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.

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!

Are You a Deer in the Headlights?

I live in the suburbs about 2 miles from a 2000 acre park. It’s very wild, mostly woods and trials…and animals. Raccoons, groundhogs, turkeys, opossums, and lots and lots of deer.

The other night, my wife and I were driving home. Suddenly, frozen in the middle of the road in front of us was a 300 lb. buck with an 8 point rack of antlers.

We thought, “You nut! Why are you so far from the park?”

Then I attended a lecture on “Urban Wildlife” at our local animal rescue and learned that animals don’t see any difference between “city” and “country”. They just see “the world”.

To deer, there is “world with bumpy grass ground, trees and tasty shrubs”.

And there is “world with smooth rock ground, big wood boxes and tasty shrubs”.

It’s all the same to them. No boundaries.

In business, we make decisions about what customers to pursue, what industries to focus on. We set artificial limits and boundaries on where we will “feed”. But what if we saw the business landscape with no barriers? No big companies vs. small companies? No B2B vs. B2C?

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

Because maybe there are some tasty shrubs there, too.

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.

How To Set Up A Kick-Ass Mastermind Group

Mastermind groups are designed to be the best growth hacking tools around. My experience with masterminds has been incredible. I've been in three masterminds over the last four years and I have found them to be powerful tools for growing my business. They have added jet fuel to my growth as an entrepreneur. 

Masterminds have helped me move from running a YouTube channel with my siblings and wife as subscribers to having over 180k dedicated followers and a catalog of branding videos with over 3.5M views. They helped me grow my email list of zero to 15k - now I’m publishing an industry-recognized newsletter, brand•muse, for over 3 years. I was named by the entrepreneurship guru Chris Ducker as "Youpreneur of the Year" last year in London. I could never have done all this on my own. 

You can leverage the power of the group to step up your business too.

The agendas in a mastermind setting are highly organized and the roles are very clear, so each member can get the most out of each meeting. The roles and agenda can seem rigid and complicated, but it’s really very simple to get started with a mastermind group. You just need to know the basics.

So what are the basics?

Step 1: Find An Existing Mastermind Group Or Create Your Own?

You can find a group that’s right for you by looking at your LinkedIn Groups or Facebook special interest groups. Also, research relevant professional organizations. For example, designers might search the AIGA for suggestions on masterminds they could join. Or in other industries, when you attend conferences, trade shows, or events, ask if anyone is involved in a mastermind. This is an easy way to get introduced to an existing group. 

You can also consider larger-scale paid mastermind communities. Many communities charge an annual fee to join a group as small as 5 people or as large as 400 or more. The advantage of these groups is that they are led by a facilitator who has an area of expertise that is particularly helpful to the group. 

Once you get going with a paid mastermind, you can form a breakout group; curate your own advisory board of like-minded people. I did exactly that (started with Chris Ducker’s Youpreneur group, then formed breakout groups including other Youpreneur members) and it worked very well for me. 

If you can’t find an existing group that’s right for you, start your own. 

Begin with your professional network first. Reach out on social media, especially Linkedin, to survey your network connections. If you belong to any specialized Facebook groups (e.g. one for creative professionals, business owners in your category, a resource-sharing group, etc.), start there. Poll the group to see if there is interest. Email past coworkers or classmates to gauge their interest. 

Step Two: Who Are The Right People For Your Mastermind Group?

It’s human nature to go with what you know, but stepping out of your comfort zone right from the start can really pay off. A great tip is to resist the urge to pick members who you know very well; your strong professional ties. “Weak ties,” or connections you keep in touch with once or twice a year are likely to be better mastermind partners. They can more easily help you expand your sphere of influence and widen your horizons with fresh resources, ideas, and connections. 

Be sure to choose some people who are in your industry so you can share ideas, ask them for feedback on your work, and see how they're progressing in their work. It’s also great to have entrepreneurs in other industries or categories who are doing the same kind of marketing and branding activities. Those in other industries will add even more scope on your problem-solving. A graphic designer for packaged goods, for example, will have experience that will benefit others in a mastermind for publishing designers. This will add different and valuable perspectives, and bring a particular level of expertise and application of that knowledge to the group. 

The people in your group will need to be ambitious, engaged, and driven. They need to be serious about what they're doing because you will be asking them to make an earnest commitment to attend and actively participate in meetings over a long time. The long timeline, about 6 months to start, helps you develop relationships within a mastermind group. These relationships directly relate to achieving your goals; the support you get from your group is going to help you accomplish your mission.

I suggest keeping the group size to 8 to 10. This size will give you enough time to share a variety of brainstorming ideas and input from everyone while allowing enough time to discuss and react to ideas.

