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Why Are Daily Newspaper Brands Failing?

2012-05-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

The digital age in daily newspapers is dawning and they don't appear to get it yet. It reminds me of the music industry prior to iTunes and in the middle of the Napster era. I'm astonished at their ignorance or self-inflicted blindness maybe. About three years ago I spoke in Prague about how the newspaper industry should look to developing niche-audiences to package digital content and

How Turning Your Brand Around Can Be Like A New Pair Of Shoes.

2012-05-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Are you in this precarious position? Sales are flat. You've downsized as much as the business can stand. You've streamlined your processes to be more productive. You and the staff haven't experienced a raise in some time. Moral is tenuous. What to do - what to do? It's a scary position but every entrepreneur carries the word risk with them every day. About 10 years ago I too was in this

A Contradiction Is A Terrible Brand

2012-05-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

It continually comes to my attention that a good deal of businesses don't do as they preach. As a brand (which to my reasoning is your reputation), you have a responsibility to deliver an authentic experience to your marketplace. A basic example of this off-brand thinking is a real estate agent who buys a home from a private seller. When they are out pitching their services they tout the

A Book On Sales With A New Twist

2012-04-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Would you even consider reading a book on sales and selling if the author themselves was not a salesperson or at the very least involved with the sales industry? I agree, typically I wouldn't either. But in his new book "The Art of the Sale," Philip Delves Broughton takes an outsider looking in approach. I really enjoyed this book. Like most books on sales it tells a lot of stories to get a

Gitomer: A Great Service Brand!

2012-04-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

Another great Gitomer book! Last week I attended one of Jeffrey Gitomer's seminars in London Ontario. I've been a fan of Gitomer for quite some time. Twice before I lamely attempted to attend one of his events with little success. This year I made a special effort to book the time to attend. To be sure that I was especially alert for the event I booked into the hotel the evening before. Now it

Blog for Business.

2012-04-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

A familiar song that I sing is "Blogging For Business." I definitely get benefit from my blogging efforts. Things you can expect is not only leads but publicity and opportunities. A colleague of mine, Bill Sivell recently was approached by a national Canadian business magazine to write for them on a regular basis. Bill got the opportunity from his blogging efforts. Bill has been blogging less

Feed Yourself First!

2012-04-09T05:54:00.001-07:00

It's first thing Monday morning. As I sit here contemplating the week, I'm thinking about what efforts I'm involved with that help my own brand. I have one networking event, a sales seminar with Jeffrey Gitomer, a peer-to-peer meeting, and a strategic lunch with a connector to determine joint opportunities. Every week I commit to efforts that feed my brand. I consider these to be the physical

Narrow Your Focus To Get In The Door

2012-03-29T11:13:00.001-07:00

Marketing your brand is a tough game isn't it? Most times you just seem to be spinning around and around and it's just not sticking. You may even ask yourself, "Why can't they see the value in what I do?" One of the reasons may be a common belief that when you sell yourself, it's wise to lay out on the table everything that you offer. For instance if you were dentist, you might say we do: •

Branding in 5 minutes or less.

2012-03-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight I have to speak on branding to a Linkedin group. I have only 5 minutes so I've titled it - Branding in 5 minutes or less. The following are my speaking points: • Your brand is not your logo and tag line. • Your brand is your reputation, and you have one whether you want one or not. • You can choose to define your brand or you can let your competition do that for you. • To test your

From The Shark Tank To Your Eyes.

2012-03-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd share a linking story with you. The other day I went onto Twitter for the first time in as many days. There I noticed that a reader had posted a link to a story I had written for Noobpreneur.com. It was about the difference between a brand and a logo. The interesting thing was that she, got the link from another person's Facebook page. That person was Barbara Corcoran. I was

Do You Want To Improve Your Way Of Doing Business?

2012-03-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

If you happen to be in the Windsor Ontario area on March 22nd, there is an all-day business event called "Build and Grow Your Business." Presented by GLISC an industrial sales networking group, this event features 7 experts on a range of topics. Every one of the geared to provide valuable information that you can use right now. As the President of GLISC, I can assure you that the opportunity to

How To Avoid Blurry Positioning

2012-02-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

If you find yourself in the role of consultant, how you express that role speaks to your brand. How you position your brand, is what defines it. Ideally you should embrace the services that best show your passion to your audience. I recently had this discussion with a client of mine. Their consulting services were equally divided between two audiences. Essentially the same solutions but to two

The 10 Biggest Family Businesses in the U.S.

2012-02-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

When it comes to family businesses, blood and money really do mix. Some of today's biggest and most successful businesses have pledged to keep it in the family to ensure that the original ideals and vision of the company remain intact. Generation after generation, family members are groomed to take over the business and carry on the family tradition of hard work and leadership. Check out these 10

Embrace The Limb

2012-02-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Considering all the words I write on branding, essentially all I'm saying is that if you're not playing, you're losing. That's not to say that you're not successful, but that you're not being the best you can be. I'm saying that marketing can be a little easier when you compete as a leader not a follower. Most companies advertise by using campaigns to inspire consumers to buy in the moment.

The Near-Sighted Brand

2012-01-19T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think I should put an branding eye-chart on my website for companies who have a hard time seeing the truth about their brands. If they were only 20/20 they'd be able to take on the competition from a leadership position and have clarity in their actions. If these 5 observations leave you squinting then maybe it's time you addressed your branding optics: 1) "It's not time to address

DoYou have A Mobile Brand?

2011-12-30T05:39:00.000-08:00

So I guess that was 2011. It was a pretty good year for the Branding Experts' brand. Interesting opportunities and a growth of my brand strength within my marketplace. I have an affirmation of my promotional strategy from reputable online experts Hubspot. I turned to them this week to see if there was anything they could add to my existing efforts. Their honesty impressed me with this reply after

Positioning Is King!

2011-12-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

Online and off, one the most important services I am often engaged to perform is the development of a positioning strategy for small to medium size businesses. A positioning strategy is not simply a cleaver slogan but a powerful and dynamic stand that your brand takes in your category. Right now as you read this, I believe that you are sitting on something that would absolutely position you as

Is Social Santa coming down your chimney this year?

2011-12-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Has SME's (small to medium enterprises) taken up the social networking banner? I'm coming off one of my branding projects and as part of the research we asked the brand customers if they use Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter or None of the above. 100% of the respondents answered "none of the above." 100% can you believe that? Wow. That flies in the face of what traditional media says on the subject.

Seven Secrets to Disaster Preparedness for Your Brand

2011-12-12T09:21:00.000-08:00