Word Marketing Blog

Brand Credibility

2009-11-13T06:00:00-06:00

One of the things I talk to my clients and prospects about when building a brand is "who are you"?

Just as in a human's DNA structure, inside a brand's double helix lies complicated strands of pieces and parts, and one of those is credibility.

Credibility is made up of two parts.

Part 1-Trustworthiness

When I do business with your brand, will I get what you promised?
When I do business with your brand, will I get what I expected?
Will your brand deliver it within the price quoted or budget discussed?

Part 2-Expertise

When I do business with your brand, do it possess the skill required to deliver the results?
When I do business with your brand, will you deliver the value I expect?
When I do business with your brand, will the results you deliver be the best possible?

These are just a very few of the questions to pose when analyzing the credibility portion of brand building potential.

It's a community, not a commune

2009-11-12T06:00:00-06:00

More and more people over the age of 30 are discovering Social Media. Just last week a bunch of my high school friends all flocked to a post started by someone on their Facebook page about how they missed high school and all the things that went with it. Almost 50 of my old buddies posted memories, comments and jabs about the school, teachers and times. All of these people are over 40.

If you are over 40 and you mention "online community", be careful not to let your mind think of "communes" as they were in the 60's and 70's. Communes of these decades were typically counter-culture and hippie oriented.

An online community is a bunch of people interacting together. They interact via communication media such as newsletters, e-mail, IM and Social Media. Even though some of my friends had not seen me and maybe not even each other in over a decade or more, through our previous association, we were magically brought back together as an online community through the technology of Social Media.

Your Facebook friend roster is an online community, and if you are a user, you are part of all of their online communities. As Mr. Spock says, "Fascinating".

In online communities, some people stay low, preferring to be an observer, some are just beginning to engage and others are constantly adding value, while others are just adding while working out frustration of not being able to share before, they share too much, I guess we could call this ITMI (internet too much info).

Some people leave. Can you believe it? Some people will actually stop following you on Twitter or de-friend you on Facebook? Yes, they will. They are either annoyed or just disinterested. Hey, some people's interests change.Maybe the new wore off or they just don't want to make time for you anymore. They don't see the same value or participation in the community as you do.

As I told a client a while back, this is the way the world is going, will you go with it?

Communities are about connection.

A conversation leads to a connection and that connection is community.

Stressing on Busy

2009-11-11T05:58:00-06:00

Everyone I talk to is swamped. It's probably a condition of fewer people having more responsibility due to companies cutting back or simply not hiring. But getting stressed out about how busy things are isn't healthy, and even if you go at warp 10 for awhile, you're bound to burn out. With the approaching holidays, things will only get trickier. So how can you cope?

Here are some tips to help make your time more efficient and ease your stress.

Take time to plan.It may just seem like something extra to add to your list, but by taking time at the end of each day to look at what you accomplished, what you didn't and what is priority for the next day, you will get peace of mind and avoid taking the stress of the say home into your evening. Added bonus: tomorrow will be much more productive.
Learn to prioritize.Structure your to-do list in order of importance and make note o those thing that you would like to get done today and those things that have to be done today.
Know that it's okay if you don't get it all done today. It will still be there tomorrow. Relax, take a breath and be proud of what you did accomplish.
Learn to group together items that can be completed fairly quickly, and spend a block of time knocking these off your list. Not only will your list get shorter (relief!) but you will feel a sense of accomplishment.
Learn to multi-task. Hold your own brainstorming sessions in your morning shower or when stuck in traffic. While working on a project with steps that hold up your computer, also work on a project off the computer in between steps.

Learning to manage your time and your stress will make for a happier you. And the positive side of busy work days ? Weekends come sooner!

Building Brand Requires Focus

2009-11-10T05:58:00-06:00

What is at the absolute core of your business?

The prevailing cause of "brand rot" in a lot of businesses and organizations is a lack of focus. Focus on the true core of the DNA of that business. Jim Collins calls this "The Hedgehog Concept" in his book, Good to Great. This is made up of three questions:

What are you deeply passionate about?
What can you be the best in the world at? (and what you cannot)
What drives your economic engine?

For small business owners, I also like to ask them:

What feelings do you experience (or would like to experience) connected with your business? and..
How do you feel now at the end of every day?

These are just some of the questions connected with the razor focus or lack of razor focus that your business might be getting from you.

Several business problems lie at the heart of a lack of focus:

Spread too thin
No prospective customer can actually describe what you provide or who you are
Too long throwing a lot of things at the wall to see what sticks
Too much generalist and not enough specialist

In most businesses and organizations, the lack of focus cure can be painful to face, painful to execute, but for the long haul, profitable for sure.

Building Brand Problems for Small & Large Organizations

2009-11-09T05:58:00-06:00

The benefits of long-term brand building are very similar for both small and large organizations, however some of the most common problems related to brand building are very different.

Most likely brand problems in small organizations:

No background or skill level in developing a plan for the brand
Lack of time
No or little understanding of who is buying their products and services and for what reasons
Lack of funds
Little or no marketplace awareness of the brand

Most likely brand problems in large organizations:

Market/Advertising position is no longer relevant, distinctive or compelling
Marketing (and other dept) functions are not integrated
The brand structure (if present) has become too complicated and unclear
Current leadership doesn't have a clear and accurate view of what the brand position should be
The brand identity standards and systems have fallen in use or are not measured and inspected anymore
Organizational structure and bureaucracy work against an invigorated new brand position

Although these are the most common brand building problems, they are certainly not insurmountable. Building brand is an ingredient to staying in the balanced and predictable growth mode for organizations and business.

