Wish You Were Here

Our national parks are a treasure. They are some of the most beautiful and awe inspiring places in our country.

Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, Arches, Sequoia, Grand Teton. The names alone spark visions of splendor in almost everyone who has visited one.

Almost everyone.

With more and more people’s travel limited by Covid - our national parks are experiencing massive surges in visitor volume.

Now, if I know one thing about marketing, it’s that people write more product reviews when they hated something than when they loved it.

When people love something, the last thing they usually think about doing is going back and a writing a glowing review. They’re too busy being happy.

But, when people didn’t have such a great experience, the chances are pretty good they will look for a way to vent their displeasure.

Here are some reviews from our national park websites:

Sequoia National Park: “Terrible. There are bugs - and they will bite you on the face.”

Grand Teton National Park: “All I saw was a lake, some mountains and some trees. That’s it.”

Yosemite: “Trees block the view and there are too many rocks.”

…and my personal favorite:

Grand Canyon National Park: “A hole. A very, very large hole.”

So if you - or your clients - are getting some rough reviews or less than glowing comments on your content, products or services, take heart:

There are many, many more people who loved it than will ever make the time to write about how happy it made them.

Shedding Some Light

There’s a star at the very tip of the handle of The Little Dipper.

Its astronomical name is Polaris. But, we call it The North Star.

The North Star sheds a lot of light. In fact, it’s 4000 times brighter than our sun.

The really cool thing is that when you look at it, the light you are seeing was actually generated in 1587.

Its light has traveled for 434 years to reach us.

To fill us with wonder and to help travelers navigate.

When I was reading about the North Star I was reminded of a video I did 4 years ago called “9 Things Your Brand Design Must Have”.

When I shared that video on YouTube I didn’t really know what would happen.

I just posted it and hoped it would help someone.

Time passed...

Then someone watched it. Then another and another.

Now, 4 years later it has 382,000 views. And it still gets about 7,000 views a month.

That video sheds light on a topic that has helped a lot of people navigate brand design.

As marketers and creatives we do this stuff all the time.

We produce creative work, content, media, share valuable information. Then we post it out there in cyberspace.

We don’t know who it’s going to help. Or when it will reach them.

But we have to remember that providing value takes time.

And that it will continue to shed light for years to come.

Become a Great Public Speaker With These Quick Tips

If you want to reach the next level of your career, you can’t gloss over your public speaking skills. Successful designers, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals must present their ideas effectively and defend their work convincingly to an audience. 

Honing your public speaking skills exponentially increases your chances of success in your career. 

The opportunity to directly influence an audience is invaluable and is certainly worth the effort to improve.

If you are afraid of public speaking, you are not alone. 25% of people in the world rank public speaking as their number one fear. As Psychology Today explains it, there are myriad physiological reactions, negative thoughts and false beliefs that instantaneously paralyze you with fear when you take the stage.

Even if you’re not paralyzed with fear, you’re bound to get a little nervous before you present. You need to accept the fear. Quietly acknowledge, “I’m feeling nervous.” If you try to fight it, it will make it worse. 

Use these tips to feel more confident about your preparation, presentation, and follow-up.

Preparation

Watch and Learn: Watching great speakers and deconstructing their presentations will help you understand the important components of an outstanding speech. TED has some amazing videos from some of the best speakers in the world. Watch as many as you can and ask yourself: 

• How do they start their talk? 

• How do they engage the audience? 

• How do they tell a story? 

• How do they walk and move? 

• How do they present the slides that are behind them? 

• What's the cadence of their speech? 

• Do they tell jokes or are they serious? 

• Are they quiet or loud? 

Here’s a list of the 25 Most Popular TED Talks Of All Time to get you started. If you want to go even deeper, this video from Chris Anderson, TED Curator, explains the one secret ingredient of all great TED talks.

Rehearse: Knowing your material is the most important preparation step. 

Write diligent speaker notes and know your slides cold. Memorize everything until your presentation is mistake-free. Many people find mnemonics are very helpful with memorization. 

Mnemonics are based on pictorial memory, so if you are a visual person, it may be the right solution for you. This video from Mike Michalowicz, author of the business cult classic, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, teaches you the basics of mnemonics memorization. 

Assess: Observe yourself, either in a mirror or on video, to perfect your presentation. Notice and correct any distracting habits like:

1. Using filler words like "um," "ah," “like,” and “so.”

2. Long pauses or a very slow speech cadence. This will make it difficult for the audience to stay with you.

3. No pauses or rushing your words.  This will make it difficult for the audience to absorb what you have to say.

4. Using your hands too much.

It’s easy to lose perspective when you are watching yourself, so get constructive criticism. Invite your friends and family to watch your presentation. Ask them for their impressions and tell them not to hold back. They will tell you what you can’t see. 

When You're In The Room

Always Be Early. Ensure that you have a few quiet moments before everyone arrives. When you first get to the room, take a moment to collect your thoughts and breathe. Relax and release any feelings of being rushed. 

Next, make sure everything works. Gather your visuals, laptop, projector, and anything else you’ll need during the presentation. Make sure your laptop is charged and has the right plugs for the projector. Laptops have been known to crash the second you're about to start your presentation, so make sure you have a backup presentation and note cards or printouts so you can present without slides. 

Preparing for a disaster is very important. 

When I was presenting to Disney years ago, I brought my laptop that had my presentation on it in my backpack. When my colleagues and I arrived, the Disney executives gave us bottles of water. I took a sip, then put it in my backpack and went on a tour of the corporate offices.

When I got to the presentation room and opened my backpack, it was filled with 3 inches of water. My laptop was literally dripping as I pulled it out. It was soaked and destroyed. Luckily, I had a backup of the presentation on a thumb drive and was able to use someone else's laptop. 

Stuff happens. Have backup.

Setting The Stage: As speaker, you set the tone and mood of the presentation. 

Here’s a home-spun proven formula to start a speech and keep audiences engaged:

1. Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em

2. Tell ’em

3. Then, tell ’em what you told ’em.

Set your speech up with a very clear introduction about what you're presenting and why. 

This creates anticipation for the audience. After that brief intro, launch into your presentation. At the end, briefly review the key points in a concise conclusion. This structure grounds people in the beginning, the middle, and the end of a presentation. 

Own the room: This is the one time in your life where you want to be the center of attention. To do that, begin by asking the audience a question and then get them to respond by raising their hands. Some speakers even have people stand up, or tell them to clap or shout, “hell yeah!” They're taking control by forcing people to do something. That control makes them the de facto director of everything that’s happening in the room.

