Category Archives: Business Branding

Are You Really Who You Say You Are?

There are business owners out there who believe they, and their business, are one thing when they really are something else. The problem creeps in when they start telling people who they are and the customers (and the public in general) discover the business is entirely different than how it’s portrayed.

This, on the surface, appears to be a public relations disaster waiting to happen. It is more commonly known as marketing myopia, and can be corrected. That’s the good news!

A common example is the owner of a business that sells insurance. The type of insurance has little significance, primarily because whatever the type of insurance is offered to potential customers, roughly half of the population will have an adverse reaction to the term “insurance.” The same percentage, give or take a few percentage points, applies to car sales, real estate agents, consultants, plumbers, and virtually every other occupation. Why? More on that later.

Think about insurance in its most basic form for a minute. Insurance is protection for the purchaser from some accident, death, or the negligence of some other party. Except in the case of dying, the owner can rest assured that his or her property is covered against a loss. When the policy holder dies, the insurance is intended to take care of loved ones, although it can never replace the companionship that is lost.

What is the end result of having a policy? Peace of mind. The ability to sleep well at night. Reduced risk in case of loss. Protection. What is that insurance agent selling, from the customer’s point-of-view? Pick one of the above, such as peace of mind.

Before we move on to other examples, let’s go back to the reason why so many people have an adverse reaction to various professional occupations. If you had a painful experience in the dentist’s chair when you were a child, how positive are you likely to feel about dentists in general? Over the years since, you’ve probably shared your uncomfortable experience and fear with countless other people. You probably wait to go see a dentist until you have cavities or need a root canal, which creates another less-than-pleasant experience … and the cycle continues.

Any person who’s had a bad experience with an insurance agent or policy claim has done the same thing, so the more types of insurance and agents that are in business, the greater the chances of bad experiences. We tend to forget the good experiences, so it becomes natural to have apprehension about various occupations, especially those involving sales. People don’t like to be sold; they like to make their own decisions.

Consultants are another good example. Business owners shy away from consultants because they have the single perception that a consultant is going to cost them money. The truth is a consultant should help a business make money!

Let’s look at some more examples.

If you operate a tavern and someone asks what you do, do you tell them you run a bar or serve alcohol to get people drunk? Maybe. Would it sound better if you explained that you’re in the business of providing entertainment in a fun, relaxed environment? People can drink alcohol anywhere. What you provide is an experience.

As a restaurant owner, do you tell people you run a restaurant? Yes, it’s true that’s what you do, but what they’re really looking for is the answer to why you do what you do. Try telling people you provide delicious food and exceptional service in a family friendly or cozy, candle-lit environment … whatever’s appropriate for your establishment. The right answer is far more likely to pique a person’s curiosity and be interested in giving you business than the fact you run a restaurant.

A carpet cleaning business helps people keep their living spaces clean and healthy.

A website company creates a global presence and market place.

A gas station enables car owners to keep driving their vehicles.

A plumber reduces the risk of water damage or ensures a clean supply of drinking water.

It’s our hope this has opened your eyes, and minds, to taking the time to think about what it is provide as a product or service to customers. A manufacturer of baseball bats turns pieces of wood into sporting equipment but, from the consumer’s perspective, offers a quality product to play a game at a professional level.

Contact Brand Irons if you’d like some help sifting through the jumble of what you offer so you can concentrate on telling people what it is you provide to them

Is It An Interruption?

When I teach one of my Time Block Management classes, I ask participants what they view as the biggest time wasters in their lives. Phone calls invariably tops the list of things they see as wasting their time at work. They are in a productive frame of mind, working on an assignment, and their phone rings. They have to stop what they’re doing and respond to the phone call without any knowledge of who’s calling and why or how long the interruption is going to keep them from their task. The call is a source of irritation.

Until we take the time to determine who is calling and why. When I ask participants about the calls and we dig deeper, more often than ever it is a customer calling to discuss some aspect of the company’s products or services that they’re concerned about. Think about this in terms of your own business, however large it might be and however many employees you might have. Who’s calling? Usually, it’s a customer who believes in you and your company and wants to re-order, expand services, or get questions answered.

So, is it an interruption? Or is it what most business owners consider customer service to take care of your customer’s needs?

When participants realize the true nature of the “interruption,” the call is less of a distraction than a function of their responsibilities in business.

