By Karen Post, on April 12, 2012

So many books, so little time to read. The next 4 titles I’ve read, I loved, I recommend. They cover marketing, branding, the human condition and how to stay competitive.

Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun
Loaned to me by another speaker, I laughed out loud for several nights while reading this book. It’s a gem. Whether you do presentations as part of your job or you are a paid professional speaker, this book is raw, funny and a valuable resource.

Why it’s worth the read

• It’s a fast fuel to improve your speaking, around 200 pages.
• I love snarky humor, its got lots of it.
• It provides simple, actionable how to’s.
• It’s real. Scott has been around.

Covers:
Provides applicable checklists.
Interesting science about attention, human fear and communication.

Biggest take away for me
Preparation and practice are the magic moves to home run speeches. Period.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
I’m an Apple addict. I’ve been one since my first computer in 1983. So I really connected with this book, feeling like it was part of my personal and business growth. It’s a big book, almost 600 pages.  Most importantly I related to how a college dropout, who lives a Zen life and had a very quirky, intense, odd personality with bouts of distorted reality could end up being a such legend and leader in global business and life changing technologies.

Why I’ve given it a glowing report

• It’s inspiration on steroids.
• It proves you can be a little weird and succeed.
• It’s well written.
• It proves sticking to your standards. With Steve, extreme attention and dedication to design and doing things differently, can pay off.

Biggest take away for me
Dreams can come true and turnaround even while operating a company on death row (almost out of cash and losing millions) is possible.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Conquering Fear and Anxiety by Sharon Heller, PhD.
Everyone feels fear and anxiety, including me, the brave soul who has walked on fire, driven a Porsche around a race track at 120 miles per hour and addressed thousands of strangers on a huge stages. If you don’t battle with moments of mental craziness every blue moon, I suspect you are an alien who flew in from a planet for the day. Even history’s great leaders faced fear and anxiety. I love this quote by Winston Churchill.

“You may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman, or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table—what do you get? The sum of their fears.”

As a student of better and happy living, I’ve also been curious about stress, phobias, fear and anxiety as I have my daily share of all of them. This book has been a useful tool for me. I really like it because the format is organized in a way that after you finish the book, you can refer back to a specific section for a quick fix.

If you battle with high anxiety, this book is a must have survival resource

• Beyond ways to manage stress and mental demons, it exposes the root causes.
• Provides simple rituals that can greatly reduce nervous bouts, panic attacks and sleep disorders.
• Shares real professional people situations that I related to.

Biggest take away for me
Peak mental health, just like physical health, is a work in progress. A better understanding of human psychology, triggers and controllable external factors can accelerate one’s journey to personal and professional bliss.

Sharkonomics, How to Attack Market Leaders by Stepfan Engeseth
I recently met a new friend and marketing expert from Sweden. The new business relationship was the result of meeting and counseling a student from the University of Tampa who is also from there. I love how the planet is so small and one local connection opens up a world of new resources. After a few online chats, Stepfan sent me his latest book, which was an exhilarating read to say the least.

A contrast from the book review above on managing fear, Sharkonomics will likely spread fear in some boardrooms with just cause.  Not only is the shark metaphor a very cool marketing idea, the author actually spent time in the water with these very strategic predators (sharks) and parlays this insight into meaningful business lessons and useable management methods. His premise is that nature can be smarter than business as usual. Instead of endless PowerPoints and studies, companies need to embrace a hard survival psyche.

Business can be a dangerous adventure, here’s just a few ways to make sure you are not someone’s lunch

• Strike unexpectedly.
• Hunt in packs.
• Leverage blind spots.

Biggest take away for me
Don’t get stuck in history. Keep moving. Kill with style.

Till next time, read on!

For more books reviews, click here.

By Karen Post, on December 6, 2011

In the past few years, personal branding has become a hot business topic. News anchors and journalists refer to individual brands when they cover business leadership superstars and business losers too. Executive recruiters consider a candidate’s brand when they are on a search for the best professional for a position and most entrepreneurs’ success depends on their strong, personal brand to attract employees, get funding and be an ambassador of their company.