Avoid “Death By Powerpoint:” Keep your slides simple. Too much text, also known as "death by PowerPoint," makes it tempting for the speaker to just sit there and read through it, which will bore the audience to death. It also takes your face away from the audience which means you can’t control the room. 

Keep your slides super simple with minimal text so you aren't drawn to try to read them. 

Once Upon A Time: Stories are incredibly engaging. Tell a story or use a metaphor to make a point. Stories help people remember and internalize what it is that you're talking about.

Where’s Waldo: Be animated and lively when you are presenting. Walk around - don't pace frantically, but periodically move across the space. This keeps eyes on you and attention on what you are saying.

Make ‘em laugh: Have fun with your presentation and others will too. Don’t be afraid to tell a joke or put a funny or quirky slide in your presentation. I like to show a slide that is a red herring or doesn't fit in with the rest of the deck because it wakes people up. 

Having fun with your material is a great way to make sure the audience won’t be working on their phones or reading through their laptop during your presentation.

As You Are: Be human. Be vulnerable. People identify with the person who's presenting to them. They will, more often than not, give you some leeway to make mistakes or to say something that doesn't make sense. 

After The Presentation

Leave the last 5 to 10 minutes of your presentation for conversation and questions. This is where things really happen because you are interacting and connecting with the audience in a more genuine way. Speaking off the cuff forges a deeper connection; your audience can get a better sense of who you are with just a few minutes of candid discussion. 

If things don't go well - and it happens, don't make excuses but don’t get down on yourself either. Know you did the best job you could and move on. Don't admit that it didn’t go well when you're in the room. Always thank the audience for their time and attention and leave with your head held high. 

Perfecting your public speaking skills requires practice and patience. If you’re like most people, you’ll want to get better at it quickly, but be patient. Get practice by speaking regularly, either in an informal group of friends with public speaking goals, or through a formal organization like Toastmasters International.  If you are ready for the next level, this article from Inc.com will get you started with apps that can improve your public speaking skills. 

When we can all gather in person, someday soon hopefully, I hope to see you presenting at the next industry conference!

Guess What? You’re Drafted

Did you ever wonder why in the Indianapolis 500 race cars follow each other so closely? Or why in the New York Marathon elite runners run right on the heels of their opponent?

The answer is “drafting”. Any object uses energy to move quickly through air. That object then creates a vacuum of air behind it that “pulls” along anything that’s behind it - drastically reducing the amount of energy the follower needs to keep pace.

By using these aerodynamic truths, a Brazilian bicyclist recently reached an incredible 77mph on a highway by drafting behind a semi truck. A feat that would be totally impossible otherwise.

A couple weeks ago I started a private Facebook group called Brand Design Masters.

One of the amazing things about it is the broad range of experience and skills the members have. Some are seasoned industry vets with serious credentials. Some are just starting out - or making a pivot in their careers and starting fresh in a new direction.

But the best thing about mastermind communities like this is that it is rare that you are the most accomplished person in the group. There are others more knowledgeable, better connected or more experienced that are moving at a greater speed than you.

Why is that the best thing?

Because by using the power of drafting you can make faster progress in a shorter period of time than would be ever possible on your own.

Put This On Your Radar

In December 1955, a marketer at Sears had an idea. They thought…”Let’s run an ad with a Santa hotline!”

That’s when it happened. They made a typo in the ad and listed the wrong number.

So who’s phone number did they actually print? NORAD, that’s who. As in strategic-air-command-nuclear-missile-button NORAD.

Oh, and not just any NORAD number. They printed the number for that red phone. You know, the one that connects directly to the Pentagon.

Oops.

So when kids started calling with their Christmas wishes, they were greeted with a soldier yelling “Is this some kinda fucking joke buddy?”

After discovering this response usually made the child on the other end of the line start crying, the hard-as-nails Air Force guys shifted their approach. They started sharing reports of mysterious flying objects on their radar that were shaped like a sleigh. Or updates on cities where reindeer had been spotted in the skies.

When radio stations heard about it, they started calling to get sleigh updates to share on the air. And so, this is how the “Santa Tracker” tradition got started. With a typo.

But more importantly, from a reaction to a typo.

Sometimes the universe throws you a curve ball. Something completely out of context. Instead of reacting in a knee-jerk way, how can you approach it from a totally different angle? How can you bring to it a dose of humor, a bit of personality, a level of humanity?

Because we’re all just people after all.

People with a wish we want to come true.

Are You Adrift?

I’ve read Adrift, by Steven Callahan six times. In 1981, Callahan survived 76 days alone at sea in a six foot inflatable raft after his 21’ sloop was struck by a whale and sank in the middle of the Atlantic.

Before it sank, Steven was able to retrieve a few survival supplies including a small spear gun and a second-hand solar still that produced fresh water from condensation.

But in the brutal sun the solar still deteriorated to bits. The spear gun broke. He accidentally punctured his raft and spent days rigging a plug to keep it inflated. Nine ships passed him by, oblivious to his flares and signals.

I think what lead me to read Adrift six times is Steve’s persistence. When he was hit with a problem, he got busy. Failure was truly not an option. He survived because he just would not give up.

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.

But we must be persistent. Determined to survive. When adversity strikes, get busy. Because giving up is not an option.

Top 5 Reasons To Join A Mastermind Group

Masterminds are an incredibly powerful business accelerator tool. I’ve been a member of several masterminds during the last four years and am constantly amazed by how much they have helped my business grow. I’ve gone from zero to a thriving branding consultancy with an international roster of clients across a range of categories including healthcare, medical technology, health and beauty, fashion, architecture and lifestyle startups.

The upward trajectory I’ve experienced as a result of a mastermind is not unique to me. Historic icons like Franklin Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison each had mastermind groups helping them achieve their goals, and many modern-day CEOs and entrepreneurs are using them too. In the age of growth hacking and business incubators, mastermind groups are among the best tools for business advancement.

What is a mastermind group?

Simply put, a mastermind is a group of people who help one another sharpen their business and personal skills. These peer-to-peer groups are a forum for members who solve their business challenges by:

• Brainstorming

• Sharing personal experience and resources

• Educating each other

The members support each other in reaching their business goals by:

• Creating a system of accountability

• Inspiring and challenging each other to push their limits

• Cultivating networking opportunities

Napoleon Hill, known as the father of masterminds, wrote, “No mind is complete by itself. It needs contact and association with other minds to grow and expand.” That growth and expansion are exactly what most entrepreneurs and designers need to achieve exponential results. Meeting with a mastermind group helps you consistently tap into this power.

How Do Mastermind Groups Accelerate Business Growth?