Step Three: Where Will You Meet?

You can meet in person or online. If your group decides to meet in person, there are many options. You could rent a conference room in a co-working space or hotel, or you can meet in someone's conference room in their office. You can even meet if it's convenient in someone's home. 

More often than not masterminds happen in the virtual world. Zoom conferences or Google Hangouts or group Skype calls. This makes it easy for participants to be across the country or even across the globe. Developing international business relationships and getting international perspectives are a significant added benefit of masterminds that use virtual meeting technology.

Step Four: What Are The Key Roles And Formats In A Mastermind?

Generally, there's a leader or a facilitator who starts the meeting. This can be the same person every week or you can switch periodically. The timekeeper is watching the clock to make sure everyone is sticking to the agenda and nothing runs too long. A good timekeeper will make sure everyone gets their turn and the meeting ends on time. This role can rotate as well.

Most mastermind meetings start with 5 or 10 minutes of "quick wins;" everyone briefly shares their successes since the last meeting. This gets the group focused and realigned with each person’s current goals. 

Next is the "hot seat," which takes up most of the meeting time. The member on the hot seat gets to put a spotlight on their business issues. They can present a business problem, workshop an idea, or surface a particular topic that everyone will share about and offer ideas around. 

The last 5 or 10 minutes of the meeting each member states the goals they will accomplish before the next meeting.

Take it slow

If masterminds are so great (and they are) you may be tempted to join more than one. I suggest taking it slowly and try only one to start. It takes a lot of commitment and focus to be part of a mastermind and it may be difficult to develop deep relationships with a broad group of people too quickly. Start with one and if you feel like you have the bandwidth or you really need a wider range of input, then get involved in another one after a few months. 

Tangible results

I have met people who are supportive, driven and highly talented. Their perspectives have helped me go farther and faster in my business - perspectives I never would have known any other way. Masterminds have introduced me to more specialists, including writers, coaches, software developers, strategists, and researchers. I've broadened my network significantly which has led to new business opportunities. 

Even though business building is not the focus of a mastermind, I have found that masterminds have been the most powerful thing in my business hands down since I have started my entrepreneurial journey. My interactions and participation in masterminds have accounted for an estimated 20% of my new clients over the last 3 years. What would you do to create a 20% bump in sales with an investment of a couple of hours a week? 

Sounds like a good deal, right? Believe me, it is. 

I encourage you to start your journey today.

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.

Want To Be Likable? Do This.

I recently came across a list of words that give a name to emotions that are hard to explain. My favorite one was “anecdoche”.

Anecdoche (n.) [ah-nek-duh-kee] is a conversation in which everyone is talking but nobody is listening.

I was immediately reminded of a scientific study I’d read about.

In the experiment, they sent two people into a networking type of gathering. Person #1 was instructed not to talk about themselves at all. They were instructed to only ask questions about the person they were conversing with.

Person #2, on the other hand, was allowed to share what they did, how they liked their job, their industry, the clients they were working with.

When the participants who had conversations with these two people were interviewed afterwards, something strange happened.

When asked which of the two people was the most interesting, accomplished and likable, they invariable chose Person #1. The person who only asked questions — the one who had not actually shared anything about themselves at all. 

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

At this point, I’d usually ask: So how can you use this method in your business? 

But instead I’ll just say: Stop having freakin’ anecdoches with your clients.

The New Normal: 5 Reasons Why Freelancing Is The Future Of Work

The work landscape is always changing. The global economy has created a work world that is almost unrecognizable from what it was 40 years ago. Companies used to hire an employee who would work for twenty or thirty years and then retire with a pension. That employee might have one or two careers or jobs in a lifetime.

Now, companies are no longer loyal. The average worker generally has ten jobs before they turn 40, and anywhere from 12-15 jobs on average in their lifetime (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Freelancing in the United States has gone up 8% in the last three years and statistics show that by 2027, over half the workforce is going to be either independent consultants or freelancers (Forbes).

These changes to the work landscape impact all industries: retail, manufacturing, white-collar industries, blue-collar industries, and a whole range of creative professional industries. No one is immune to these changes. Freelancing is here to stay, and for good reason.

1) There's more money to be made in freelancing than ever before.

In an effort to keep their overhead low by reducing their full-time headcount, and therefore their benefit and healthcare costs, companies are hiring more freelancers than ever. Fewer full-time workers means companies can grow or contract their workforce as needed. These positive incentives for corporations to hire temporary workers means that freelancers are in greater demand and that demand is continuing to grow. With more work available, it's easier to make a living freelancing than it ever has been before.