Last month Daytime, a nationally broadcasted TV show that airs in over 35 markets, invited me to help out with a special segment called “Getting back to work”. The goal was to take two professionals who had lost their jobs and with an improved personal branding program, help them find the ideal career or opportunity.

Even though the segment focused on getting people back to work as employees, these lessons can apply to entrepreneurs as well.

Here’s the first segment that aired before Thanksgiving and a special shout out to Kendra York who owns Kendra & Company in Tampa for providing the hair, make up and style updates for our two makeover participants.

From here the plan was for me to give one-on-one coaching along with some branding tools provided by Staples that includes printing of business cards from their print and copy centers, Schtickers that provided a branded laptop skin and my design team that updated their brand identity.

These are some highlights from the coaching sessions.
Personal branding is no different than product or business branding which we all experience everyday. When a company has a strong brand, we as buyers have positive opinions about them, which in turn prompts us to select that brand over another choice. Product brands are competing to be the brand of choice.

The same concept applies for people and their personal brand.

A personal brand is what people think, feel and expect from you as an individual.

A personal brand is derived from the sum of what a person does, how they act, how they look and how they keep their promises.

In branding we call these brand opportunities, touch points.

Consistent brand touch points help a person manage their brand and peoples opinions of them.

A personal brand is one’s image, reputation and the impression they leave when they show up for a job interview, a business networking event or even after a phone call.

We all have brands even without thinking about them or consciously working on them, because people, our friends, colleagues, clients and employers are judging us and these opinions are stored in their heads, which become our brands.

The key to successful personal branding is making sure everything you do is lined up with your goals and that you consistently send out the accurate message that reflects the true you.

So when people find themselves in a down state, like being without a job or career they love, it’s time for action.

They need to follow these three brand-building steps to make sure they are projecting the right image that gets them closer to their goals.

1) Assessment and goal setting
2) Create an action plan
3) Work on it, with consistency and passion

I call the process, personal brain tattooing.  Like a regular tattoo, a brand sticks to the minds of the market and it’s put there by choice.

Getting hired is often about risk and if your brand ensures the employer or client you are not a risk, but a good investment that can add value to their organization, that’s the ticket.

Step 1 – Assessment of what is.
What skills, persuasive assets and traits does the person have to build on and leverage?

When I’m working with an individual on their personal brand, I ask these questions.

• Can you tell me about yourself in a 60 second window? Please do.
• Why are you jobless?
• What do you enjoy doing?
• Describe your ideal job or next career?
• What are your 2-3 most important life goals?
• Have you experienced rejection and “No’s” in your job hunting?
• Did they give you reasons? What were they?
• Why do you think you were passed up?
• What tangible branding tools do you have? And what do you need to work on?

I also ask people to do a Google search on their name and see what comes up.

If it’s bad stuff that can tarnish your reputation, see what you can do to change it. Many times you can.

If it’s bad stuff that’s out of your control, like a criminal record, it’s good to know about it and sometimes you need to share this with a potential employer or client.

Next, I ask “What tangible branding tools do you have that reflect your desired personal brand?”

They can include:

• Your resume
• A strong cover letter of introduction
• A personal business card, laptop skin, brochures
• The appropriate wardrobe for interviews and meetings
• An appropriate web presence and social media footprint

I always recommend people buy their name URL, if it’s just a landing page with your contact information of social media links. If your name is not available, get something close, like with your middle initial in it.

As an example: I own www.Karenpost.com

Step 2- Next, one must develop a personal brand action plan to help get them from where they are “unemployed” to where they want to be, “in a great job or opportunity they love”.
A personal brand plan addresses:

• Goals
• Brand essence
• Target audience
• Strategies (behavioral changes)
• Tactics (specific things to do)

I always start with the end in mind. What are your goals?

Strong personal brands are visible, memorable, distinct and relevant.

To “brand up” you, one needs to have:

Your personal essence defined.
A personal brand essence is the foundation around whom you are authentically.

Purpose - Why are you here? What do you do? How can you contribute to a company’s success?

Points of distinction- What is unique about you?
Your name
Your background
How you look
Your skill set
Who you have worked with

Personality – What are 3-4 adjectives that best describe you?
When building a personal brand, one’s personality attributes should be aligned with your desired job, career. Like in my case, being creative, having a sense of humor and being confident. Work well with my career choice being a consultant and speaker.