Hill, who wrote the famous Think And Grow Rich, introduced the idea of masterminds in his Master Keys To Success principles. In the 1960’s Master Keys To Success became a multi-part television series. In this episode, he explains:

“[In a mastermind] you may borrow and use the education, the experience, the influence, and perhaps the capital of other people in carrying out your own plans in life. It is the principle through which you can accomplish in one year more than you could accomplish without it in a lifetime if you depended entirely on your own efforts for success.” (excerpt from The Success Alliance)

This is very true. Using or “borrowing” the education and experience of the others in your group is the “secret sauce” of a mastermind. Getting the perspectives, opinions and input from everyone in the group gives you the extra confidence and courage to make decisions faster, see results sooner, and achieve your goals more quickly.

It has been true for me; I have accomplished more with my mastermind groups than I could have on my own. I started a YouTube channel that now has over 180k subscribers, publish an industry-leading newsletter to 15k subscribers and I’ve appeared as a featured guest on 30+ podcasts and virtual conferences. I could not have done even half that without my mastermind groups.

The 5 Benefits of Mastermind Groups for Entrepreneurs and Designers

Here are some of the benefits I’ve experienced from my mastermind groups:

1. Community: One of the hard parts of being an entrepreneur is the “mental load” of being the chief decision-maker. The group helps lessen that weight. It takes the edge off of the isolation most entrepreneurs experience.

2. Accelerated learning: You learn from others’ knowledge and experience. The mastermind is a confidential space that allows you to ask questions, experiment, and discuss challenges specific to your business.

3. Building a network of business partners: Develop trusted relationships and increase your connections across a broad range of industries.

4. Inspiration and motivation: Hearing what others are doing will push you to do more in your business. Learning about the wins and even failures of others will spur you on. You’ll share in their successes because you’ll have offered them advice, held them accountable and cheered them on. Being a part of others’ success boosts your confidence; something that takes a beating as an entrepreneur.

5. Goals & Accountability: Goals setting on steroids. You’ll see how others set and accomplish goals. Share goals with each other and hold each other accountable so everyone gets more important work done. Studies have shown that people perform better when others are watching (Johns Hopkins University, 2018). A small audience, such as a mastermind, may be just the thing to kick your business growth into high gear.

I created a video called “The 5 Powers of Mastermind Groups,” where I discuss these benefits in more detail.

Where will the power of the group take you?

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.

Brand Yourself Or Die: 8 Steps To Career Longevity

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 gone. People are getting more freedom and flexibility in their lives by giving up the serial desk job and working remotely for many different companies at one time. Apps like Uber, TaskRabbit, Fiverr and hundreds of others are redefining how we work. New technology is changing our economy and the way we are doing business. Adapt or die.

Ok, “adapt or die” may be a little strong, but the truth is that we are moving from an era of full-time employment into an era of independent contractors. It has been happening gradually, so you may not have noticed it at all, but it is in full swing:

●      In 2006, independent and contingent workers—contractors, temps, and the self-employed—stood at 42.6 million, or about 30% of the workforce. That’s more than 60 million people. (The last time the government counted contingent workers was in 2006, so updated numbers are not available)

●      According to a 2014 study commissioned by the Freelancers Union, 53 million Americans are independent workers -- about 34 percent of the total workforce. This number is expected to balloon to 50 percent by 2020.

A Personal Brand: Your Job Insurance Policy

Even if you are a full-time employee and have great job security, the way people perceive your work is changing as a result of this macro-socio-economic shift. More and more companies are divesting themselves of full-time employees because of the high benefits cost. It gives them more flexibility, but it gives the freelancer or contract worker less security. So controlling your career trajectory is more critical now than ever before.

The professional climate is increasingly unstable even compared to a just few decades ago. Now, in the marketing world, when agencies lose a client there are layoffs. When a company takes a downward turn, there are layoffs. An acquisition? A restructuring? Layoffs. Corporate unpredictability means you can’t be overly dependent on your employer for your personal identity or for managing your career. Having a personal branded presence that's strong and independent of an employer is really preparation for the inevitable. It will assure your survival and success in your career, whether that’s working for another company, agency or brand, or whether it's developing an independent freelance or consulting career.

Job? No Job? A Personal Brand Can Help

Developing a personal brand will help you take control of your own destiny.

Branding is a shortcut for people to get to know who you are, what you do well, and how you can help them. Since you can’t tell everyone everything about yourself, a brand does the hard work of getting your main points across. For example, we know that Tim Ferriss celebrates high performance, Ira Glass likes compelling stories, and Rachel Ray is all about kitchen confidence, all from their own personal branding. We don’t know those people personally, but we do know a good deal about them because of their personal brands.

If you have a full-time job, a personal branding presence shows your expertise in your field. It demonstrates to others that you are up to date on your industry, category, and career. It also has the added benefit of lending you more credibility in the job that you already have.

If you don’t have a job or are a contract worker, a personal brand will make you more attractive to recruiters or your next employer. LinkedIn, social profiles, and maybe even a YouTube channel will help demonstrate your skill. Developing content and writing articles about your work and industry will elevate you in search results and therefore easier for recruiters and potential employers to find. It will also make you desirable to an employer looking for the top talent in their industry because your brand is connecting the dots; broadcasting your expertise so they can easily understand how you can help solve their problems. The critical thinking you do about what you stand for and the independent actions you take affect how you show up in the professional world. It’s hard work, but it pays off.

While working on your personal brand, I guarantee you will encounter many ah-ha moments. These are moments of understanding about your own professional (and sometimes personal) development. Developing and maintaining your personal brand will help you discern which skills you have and those you may need to learn.

As you develop your professional profile, for example, you may see holes in your skillset, or an uneven distribution of knowledge in one area. You will want to address these so you can truly stand out among your peers. You may need additional skills and may want to go to more conferences or make more network connections. But also in these ah-ha moments you may happily realize you have even more experience to leverage than you thought.

Fear is OK

You may be thinking, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid of putting myself out there. Self-promotion was never my thing. Plus, it's a lot of work. What are people going to think of me? What's my employer going to think of me?"

You are probably overthinking it.

These are all legitimate fears that everyone has before they begin. In reality, your employer probably won’t even notice. You may be surprised to find that your friends or your peers are not going to really care that much either. In fact,  you're doing it for yourself. Your investment in your professional development shows a level of strength and interest in yourself and your career that I like to think of as professional self-care. Your friends, peers, and colleagues are more likely want to emulate you than criticize you.

Developing a Personal Brand is a Sign of Strength and Independence

Your personal brand is going to show that you have a life outside of your corporate umbrella and your employer will be less apt to take you for granted or feel that they have a controlling degree of leverage over you.

