19 04, 2014

49 ways to stand out and brand up!

By |2019-04-22T17:42:12-04:00April 19th, 2014|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

Stand out. Brand up!
I wrote this blog a couple of years ago. Today it may even be more relevant as brands and businesses look for fresh ways to stand out in a busy and noisier marketplace. If you read it the first time, I've added some new ways to stand out that are worth checking out.

Odd Fish Finish First
Imagine a big glass tank loaded up with hundreds of squirmy gold fish. Pick the one you want and in seconds you’ve lost it because they all look alike. Suddenly, behind the coral tree, from within the school of many, emerges a slim, purple and orange fish. He quickly stands out from the group, his distinctiveness apparent. He swims around with a unique confidence and a bold identity, while the others just seem to fade away.

15 01, 2014

Leverage your brand-logo mark, 7 ways to make it stick.

By |2019-04-22T17:42:12-04:00January 15th, 2014|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

Target's brand everywhere
The past few weeks you have likely seen the CEO of Target trying to manage the aftermath of the massive credit card hacking scandal. Not a fun situation for any brand leader. One recent interview on CNBC caught my eye. While Gregg Steinhafel was assuring customers that the company was taking the right steps to deal with the mess, a beautiful logo-patterned, red Target vase was perched on the stage behind him. Was his intention to communicate, yes this is bad, but you can still expect great design and a style edge that the big blue retailer just can't do? Using logo marks well in non traditional touch points is a great opportunity for any brand. I read an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal about the return of wearing branded apparel. The story was titled, “The Return of the Fashion Logo”. Full story click here.

8 01, 2014

Have you called yourself lately? Your voice greeting sucks!

By |2019-04-22T17:42:12-04:00January 8th, 2014|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Inspiration, Personal Development|

Personal branding, voice message
All right, maybe not everyone who reads my blog or gets my ezine is guilty of this brand-busting sin but a bunch of you are. Your voice mail message, on your office phone or cell phone, is an important brand touch point. And it cost nothing more to sound impressive. This is free branding. Often those messages are the first impressions you give to a prospective client, a business colleague, a strategic partner, or a new friend. So don't even think about using the non personalized recording that comes with your phone. That's LAME with a capital 'L". So, is your message giving the best first impression? Give yourself a call. If your message is not on brand, re-record it using these tips

17 12, 2013

Fine print you won’t believe & a $3500 fine

By |2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00December 17th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship, Personal Development|

Fine print- brand killers
Tiny, fine print has a bad name and in most cases it should. When a company or brand communicates something important, pertaining to policy, it should be transparent and upfront. Instead, many companies hide important details in very small print knowing that 98% of people won’t ever read it. This is no better than whispering, “your pants are on fire” to a deaf person. It’s just not cool. Here’s the story. Three years ago, a Utah couple had a bad experience with an online retailer called Kleargear.com. After the transaction, they posted a negative review on a consumer-venting site called ripoffreport.com. They cited that the purchased item was never shipped and after numerous attempts, could not even get a customer service person to help them.

10 12, 2013

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

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

photo 1
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.

24 09, 2013

Tangibility is back in vogue. Strut some today.

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

Tangible is back, brand better
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 |2019-04-22T17:42:13-04:00September 16th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship|

shutterstock_41930971
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.

9 04, 2013

Playing through pain. And 5 other business tips from tennis.

By |2019-04-22T17:42:14-04:00April 9th, 2013|Branding, Entrepreneurship|


This morning I had a tennis match. It was a beautiful Florida day, sunny and 68 degrees. I've been suffering from plantar fasciitis, a painful foot condition. Not sure why I have it. I'd like to think it's because I'm such a competitive athlete. Which may be part of it or it could be my body is just getting worn down and aged. What matters is not the origin of any challenge, but how do you play and win when you are in excruciating pain and not feeling your best. I was down 5, 0. My opponent was hitting perfect drop shots. I was not able to move fast enough to get to them.

This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.

This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.