Promise – one’s promise is what they commit to delivering on.
For example – if you are in sales, you’ve got to be able to successfully sell. If you are in Healthcare administration, your attention to detail and problem solving must be mastered etc.  One must be able to deliver on commitments and promises. Walk the talk.

After your brand essence is complete, then you must weave this platform into all of your touch points.

Who are your target audiences?
Who are the key company decision makers? Who are the other influential people in your network, who can make  recommendations and introductions? Friends, former employers, people you do business with etc.

Touch points fall into three categories and need to be aligned with one’s goals.

These are:
1) One’s visual package
Research shows that visual elements are the #1 influencer in impressions people draw from others. This means your wardrobe, hairstyle and grooming all matter. Depending on the job and position you are seeking will determine the best look for a person.

Additionally, your tools like resume, business cards and thank you cards also impact the judgment you may earn.

2) One’s communication skills and style.
Next to the visual items, people are judged by their communication skills and style.

Communication style has three equally important areas.

Verbal
How do you sound? Is your choice of words the best they can be and aligned to your goals? And the confidence and attitude you exude, is it consistent with your goals and does it lower the risk of the potential employer?

Written
How do you write? From your resume, to a thank you note and your social media footprint, do these items communicate an impression that aligns with your goals?

Body language
What is your body language communicating? This includes your posture, handshake and eye contact. Are you poised and confident or unsure and down and out?

3) One’s substance and behavior.
The objective in personal branding is to be authentic, but based on your job goals; one must consciously increase the volume and clarity of their brand, offering potential contributions to a company’s success.

And finally, one must have substance and behave in a way that validates their position and image and supports all other touch points.

You must demonstrate evidence that you walk the talk, and are what your packaging communicates?

This means be really good at your craft and your job. The most skilled and competent people get the jobs first. And that’s where you want to be.

This may mean taking classes, accepting an unpaid internship or doing volunteer work with another job just to pay the bills.

And you must work the plan with passion and consistency everyday.
Think before you move. Stay in tune to the ideal brand you want people to have in their heads about you.

As a wrap up, here are five small things that have big instant impact on your personal brand.

1) Have a strategic online footprint that depicts you as you want your buyers to view you
This means have a LinkedIn account, a Twitter account and if you have business appropriate videos then a YouTube account too.

A landing page about you is a good idea, one that is hosted with your name.com. And if you’ve got something to say, a blog is extra icing on your brand cake.

2) Keep your promises
This means do what you say, say what you mean and walk your brand talk everyday.

3) Associate with people that are consistent with your brand
This means birds of a feather flock together. Don’t be hanging with bunch of crows if you are an elegant, sophisticated swan.

4) Look your brand
This means put the costume on when you are in public. Whatever your image is, support it with the right wardrobe, car and office.

5) Be consistent
This means frequency of a message, makes the message stick. Look at all your touch points, web, business communications, email, phone message, thank you notes, resume etc.

Need a little help with your personal brand? Check out some of my ebooks that can help you brand up your image and reputation.

Below is the second half of the Daytime segment that aired on 12/15/11

By Lauren Angrick, on December 3, 2011

Jennifer Prosek, author of Army of Entrepreneurs, is the founder and CEO of CJP Communications where she leads many of the firm’s key accounts. Her offices are located in New York, Connecticut and London and with over 70 working professionals, the firm ranks among the top 35 independent public relations firms in the US.

You could definitely say that she knows how to run a business or, should I say, how to gather an army of entrepreneurs. Want to know the secret? It’s the ability to develop, motivate and deploy employees to be more entrepreneurial within their own positions. This strategy is the basis of her first book, Army of Entrepreneurs: Create an Engaged and Empowered Workforce for Exceptional Business Growth.

Prosek shares what she knows, how she runs her firm and focuses on teaching readers how to insure that every employee becomes a powerful force for growth within an organization. Prosek believes that if every employee is empowered to use all of his or her resources to help the company succeed, they will develop what she calls an “owner’s mindset”. Her game plan for building a workforce committed to creating new business, forming breakthrough products and services, and supporting growth has earned the organization “Small Agency of the Year” and was recognized as one of the “Top Places to Work in PR”!

