Do you know how Apple came to be what it is today? Do you know how it got it’s name? Well, funny story. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were struggling to come up with a name. They had options like “Executek” and “Matrix Electronics,” but those just didn’t feel quite right. Steve Jobs worked on a farm in Oregon part time, came back one weekend and said, “I’ve got a great name. Apple.” The rest is history!

Wozniak and Jobs established Apple in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976. They started out with the Apple I computer in 1976, followed by the Apple II in 1977 and the Apple III in the early 80’s. They went public in December of 1980, and created the most millionaires than any other company in history. They were the first to use a Graphical User Interface (GUI) instead of the standard text interface. But what they’ve been great at doing all along is creating a stand out brand!
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Have you ever gotten the feeling that branding works on you but doesn’t work for you?  Wouldn’t it be great to put a brand message out there, and have people actually respond?  How much better would your life be if you could sell less and get more business just the same?  And what if I told you, you could never work another day in your life and accomplish all this?

I know, you’d probably think you were reading one of those cheesy Internet sales letters, that surprisingly work on many people.  Yes, I am amazed by that fact, too.  But really, what I just described to you is what Heart & Mind® Branding can do for you and your business.  Let me take each topic one at a time so you know I’m being truthful here. Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone can convey information.  And too often people think that’s the purpose of posts, emails, letters, speeches, and conversations.  But oh, communication is so much more than that!  Particularly if you want to win in business and in life. Your personal communications are your brand—both written and verbal, online and offline.  So make them good.

No one does this better than our pet care provider.  Sharon from Peace of Mind Pet Care in Phoenix is the only person I would trust with our three cherished rescue cats and our yellow Labrador Retriever. Why? Because Sharon “is” what she does.  Of course, she provides a great service, but her communications—the little notes she leaves us about our pets—say it all. Read the rest of this entry »

Who doesn’t love a good prediction blog.  They are fun to read, fun to talk about and even more fun to read 365 days later.  (I hope I’m right, I hope I’m right, I hope I’m right!)  Well, before you mark your calendar to check up on my accuracy on December 31, 2010, take time now to take in what I see on the horizon.  My advice…great ready and hang on.  It’s going to be a wild ride! Read the rest of this entry »

Tiger Woods.  Here’s more proof that tying your company brand to a celebrity brand can be like navigating ocean waters.  Everything is blue skies and smooth sailing until a perfect storm hits.  For Woods and the companies that have banked on him, banked cash because of him and bank-rolled his alleged antics, the waters can be treacherous and costly.  While most people aren’t looking at Nike and saying, “I won’t buy a pair of Nike shoes because Tiger Woods is endorsing them,” it’s not a stretch for most people to have a laugh when they see an ad with Tiger and the slogan, “Just Do It.”  See, that seems to be the alleged problem with Tiger.  He took those words to heart with too many people, a little too often. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever wonder why your marketing doesn’t seem to be doing the job for you?  Have you questioned the amount of money you’re spending in light of the results you are getting?  It could be you’ve fallen victim to the Project Marketing Trap.

The Project Marketing Trap is when a company views every marketing activity as a separate project—not as an integrated strategic business building discipline.  People wonder why marketing doesn’t work for them.  In many cases, this is the reason why.

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Fifteen years ago, I left a corporate marketing management position to start my own company, and here’s why I did it.  There were lots of reasons, actually.  Reasons like wanting to work up to my own standard, wanting to stop making “five guys rich” as I used to say, wanting to spread my wings and grow professionally.  But the biggest reason was that I was tired of corporate politics.  I called it “kingdom building” and if you have worked in, or currently work in, a corporation then you may have experienced it once or twice.  I’m not sure what causes kingdom building, but corporations just breed people who equate importance with the number of people “under them” or with the number of projects on their “task lists.”  These people actually believe that because they have amassed a large team with many managers under them, that they are somehow securing their jobs.  They also believe that a long task list is like some sort of armor that will protect them when the downsizing axe falls.

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You can say what you want about the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Barack Obama. You can love him or hate him for his political views or his health care plan, but he has done more for Heart &Mind®  Branding and social media than just about anyone in the world.  Because it was Barack Obama who proved to the laggards (a.k.a the business community) something that the college and high school age set has known for years: that social media; i.e. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, et. al. is a fantastic way to a build relationships simply through the art of staying in touch.

To put it in business terms: using social media is a great way to build relationships with people who may or may not be your customers by attracting them to your brand, letting them get to know you and what you stand for and nurturing as many of them as you can to the level of brand enthusiast.  At last, the Internet has become a powerful vehicle for delivering the heart aspects of a brand.  It has always been good delivering the mind-based facts.

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There’s a lot of clutter out there.  And there are a lot of competitors vying for the number one spot—the breakthrough spot that makes everyone else in the category also-rans.  Like Starbucks in coffee.  Southwest Airlines in the skies.  And Whole Foods in natural grocers.  Who’s number two in any of those industries?  Who cares.  These are the companies setting the pace and the bar.  They are the breakthrough brands in their categories.

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So I spoke at Blair Singer’s event this weekend and two things struck me.  First, Blair’s ability to teach people how to become their bigger selves never ceases to amaze and inspire me.  And second, I was once again reminded that each of us is a brand.  We were doing some videotaping while we were there for a project we’re working on, so we were interviewing lots of people.  Time and again, we were met with welcoming “I would be happy to talk with you” smiles.  Particularly from Blair’s Sales Partners Team, but also from the attendees.  I can’t say that happens with every client we do video projects for.  These people are winners and if they aren’t playing at their ultimate desired level, they’re acting as if they are already there.  And that’s good!  That’s how we advise our clients.  Be the brand you wish to become.  It’s what businesses and people who are intent on growing do.

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