brand • muse

They needed some new innovative products. Then, just like chocolate hitting peanut butter for the first time, a miracle happened

Who says we have to limit ourselves? Who says we can’t go to where the customer landscape is a little different?

We all can get stuck in a rut. Using the same old visual language over and over. But if you want to turn heads, if you want to make an impression, sometimes you have to break even your own rules.

Where do you want to go next? What do you yearn to explore? What do you need to learn?

When we build a business, we set off expecting fair winds to guide us to lands of plenty. But the sea of competition is cruel. Brands can break, strategies can wear thin. Marketing holes need to be plugged, opportunities can pass us by.

My interactions and participation in masterminds have accounted for an estimated 20% of my new clients over the last 3 years.

So take a look at your brand. What do you have that is a little out of the ordinary? A little unexpected? Celebrate it. Own it. Crow about it.

The only way to know is to join a mastermind and find out. I am certain you will feel the compounding effect of having 4 or more brains working on your business, more meaningful professional connections, and accountability. Don’t wait another minute.

As marketers and branding people, when we need actionable insights for our clients, user research helps us dispel assumptions that might be incorrect. It helps us understand true preference and motivation.

When you ask questions and show genuine interest in someone it actually makes you seem more interesting, accomplished and likable.

When you are creating a brand, you look for the iconic. The memorable. The indelible. The unique. The un-Instagrammable.

When you give to your community with no expectation of return something wonderful happens. I like to call it “subliminal reciprocity”. You help people and over time they just naturally want to help you, too.

Freelancing is like a permission slip to grow as much as you desire professionally. In fact, in recent years the historical drawbacks of freelancing; lack of loyalty, lack of consistency and exposure to market shifts and economic forces have started to look less like a downside and more like a competitive advantage.

Have you ever had an experience with a product that made you reevaluate the very conception you’ve always had of particular thing?

Once you get started with leveraging lead magnets, you‘ll see how easy it is to attract qualified, interested leads to your email list. You’ll be delivering great value to your audience, which is a solid start to the relationship.

Last week one of my coaching clients was upset. His competition was copying him. They were stealing his ideas! What should he do?

My customer lifetime value to Sweet Rama’s was drastically increased by a note from a goat. What personal touch can you put on your customer experience that can have the same effect?

You may think your products are great. You may be putting in the miles. But the secret to success isn’t in your head. It’s in your customers. You just have to ask.

What can you do to assure you are delivering a product, a service, or an experience with that kind of benefit? Something people really feel.

Remember when you could land a job and camp out at the same desk for 15 or 20 years? Those days are not just fading, they’re long gone.

Some say Orbit cinnamon was the best gum ever invented. But now it’s gone. It’s a brilliant case study in how scarcity is a key motivator in triggering desire.

A successful customer journey gives your site visitors a focused and seamless interaction with your brand  - something every website owner aspires to.

Even though you may have an idea how you want your customer to behave, you just can’t force them to go where they don’t want to go.

Personal branding is no longer a by-product of being rich and famous - for some, personal branding is a way to become rich and famous.

The “24/7 entrepreneurial hustle” mentality has buried itself in the collective business consciousness over the last few years.