this activity has increased my ‘expert’ profile and has lead to opportunities for new business as well. I get more action off my blog in 6 months, than I got off my website since the web went mass-market many years ago.

Another unexpected benefit has been networking. I have other brand professionals whom I now include in tender opportunities that increase my ability seek opportunities outside of my traditional area of expertise. This benefit allows me to offer customers a wider range of services. Over time, when you eventually get regular readers, it’s a nice compliment that you recognize their contribution to the discussions. It makes your blog so much richer.

My biggest message with this article is to reassure you, that blogging is a viable, inexpensive tool to reaffirm your expert profile and build real world relationships that strengthen your brand.

Let’s face it, what is a good idea?

To any one of us, it is based on our entire world view. The answer stems from our collective experience. Every day we have ideas to improve our businesses. Some we write down, others we file in the hard drive of our brain and others we let slip away. The point is we need to be always searching for that good idea that will help grow our business.

Where can you get this good idea? Is there a good idea store out there? Maybe there is a good idea pill.

The fact is we all have good ideas. Recognizing the ones that matter is the key to success. There are professionals out there who do just that for a living. Over the years, they have worked with many good ideas and have seen what generates income and what falls flat. These professional idea people understand that there are no guarantees of success, but they also appreciate that when developed properly, consistent with a strong brand, these ideas have a better than average chance of success. The degree of success is often defined by your expectations. Who are these idea people I refer to? Why they are the real ‘Graphic Designers’. They are the ying of the yangs discussed in my previous article, “Why Graphic Design is the Worst Brand Ever!” These people have ideas that will make you money.

Does a good idea have to be expensive?

What do you think a good idea is worth? Of course, off the top, the straight answer is unknown. What you should consider is the source of the perceived good idea. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does this person have the necessary understanding of your company?
• Do they have experience developing a good idea to the point that it is appropriate for your market?
• Do they have marketing expertise?
• Do they understand what your ‘brand’ is? (If they say ‘your logo’, run like hell)
• Have they inquired as to what your expectations are? (how will you determine success)
• What have their ideas done for other businesses regardless of industry?
• What is their process of development?
• Are there any validations that could be put in place?
• What long term plans should be considered?

Once these basic questions are answered to your satisfaction, fees should be discussed. A professional will not provide the idea first (spec). A professional may have a billing rate of $100+ per hour, even if they use project billing. If your person charges $15+ per hour, you might as well do it yourself, you are getting the same expertise. When you chose your attorney, was it based on price or expertise? I already know the answer. Why should the marketing of your company be any different.

To sum up: a good idea is an idea that has the potential to make you money. A good idea is an investment and this investment is best managed in the hands of an idea professional. If you view idea development as an expense and not an investment, you will be compromising the success of your company. Life is a collection of choices, have you made the correct ones? Your ledger has the answer.

Then came desktop publishing and the graphic design brand started its gradual decline. Today anyone with a computer and a few hundred dollars in software believe themselves to be proficient in the execution of graphic design. What got me writing about this, was a comment in a recent post from a graphic design listserve that I get daily in my email. The listserve is populated with graphic designers from across Canada.

One person wrote in that her nephew in his quest to be a graphic designer, decided that he needn’t attend a sanctioned secondary education on the subject as he read several articles on graphic design off the web and now “knows everything there is to know on the subject”. He’s got the software, knows all the “tricks” and is now set to conquer the world.

As business people, we all chuckle at this young person’s naiveté and plain ignorance. But what has lead to his belief that a few articles on the web is all there is to becoming a graphic designer. How many of you who are reading this article, work or own companies who’s marketing materials were either done in house by the IT people or had a friend do it on the cheap? In the business world there is more respect and attention given to interior decorating than to marketing. Marketing to many is a necessary evil. Hiring a graphic designer to facilitate the production of materials in a marketing plan is an alien concept to many.

Graphic design to be fair to businesses is the most at fault for this loss of brand professionalism. The industry has done nothing to encourage professionalism in schools who churn out young “designers” who by all rights should not have even passed the course, let alone put out their shingle. I would love to ask that young man who knows everything to explain kerning to me. Can he explain what a widow is or where he might see a river in a body of text? Would he even care what trap and choke are? What they do know is every filter in Photoshop. They will never design a logo with a font that doesn’t exist. The first time these people send a file off for printing, don’t understand why a 11 color file doesn’t make sense because it is cost prohibitive, and an early sign of an amateur. Printers love these people - they cost people money.

The difference between a graphic design professional and everyone else is that as professionals, they have to design to sell. Every idea they have has to communicate. The industry has allowed non-talents to flourish. Designers regularly under-charge for their services. They regularly present spec work. Businesses think nothing of letting the secretarial staff design their materials. This is not the case however if they need legal work done. The books are not handled by the janitor, they have an accountancy handle it and rightly so. Many pass off the in-house design as a way to cut costs. What they fail to see and apparently forget from business 101, is that marketing should communicate their brand message and differentiate them - NOT something that must be accomplished for peanuts, by anyone who knows there way around photoshop. The computer industry defines this nicely - Garbage in, garbage out. Garbage doesn’t make you money. The sad thing is, the lack of response to these amateur materials only strengthens businesses belief that marketing is at best a crap shoot, and the first things to cut in a slow economy.

There are of course many TRUE graphic design professionals. They have experience and know what works. In their hands you will increase market share and grow your business. Their own personal brands are strong, but even they must constantly battle the poor brand of the graphic design industry as a whole. Imagine what difficulty your own business would have if you had to fight not only competition, market conditions, buying cycles, your own short comings and issues unique to your category - but ALSO a general public perception that anyone with a computer can do what you do cheaper if not free. That is the world of the graphic designer in the year 2008. Graphic design has fallen into the biggest pit of poor branding and has become a commodity. The road back is long one, and the world’s best have the ability to do it one em at a time.