Far too often, we have seen this problem crop up in customer service situations across the board … beyond the annoying phone call. Your business is about your customers, and customers should be the primary focus of what everyone (including you if you’re the owner) in the company does. What do you have without customers?

Wait staff should be focused on the customer and avoid any time spent chatting with friends (via text, phone call, or face-to-face) when customers are expecting to be served. Customers are more patient with servers if they realize they’re taking care of other customers than standing around waiting for orders. Customer service representatives should be calling clients if there’s a lull and they are waiting for clients to call them. Sales representatives should be taking care of customers, offering suggestions on how to improve their business and get a greater return on their investment instead of bitching about the economy or poor business conditions. How many sales people have you seen griping about a customer’s phone call when they’re trying to generate their weekly sales report? Interruption?

Can you count how many times you’ve been at a retail cashier’s station waiting to pay for your purchase while they’re talking to someone on the phone? Management needs to help those cashiers understand that cash in the register is more important than trying to offer directions to an impatient caller … or consoling a friend who’s had a bad date. And how often have you gotten the evil eye or a disgruntled look from the cashier who believes your request to be taken care of is interrupting their life? How could you be so rude?

Etiquette is still important in business!

What about when you’re meeting with a prospective client, or existing customer, and you receive a text message or a phone call? Do you glance at the text to decide if you need to respond? Do you take the phone call and interrupt your meeting, at the possible expense of losing the client or prospect you’re meeting with for being rude? Those are choices you have to make with the understanding of the potential impact on the relationship.

An easy solution is to leave your smart phone in your vehicle or office when you’re in a meeting, even if you use it to schedule appointments. Your memory should be good enough to enter the information after the meeting. Think, too, about the perception people have of you when you take a phone call or text during a meeting or conference. You may believe it’s an important call, but it’s an interruption to those around you and they will think you must feel important because you took the call when, in reality, they wonder why you even came to the meeting or conference if the phone call or text was that important to you.

What interruptions also do is tell the third party observer tons about your business and the brand you exhibit. Ignoring your phone and concentrating on your customer or your prospect’s needs instead of interrupting the moment speaks volumes about your concern for your customers. Having someone who can answer phones in person instead of shifting a caller into an automated system where they may become even more disgruntled or, even worse, look elsewhere for products and/or services makes a lot of sense. Think about how you and your employees manage your time and take care of your customers.

If you’re interested in a brief introduction to Time Block Management or how Brand Irons can help resolve these potential problems, contact us for an initial consultation.

Minimize Your Mistakes

We all make mistakes. It’s in our human nature to be fallible. My line is that if I were perfect there’d be no reason for me to be here. In business, however, mistakes can be costly and may even be fatal for the company.

If you are familiar with the Tylenol case, there are some who believe the problem was perpetrated by an outside influence and the company made no mistake. There had to be a failure somewhere, however, that enabled the perpetrator to infiltrate the system and contaminate product. In either case, the incident could have proved fatal for Tylenol had they chosen a different way to respond or not responded at all. Yes, it was costly to pull all of their potentially-contaminated products from the shelves and re-tool production to include protective seals, but those costs were made back up with the brand regaining its market share because of making the right decision. The right choices were made … and steps were taken to correct the failure in the system.

You will make mistakes in business. You can minimize those mistakes, though, with some preventative measures such as this limited list:

1. Internal Communication. Your corporate mission and the vision you have for your company must be consistently conveyed to your management and employees frequently. Supervisors should be talking to production people and dealing with issues the line identifies. Sustaining a positive, supportive attitude within your team is far more productive than standing by and waiting for something to break. I’ve always believed a pat on the back goes further than a kick in the pants.

2. Quality Control. The image your company portrays – through employees and your product’s packaging – creates the perception of your business to consumers. By controlling that image you can minimize negative perceptions about your products and/or services. It can be something as innocent as printing direct mail pieces when your printer is running out of ink that conveys the wrong impression. Keep an eye on your image and encourage your entire team to do the same.

3. Strategic Plan. Your corporate mission and the other aspects of having a plan for where you want your business to go serves as the guidebook to avoid mistakes. Take time to think things through. Evaluate where you are in accomplishing your strategies on a frequent basis. Spend time on the tasks that are important to the business for the long term and less time responding to urgent tasks. It’s the proverbial but true statement about spending more time on the business than in it.