Fear sneaks up on you in unexpected ways when doing important work like this, especially in the form of excuses. One of the most common excuses? “I’m too (insert: old/young) to create a brand.”

I can guarantee you never are too old to start creating your personal brand. I began developing my own personal brand in 2014. Before that, I had lived entirely under agency and corporate umbrellas and had only a LinkedIn page and a meager personal portfolio site. Now, I have a 14k person email list, publish an industry-recognized newsletter, written over 80 articles and have a YouTube channel with 150 videos and 170k subscribers.  Going deeper into my brand development has reaped incredible benefits for my business. Over 60% of my new business for my agency comes exclusively from my personally branded content marketing.

Fear is natural, but don’t let it stop you from enhancing your career and stopping short of success.

Freedom is Inevitable

I like to reframe it and characterize fear as harness-able energy you can use to break through to the next level. You’ll find that your success is greatly enhanced by your ability to view fear in that way. The benefits of facing your fears, putting a stake in the ground and declaring your value are both subtle and profound. Here are just a few benefits that I think are important:

You will feel less physiologically enslaved. Having a personal brand that's independent of a job will make you feel freer so if job insecurity occurs down the line, you won’t feel like you are totally exposed and are taken by surprise without any idea of what to do next. You'll be more apt to feel that you have more control over your life and that you can more easily architect your next steps.

You’ll have more self-worth and confidence. You can get a level of emotional fulfillment and sense of personal identity from full-time employment. But when you have a presence outside of a full-time job and a strong commitment to that presence, your self-worth and confidence are independent of your employment status. And that's always valuable.

It will keep you sharp. Developing a brand persona keeps you on your toes. It forces you to stay up to date with your industry and core competencies as you develop your opinions, create your content and deliver your brand message. A personal brand is one of the best ways to stay motivated and strong 

It will work your creativity muscle. Challenging yourself to define and develop your own brand is a challenging project and whenever you face a challenge, you up your level of creativity. Consistently maintaining a personal brand, whether that's content, social media, website, branded assets, etc., will force you to consistently work that creativity muscle. This will keep you focused - on top of your category and on top of your career.

How To Create Your Personal Brand

I have organized a systematic, step-by-step way to approach building your brand. As someone who has created and developed hundreds of brands, I have been a student of brand building methodology for decades. I’ve succeeded at scaling some of the most effective branding processes used by global agencies and Fortune 100 clients so they can be leveraged by an individual in building their own personal brand. Each brand and its development is a little different, but if you follow these guidelines you’ll be well on your way to having a beautiful and exciting brand presence in no time.

#1 Current State

You need to start with a really clear picture of the current state of your personal brand. It’s a little like taking an inventory that will help you understand where you’re covered and where you need to develop. You need to know where you already have a presence, so ask yourself these simple questions:

●      Do you have a robust LinkedIn profile?

●      What social media platforms are you truly active on?

●      Do you have a website?

●      Do you develop content of any kind?

●      What is the extent of your network or audience?

●      Have you employed any visual design assets that identify you?

Your answers will give you a good understanding of your current state, your starting line, which will provide context for determining what you are missing and what you need to create.

#2 Your Future State

The future state of your personal brand may be a bit foggy when you first start out, and that’s okay. Like anything else, your professional and brand goals will evolve and change over time. But if you're ever going to get there, you have to start. Ask yourself these questions:

●      What do want to be?

●      What do you want to do?

●      What do you want to accomplish?

●      Who can you help?

Capture all your answers so you can plan how you will get there. Building out your future state can be a big undertaking and is way too much to cover in this article, but just getting your initial thoughts and ideas down is the end goal of this exercise. Begin with your most obvious goals and others will show up as your brand develops.

If you are having a hard time trying to find out where you want to go or discovering your passion, What Color Is My Parachute?  is a classic book that will walk you through the many ways your career can go. You can also check out my video on how to find your passion. 

#3 Skills

You’ll want to capture the current state of the skills you have so you can assess which skills you're going to need to get to your desired professional future state. Some questions:

●      Which software applications do you know? (e.g., MS Office Suite, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, other industry specific applications)

●      What specific skills do you have? (e.g., finance, customer service, account management, budgeting, media planning, promotional or sales/marketing experience. The list can go on and on.)

○      “Hard” Skills? (Technical Skills, physical skills)

○      “Soft” Skills? (People skills, communication, writing, negotiation, salesmanship)

Plan which new skills you can acquire now, and which ones you’ll learn at a later time. Mastering a new software program can feel like a big task, so I suggest breaking it down. Consider taking a class from reputable platforms like like Udemy, Lynda, Skillshare, Coursera or start where most projects begin: Google it. If you are really stuck, this article from Forbes can help you work through the rough spots.

#4 Grow Your Network

You can't do everything yourself, so you want to make sure that you know who’s in your network and who can help and teach you what you need to know. Start by getting your LinkedIn connections up to date; think of everyone you work with, socialize with and even enjoy recreational hobbies with (think: your basketball league or your kid’s soccer team parents). Once you’ve reviewed your network and have begun to consolidate them into LinkedIn, look for people who can assist you in getting to your future state.

●      Who you can you bring into a mastermind group?

●      Who can be a mentor?

●      Who can help you get an introduction to your top employer pick?

●      Who already does what it is you want to be doing?

●      Who could provide you an informational interview?

Figure out what you can do for yourself, but then also, who you might need to employ, or interact with in order to help with things that aren't necessarily within your skill set.

#5 Audience Definition

Your target audience is the group of people that will be interested in hearing what you and your brand have to say. To narrow this group down, ask:

●      Who are the people that can benefit from the information you have?

●      Who will be interested in your point of view and who will benefit from your knowledge and expertise?

These people are your target audience.

Once you know who your audience is, learn where they “hang out”. Think about how and where your audience consumes information, and that's the place you want to be. For example, you may be more comfortable in Snapchat or Twitter, but if your customer watches videos, is in the blogosphere, or in an industry Facebook Community or Group that's where you want to show up. Interact, join the conversation, ask questions, solicit feedback, build relationships, provide real value for free.

#6 Get In The Right Channels

Take another look at all the social media channels you listed in your initial “Current State” audit. Why have you chosen those channels? Is it because that’s where your audience is or because that's where you're more comfortable? Examine all your channels through the lens of your audience and weed out what doesn’t match up with their preferences.

Also, consider if all your chosen brand touchpoints or channels are supportable. Most people make the mistake of trying to be everywhere. They post on Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook, oh, and of course a blog. They drive themselves crazy trying to develop content or interact on way too many channels. They don't go deep enough to develop relationships and conversations within the channels where their customers show up. Think about how deep you can go into each of your chosen channels. Keep your list focused, your content interesting and your interactions truly engaging.