Jennifer Prosek uses both theory and practical advice into an overall organizational approach and taps into the hidden entrepreneurial drive among employees and because of this, I highly recommend the innovative and organizational changing book Army of Entrepreneurs: Create an Engaged and Empowered Workforce for Exceptional Business Growth by Jennifer Prosek, to anyone serious about jolting awake their company through empowering their employees.

Key takeaways:

1. To have a successful company, one must develop and motivate employees to be in charge of their own actions.
2. Breakthrough products and services come from those who are empowered by their resources.
3. When employees are passionate about their careers, goals, dreams and ideas, everyone in the company wins.

About the author: Lauren Angrick is Chief Problem Solver for Karen Post’s companies, Brain Tattoo Branding, Brain Tattoo Publishing and The Branding Diva® speaking programs. When not online, marketing and social media brand building she enjoys being in social gatherings and anything to do with the outdoors. Angrick is a University of Tampa graduate and serves is a member of the Board of Counselors.

By Karen Post, on November 30, 2011

60 Minutes is at the door are you ready to defend your brand?

The business world is uncertain, risky and forever changing, it’s no surprise that your brand will probably face some rocky roads throughout its lifetime, along with a little uninvited media attention. Whether due to a natural disaster, a product recall, a competitor’s maneuver, bad judgment, a customer complaint or some other factor, your brand strength could be put to the test when you least expect it.

Brand shakeups happen every day and then the spotlight is on the brand and the surrounding events and players. The media, your stakeholders, your employees and customers will be demanding answers and assurance that you are handling things in the right way.

No brand is immune. An entrepreneurial start-up, an individual brand or big organization can get beat up without warning.

So when brands go bad, what separates the survivors from the big losers, the sustainable ones, from the forever broken ones?

It’s not what hits a brand upside the head but rather how they get back in the game that matters. I’ve watched and researched brands from around the world, big and small when they are tested. And I’ve seen common actions that I call brand turnaround game changers. These actions can bring brands—even in the worst place—back to glory.

Should your number be called and you find your brand on the hot seat, take responsibility and follow these actions. Your road to recovery will be smoother and you can prevent long-term damage.

To illustrate a brand-shaking situation, let’s pretend your employees or a vendor did something crazy, broke the law, dismissed ethical practices or made a big mistake, and the word is out. It’s on the news and being talked about in social media. What should a smart brand do?

During this trying time, you must own up and take control of the situation. This doesn’t mean to admit guilt or make excuses, but it means that you should take timely responsibility and demonstrate sound actions toward finding solutions to the situation.

As much as you might want to go into hiding and reply with, “No comment,” you must stay present, with confident communications and poise, so the public and your stakeholders do not lose their trust in you or your brand and further negative consequences are contained.

Bad things happen to good brands. You can let an unfortunate event kill your brand or you can recover quickly from the event by taking these steps.

o Take an inventory of the situation, before you speak.

o Acknowledge the facts, and that you and your team is actively seeking solutions.

o Build a clear narrative that reflects your brand essence and is relevant to the situation.

o Decide what venues are best to tell your story.

o Apologize, when appropriate.

o Select the most effective voice for your brand.

o Leverage the best impression.

o Keep the message positive and honest.

o Manage the media; don’t let the media manage you.

Avoiding the situation will further the suspicion and possibly result in more negative publicity for your brand. Also, remember the more high profile the brand is, the higher expectations will be on all fronts.

To start, stay present. This means taking ownership. Do this in a diplomatic way, demonstrating empathy and concern for all stakeholders, including employees, the community, your customers and those involved in the situation.

Remember the media can be your friend and is a powerful tool that can heavily influence public opinion. Leverage journalists, news sources and technology from the get-go. First impressions depicted by the media are key here, so think carefully before you answer any questions or attempt to explain anything. And because of the Internet, remember that anything you say or do can be kept on record and visible to the public for many years to come.

Choose an outlet that best represents your brand and how to address the problem. Is it a press conference, written and/or verbal statements, social media or other Web resources, radio, TV or some other outlet? Your venue of choice should be based on the event and the magnitude of the initial brand shakeup. But you should also be sensitive to current market conditions and other news, and how your story fits in with those.

