Branding Editorial

Twitter Fabric Mobile Development Suite Flight 2014Powerful branding is expensive. The kind of branding that identifies a person or organization so well that it’s like a “thumbprint.” Recognizable immediately by style, uniqueness, etc.

It’s expensive in capital or time (or both). To inspire clients to want to wear & carry branded things requires an extraordinary marketing budget. For mid-market and smaller companies (or individuals) it makes more sense to have one or more people create personal brands that are with an organization. The outlay of money & time is greatly reduced while yielding net new revenue (or increasing whatever metric is meaningful).

The attached image is from the mat at a gym – it’s the imprint from my Twitter Fabric t-shirt (Twitter’s mobile development suite). I got up from the mat and saw the imprint when I was cleaning up after myself. I loved seeing the Twitter logo so much, I snapped a photo. When a person feels pleasure at wearing or carrying something because they identify with what a brand stands for – that is economic power. Individuals (solopreneurs, artists, self-employed individuals) can & should create brands that yield economic power. Making money is going to look very different in 7 & 12 years. Being associated with or having a powerful brand will directly impact quality of life.

Binge & Purge Blogging

 

A lot of companies binge and purge when it comes to blogging and vlogging. Imagine: you attend an event, get some literature for an organization and look them up online. You stumble onto their Youtube channel and see twenty videos from 2009 then nothing. The platform has been abandoned where it is obvious that they invested a lot of time and money to get on there.

A suggestion: try the drip method of releasing content onto various platforms. Maybe create all the content at once then release something monthly or every other month depending on the budget. Put in on a calendar somewhere with someone who will actually post the content.  That person isn’t always a principal – the first notice from the IRS or a worker’s compensation audit will throw the best intentions out of the window. Give that job to a vendor or employee where there are consequences if the info isn’t posted.

Binging and purging when it comes to blogging and vlogging isn’t good PR for any company.

 

First Impressions – Skip Junky Cards

Attended an event yesterday with about 600 people in attendance. Met a great mix of people with about 15 “stand out” types. Those select few that are playing at the top of their game. It was a 501c3 event so everyone is a volunteer. But I want to address first impressions.  Out of those 15 people, only one handed me a card that was knock-your-socks-off exceptional. If someone is sporting a $2,000 suit and hands you a cheap business card, that leaves a less than favorable impression.

Call Sales Leads Fast

This is a quick story about who closes more sales.

I made two calls about my rotator cuff injury. It took the first chiropractor I called 24 hours to return my call. They called right as I arrived for my appointment with the second chiropractor I called. Companies spend a lot of money on lead generation.  Sales leads will go to waste if the inside team doesn’t respond quickly. This applies to all industries for B2C and B2B: IT, staffing, manufacturing, automotive repair, personal care – get it together and have a policy for a prompt response. Put yourself in your prospects very busy and stressful shoes. Don’t think that Director of IT, Purchasing Manager or Executive Assistant to the CEO has a report due for work today, attending college on the weekends, kids in soccer and a spouse that needs meds from the pharmacy after work? When they call looking for information, the first responder has a really good chance at that sale.

 

Pinterest, Pinning Before You Follow

 

Modified this post to explain that if you are interested in creating awareness about something (a cause, a product, job searching) this post is highly applicable.

Before you follow your friends, prospects, prospective employers, here is a tip on maximizing the three seconds of attention before they make a snap judgment about you: populate your own boards before following people.

Even if you only have time to find one image per board, that is better then following someone and having them look at your profile and see you have zero content.

Here is what happens (in some cases). You follow someone and an email is sent to that person that they have a new follower. That person clicks on the link in their email that takes them to your profile/boards. This is a golden opportunity to market your self/brand. Don’t waste it! Plant that content/those images/that impression. You will get better results.