#7 Brand Design

From logo and color palette to messaging and graphics, these are the things people commonly think of when they think about brand design. Start with a good checklist so you can mark off the items you have and begin developing which assets (that’s design speak for different parts of your brand) you need.Do you have an identity? A color palette? Have you made choices around fonts or imagery or iconography? There's a broad range of elements that you need to have for your personal brand. Take stock, do an audit of what brand assets you have, and then you'll know exactly what it is that you're missing and what you may need to develop.

Start with this free pdf: “9 Design Elements Your Brand Absolutely Positively Needs”.  It is a very thorough list that will help you take a quick and easy audit so you can move ahead with certainty.

#8 Implementation

There's a saying, “You have to plan the work and then you have to work the plan.” It is true for putting together your brand. By going through this assessment, you have developed a valuable map of where you are and where you want to go. You know what you have and what you need. You know your target audience and how to deliver your brand. You have a clear idea of how to get to the next stage in your personal brand.

You have all the information you need.

I know, it’s a lot. But ignoring it is not an option. Don't be afraid to start. Get out there. The possibilities are endless, so try not to get overwhelmed. Just take one step at a time. If you put in consistent effort, you can get there. I guarantee you it's going to be an inspiring journey. Best of all, it‘s going to create in you a strong sense of security and control over your professional life.

The first step is always the hardest, but it's also the most satisfying. Once you take it, you're going to feel a tremendous amount of self-accomplishment. So look back over this list and get started today with #1. Take your “Current State” audit and after you do, make sure you take a moment and congratulate yourself. Every step that gets you closer to your new personal brand is a job well done.

Remember; be consistent and never quit.

The Big Payoff: The ROI of Personal Branding

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 easy accessibility of website templates, stock photos, digital book publishing sites, and other marketing tools (not to mention social media) today has made personal branding ubiquitous. While the tools to create a personal brand are readily available, it takes a huge investment. It's truly a “long game” and takes patience, time, and focus to create a killer brand. In fact, there is so much work involved in creating and elevating a personal brand presence it could leave you wondering, “Why even bother creating and maintaining a personal brand?” Or even, “Is it worth it?”

Creating a personal brand is worth it, but it’s not always very clear exactly how it pays off. The ROI of personal branding can be tricky to quantify.

“Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual reinvention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.”

– Sir Richard Branson

Most people think about ROI in terms of what they will get back on what they spend. ROI can be any result; sales, exposure, follows and likes, conversions, clicks to name just a few. Thinking about personal branding ROI in these terms is short-sighted. You can buy exposure through advertising, but the return on investment of personal branding is different because it's not based on promotion. Personal branding ROI is based on attraction. And the force of attraction depends on the strength of the brand.

Create a strong personal brand by consistently sharing what you know and how you learned it. It's as simple as that.

There's a Chinese proverb that says, "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." It comes down to providing value by teaching others to succeed. Zig Ziglar had a famous quote, "You get everything you want out of life by helping others get everything they want out of life." Consistently share your expertise, experiences and knowledge, and provide value for others. Do this, and you are positioning yourself as someone worth knowing. You are building brand equity - in yourself.

When you build a personal brand, you spend time, money and effort to gain credibility, authenticity, and authority. The bonus is that you own your own destiny. Your future is not controlled by any other person, entity or company. That alone is a pretty spectacular payoff by anyone’s standards.

Personal branding is about magnetism.

As your personal brand grows, the force of attraction becomes more noticeable. Your brand begins to pull people in and become a powerful force that is almost magnetic. People will take notice and want to know more about you and experience your brand more often.

New business will seek you out as a result of this power of attraction. Instead of you having to go out and find new deals, new clients and new partners, opportunities will come to you. People will contact you because you are adding value to their lives. Showing that kind of generosity and heart will make people want to work with you, or for you. Brands and product companies will contact you to review their products or represent their brands. People will ask you to join them in professional communities and mastermind groups, in meet-ups. Your network will grow. People will seek you out on LinkedIn. They will start to see you as a thought leader. A strong personal brand can be the catalyst for these types of opportunities and more.

Positioning yourself as a thought leader also creates real leadership opportunities, such as serving on advisory boards or boards of directors. Because you are consistently putting your “answers” out there, people begin to see that you have something to valuable say and are exercising your authority to say it. Publications, blogs, podcasts, will start to reach out to you for contributions or appearances. At events and conferences, people will start to know who you are before you are even introduced.

You may be thinking, “I don’t need a personal brand. I have a secure job with a great company.” Don’t fool yourself, everyone needs a personal brand, even if you work for someone else. Why? Because now, companies are beginning to realize the value of employing people who have personal brands.

A personal brand is career insurance.

A company's message comes across as more human, more relatable, and more real when it's coming from someone people recognize, someone they feel is authentic or that they trust. A personal brand has a halo effect on your company. People with personal brands are more highly valued, which leads to less chance of layoffs and also the prospect of being more highly compensated. Always remember the extra bonus, which is that you own your own brand. So if a layoff or restructuring does come, you take it with you when you go. You aren’t left out in the cold without the professional identity that was tied to your employer.

A key part of a successful, powerful brand is the Personal Brand Magic Equation, which makes your brand even more compelling. The equation starts with the needs your target audience has and the questions they ask you. Combine that with your personal experience, and your knowledge that reveals those answers. That equals an authentic, unique brand that sustains the power of attraction over time.

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”

– Malcolm Forbes

Always remember the “personal” part of personal branding. Be the human being that you are. Share your experiences and be authentic. Share meaningful content that makes a difference in people's lives and solves people's problems.

If you do that, everyone succeeds.

Why I Am A Cow

In 1996 a creative director at Hallmark named Gordon MacKenzie published a book entitled “Orbiting the Giant Hairball”. It describes the necessary, but prickly relationship between corporations and the creatives who work for them. The creatives need the corporation so they can make a living, and the corporations need the designers to constantly produce beautiful, innovative products and ideas.

One part of the book I’ve always loved is when MacKenzie writes, “Designers are like cows”.

The idea is that if you constantly keep a cow in the barn and milk it, eventually the flow of milk will stop. For a cow to continue to produce it needs to get out of the barn and walk around in the pasture, feel the sunshine, eat grass, drink from a stream. From the outside, it may not look like a productive activity, but then you realize: this is where the milk is really being made.

The “24/7 entrepreneurial hustle” mentality has buried itself in the collective business consciousness over the last few years. But as we start the new year it will serve us to remember we aren’t machines. 