4. Crisis Management. An often overlooked element in your business and marketing strategy is a response mechanism for when crises occur. Thinking through what might happen and devising methods for dealing with each of them can minimize risks, alleviate headaches, and keep your company in business when mistakes happen. Keep in mind that in certain situations, your best crisis response may be to let the crisis pass without a direct response. You must still be ready to act, however.

5. Learn. To keep from repeating errors that can prove costly, a great piece of advice is to learn from those mistakes you do make. You are doomed to failure if your company continues to make the same mistakes. Make sure your legal counsel knows the risks you face and does what he/she can to help you minimize them. Trust your non-staff team to help you gain from the lessons mistakes teach us. Stay positive and keep moving forward. Understand that this, too, will pass.

Detach yourself from the desire to make a rush (and often rash) decision. Distinguish the true from the false, the facts from the assumptions. Then choose the right path.

Game Plan

A good friend left one professional football team and ended up playing for a different one for a couple of years before he retired. The one he left had a consistent record of making the playoffs, winning championships, and having a waiting list for season tickets.

When he signed on with his new team, he found a locker room full of players more concerned about their paychecks than winning. The team rarely made the playoffs, usually had a losing record, and had a hard time filling the stands on game days. He had come from a totally different environment; a positive, winning environment he wanted to create with his new team, so he needed a game plan.

His approach involved helping his teammates understand that if they put forth the effort to be the best players they could be and concentrate on winning football games, they would fill the stands and generate the revenue necessary to more than compensate them for their efforts. He worked hard on conditioning, talked about the right fuel for the machine, and studied the playbook to perfection. His teammates started to understand, especially that with the right attitude they might even make the playoffs and win a championship, like he had done with his former team. He showed them his championship ring.

While his impact on the team was a small part of their success, they now contend for the division title every year and have made the playoffs consistently for four or five years. He had helped the players think things through, adjust their attitude, and play with a different winning mindset.

What’s the game plan for your business?

You can easily do the least possible and get by. That’s simple. You will own a business and take an occasional paycheck. Your company may be remembered one day for providing a product or service that people enjoyed while it lasted. You may even have an impact on some people’s lives. Is that your legacy and game strategy? Is that why you are in business? Is it enough for you to accomplish?

Or …

Do you want to create, develop, and sustain a comprehensive strategy that builds your brand to have top-of-mind awareness among consumers and own the market for your product or service? You can work your brand to the point where it has phenomenal impact on whatever plane you wish to dominate, including net profit, market share, employee relations, customer service, and public perception. It can be done.

Your strategy starts with your attitude. Answer the question: Why are you in business? Then build on that response by surrounding yourself with the right coaches (consultants such as Brand Irons) and players (employees and vendors). Understand what you’re selling and who your target audience is so they’re willing to buy tickets (purchase your products or services) and come to the games (become repeat customers).

You choose whether your business is mediocre or exceptional.

I go to a certain grocery store for a reason; it’s my favorite. I could buy food at a store where the prices are cheaper, but I go where I do because the owner/manager will stop and talk to me whenever and wherever I am in the store. He and his staff understand the relationship with the customer is more important than stocking the shelves. It makes a difference.

A game plan is a fun way to look at your company’s business plan and market strategy. Contact Brand Irons to get help putting yours together.

Ride for the Brand

There’s a lot of sense in James Owen’s Cowboy Ethics that relates tomodern business ownership, such as living each day with courage, taking pride in your work, and always finishing what you start. Make sense?

Your entrepreneurial spirit and drive to succeed gives you the courage to greet each day, and that belief in your product or service imbues that sense of pride. Napoleon Hill writes about winners never quitting and quitters never winning, so finish what you start. A half-hearted effort is just that, half-hearted and hardly worth doing at all.

Other aspects of the cowboy code were/are to do what has to be done. If a fire has to be put out before you leave for the day, put it out. If you’re in the food service business, you clean up the garbage whether you want to or not. It has to get done.

Along the same line, a solid principle is to ride for the brand. As the business owner, you live, eat, and breathe your brand – your business, products, and services. You represent your brand. You are selling it, even when you don’t think you are. The vision you create for your employees and customers should convince them to ride (act and be loyal) for your brand as well.

Think of Harley-Davidson as an example. Harley owners ride their motorcycles because they love the bikes, and they are extremely loyal to the H-D brand. Dealers and employees perpetuate the concept of riding for the brand. It’s the brand loyalty every business owner aspires to, or should want for their products and services.