2) Freelancers are better prepared for changes in the marketplace.

New trends in business, new skill sets, new industries, and new innovations are coming down the pike all the time. Freelancers make it a point to stay up-to-date on what's changing in the marketplace, while full-time employees have a tendency to sometimes get comfortable and complacent. Freelancers know that they have to stay on their toes and be prepared for the future.

My professional network of consultants and partners talk about these market changes all the time. By doing so we're always staying up-to-date on the latest innovations, movements, trends in business, and skill sets in the marketplace - much more so, I believe, than our full-time counterparts.

3) Artificial Intelligence and freelance work.

A popular topic amongst my consulting network: Fast Company says that 50% of freelancers are already seeing the impact of AI in the workforce. Artificial Intelligence is certainly affecting the creative professions in particular. Some examples: Envato templates, Canva, Haiku Deck, Adobe Spark,or RelayThat. All of these applications are plug-and-play, just like WYSIWYG website templates but for graphic design and they are increasingly digging into the bottom line of the design profession.

However, the founder of LinkedIn has said he thinks freelancers are better prepared for the threat of AI than full-time employees. It’s true, freelancers are going to be less impacted by AI because they are in direct contact with their clients. They work P-to-P: in people-to-people relationships. They communicate directly with people and build skill sets and a knowledge base that are rooted in human relationships. AI does not threaten this sort of work.

For example, AI won’t supplant my human expertise in brand consulting. Consulting expertise uses skills like creativity, judgement, planning and resource management - skills AI cannot learn. Artificial Intelligence won't be able to replace my eye for discovery, or my adeptness at competitive analysis in design or in planning creative strategy targeting a specific avatar. Freelancers are practiced at amplifying competitive strengths and adjusting to just these sort of shifts in the market.

4) Freelancing spreads your risk.

Just like investing in index funds, where buying a broad range of companies mitigates the risk of any one company failing, freelancing spreads employment risk. Smart freelancers work with a range of companies, a diverse set of clients. By working a broad a range of industry categories the risk of getting adversely affected by a downturn in any one industry is lessened.

Working across industries also forces freelancers to diversify their skill set, which keeps them in demand. They are constantly learning the newest technologies, systems, and processes. They become less specialized and more of a Swiss army knife, which can be especially useful to employers who need to keep their freelance headcount tight.

5) When you freelance, you own your own brand.

Freelancers are actively building their own brands. They embrace the idea that “you own you,” and understand that no one can take that away from them. All of the work they put into their practice, network and clients stays with them as a freelancer. They are building their own equity, not the equity of an employer. No layoff, no market crash, no downturn, or organizational shakeup can take it away. No one can lay you off from you.

Change is the only constant, and that is true in the job market now more than ever. Freelancing embraces the idea of change and as a result, makes the freelancer less vulnerable to it. It forces the freelancer to organically expand their skill set and network, and neutralizes the risk of an unexpected change, like a layoff.

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.

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.

No Brand Is An Island

If I could have just one book when stranded on a desert island it would be One Man’s Wilderness by Richard Proenneke. Richard was a salt-of-the-earth guy who in 1968 built a log cabin in the Alaskan Wilderness with nothing but hand tools.

He then proceeded to live in it, alone, for over 30 years. 

What captures my imagination his is resourcefulness, his independence, his appreciation for the things that nature gives us. Including winters where the temperature reached -40˚. Um...no thank you.

Richard didn’t need much. But once in a while his bush-pilot “Babe” Alsworth would fly in his mail or a sack of dried beans. Not even Richard Proenneke could go it entirely alone.

His story reminds me of how many entrepreneurs I know who have built their businesses with their bare hands. Many of them still trying to do everything themselves, wearing all the hats, from go-fer to brand strategist.

But there comes a time in the growth of any business when it pays to reach out. To have a partner fly in the right tools to help you survive the cold winters that can freeze even the hardiest enterprise in its tracks. 

It’s time to find your “Babe”.

Your Success is Real: 10 Ways to Conquer Impostor Syndrome

Here’s a phrase that sends chills: “ You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?”

Executives worldwide agree that their number one fear is being found incompetent (Harvard Business Review 2015). It’s probably a safe bet that the same fear applies to entrepreneurs and creative professionals as well. Psychologists call this fear of being “found out” impostor syndrome, a term coined in the 1970’s by researchers Pauline Clance, Ph.D., and Suzanne Imes, Ph.D. to describe the behavior that Clance observed in some of her graduate students.

So if you’re feeling like an impostor at work, take heart. Chances are that others feel the exact same way. Studies show that 70% of the population feels inferior at least once in their lives.