Every creative, every entrepreneur, every one of us needs time in the pasture.

The Side Door

Jane Goodall wanted to study primates. But she didn’t know how she was going to do it. From England she made her way to a friend's farm in the Kenya highlands in 1957, but once there she desperately needed a way to make a living. 

The opportunity arose for her to study to be a secretary. It was a long way from studying apes, but she decided to take it.

One day, on the advice of a fellow student, Jane called Louis Leakey, the famous Kenyan archaeologist and paleontologist, to see if he needed help in his research. Louis didn’t have any openings for researchers, but he did need a secretary. He offered Jane the job.

Two years later she was in Tanzania studying primate behavior.

When I talk to my coaching clients I always stress the fact that you have to follow opportunities when they present themselves. Even those that may seem unrelated to your ultimate goal. Because one day they may help facilitate the achievement of your dreams.

What opportunity has come your way? Could it be a side door?

Perfectionism Is Killing Your Career: Here’s What You Can Do About It

Perfectionism can sound like a good idea. At first glance, it makes sense; being a perfectionist must lead to perfection. But the truth is that perfectionism is greatness killer. A 2016 longitudinal study verified that perfectionism doesn’t make you better at anything, and can actually make you significantly less successful in life. Many of us know from experience that it can:

• Hamper creativity
• Decrease risk-taking
• Make the creative process unnecessarily stressful

Pushing yourself to create strictly above-average work and consistently perform at peak levels seems admirable enough. But when your standards become inflexible and unforgiving, perfectionism becomes an impediment to success; creativity diminishes, risk-taking wanes and your stress level goes sky-high.

Perfectionism is counterproductive.

Perfectionists are driven by a critical inner voice that demands flawlessness. This inner voice never self-regulates, never shuts up. It’s your job, as the person in charge of your life and your work, to regulate this voice, so your creativity and productivity can evolve.

The first step in conquering perfectionism is, like they say in 12-step programs, acceptance. Try to accept that you have some thoughts and behaviors that that are undermining your prospects for success. For example, you may be spending 90% of your time on that last 10% of the project (this is one I frequently get stuck in). Step back and look at your thoughts and behaviors from a distance. When you catch yourself in a perfectionist tangle, accept and adjust your reaction. Acceptance allows for change.

Sometimes your inner critic is so fearful of failing that it paralyzes you. I’ve had that “scared stiff” feeling. When I was in art school I used to paint on large five by six-foot canvases. That huge expanse of stark white canvas was very intimidating. Often I would get an idea of what this perfect painting would be, go to my studio…and just stare at the white canvas.

I was absolutely paralyzed by my perfectionistic preconception of the final result.

Then I realized I only needed to do one simple thing to get the creative juices flowing: make a mark. Just making a mark - taking a brush and some oil paint and just marking the canvas. It didn't matter what kind of mark it was. It broke that white surface. It broke down the imposing aspect of not starting. That mark gave me something to react to, something to react against, something to build on.

Of course, I would cover it up with other marks, which would then disappear under more marks. But that first touch of paint to the canvas was the most important brushstroke because it got the ball rolling. It broke the paralysis of perfectionism.

Renowned author Anne Lamott encouraged her writing students to make a “shitty first draft”. “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” That’s true for all creative endeavors.

When Apple made their first logo, it sucked. It was way too busy and complicated. But they got it out there. Now, their logo now is so well-known I would guess that 90% of the population could probably draw it. It's beautiful, simple and refined. So far removed from their initial identity, yet it would be impossible to evolve the logo if they didn’t take the first messy step.

When you start off, even if you’re Apple, you're gonna suck a little bit.

That's just the truth.

But it’s actually okay because sucking a little bit makes you more human.

It makes you more approachable and relatable. People don’t warm up to other people (or things for that matter) that are too perfect or too polished. They are off-putting. It’s counterintuitive but scientifically verified that being vulnerable is actually magnetic (it’s called the Pratfall effect).

Maxims are great tools to short-circuit perfectionist thoughts. A helpful saying I use is “ship it,” or “done, not perfect.” Getting something out into the world, “shipping it,” is the first step in making it better. It gives you the opportunity to react to it or against it –it’s just like making my mark on the canvas. The faster you get it out there, the faster it becomes something – rather than just an idea in your head or a project cloistered in your office or studio.

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” -Steve Jobs

Tech companies in Silicon Valley use a method called rapid prototyping. They create a minimum viable product (MVP) software or website and quickly put it on the market. The MVP is a starting point; it allows consumers to give feedback that’s used to iterate the design or the product; it begins the cycle of feedback and improvement. An MVP is a great model for conquering perfectionism. Put things out into the world that may be 90% there - accepting that it’s not perfect, but knowing you will learn from it. This will put any perfectionist out of their comfort zone, but that is where we grow, try new things, experiment, and innovate. Playing it safe never won any awards.

Pushing through self-imposed barriers opens you up to learning and improving.

Here’s an illustration:  One day my wife decided that she wanted to learn to play the viola. There is so much information about the viola out there. You can watch YouTube videos about the viola. You can attend lectures about the viola. You can read viola books, listen to viola music, but if you want to learn the viola, you have to pick up a viola and drag that bow across those strings and make a horrible sound. That’s the first step. Practice and practice until it makes a beautiful sound.  You will get better over time. That's very much what conquering perfectionism is all about.

It's about starting.

It's about making that mark.

It's about shipping it.

It's about innovating, improving and working outside of your comfort zone.

Conquering perfectionism is not always easy, but it does get you closer to more creative, fulfilling, useful work, with more perfect results (the irony!). Accept your perfectionistic thoughts and actions, and challenge them. Nudge them off the stage by doing something imperfect, no matter how small. It may be scary at first, but I guarantee you’ll feel liberated and more creative over time.

Retail Trend: The Cattle Chute Method

Cows are distractible. They have 360° wide-angle vision and are confused by everything from moving shadows to puddles of water, as well as any surface they can see though. To get cows to go where you want them to go, you line them up single file in a cattle chute.

It’s like putting blinders on a horse: you set it up so they are seeing only what you want them to see.

Last week the New York Times published an article about how Amazon has developed over 100 private label brands - with dozens more planned. If you search for a battery, a cable, or some other household item you will find Amazon Basics dominating the top results. It's a shopper cattle chute.

The best way to compete against the encroachment of private label is through superior brand recognition, product quality and design. To create your cattle chute you must eliminate customer distractions. You show them only exceptional brand visuals and create a simple, compelling customer journey and experience.

Are your customers seeing only what you want them to see?

