Value Your Customers If You Value Your Business Have you ever walked into a store excited about your latest purchase only to leave your much coveted purchase on the counter because of the [lack of] customer service? Remember how that made you feel? I’d venture to say that if you were happy & excited to make your purchase when you walked in the store you walked out with a much different feeling about your choice and vowing to find the item somewhere they would actually appreciate you. Let’s translate that to your own business. How many people walk away from…

I’m sitting here trying to be profound and write something great about the coming year’s branding efforts. I’ve got nothing. Not to say I’m pessimistic about the coming year, but I’m drawing a blank about what to write about. Since I’ve started blogging (2006) I have written several hundred articles on branding. Now, during the first week of a fresh new year I can’t think of a single thing to write about except this description of my dilemma. I try to write an article a week as a minimum. Sometimes the inspiration flows and I’m able to bank them and…

The CUSBA Linkedin Group had these terrific quotes posted this morning. They were compiled by 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…

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…

English: Mission: STS-41-B Film Type: 70mm Title: Views of the extravehicular activity during STS 41-B Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, mission specialist, participates in a extra-vehicular activity (EVA), a few meters away from the cabin of the shuttle Challenger. He is using a nitrogen-propelled hand-controlled manned maneuvering unit (MMU). He is performing this EVA without being tethered to the shuttle. The picture shows a cloud view of the earth in the background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I’m always on the lookout for new technology. Not in terms of expensive big-time technology, but everyday little solutions that make my…

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…

This week only I’m giving away the Kindle version of my new book, “101 Branding Tips – Practical tips for your brand that you can use today.” This offer has no strings attached. What I would love is that you return to the Kindle bookstore and leave a review. My goal is to give away a thousand ebooks by this Friday the 16th of November. As of yesterday I handed out over 350 Kindle versions. Get it HERE.

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…

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…

Has your competition ever accurately described what you do to a potential customer? My guess is not so much. Most promotional activity among small businesses in my experience does little to define a brand but does plenty selling clever slogans, flashy images, real estate and special offers. To ignore your brand position is to deny yourself the corner of your customer’s mind that tells them why you are the go to people for what they are looking for. Without a defining brand position you are among the gray matter all of your competitors are fighting for. The quick fix, the…