Entrepreneurship – Page 5 – Karen Post, The Branding Diva

10 12, 2013

Circles of inspiration – 3 ideas to help your brand standout.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00December 10th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

This past year, I had the privilege of working with a chemistry company called Celanese. The assignment was to re-energize a business to business brand that helps manufacturers of all kinds create innovative products. The mission was accomplished. In collaboration with a team spanning 26 countries, the company’s brand evolved into an even stronger persona; one that reflected ingenuity, creativity, forward thinking and a united spirit of over 7,000 global employees. The 12-month brand transformation centered around the core values of the organization and required serious alignment with the company’s vision, business practices, communications and the internal culture.

21 11, 2013

Still wearing that light blue leisure suit?

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00November 21st, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

Imagine this guy showing up at your office for a job interview. It’s likely your judgment filter would kick in in less than 30 seconds, and you will conclude the applicant is severely out of touch and may have been living in a cave for the last 30 years. Not a good first impression. This week I was working with a trade association that has engaged me to speak to 5 of their chapters in 2014 on branding. During our negotiations, I mentioned to my contact that the trade association’s current logo needed a facelift. In addition to the logo mark being too busy, a major part of the design was the state of Florida. Lose the “So last decade” logos. Yikes! Someone call the brand police, Using the state as art is passé, just like a blue leisure. The light blue leisure suit is a great metaphor for branding that is outdated and reflects a tired or should be retired elements.

14 11, 2013

Life is uncertain. Be the best leader you can be everyday.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00November 14th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

This week, I accompanied my dear friend, Pam Iorio, the former Mayor of Tampa, to the Lead & Succeed event in Tampa. If this event comes to your town, attend. For five bucks you will hear top notch business speakers and likely make some great contacts too. Pam was one of several keynote speakers and she inspired everyone, including me, to find a higher level of leadership in themselves. She shared stories about her journey in life and she talked about the three important behaviors that she sees in great leaders. 1) They don’t waste energy fretting about the competition. They focus on their own performance and improving. 2) They treat everyone with respect and make everyone feel important. 3) They don’t give self-doubt a chair at any party. While these points are pretty simple advice, if you think back to any moments of soft leadership you observed, or were a part of, they were not likely practiced.

5 11, 2013

Speaking, stories and snowballs.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00November 5th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

A couple of weeks ago, I seduced many of you into opening my blog only to find out that I’ve not read Fifty Shades of Gray yet but did read Magic of Impromptu Speaking, by Andrill Sedniev, while taking some time off of work. I promised a review on the book, so here goes. The book caught my attention as its subtitle states: Create a speech that can be remembered for years in under 30 seconds. The fact is, I and gazillions of other book buyers gravitate to titles that promise fast and almost immediate results. A good formula to remember when you are writing product copy or selling a book. So was he telling the truth or committing a marketing sin and telling a big white lie? It’s a gray area. Maybe not fifty shades but at least three. The book is excellent, filled with wisdom that can be applied to formal speeches and varied other opportunities of attention, like when doing a media interview, interviewing for a job or taking a stance in a board meeting. All good stuff for building a brand.

29 10, 2013

Halloween, Buckeyes and 8 great brand building ideas

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00October 29th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

This past weekend, I traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to attend the Ohio State University versus Penn State football game. I had a fabulous time and picked up some great brand building ideas that can apply to many businesses.

Here’s the recap on my adventure and eight branding building ideas. 1) Southwest Airline’s identity is in transition. Brands change. The quirky, casual carrier has evolved. Their frequent flyer program still works and is one of the best for rewarding loyalty. My plane ticket was free. Their once low-cost pricing strategy is just a memory and bags fly free soon may be too. Their uniforms have also evolved. The khaki shorts and t-shirts are in the closet and a more formal garb is being sported, maybe to align better with the more upscale pricing. The seats are getting smaller and the people are getting fatter.

23 10, 2013

Fifty shades of paradise and a critical move for a happy ending.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00October 23rd, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship|

Now that I've got your attention, sorry, this week's blog is not about an erotic trilogy or a fantasy business mogul. Its about a real strategy that can make or break any customer experience and ultimately impact a brand. Six months or so ago, at a charity fundraiser, I purchased a weekend getaway. It was a silent-auction item touted on the promotional poster as a “This is paradise!” stay for the weekend at a five-bedroom house on the beach on beautiful Anna Maria Island. Sounded great to me. Waterfront property, relaxation, and all in a vacation area that I had been to before and loved. Soon after the function, I received a certificate in the mail with similar details about the house and their website.

8 10, 2013

Successful failures – When a startup dies, a new opportunity is born.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00October 8th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

This past week, I received an email from a fellow entrepreneur. It was a notice, that after five long years, he was taking his company off the respirator and closing it down. The news was sad. I know he and his team gave it their all. I could feel his pain in the letter he sent to his customers and friends, it was as if someone had died. My friend lost more than money. His entrepreneurial soul took a traumatic hit too. It’s never easy to pull the plug on a business you started. Especially when you are an eternal optimist, which most entrepreneurs are. You cling on to hope. You believe in miracles. Your ego screams, “No freakin way can you bail and be branded a quitter”. Egos do not always give the best advice. There comes a time in business, when quitting is the wisest action to take. Postponing it will just delay your next success.

1 10, 2013

Perpetual proofing predicaments – A tool to fix them.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00October 1st, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship|

"I use Grammarly for proofreading because without TYPOS, I have less gray hair and then I look much, much younger*." (Read the entire blog to make sense of this opening quote.) Of all of my skills and talents, proofing text is not one of them. In fact, if there were an award for the most consistent practice of missing those grammar gaffes, those punctuation oversights, or the spelling snafus, I’m sure I’d be a finalist. I’m okay with this because I know I have many other valuable skills that these grammar gurus and spelling bee society members don’t possess. I know these shortcomings drive my journalism-minded, editing buddies nuts. I’m okay with this, too. I do respect the English language. I understand that errors and bad writing reflect poorly on one’s professional image, and that’s not good brand-building.

24 09, 2013

Tangibility is back in vogue. Strut some today.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00September 24th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship|

We live and breathe technology. Smart phones, dumb text messages, notebooks, PDFs, videos, virtual meetings, cloud computing and all the "apps for that". All this stuff has certainly added convenience to our lives, however, its also created a society of gadget addicts. And Heaven forbid, there is no Internet connection for 10 minutes! Someone call 911 and order me a respirator. IT withdrawals are worse than needing a crack fix. Technology has had a profound impact on how we function and communicate. This new world order has also zapped the tangible factor in many business connections. The days of touch, hold in your hand marketing and ink on your fingers are gone. We are now a digital domicile. A planet of wifi, plugs, chargers and adapters.

16 09, 2013

Worse than lice.

By Karen Post|2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00September 16th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship|

They put you to sleep, it’s a poor reflection on a good brand, and its just a down- right bad presentation, but they are still spreading around the globe. I experienced one just the other day. The saddest part of this story, these presenters were not first-time entrepreneurs committing a branding crime or a recent graduate new to the business world. These were executives from a large company, with resources, who should have known better.

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