THREE LITTLE WORDS (AND PEOPLE ARE FREAKING OUT)

Companies regularly write lengthy vision statements, mission statements and mottos. Sadly, far too many turn out to be empty emotional BS.

Before Google got humongous they wrote a cheeky, three word, silicon-valley-punk credo for themselves: “Don’t Be Evil”. Having written a lot of long client credos, I loved it because it was only three words. And I loved Google as a business for putting a moral stake in the ground. 

Recently Google has been considering working on lucrative contracts for the Defense Department. Something about using AI and video image recognition for drone accuracy from what I’ve read. It seems lots of folks who work at Google are freaking out. They think that helping drones kill people better falls into the “evil” category just a tad. I’d have to agree.

Establishing a credo can be one of the most powerful things a brand can create. It guides every brand decision and action. It keeps you and your employees grounded in the brand values. Sometimes those values are tested.

Ultimately, Google withstood their test by refusing the Defense projects, demonstrating to the world their credo is meaningful and authentic.

Even if it is only three words.

Control vs. Creativity

Driverless cars are off to a bumpy start. The newest vehicles are racking up a crash rate double that of cars driven by humans.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is they obey the law all the time. This may not sound like a bug, but it turns out not following the rules is sometimes the best answer. Just try following the rules while merging onto a chaotic highway at rush hour. Following the rules doesn’t work out so well when no one else is following them. 

Sometimes you have to think creatively to be successful.

So how much should the car break the rules? Answer: Just enough to do what’s right. Somewhere in the valley there are a lot of AI programmers losing sleep trying to figure out how to make that happen.

When it comes to leadership in business the problem is the same. When you empower people and give them control over decision-making, most often they will simply choose to do what’s right. Or should you issue commands to follow the rules no matter what? It’s Control vs. Creativity.

How can creativity drive your success?

This Is Why You Need A Drone

During our town’s 4th of July fireworks I noticed something new. Little red lights up in the sky over the crowd. Aliens watching the festivities? Nope. Drones. Filming the fireworks from just outside the explosions.

High in the upper canopy of the Amazon, hovering above an active volcano, helping search and rescue teams, drones are giving us a new perspective. Perspectives we couldn’t get without their help.

Companies trying to create brand strategies internally are hampered by the same thing: a lack of perspective. They’re just too close. Strategic accuracy requires an aerial view to understand not only what the brand is about, but its competitive landscape and its customers. 

Company insiders can create blindspots. CEO’s and CMO’s have strong ideas about what their company is or is not. Only an outsider has the independence to evaluate, recommend re-thinking, or even setting aside these preconceptions.

Branding agencies are like drones. They can give you that birds-eye perspective you simply cannot have no matter how high up you are in a company. Would your company benefit from seeing the fireworks from a different perspective?

photo:  NANO CALVO/CORBIS

Our Brand Is Crisis

A friend of mine works at Nordstrom in design. She posted on Facebook that she and her co-workers received an email from the three Nordstrom brothers condemning the Muslim ban. In it they reiterated their “values of diversity, inclusion, respect and kindness” to their employees of which “thousands…are first and second generation immigrants”. A buoyant and positive brand narrative.

Days later (in a ‘totally unrelated move’) Nordstrom dropped the Ivanka Trump line. The POTUS sent out a condemning tweet. Kellyanne Conway went on FOX News asking the viewers to buy her boss’s daughter’s products. Federal laws were possibly broken. Apologies were made. Then rescinded. Pretty much a PR disaster.

After taking a slight hit as a result of the tweet, Nordstrom’s stock price did something interesting. It went up. A lot. So did sales. It seems that valuing and protecting the people that work for you is good for business. 

Brands that are built on celebrity rise and fall on the actions of the ambassador’s associations. When that persons name becomes synonymous with a chaotic and negative narrative, is it any wonder the brand is damaged?

photo credit: Grégoire Lannoy @flickr.com

"Design ROI"-Rob Wallace

[The following article is a guest post from my good friend Rob Wallace of Best of Breed Branding. Posted with permission from the author.]

DESIGN ROI

Age of Accountability

While we live in the design age, we also live in the age of information and accountability. Today every business decision is supported by accurate and timely data.  Every effort is scrutinized for its direct impact on the bottom line. The new corporate mantra is, ”if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” In the vernacular, management is asking, “show me the money”.  If you are a design manager, my goal is to help you do just that.

The Proof

I wrote an article for the Design Management Journal that has been described as providing “ground breaking thought leadership” on quantifying design’s return on investment.  Please email me for a copy at Rob@wallacechurch.com

This article represented the culmination of five years of independent research on empirically calculating design’s value.  It was built on an ROI methodology created by statisticians and used data from Wallace Church’s brand identity/package design assignments plus a handful of additional case studies supplied by major cpg corporate package design departments.   The methodology is outlined in Don E. Schulz and Jeffrey Walters’s book, “Measuring Brand Communications ROI” which is available on Amazon.

This article concluded that, on average, every dollar invested in advertising and package design resulted in over $7 in incremental value for the brand.  Great news!   But even more interesting is the data from case studies where there was no advertising and package design was the only element that changed. In these cases every dollar spent in brand identity/package design generated over $400 of incremental profit.  

New Insights From the Forefront of Design ROI

It has been several years since this article’s first publication, and I’m happy to report that the additional data we have garnished further supports design’s paramount ROI.  I’m also happy to report that, independent of this article, the greater business community has begun to recognize design’s paramount value in brand building.  I am however, disappointed to report that we as an industry have yet to embrace a standardized method to measure design’s direct financial impact. And as a result, many design managers still have to fight hard to justify the resources required to fund and manage the design process.

ROI Roadblocks: Reluctance, Fear, and Disbelief

While most design managers believe that proving our value would greatly benefit the design process, many remain skeptical. To some, it’s wrong to extract design from all the other tools that drive purchase behavior. One individual articulately commented, “I have spent so much of my energy convincing marketing to consider design as an integral part of a synthesized branding effort, why would I want to separate it now?  Even if we can, we shouldn’t measure design in a vacuum, but as part of an integrated whole”.  

There are those who consider the $400+ ROI result shockingly high and therefore not believable. This result seems hyperbolic, and therefore, is an easy target for “too good to be true” skepticism.

To those concerned, I say, try it.  Prove or disprove it to yourself before abandoning the notion.  Until we can segment each marketing effort’s specific impact on the bottom line, we’ll never know how to best dedicate limited resources. 