Be sure that your website and social media channels have current information regarding the shakeup and the steps you’re taking to fix what has gone wrong. You can even create a microsite dedicated solely to this purpose.

The communications voice should match your brand and reflect the tone for your plan of attack and recovery. Know your audience, build your starting narrative, craft a compelling story and speak the truth. Be sure not to make false promises or have an unrealistic positive outlook if you do not have supporting facts.

Most importantly, show that you’re committed to doing whatever it takes to tackle the situation. As I said before, any kind of avoidance, delayed response or blame game could potentially raise doubts and questions in regards to the values and credibility of your brand.

At the same time, know when to fold. There may come a point when you have done everything you can and now need to remove your brand’s presence from the public radar screen and get back to your business.

This article is based on content from Karen Post’s latest book Brand Turnaround (McGraw-Hill 2011).

To view more content from Brand Turnaround, click here.

By Karen Post, on October 25, 2011

Results from a 25-point social media reach-out research project.
Last month, September 14th to be exact, I posted a blog about such a social media research project. With all the hype around social media marketing strategies and available tactics for businesses, I was curious if a full throttle social media approach would make a difference for a small business with my revenue model. I earn money from consulting, speaking and writing.

Objective: Determine if a 25-point social media effort is worth the investment and results.

TOP LINE FINDINGS FROM STUDY
Is a social media blitz on 25 different points of contact a good use of time and money that produces a meaningful return and results vs. the cost?
In my opinion, to date, from these efforts, NO. Could this change in 6 months, YES. It’s too early to track long-tail results such as if the Fox News report touches a book buyer, another media source or a future client from the visibility.

We invested over $3,800 in time, and that time could have been used for higher income generating activities. (As a side note, I realize my current business model has limited online revenue channels to convert, monetize and track.) But with our current model, the time and money resources we spent on social media, I believe this investment could have been better used and generated more of a return if we had spent that same amount on direct sales initiatives, ad words and media buys to produce better results.

Could these efforts payoff later?
Yes, the good thing about social media is, once it’s out there, it’s pretty permanent, so future clients could stumble upon our past efforts, articles and links. Additionally, the new visitors who come back to the site can buy products and services in the future now that they are aware of my site. And all of these social media efforts do aid in Search Engine Optimization. And for me SEO produced over $100,000 in fees this past year alone.

Was there one powerful means of social media that I believe is really worth it’s weight in gold from this test?
Our Mailchimp newsletter, (which is an aggregation of our blog feed) drives the most traffic to our site. Our Google analytics also shows that the top referral sources include: Twitter, TalentZoo newsletter and key media coverage.

If you decide to try monitoring your efforts and results from social media, you must first define what good results look like. For my companies, success from a marketing effort would look like:  More value than investment.

Our value framework was defined as:

• An increase in unique visitors to site
• An increase in new opt-ins to our mailing list
• An increase in affiliate sales
• An increase in book and product sales
• An increase in speaking engagements
• An increase in consulting projects
• An increase in (a top-tier, media source calling me for an interview)

Our value achieved that we can quantify:

• We’ve had an increase in unique visitors to our site by 100%
• We had 20 opt-ins to our mailing list in last 30 days (value $10.00 each)
• We sold 7 affiliate items and earned $7.00
• New book sales (can’t track yet)
• Product sales via tools store (our store was not up at the time of this test)
• New speaking engagements from blog (0)
• New consulting projects from blog (0)
• Top-tier media source interview (1) – Live.Foxnews.com booked me for 10/25

Investment is defined as time and money:
I look at time invested as actually paid time, plus the cost of missed opportunity because our time was tied up on this social media project, other tasks were put to the side.

Time expense on this project was calculated at: 17 hours at $300 an hour = $3700
My time includes: writing of the initial blog that we were touting (Branding and the Beast – How to not get bullied.), the blog about our 25-point study, I planned and did analysis of this project, completed items 1-8 out of 25 on the list and wrote this follow up blog of our results.

My staff‘s time to do list items 9-25 and participate in planning and analysis of our project was equal to 10 hours at an average of $60.00. Billable rate = $600.00.