Christmas Cards

2009-10-30T06:00:00-05:00

One of my favorite Christmas memories revolves around Christmas cards.

Both of my Grandmothers had houses which contained large ornate wood door facings when entering what we called the "living room". Each year, all of the door facings were decorated from top to bottom all around the large opening scotch-taped with Christmas cards they had received from friends and family.

It was a definite tradition each year.

The first Christmas card was made by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 in London and President Dwight Eisenhower issued the first official White House Christmas card in in 1953.

During the Great Depression, many families sent homemade cards and I can remember family members doing this in my lifetime as well.

Some people forgo the Christmas card and instead send a Christmas letter, which details all the happenings in their family over the previous year and to relay messages of thanks and blessing.

Either way, Christmas cards and letters not only convey a message of appreciation, but also reflect your brand, whether business or personal. Besides being an intimate and effective branding tool, I, for one would like to see this tradition continued and if possible, increased this year. Convey a message of positivity and hope. Sometimes, just the encouragement of such a note could make a huge difference in someone's holiday and could launch them into en entirely different and more productive mindset for 2010.

Make your Christmas card/letter list, check it twice, maybe send to more that have been naughty than nice? Naughty people need love too. Love conquers all.

Tips for Confrontation

2009-10-29T06:38:00-05:00

Dealing with confrontation is something most people would rather avoid, but it doesn't have to be so painful. For those who choose to do so the right way, it can be an experience that builds character and provides growth. Here are some tips to help make the process less ominous.

Decide what the win of the confrontation will be.
Think through supporting factors of why this win will be beneficial.
Try to envision the upside for the other party involved and articulate it.
Put your emotion to the side. Separate the action from the person.
Compose your argument. Write it out if possible.
Play out the confrontation in your mind, trying to anticipate anything that may cause your emotions to kick in. Determine how you will deal with this.
Focus on the win. Don't bring up alternate issues unless they directly impact the win.
Take a deep, calming breath prior to your confrontation.
If the other party becomes angry, make them aware. Ask "why are you yelling at me?" This will likely refocus them back on the issue at hand and calm them down.
Don't get sucked in to an argument. Preparation is your best defense.

The ability to face confrontation positively is a characteristic of true leadership. Those who manage to do so will find much respect in others, and will gain more confidence and peace within.

E-(mail)scape

2009-10-21T06:54:08-05:00

Can you imagine getting fired via e-mail?

Time and time again we witness the inappropriate use of e-mail for communication. It really just boils down to courage.

Most people know what's right and what's wrong. They know that a congratulations via email is typically acceptable for any occurrence. They know that a handwritten thank you note goes much further than an e-mail note; but a thank you, none-the-less, is always appreciated. And they know that it is not okay to fire someone, quit a job, break up from a relationship, coach behavior or reprimand someone via email. So why do we do it?

Most people fear confrontation and believe that avoiding it will make things easier. But avoiding confrontation will bring no benefit to any of the parties involved.

What avoiding confrontation will do is:

Make you look like a coward
Cause the other person to loose respect
Not provide proper closure for you, likely leaving you to deal with more guilt, longer
Never make you any better at facing confrontation
Provide zero opportunity for growth

Dealing with confrontation is not fun for anyone, but doing so is a necessary part of life. Those who summons the courage will emerge better on the other end, and will have gained more respect along the way.

Next week, some sugar to help swallow the medicine.

My Boss's Day Card

2009-10-16T14:29:33-05:00

Thanks to the most amazing staff for a wonderful card today on Boss' s Day. It may be one of the best cards I've ever gotten throughout the years. I just wanted to share it with you.

Here is what is says:

"A professional leader, a teacher and guide, someone who's willing to be on your side,

A mentor who helps you and brings out your best--There's a wonderful boss behind every success."

inside it says:

"You're someone who not only knows what it means to be a success, but who knows how to help others achieve their goals."

Happy Boss's Day

Then it's personally signed by the staff members and if I shared those with you, I would cry.

Thanks to the Word Marketing team. You are wonderful.

with love,

Tony

Brave Truth

2009-10-14T05:51:00-05:00

This weekend I saw the movie "The Invention of Lying", which put an interesting twist on many apsects of life, including advertising. For comic effect the movie showed an advertisement that was ridiculously honest, and surely ineffective. But when it comes to real life advertising, what's wrong with telling the truth?

At the very basic level, honestly in your advertising means making sure you are who you say you are. If you typically don't wear a suit to work, don't put one on in your ads. If you don't get professionally made up every day to go to your store, don't do so for your commercials. Misrepresenting yourself in your ads will only cause customers to wonder what else you are misrepresenting.

To take it s step further, try telling the truth in your ads even about the downside of your product or service.How about an automotive repair shop that advertises, "we know the last thing you want to do is take your car into the shop for repairs." Or what about an employment ad that says, "working here is hard, and the hours are long. Not everyone can hack it." By speaking the truth in your ads and not ignoring the negative side (which, by the way, much of your audience is already thinking anyway), you will instantly build trust with your audience.

Be brave with your advertising. Speak to your customers with a voice of reality, and earn not only their business, but their respect.