There are a number of prominent design practitioners who are simply reluctant to be quantified. I well remember a discussion with design evangelist Tom Peters, and how he emphatically emphasized that design must never be “relegated to the providence of the bean counter”.  I understand his point. Still, I’m convinced that senior management will no longer allow design to fly below the accountability radar screen. To those who are reluctant to being quantified, I suggest that we designers initiate our own accountability process. We need to set our own standards and develop our own best practices. For if we don’t, surly a process will be thrust upon us.

There are those who are concerned about setting the bar and having to continually raise it. “Congrats! Our last design project resulted in a $400 ROI.  Tomorrow I expect $500, then $750 and then $1,000.” To those who fear this upward spiral of expectations, I suggest that we first establish our own base standard and then embrace a process of constant improvement. We need to continually hone our best practices until we determine design’s ultimate profit potential.

Then there are those who are concerned that the methodology is not universally extendable to all design disciplines. Most, if not all, design disciplines result in a “before and after” that can be measured and compared against costs. Disciplines such as product design, merchandising and promotion all have measurable variables. Some design disciplines have success criteria built into them such as web design “click throughs”.  Even “soft measure” design disciplines such as corporate identity or environment design, can be analyzed against perceived stock price or worker productivity. While there may be no one “magic bullet”, I am passionately convinced that all design initiatives can and should be quantified in financial terms.

Lastly, and perhaps the largest group of naysayers are those who flatly respond, “It simply can’t be done.”  These folks ask, how can you pin point design’s specific impact? How can you control the competition or the market dynamics, or Wall Street, or the rainy Tuesday that discourages shoppers from leaving home?  Until we can isolate design from all of these uncontrollable elements we simply can’t measure it. 

The Moment of Truth

In the last several years, we have discovered that there is a moment in time where all of these ancillary influences can be metered out and package design can be isolated as the only variable. This golden opportunity occurs when launching a major brand redesign effort.

During a redesign initiative, there is always a transitional phase where the new design architecture is “phased-in” to the existing shelf set. New design gradually replaces the old as the product is sold through. This transition often takes a number of months and can be a critical time to measure design’s impact.  Here’s how to take advantage of this moment of truth.

Select one retailer to sponsor the new design. Launch the new identity in its entirety into selected stores in a specific geographic market. Divert the old packaging to the same retailer’s stores in a near-by geographic area with the same consumer dynamics. Keep the pricing and merchandising efforts identical. And then simply measure sales between the test and control stores for a period of several weeks.

During this test period, the brand’s offerings are consistent, the ad campaign and its frequency are the same, and all of the intangible and uncontrollable social and economic aspects are all identical.  The same Wall Street dynamics and the same rainy Tuesdays preside.  Design is the only variable, and the incremental sales that it generates are irrefutable.

The Good and Bad News

These research results have been remarkably higher than expected.  New data shows an average of more than $500 of incremental sales for each dollar invested in design.  In one recent case study for a leading national cpg brand, design’s ROI was nearly twice that.  So what’s the bad news? The results are almost too high to be believed. The results might be more acceptable if they were more like 10 or even 50 to one, but at literally twenty times this rate, they seem “too good to be true”.

Proving the Impossible

The numbers may seem overbalanced because the cost of a package design assignment is so small when compared to other marketing initiatives. The investment in a new identity for a multi-SKU major cpg brand might require a couple hundred thousand dollars in design fees while this same brand might commonly invest millions or tens of millions of dollars in advertising.  If done well, package design architecture can out live two to three ad campaigns. Imagine the media cost if you were required to run an ad that would be seen by all of your possible consumers. In the cases studied, research indicated that only 7% of consumers see an ad before experiencing the product at shelf. Now consider how many possible consumers see your package design. Virtually 100% of your current and potential consumers see your brand’s identity at retail.  With up to 70% of brands in high turn selling environments purchased on impulse, design is the last and most critical opportunity to influence the sale.  Considering all these factors certainly design’s unsurpassed ROI can be justified. 

A New Design Advocacy

If we as an industry are going to prove design’s ROI, then this message cannot come from design consultants, but from corporate design management and independent, impartial and credible associations. Organizations like the Design Management Institute and the American Marketing Association need to take up the cause. In the UK, the British Design Council has maintained a well-respected program called the Design Effectiveness Awards where design is awarded merit based not on arbitrary aesthetics but on marketplace performance. We need its compliment here in the US.

I am calling for a new breed of design advocates to join the fray. I’m looking for a number of passionate professionals to build upon the initial data. I am seeking new advocates to apply this or other methodologies across the entire spectrum of design disciplines. From these ROI results and the processes that drive them, I see best practices emerging, industry-wide adopted standards around the appropriate time and resources dedicated to design so as to generate its highest ROI.  This will be the day that design’s golden age will truly be actualized.

Interested?  Drop me an email and I’ll forward you the methodology and engage you in an ongoing dialogue with other industry thought leaders.  Email me at rob@bestofbreedbranding.com and let's together speed the process to empirically proving design’s value. 

photo credit: Anthony Albright@flickr.com

Pick A Lane

I met with a woman last week who just patented an invention. It’s incredibly simple. It's the kind of invention that you look at and say “of course!”.

The invention has implications for food and beverage, entertainment, travel, spectator sports, quick service restaurants, for CPG. The list goes on and on. 

She landed a meeting to pitch it to the largest beverage brand in the world. Let’s call them Big Red. She laid out the 50 ways they could use it. They loved it. They said “of course!”. So it was a shock when the meeting resulted in zip. Nada.

The reason wasn’t that it’s a stupid invention. It’s brilliant. The reason Big Red passed was because they were presented with too many options. No one knew where to start. Even Big Red, who has more resources than God.

She learned the hard way that "less is more". Next time she will pick a lane. One consumer, one occasion, one fulfilled need. The next client will know exactly how to put their feet in the starting blocks. They will see a simple picture of what winning looks like. And how to start. 

photo credit: {Robyn} @flickr.com

What Makes You, You?

We are inundated with marketing speak. Jargon like “360º campaigns”, “to the next level”, “world class” and “surprise and delight”. We all use them sometimes. The danger is becoming a business ‘bot, or worse - you may be missing the opportunity to make a human connection with your audience.

I was chatting with an entrepreneur who is having trouble crafting her brand message. She is an avid horse-back rider and was wondering if she should leverage the phrase “unbridled passion” in her communications. Her friends were saying “Don’t do it, people will think you have an equestrian business!”

I encouraged her to embrace it. Her love of horses is what makes her human. It lets us into her soul a little. She approaches her consultancy with the same energy and love that she does her horses. It’s a great story, it’s her narrative and it’s authentic.

What is it that makes you human? Are you bearing your soul a little in your work and in your brand? Tell your story and embrace your narrative. It’s what makes you, you.

And it’s your customer’s way in.