Impostor syndrome is defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. It’s a general feeling of unworthiness that manifests itself in:

• Being scared to try new things

• Being afraid to be ambitious

• Not pursuing your dreams or goals

• Not pursuing growth opportunities, like a promotion

Feeling like you don't deserve success and recognition, or diminishing your success affects creative people and entrepreneurs disproportionately to the general public, possibly because they are often more sensitive than other professionals. They also tend to be more egotistical, which paradoxically can be a precursor to the syndrome (see #2 below).

The very nature of having a business requires you to stand out, it requires you to stick your head above the pack and say “look at me, look at what I can do”. While this is a necessary appeal for attention and approval it can also make us feel unsafe and judged. This feeling of uncertainty is the root cause of impostor syndrome (refreshedminds.com).

It's important to overcome the feelings of unworthiness. Left unchecked, these thoughts and feelings can become more deeply ingrained in your psyche. It’s best to address these thoughts and feelings as soon as they come up.

Here are ten ways to combat impostor syndrome:

#1 Feelings Aren't Facts.

Impostor syndrome is a feeling. It doesn't manifest itself in reality. It's simply your emotional reaction to something you perceive on the outside world. Emotions don’t always tell us the truth; so don’t treat them as reliable indicators of reality.

#2 Accept the hard work. 

It may seem illogical, but impostor syndrome is actually based on an unrealized feeling of superiority. Scientists theorize that children who are told they are superior (more intelligent, artistically gifted, etc.) and praised for their effortless success expect life to be full of easy wins. As adults, they mistrust praise and are convinced of their “failure” because they had to work hard for the result. To them, hard work means they are losing their edge and it’s not praiseworthy. Know that hard work is all a part of the equation for success. 

#3 Don’t keep it a secret.

Secrets fester, and your quiet feelings of inferiority can be self-perpetuating if they are not addressed. Talk about it with your friends, your spouse, or your co-workers. Take twenty seconds of courage to put it out there and be vulnerable. You'd be surprised by the support that you get, the number of people who will identify with you and the reality check that ensues. Let your secret out.

#4 Define your own success.

Don't compare yourself to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Compare yourself to yourself. Other definitions of success don't matter. You can define your own life and your own level of success. That sentence is without a doubt the most important career guidance I have ever shared, the hardest to achieve and the most rewarding when you do.

#5 It's not about you.

Impostor syndrome traps you in a self-centered mindset. You become consumed with thoughts about yourself; I’m worthless, I’m scared, I’m a loser. You can overcome this hyper-focus on the self by helping other people. Look for ways to serve other people and help them succeed. Check in with your co-workers and clients to see what help you can offer. By making it about others you feel better about yourself.

#6 Be vulnerable.

It's counterintuitive, but being vulnerable makes you stronger. Exposing yourself makes you more YOU and dissolves the impostor feelings. Statements like “I don’t know,” or “I’m sorry,” can lead to open, candid conversation. Try sharing your tender side and see what happens.

#7 Collect testimonials.

This is a way of “stacking the positives” with facts about your performance, rather than relying on your own opinion of how the world sees you. A great way to start is by asking your LinkedIn connections to write you a recommendation. Most likely people will be happy to publish a sentence or two of praise about you. You can post these on your website or put them on your social media, or just keep them in a “love file” on your computer. Collecting kudos about yourself is a great way to boost your self-esteem and to overcome impostor syndrome.

#8 Put Blinders On.

Don't compare yourself to other millionaires, other entrepreneurs, or other designers. Put blinders on and run your own race. Don’t keep a scorecard. If you must keep track of something, keep track of how much you have learned during a project or job, not how you are performing.Think about how far you've come, what you've accomplished, and how much more you know. That will give you fuel to go further.

# 9 No one else knows what they're doing either.

Impostor syndrome makes you feel like everybody else has life figured out. They have all the answers, and they do it all better than you do. The truth? They don't. We're all human, and by humanizing people and realizing that we're all progressing and struggling together, it takes the pressure off you. As Tina Fey says, “Seriously, I've just realized that almost everyone is a fraud, so I try not to feel too bad about it.”

# 10 You're Never Finished.

You are a work in progress. You're not done until you're dead. Period. So when those impostor feelings creep in, fight them off by reminding yourself that you are not “done for” or defeated. Keep moving forward, knowing that you will always be learning and growing. You're in a constant state of becoming. Always.

Putting an end to impostor syndrome is an act of self-love. Being able to fully convince yourself that you are praiseworthy and talented will help your career and your creativity thrive. If you can simply stall the thoughts for a bit by using some of all of these techniques, you’ll get much further than you can imagine.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." – Marianne Williamson

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?