Total cost of project: $4,300.00
Results that you can take to the bank = 0
Soft results that possibly can translate in future earnings = $500.00
Bottom line: Loss of $3,800.00

The 25-point social media activities we did to promote the blog and gain meaningful results, see original post for list.

Bottom line – should businesses bank on this type of expense?
I believe strong brands are cumulative efforts and any business’ marketing should include a diverse mix of touch points including social media.

Do you think social media efforts should have the same pull as a sharply designed direct response campaign where the credibility helps and sometime just the right placement turns into a home run at the end of season?

Brand On!

By Karen Post, on October 24, 2011

Being a successful entrepreneur is no candy-coated, sweet-cake walk.  It’s often more like a grueling marathon. If it were an easy ride the unemployment rate would be less, fewer people would be upset about capitalism and they wouldn’t occupy streets in America being the 99% frustrated over the economy. Instead they’d be focused on finding 99 solutions to grow their business. Nothing against the protest, that’s a great American freedom, it just seems like no mission, no message, no plan.

We all make choices and if you’ve made the choice to be a successful entrepreneur and love life with all its ups and downs, do read on.

Entrepreneurship is a highly challenging game. To win you’ve got to be fit and possess a sustainable, sharp, entrepreneurial competitive edge to thrive.

Here are 5 tips that have made a difference in my journey.

1) Confidence and positive attitude are 95% of the drill.
Anyone who says you are too confident or too positive is either jealous, fearful of you beating them out or fearful of you succeeding and then leaving them behind. If I look back at my life and greatest achievements, these attributes were game changers.

I’m sure you’ve read this tip in many entrepreneur blogs and magazines, so to make sure you get hard meaningful value from this post, I’m sharing a real world example of how this works for me.

(Actual event) Recently, a client asked me for my fee to re-brand their company. With extreme confidence, I proposed double my historic fee, absolutely believing I would exceed his company’s expectations and deliver solid value to their event. The client agreed to the fee and I did hit a home run.

2) Go out on a limb, stick your neck out and take risks.
It is a heck of a lot riskier to do nothing or consistently play it safe. Often the key here is to re-frame a situation. Change your story from scary and dangerous to intentional, certain and positive outcome.

(Actual event) I often invest in business expenses, like: research, expert insight, staff and coaches before my compensation comes in from the project. By doing so, this extra expense actually adds pressure on me to perform at a higher level and 90% of the time,  I do. On my last book deal, I had over $2500 in hard costs and over $5,000 in my time just on my proposal creation, way before I was insured a contract and an advance.

3) Network and play up.
This means don’t be hanging out with peers that are your equals all the time, but you must put yourself in situations where there are people much smarter and more successful than you. The trick here is in order to pull this off, you must master tip #1. This move may take some sacrifice (skipping another expense) because to play in this league, many times it costs a lot more. That’s why you often won’t see your medium competitors at these  (more expensive) situations and events.

(Actual event) When I travel I never stay at medium hotels. Why? Because if I did the chances of me meeting a new quality business prospect are statistically beyond low.  Same goes for buying tickets to seminars, like when I went to see Tony Robins, if they have premium seats, that’s where you will find me, not within the section of  “wannabes”.

For more on how to become an entrepreneur, view:
The ageless entrepreneur.

By Karen Post, on October 20, 2011

If better restaurant marketing and branding are on your radar screen, check out my first DIY niche site dedicated to restaurant owners and marketing folks. It’s called Restaurant Branding Roadmap and all new opt-ins to the community will receive a free report on 25 things restaurant customers think that they don’t tell you. This project is the first of our many sites addressing DIY small business needs with quality, experienced and affordable business expertise. Currently Restaurant Branding Roadmap host a blog, a Twitter presence, a Facebook page and soon a Linkedin group to provide restaurant marketing and branding articles, discussions and tools. In January we will launch a membership-based course that will cover: concept development, community building, publicity, social media, grand openings and much more. If you’ve got friends in the restaurant industry please help us spread the word.

For more on restaurant marketing/branding, view:
5 profit producing strategies for restaurants or any business.
If you want to be a standout restaurant brand – don’t do these 5 things.

By Karen Post, on October 19, 2011

Staples, the world’s largest office products company asked “Moi”, or as many of you know me the Branding Diva®, to provide small business branding tips as part of their new and improved Copy and Print shop services.

