5 Secrets for Developing Your Own Personal Brand What is the secret to successful brand building? Well, it is a combination of a great plan, and lots of hard work.Read More
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]]>What is the secret to successful brand building? Well, it is a combination of a great plan, and lots of hard work. Whether you are a multi-million dollar enterprise or a home-based small business, you need a clear idea if you want to build a brand identity.
Let’s take a look at the important pointers that can help you with developing your own personal brand:
Want a good example of brand storytelling done right? Just check out the Lego Movie. A fun representation of the possibilities that the brand creates, the movie is equally enjoyable for both children and adults.
Consider who you are, what your business promises are, and how you started out to get some ideas about your brand’s story. Keep it crisp and concise. And be true about who you are. And you’ll have the base on which to build your brand.
Serious? Cool? Quirky? Every business has a personality of its own. It depends on a number of factors, such as your target market, your products/services, your approach, and so on.
While McDonalds and Burger King both serve burgers, they have a distinctive personality. If you sell video games to peppy teens, your brand needs to reflect a hip and cool image to attract the right crowd.
But it won’t surely suit your brand’s image if you offer technology solutions to new businesses. Again, either of these images won’t suit a luxury brand selling fragrances to the ultra high net worth individuals.
The simple logo, use of green and white, and the entire look and feel of Whole Foods Market convey the concepts of health, freshness and sustainability. Consistency is the key to brand building.
After you have identified the personality of your business, it is important to focus on how to reflect it at every step. Your logo, website design, color choice, text use, and every little detail needs to be consistent with the image you want to project.
If you aren’t on social media yet, it is high time you do it. Consider your brand’s personality and who your audience is before you decide which platforms to engage on and how to do it.
A jewelry designer hoping to reach out to women may do well on Pinterest (as Etsy established). But if you are a telecommunication solution provider aiming to connect with followers, Twitter and LinkedIn may be more advantageous.
You also need to come up with the right ways to engage on social media. Remember, a conversation is a two-way thing. And if you fail to converse, your presence alone won’t be of any help to your brand.
The best way to establish your personal brand is to be there for others. Whether it’s as simple as answering a question on social media or as complex as creating a how-to guide, extend a helping hand.
Not only will it make you feel good, it will also help you earn respect and admiration. And you never know when a good turn results in a new opportunity. While it is essential to learn to say no at times, it is also important to say yes, whenever you can.
Little tactics help create a brand identity that is known and valued by all.
Don’t expect overnight results. Developing your own personal brand takes time. You have to plan it well, put in the required work, and wait for the results. It may be slow, but once your brand identity catches on with the audience, it’ll grow on its own.
Lean Branding by Laura Busche
Hello My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins
Pocket Man by Scott Jordan
Body of Work by Pamela Slim
Digital Bacon by Alex Rodriguez
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]]>A summary of things you should know about The Pop Up Paradigm according to Melissa Gonzalez: Introduction In this episode Melissa Gonzalez takes a deep dive into her book, TheRead More
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]]>In this episode Melissa Gonzalez takes a deep dive into her book, The Pop Up Paradigm, where she reveals how businesses can build real connections with their customers.
In her book, Gonzalez describes how businesses can use temporary products to generate customer loyalty, understand new markets, and test innovative concepts. The goal of the book is to teach you the most important ways you can benefit from a pop-up, the best type of marketing for your business, how to stay ahead of the retail market, and what to consider when launching a pop-up.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who own an online business and are considering a move into physical retail or own an established retail business yet struggle to get a product out.
I wrote this book to explain the seven evolutions we’ve seen in retail, seven of the top reasons that we worked with brands who are doing pop ups, and some great case studies for you to learn from and get inspiration from. I think that it’s different in that it’s full of case studies in our years of expertise and there are how-to books out there but this is a different approach.
I think you could read it in just a couple of sittings but because we broke up each chapter for different reason you could jump in and out.
The first action step is to figure out what your goal of the Pop-Up is. Without knowing what the goal is it’s almost impossible to craft a successful activation strategy.
The book is split up in four parts. Part one is talking about the evolution of retail, where retail has been and where we are seeing it now. Then it shifts into how you bridge that gap with a Pop-Up. Pop-Up is really an opportunity where you can connect the on and offline worlds.