Cowboys were hired on by the trail boss to ride for the owner of the cattle they were herding; the brand. Their life, in many ways, depended on their loyalty to riding for the brand.

The cowboy way of life and sense of ethics may seem archaic in a high-tech world, but the values these pioneers in the expansion of our country held still have merit. What follows is Owens’ entire list:

Live each day with courage
Take pride in your work
Always finish what you start
Do what has to be done
Be tough, but fair
When you make a promise, keep it
Ride for the brand
Talk less, say more
Remember that some things aren’t for sale
Know where to draw the line.

Happy Trails!

What’s In A Brand Name?

Okay, here we go with the marketing analysis of what constitutes a successful brand name. Is it the identity or the product behind it?

Allow me to start out with a professional football team that has made a least one Super Bowl appearance. For many years after that early appearance, the team compiled an unenviable losing record. A former client who played for the team provided some insight that relates to the team’s brand. When he signed with the team, the attitude of the players was more about when they were collecting their paychecks than if the team was winning. The end result was the team rarely won and was losing its fan base.

When the attitude began to change that if they played well, fielded a competitive team, and won more games, there would be more fan support and their pay would be greater, lo and behold, they started making the playoffs. They are now a serious contender consistently in their AFC division.

In this case, the product behind it was influential in the success of the brand.

Changing to a different product and a current client situation, there are many people who like to drink strong alcohol. In a lion’s share of cases today, the identity carries more influence in consumer patterns than the product. Significant advertising dollars are spent to create an image of the product that attracts consumers to drink and purchase the product. Think of the pirate concept behind a certain brand of rum. If you like, drink, and purchase that brand, are you buying the marketing concept or the rum? A discerning palate with an acquired appreciation of rum is less likely to consume that product when there are better rum products out there.

In these two examples, one is more about the product and the other more about the identity, or brand. The more closely these two can be married for your product or service, the greater likelihood you are to successfully market it and build your brand to the level it is capable of achieving.

How do you do that?

First, you must know your product or service from a different perspective; the viewpoint of your end user, the customer. You might think you sell camouflage hunting clothes, but in reality you are selling the ability of a hunter to blend into the surroundings where they hunt to increase their odds of bagging their prey. Your customer, therefore, is looking for a pattern similar to their hunting ground in a garment that is comfortable, quiet, and offers them the best chance of success in the woods.

Second, the better you know your customers, the more you can motivate them to use your product or service. Once they’ve bought, you want to keep them as customers and build loyalty to your brand. You want them to identify with your brand name and recommend it to others because of what they love about it! Even though it may not be the healthiest fast food restaurant on the planet, consumers flock to McDonald’s because they a) recognize the brand; and, b) know the products will be fairly consistent in quality and price wherever they see the golden arches. Brand loyalty strengthened by an identity that is reinforced by the product quality; you know what you’re going to get when you order at McDonald’s.

Third, build your brand. If you have started a business and sales are lagging, it may be your identity – the perception consumers have of you – that needs to be adjusted. Make the adjustment, but only after you’ve had someone help you with viable consumer research. Talking to a couple of friends is market research, but comprehensive research and analysis goes a bit deeper. Do some test marketing. Get people’s perceptions of your product and the identity you put forth; it may reveal you simply need to change the color scheme to increase sales. Get feedback from your customers. What do they like or dislike about what you provide? Some answers may enlighten you – what I refer to as a BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) – while other suggestions may be of little merit. You have to make the ultimate decisions. Your brand is your ticket to adding revenue to your bottom line.

Does Social Media Work?

If you’ve wondered whether you should engage social media for your business, the April 17th edition of USA Today shared the results of a study you might find interesting.

Here are some of the key elements of the article by Oliver St. John for you to consider as a business owner:

The CEO of Manta, Pam Springer, is quoted as saying the negative impression business owners have about using social media is “…probably because they don’t know how to launch a successful social-media campaign…” She recommends connecting with other business owners to get advice, but only 36% of businesses do this.

There are resources available for business owners to connect with other owners and discuss topics such as social media. In Green Bay, there’s a networking group consisting of only business owners that meets the 1st Wednesday of every month at the Green Bay Yachting Club. There are other networking organizations for business owners as well.

The CEO of Crackerjack Marketing, Stephanie Schwab, is cited in the article as saying many small businesses “…just don’t have a place in social media.” She’s right in the sense you need not put your business in the social media environment because of peer or media pressure to be there. What she adds is that you need to know what you’re trying to get out of a social media campaign.