The Sexy Potato

There are watershed moments in our professional lives where something happens that changes everything. Mine was during a photo shoot for Lay’s potato chips.

Lay’s is, maybe unsurprisingly to salty snack fans, the largest food brand in the world, selling in 50+ countries with revenue of $1.7 billion. With a business that big you have to be very careful what you do in a package redesign - well, for obvious reasons. 

So there we were, shooting the sliced raw potato that appears on the back of the core plain flavor of Lay’s. My marketing partner was not happy. The raw potato was unattractive. The raw potato was missing irresistible flavor appeal, that je ne sais quoi.

She said “Philip, we need a really sexy potato”. It was in that moment that I realized I was not in the right place. And that I needed to make a change.

We finished the shoot. We had successfully coaxed the requisite appeal from the potato - as reluctant a subject as she was. But something inside me had shifted. Four weeks later I resigned from Pepsico. A potato was my tipping point.

We don’t get to choose our watershed moments. The trick is to use them as a springboard for positive change when they happen. For me it was a sexy potato. A potato that launched the most exciting and fulfilling chapter of my life.

The Wipe Out

When I was in art school, I had a drawing instructor who had this one exercise that I never forgot. He would instruct you to draw a model for 90 minutes in soft charcoal. You would work slavishly, perfecting every curve and shadow. Then when time was up, he’d say “OK, take your chamois cloth and wipe it all out”.

Some students would gasp, others were incredulous. But I’ll lose all my work!

Once the drawings were erased he said, “OK, now you have three minutes to draw the entire thing again.”

Inevitably, the resulting drawings would be amazing. More full of life than the over-worked 90 minute versions. Why? Because we hadn’t really wiped out the drawing. The previous 90 minutes was visually engrained and in our muscle memory.

As entrepreneurs and creative professionals we may start a project, a product, a business that gets wiped out. Clients lost. Customers vanish. But what we have to remember is that the work we put in, the brain power we invested isn’t gone. It is in our muscle memory, ready to be released, full of life. Refined. Essential. The next one will be amazing.

photo: Shalom Jacobovitz

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?

Less Is More

In the hallway that leads up to the statue of David by Michelangelo in Florence, there is a row of unfinished sculptures of people. They're called “The Prisoners” because they are half-trapped in marble - they were left in the process of being freed by the sculptor.

I spent the last week cleaning out my father-in-law’s house, as he prepares to move into a retirement community. He needed help shedding stuff. The good news is that he was ready to let go of it. It wasn’t a battle like you see on the show “Hoarders”.

In the process of drastically editing down his possessions, we could see a lightness come back into him. An excitement for new possibilities and beginnings even at this late stage of life. By getting rid of things he was rediscovering something that had been trapped in all the stuff, himself. 

Branding and design are processes of subtraction. You shed all that is unnecessary to express the kernel of the idea. You find the essence. 

By shedding things, we carve a space for new experiences. We free the prisoner. In less, we can find more.

Make Your Mark

Long before I entered the design and branding arena, I was a painter. I worked on a large scale, usually about 5' x 6'. I’d sit in my studio and contemplate the expanse of white canvas in front of me. What do I do first? What if I blow it? It could be paralyzing.

Over time I discovered the key to unlock this limbo. You just make a mark. Any mark. You just have to disrupt the white of the canvas. Because after you've made that first mark, you have something to react to. To build upon.

So often we want to create something new. Something out of nothing. Like a business, or a brand, or a blog. But we are paralyzed. The answer is the one I found painting. Make a mark. It doesn't matter if it sucks. Because you're going to keep making marks and over time those first marks will be replaced with something better. Something approaching your vision. 

I can't tell you that starting isn't the hardest part. It is. But you just have to make one mark and then the journey of creation begins.

photo credit: Anders Lejczak @ Flickr

Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Yoga hurts. That’s what my wife’s t-shirt says anyway. It’s funny because if you’ve done yoga, you know it’s true. What yoga does is make you hold a pose that hurts a little, feels good a little and puts you right on the edge of your comfort zone. 

The goal is to maintain a feeling of peace when you are in the middle of doing something hard. It’s a great analogy for business. Our professional work can be trying. Learning to maintain a sense of balance and calm in the storm is what we all strive for.

However, just outside our comfort zone is where we grow, where we learn, where new things happen and new opportunities appear.

To grow, you have to let go of worrying what people think of you. Let go of perfectionism. Let go of that ego a little. Don’t try so hard to fit in. Because winning in business is about standing out. 

It’s about moving out of your comfort zone.