In the second part of the book we go into what a pop-up offers your brand. If you are going to be utilizing Pop-Ups we give you some different reasons why and ask you the following questions. What’s your brand promise? Who is your key customer? What is your main goal of the pop up, and what is your budget?
In Part three we think about pop ups A to Z. Now that you have figured out your goals but you need to insure that you’re prepared to properly measure ROI for a Pop-Up. An ROI isn’t just the sales you are having but also how this will benefit your business for the next six months. I give a little Q&A to ask yourself if you are ready to do a Pop-Up. And then we go into some basics of how you can create buzz for your Pop-Up, everything from Guerrilla marketing to social media tactics, to traditional media.
And lastly in Part four we conclude with what’s still to come. The evolution of retail has really been impacted by the progression of technology and so we talk about how we see technology continuing to evolve and different things that are exciting us as we step into the future.
“Go after mindshare, not market share.” – Ron Johnson
I am the founder of The Lion’esque Group, we are pop up architects. Before that I worked on Wall Street on a trading desk. I am a proud mom to an adorable Jack Russell Terrier and I love experiencing new things.
We have been specializing in this since 2009 and really seen a shift as to how brands are utilizing pop up retail and seeing it fit in their budgets as they are coming around to the new year. As we have been a part of that evolution we wanted an opportunity to share with brands top reasons why people are doing it, share case studies, and inspire ideas for brands to utilize it.
Everybody’s Got Something by Robin Roberts
Buy The Pop Up Paradigm by Melissa Gonzalez on Amazon today
Visit LionesqueGroup.com to learn more about Melissa and her company
Follow Melissa Gonzalez on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Lean Branding by Laura Busche | Hello My Name Is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins | Digital Bacon by Alex Rodriguez
Relevant advice and tips: 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Marketing and Branding
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Pocket Man according to Scott Jordan: Introduction In this episode Scott Jordan shares his book, Pocket Man, where he shares what itRead More
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]]>In this episode Scott Jordan shares his book, Pocket Man, where he shares what it took him to be featured in thousands of major press articles, made millions of dollars, and made an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank.
In his book, Jordan reveals the successes and failures he learned when it comes to reinventing yourself by pursuing your passions and mastering the art of personal promotion. The goal of the book is teach you how to get the attention of the public in order to stand above your competition.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are having trouble promoting themselves to the media and need an example of what it takes to get your name or product out the public effectively.
I don’t think there are any other books on the same topic. This book was written in a style that I call unauthorized autobiography.
You can jump in and out or read straight through. I think the reader will be sucked in from the very first chapter. This is a book that you start reading and you don’t want to put it down.
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur you have to be willing to put yourself on the line, step outside your comfort zone, and channel your passion for your company into promoting it. If you don’t have the passion to promote your business you’re in the wrong line of work.
The book begins where I begin as a child. I didn’t have a good relationship with my father and he’s been one of the driving forces in my life. I have always been a gadget guy and even as a kid I would collect radios and little TV’s and things like that. My company SCOTTeVEST sells clothing with lots of hidden pockets for gadgets and that was the early connection. I majored in entrepreneurship in college which was before there were majors in entrepreneurship. My first real taste of being an entrepreneur was when I started a calendar company while I was in school and the book goes into some of the things that I learned in that process.
After college my dad tricked me into working for him at the family business cemetery. I went door to door selling cemetery lots and one thing I learned from that was that I needed to believe in something in order to sell it. It’s really hard to believe in selling cemetery lots and as a result I was not successful. My father ended up selling the business out from under me which was a terrible experience and devastating to me at that time but looking back it was the best thing for me.
After that I went to Law school at Case Western Reserve where I graduated at the very top of my class and became a lawyer for years. It was then that I realized just how much I hated practicing law but I found myself in a job that was paying well and I didn’t know how to get out of it.
SCOTTeVEST was founded based upon all the travels I did as a lawyer trying to juggle all my devices and how to carry them in a business casual environment. I knew there had to be a better way to carry your devices stylishly and much to my surprise there wasn’t a solution on the market that looked at clothing as a carrying device. The rest of the book is about how I built SCOTTeVEST by promoting it and the various things I did, some controversial and some not. I talk about the time I went on Shark Tank and the behind the scenes aspects of it all.