That’s common sense when it comes to marketing your business. Far too many business owners lack a strategy for marketing their products and services. If the only reason you advertise on TV is because the sales representative talked you into buying the time, you will either stumble into success or endure costly failure. You need to strategize and, as Schwab adds, use “…marketing techniques already proved to work, such as having a website.”

One of the business owners covered near the end of the article said social media hasn’t helped her business, which sells $5,000 to $40,000 pool jobs. She added, however, that out of the 200-300 jobs she does every year, three or four come from people online. Even at the low ($5,000 level) end, that could be as much as $20,000!

She gets most of her customers through referrals. That is the preferred way to get new business for most of us, and what business owners fail to realize is that they should have a strategy for that aspect of marketing their business as well.

I always find articles such as this one fascinating, especially when 61% of small businesses fail to see any return on their investment in social media. A similar article in Advertising Age, a marketing trade publication, a few years ago cited a study that showed roughly the same percentage (62%) of advertisers were dissatisfied with their agencies. What I’ve discovered and believe strongly in is that, as a business owner, you must take the time to think through what your business is all about; less about where you’ve been and more on where you want to be.

When that picture is clear, how you need to market your business also becomes clear. The proprietary process used at Brand Irons can walk you through the process, save you money over the long run, and add to your bottom line if you’re willing to change the way you’ve always done things.

To answer the question posed in the headline: Yes, if you have a strategy that is designed to reach your target demographic.

AGD’s – Attention Getting Devices

How long does it take you to check your smart phone when you hear the familiar “ding” that you’ve received a text message? If the phone is in your hand already, only a few seconds. If you have to find the phone, perhaps 30 seconds. And who knows how long if you have it on vibrate or can’t remember where you put it?

The point is that little “ding” is a very poignant and effective attention getting device, or an AGD for those of you into types of acronyms, like F2F for meeting someone face-to-face. That “ding-y” AGD is part of the reason text messaging is growing in popularity for business owners, and why texting has such a phenomenal response rate. Unless a text correspondence has ended, the sender or receiver is likely to continue responding until it does. And the end result is likely to stir one of the parties to action. Hence the effectiveness of flash mob.

Jamie's Baby

This banner from www.greenbayfloorrestore.com’s website is an example of an Internet attention getter; the client wanted more carpet cleaning business.

In more traditional methods of advertising, AGDs are as important, if not more so, than a strong call to action. Think of a direct mail piece that blends in. It looks like all the other direct mail correspondence in your mailbox and, most likely, gets recycled before it hits the countertop. We could spend an entire blog on direct mail, but as it relates to getting someone’s attention, that piece must stand out from everything else, be delivered at the right time, and pique the receiver’s curiosity enough to get them to open it and see what it’s all about. The odds are still in favor of it getting recycled, but if the offer is strong enough, it may survive.

Watch some television commercials, if only to see what grabs your attention. This can be important to you as a marketer and business owner if your target demographic matches your profile to some extent. Is the AGD a recognizable celebrity? A cute pet? Someone doing something silly or scary? Does the AGD tug at your heart strings, make you cry, or cause you to salivate for some reason? Most TV commercials, while they may seem longer, are only 30 seconds. That’s a short time to get a viewer’s attention, pitch the product, and call the observer to do something about it.

Music and humor can be attention getting devices for advertising your product or service. Beautiful images and sexual innuendo can also work, but the key to your success is using AGDs that reflect your image and convey your unique selling proposition to the targeted audience as clearly and succinctly as possible to GRAB THEIR ATTENTION … like yelling in an E-mail.

The fun part is that you’ll know yours when you discover it.

5 P’s of Business Success

Your definition of success is different than mine. Is the wino who scores a cheap bottle every day less successful than the sales representative whose achieves the goal of 10 sales in a week? It comes down to how you define success.