The branding tips I provided are being featured in their national media campaign and in hundreds of news sites around the US.

Plus, until November 11, 2011 Staples is offering 30% of any printing or copy job over $30.00.

Here’s what I said about small business branding:
“If you’re a small-business owner, creating a distinct brand image for your product or service is essential – and can be accomplished through some very simple methods,” said Karen Post, the branding diva® and author of Brand Turnaround. “Staples new print service has everything a small business needs to make their brand stand out with brand image, consistent and high quality marketing materials and develop customized business cards and stationary.”

Start with a game plan: Ask yourself, how do you want people and customers to think about you or your business? Consider what your story is and what makes your product, service and company unique.

Make your marketing consistent: Keeping a consistent message across all your marketing materials and efforts can help customers remember your brand. Cross media consistency is key – from printed materials to your website and online image to reinforce the personality of your company.

Make it yours: Distinction cuts through clutter. Consistently communicate what’s unique about your brand and company.

Audit your brand “touch points”: How does your marketing message come in contact with – or touch – your customers? Many small businesses reach customers through postcards, business cards, letterhead, banners, brochures and other marketing materials.

Stay tuned for more with Staples and the Branding Diva®.

By Karen Post, on October 16, 2011

Every Saturday I salute someone or a group that deserves a little extra attention for his or her good deeds, achievements, creative solutions, witty comments or meaningful acts of customer love.

This week my hat goes off to Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon.

I’ve admired Jeff for many years, but tonight after reading the WSJ and an essay by Richard l. Brandt about his new book, “One Click: Jeff and the Rise of Amazon.com” I was reminded of what an amazing journey Jeff Bazos has had as an entrepreneur and the incredible success his company has earned.

Wearing cowboy boots as I write this blog post, I do have an extra soft spot for Texas-breed business heroes like Jeff. Jeff spent many of his summers in Cotulla, TX at his grand daddy’s Lazy G Ranch. The Journal article recounts Jeff’s early inspiration from rural living and his grandfather.  Citing that self-reliance was an important value. “People do everything themselves and when something is broke you fix it.” This upbringing turned out to be a valuable entrepreneurial trait for Bazos as he built his global empire.

A great American success story for all start-ups and entrepreneurs with big dreams
From the early years of working from a garage office, to a diet of Pizza on most days, to answering customer emails himself, Bazo’s passion, vision, quirkiness and micromanaging have paid off quite well.

I admire so much about Jeff’s leadership and the company including:
Great brand name and branding.
It is cool, smart and simple (the original name was Cadabra, it was nixed after being mispronounced as Cadaver).

Amazing technology.
I enjoy and use often all the site features and intelligent marketing from their patents from “One Click” to many rumored others.

Remarkable experiences.
The ease of the shopping experience and thoughtful customer service.

Being an advocate and channel for other entrepreneurs.
I’m so thrilled and grateful that Amazon is such a dominant book channel for affiliate marketing and for promoting and selling books like: Brain Tattoos and my new title Brand Turnaround, my new baby that is about to be born in December.

Thank you Jeff. You inspire us!

By Karen Post, on October 3, 2011

For many years I was the youngest in many business situations. I was younger than all my employees, having started my ad agency when I was 22. I was also the youngest to sit on important boards and I was considered by many to be a very young entrepreneur running two companies.

Then one day that changed. I’m not really sure exactly when this happened, but suddenly—while I still felt young, liked loud, new rock bands, trendy fashions —I turned 50! YIKES!!

My amazing life has raced through three decades and now I’m not the youngest any more, except when I go to an event at my mom’s senior living community and thank God, I am the youngest there.

What I am still is very young-minded, contemporary and a hip aging entrepreneur. I’m not sure I love the way that sounds, but until I can find that back-in-time retro aging potion at Walgreens, what is, is, and I’ve got to embrace my new place in life.

Why not? Vintage wine gets better with years. So I’m going to turn my modern maturity, earned wisdom and even my new challenges into super-charged fuel that takes me to even higher places in business and in life.

So stay tuned for upcoming blogs addressing–

When your mind says Go! And your body says No!
Forever young—keeping your competitive edge sharp
It’s never too late to start a business, start over or start a party