“I believe in anything worth doing is worth doing fast.” – Scott Jordan
I just turned 50 years old and I live in Sun Valley, Idaho. I have my wife and three poodles and I am a passionate personal promoter for my product, the SCOTTeVEST, which is a full line of clothing designed to hold your electronic devices.
Buy Pocket Man by Scott Jordan on Amazon today
Visit ScottEvest.com to learn more about Scott and his company
Follow Scott Jordan on Twitter
For questions contact Scott by email here
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Lean Branding by Laura Busche | Hello My Name is Awesome by Alexanda Watkins | Digital Bacon by Alex Rodriguez
Relevant advice and tips: 5 Reasons Why Your Marketing Sucks | 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Marketing and Branding
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
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]]>7 Steps To Improve Networking Skills For Entrepreneurs Underestimating the power of networking is sure to be disadvantageous for an entrepreneur. But why do many entrepreneurs care less about this?Read More
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]]>7 Steps To Improve Networking Skills For Entrepreneurs
Underestimating the power of networking is sure to be disadvantageous for an entrepreneur. But why do many entrepreneurs care less about this? It is their idea of networking that adds to the trouble. If you think that it is simply about meeting new people and collecting business cards, you are mistaken.
Business networking skills are something every entrepreneur needs to acquire and improve on. And it doesn’t imply collecting business cards only – it requires much more than that. It is about building and nurturing meaningful relationships in the entrepreneurial world that will aid your success as an entrepreneur.
How can an entrepreneur improve networking skills? Let’s outline the steps to become successful at it:
Step 1: Identify opportunities. Which events do you attend? Well, every industry event is a big opportunity to make new relationships. Be it a trade show, a conference or a workshop, if it is a relevant place with the relevant people, attend it. Also, check the calendar of events at your local chamber of commerce; their events present good opportunities to network with other business-minded people.
Step 2: Plan ahead. Who do you want to meet? How do you approach them when you meet? What do you want to come up as a result of a meeting? Determine the answers to these questions before you take a step. Set smaller attainable goals – such as ‘I will meet 3 new individuals at this week’s events’ instead of ‘I will sign three deals with my contacts.’
Step 3: Pay attention to appearance and manners. Just as you prepare your pitch before a meeting, focus on what to wear and how to behave too. A first impression of an entrepreneur matters. So, dress appropriately for the do. And don’t make your pitch all about hard-selling – it won’t work for your first attempt at networking.
Step 4: Step out of your comfort zone. It is easy to keep talking to the people you know at an event where you don’t know the majority. But if you did this, you fail the purpose. The focus needs to be on how to create new contacts. And while you are at it, don’t waste your time on forming a hundred casual contacts; instead, focus on a few solid ones.
Step 5: Make it a two-way thing. A meeting is essentially a conversation. And it won’t be so if you monopolize it. Talk, but listen too. Ask questions, understand answers and keep a note. Make it about how you can be of help to the other; not the other way around. Don’t let one monopolize your time; and don’t do it to others either.
Step 6: Get the right mix. Exchanging business cards is alright; just don’t put them somewhere and forget all about them. Feed the details into your mobile device. Initiate conversations with the right contacts – both in the real world (you can meet them for a coffee) and on social media (you can email them a helpful resource).
Step 7: Most importantly, stay in touch. The basic idea of networking is simple – you create and nurture relationships with the right people to boost your business. And you need to maintain this to serve its purpose. This doesn’t mean you have to pester them with emails every day, just keep it meaningful – so they know you haven’t forgotten them.
Networking skills can help an entrepreneur land new business. It can also help you avoid a tunnel vision of meeting and keeping in touch with the people in your industry alone. Just don’t treat it like work. You don’t do it when you converse with your personal contacts; don’t do it for your business contacts either.
The real person behind the business is what matters most when it comes to networking.