Success Key When it comes to owning and operating a business, defining success is still a personal choice, although there are certain keys that can clarify the definition. Here are five “P”s:

Passion. One of the first elements Brand Irons considers when taking on a new client is how passionate you are about your business. The passion gets you up in the morning with eager anticipation for what you can accomplish during the day. It motivates you to bring enthusiasm to every decision you make about the business. It energizes your employees and that passion for your vision goes right through to your customers. That passion for your enterprise sends you home at night encouraged by the results and excited about bringing it back tomorrow.
Plan. Various research projects have illustrated that people, especially business owners, who set goals and write down their plans are far more likely to succeed than those who feel goals and plans have little value. Take some time to think for a few minutes: Are you working in your business or are you taking the time to work on your business? Working on your business means you do some research, study your competition, talk to your customers and personnel, and develop strategies to enhance your bottom line. Try a different tactic and measure the results of how it worked. Consult with professionals and others in your field who have been successful in their endeavors. Think about things.
Perform. Your passion conveys a sense of urgency that follows the path you’ve laid out in your plan. Another critical element is to execute the strategy, which means you and your people have to perform. Your customers have expectations. They believe in and trust you. They know what to expect from your products and/or services. It’s up to you and your team to make it happen and fulfill those customer expectations. That’s why it is essential you stay in touch with your customers. Get to know them and their needs. What are they looking for, and is your company meeting those needs? How can you enhance service? Are there other products you could provide to help them solve their problems? Do what is expected of you … and then do a little more than that.
People. Whatever your business, whatever you market, and whether you have employees or it’s only you, everything you do involves people. Your customers are people; human beings with needs, wants, and wishes. Your employees are people with a need to feel appreciated, who want to have value and make a contribution, and wish to be treatly fairly and honestly. Your success in business is therefore wrapped up with people. That means you need to establish and sustain relationships with these people, especially your customers. Always remember that without customers – who are people – you have no business.
Place. The adage that it’s all about location is true, to a degree. If you operate a restaurant or a retail establishment, your place in the community can be a critical element in your long-term success. The same holds true if the primary place where your business is located is on the Internet. If your web presence is old, stagnant, and hard to find, even the most elaborate website is a poor location. Keep your place looking sharp. Your parking lot should be as safe, clean, and comfortable as your place of business. Your website should be up-to-date and your social media current and professional. Remember, marketing is about perception. If your customers think your place looks sloppy, that perception could reflect on your products and services as clearly as crystal.

Brand Enthusiasm

Creating enthusiasm for your brand begins with you. The consciousness you want consumers to have about and for your product or service flows through you and your company into the marketplace.

The energy and creative power of your actions are essential for your business, products, and services to permeate and imbue the culture you want to build around your brand.

A basic energy level is one of acceptance. Acceptance as it relates to marketing your brand means you are content with the position you have and get by with doing what you need to do to establish and maintain market share. You may have an audience that is aware of your brand and supports your products and services, but the energy level is low. Unfortunately, a majority of businesses generate this basic level of energy about their products and services. It is due more to a lack of understanding of how to take it up a level than it is the desire or willingness to add to the bottom line.

If you ramp things up a notch, the energy level turns to excitement about your products and/or services. The energy you generate because you are enjoying what you are doing makes every aspect of your business come alive. Your joy shines through in the activities of the day and, as a result, flow through you to the people and customers around you. People enjoy being around you and your glow reaches out through a deep sense of being alive and finding great value in every moment. That feeling of excitement is contagious and when people are excited about you, your products and services, the cash register rings.

The acceptance energy level is a basic requirement for being in business, while the level of excitement is the minimum requirement for developing your brand. They are unlikely to guarantee great success or broad brand acceptance, but without them the chances of failure certainly increase.

Where the energy level for your brand needs to, and must, be to grow and sustain your brand is the level of outright enthusiasm! This is where you have taken your excitement for your brand and developed goals you want to achieve that are measurable, smart, and within reach. These goals convey your vision for the brand and your enthusiasm. Dedication to achieving those goals adds intensity and super-powered energy to their pursuit. You bring the creative power of the universe to bear and generate a tsunami effect for your products or services.

Your enthusiasm engulfs others; your employees, your vendors, your customers, your prospective customers, and the general public. When you meet obstacles with enthusiasm, like a massive wave you either go around them, encompass them and they move with you, or they are washed away. You become unstoppable as long as you have that enthusiasm, remain motivated, and are one with the universe.

Creating the enthusiasm for your brand begins with your goals for the brand, which should be dynamic and connected to your market. Then the energy you transmit must flow in such a way as to inspire and enrich people’s lives so they, in turn, are swept up in the enthusiasm for your brand.

An exceptional resource is Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, that has proven valuable in determining successful approaches to marketing your business when you read it from that perspective. Tolle also wrote The Power of Now!

The Bible also has a great viewpoint to consider, from Mark 11:24: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

If you need help on how to build your brand, contact Brand Irons at (920) 366-6334.