The Entrepreneur Mind by Kevin D Johnson | Listen to Kevin give a deep dive here
What’s Next by Michael Price | Listen to Michael give a deep dive here
The Seven Levels of Communication by Michael J Maher | Listen to Michael give a deep dive here
Body Of Work by Pamela Slim | Listen to Pamela give a deep dive here
Lean Branding by Laura Busche | Listen to Laura give a deep dive here
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Lean Branding according to Laura Busche Introduction In this episode Laura Busche shares her book, Lean Branding, where she gives you overRead More
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]]>A summary of things you should know about Lean Branding according to Laura Busche
In this episode Laura Busche shares her book, Lean Branding, where she gives you over 100 do-it-yourself branding tactics that teach you how to create brands effectively.
In her book, Busche helps you build your own brand with inspiring case studies and step-by-step instructions for measuring and building logo designs to demo pitches. The goal of the book is to provide you with a brand personality and story that will convert with your audience.
This book is perfect for entrepreneurs who are thinking about creating a company or want to rebrand an existing one, but need step-by-step guidance for building the perfect brand.
Lean Branding is a very tactical book and brings more than 100 tactics to hack the creation of a value story, visual symbols and effective communication strategies. Unlike other branding books that are out there we are not here to introduce complicated theories but to show you how these theories can actually be applied. The book is also different because I am combining insights from business and also combining design.
There is a chapter at the beginning of the book that gives you 3 or 4 ways to read it.
The key takeaway is that mastering branding has never been more crucial for you. Developing a unique story to identify your offer in your costumer’s minds can make or break you in our marketplace.
Lean Branding is divided in to three sections called Build, Measure and Learn and for each of the sections you will find strategic branding tips and tools with step by step instructions to create your own brand components.
In the Build section we will teach you how to build 25 minimum viable brand components that you will need to enter the marketplace.
In the measure section we will give you the tools that you need to measure how well these components and doing in the marketplace.
The lean section will give you examples and advice on how to iterate based on the data that you find and the metrics that you take in to account as you are measuring.
It all starts when Lean Branding defines what a brand is. In the book a brand is defined as the story that consumers recall when they think of you. And this brand that we define is made up of three parts. Most people think that brands are just logos and the book makes it clear that a true brand is made up of three components which are a value creation story, a set of visual symbols, and a strong growth strategy that can communicate the story. As you go through the build, measure and learn section you will find ways to create and iterate on your stories, symbols and strategy.
The specific things that you will learn in the book include naming your brand which I know is hard for some entrepreneurs who are just starting. You learn to create a brand story that is very engaging. You also learn how to design your visual identity that will represent your value story. You will build a brand personality and a voice that can let you conquer your audience and you will develop something we call buyer personas that will help you clarify what your audience looks like. I also introduce learn research methods like ethnography and this method will help you learn about your consumers’ needs and aspirations. You will learn how to design landing pages, videos, press releases, ad campaigns and many other essential brand assets that startups need to grow.
You will also define a brand journey that will help you optimize growth before, during and after conversion. And you will learn how to set up and measure the impact of your social media and marketing strategies. As you do all of this you will learn how to reduce waste because the book will show you how to formulate hypothesis’s and validate them which will make your branding less wasteful.
“People relate to people and if your brand feels like people they’ll relate to you too.” – Laura Busche
I am originally a business major with a master in design managements and I am doing doctoral studies in psychology. I have been working with startups from every field imaginable for the last five years. For the last two years I have been working specifically with tech startups in a methodology called Lean Branding. We have been working to make it easier for startups to develop their brands and to thrive doing so.
The inspiration was definitely entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs in all stages and walks of life are the reason that I do what I do. For the last five years I have been mentoring startup founders in order to help them build a brand that can really communicate what their product and service can do for costumers.
Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder
Buy Lean Branding by Laura Busche on Amazon today
Visit LeanBranding.com for more information about the book and some exclusive tips
For questions contact Laura by email here
Follow Laura Busche on Twitter and Facebook
Download the full transcript here (coming soon)
Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud
Related books: Hello My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins | Digital BACON by Alex Rodriguez | Startup Mixology by Frank Gruber
Relevant advice and tips: 5 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Marketing and Branding
What did you like and not like about this episode? Fill out this one minute survey here.
The post A Preview of Lean Branding with Laura Busche appeared first on The Entrepreneurs Library.
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