Unlock the Magic in Your Story Now
Get the Free 20 questions to Ask Before Launching Your Idea workbook when you sign up for occasional updates.
Get the Free 20 questions to Ask Before Launching Your Idea workbook when you sign up for occasional updates.
Could Your Customers Find You Blindfolded?
filed in Storytelling, Strategy
When I first watched the video below about Silver Moon Bakery I shed a tear. I love the line where (spoiler alert) Judith the owner says;
“You have to love what you do, or at least enjoy it. Unless you have no choice in life and you have to do this because it’s the only thing you can do. Why not do something that you really enjoy?
I couldn’t go a day without bread.”
This is why her bakery has become a neighbourhood institution and her customers say they can find it blindfolded by following the wonderful aromas which waft over neighbouring streets.
Watch to the end if you care about building a brand that’s not just profitable but one that’s loved too.
What would you have to do so that your customers could find you blindfolded?
Go do that.
Image by MorBCN.
Share this article
Something To Lose
filed in Entrepreneurship, Strategy
The solitary guy who sets up shop in his garage or carves out a space at the local cafe to use as an office has nothing to lose. He can tell his friends that he’s following his passion, that it might not work but he’s giving it a go anyway. Not so easy to be blasé when he has something to lose. When his little garage venture becomes a success and he can now afford an office in town.
The trick once you start succeeding (even a little) is to convince yourself that you still have nothing to lose and to build that mindset into your strategy for growth.
Because once you start thinking you’ve got something to lose. You’re killing the strategy that made you successful while no one was watching.
Image by Sanjay Parekh.
Share this article
On Being Noticed
filed in Entrepreneurship, Strategy
You want your brand, your business or your cause to be noticed, but have you considered what you’d actually do with the attention if it came flooding in?
What would you do if Oprah called? What would happen if you were featured in that publication of your wildest dreams? What then?
How would you prepare to capture that attention for more than just five minutes?
What would you do to make people want to stick around not just for today, but for a week, a month, a year?
The flip side is that once you understand what really matters to your audience and how to start building something that lasts beyond those first five minutes, the loyalty and success you crave will follow.
You’re building your brand to last, not just to be noticed.
Image by Micea Turcan.
Share this article
Loved
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Storytelling
I finally fell out of love with my favourite little cafe. 18 months ago I went there almost every day, not just for the coffee but because of how it made me feel to be there in amongst the noise, the life and the friendly faces with the smell of the ocean wafting through the open windows. It was such a great place, everything was made right there on the premises and the owners were in the thick of it… caring, and that showed.
Last week I decided I’m never going back. Their success has killed everything they once stood for, it’s crushed the soul out of their business (the thing that made them brilliant in the first place). The cafe had been busy to the point of bursting for a long time. The great coffee (every cup), homemade food and the posture of the owners and the staff meant that people loved telling their friends about it. Customers didn’t mind waiting for a table or paying a dollar extra for a delicious fresh brownie and the story they could tell themselves. Then everything changed.
The business expanded. They extended their premises. The owners started working ‘on’ the business not ‘in’ the business. Their new systems and processes changed the whole feel of the place and wiped the smiles off the faces of the staff. It became obvious even to customers that the goal posts had shifted and that the first focus was maximising profit and capitalising on their growing numbers with cynical pricing.
It seems to me that their values shifted along with their metrics. They forgot what made them successful in the first place….. perhaps they never really knew.
This is not to say that you can’t go from starting small to building a hugely profitable business. I’m not implying that you should not aim to turn a good profit. It’s perfectly okay to have a change in strategy as long as you don’t have a change in values.
In a recent study Millward Brown discovered that the success of the 50 best businesses in the world is driven by their ideals, not simply by their product innovation or service provision.
In every category the brands that stand out, the ones that succeed wildly, like Red Bull, Zappos, Apple, Amazon, Lindt and Innocent Drinks are the ones that people love. Go ahead and be the most profitable cafe, consultancy or app developer in town but don’t forget to give people a reason to love you. Then remember the story you gave your customers to tell.
The future of your business is actually built on a lot more than what you hand over at the end of the transaction.
Image by Craig Belamy.
Share this article
We are different because ———————.10 Questions To Help You With Your Pricing Strategy
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
When my family and I were in Venice recently we decided to take a seat in a tiny Cafe in St Marks Square and ordered four hot drinks (anyone who has holidayed in Italy knows what’s coming next!). There was nothing remarkable about the coffee but we walked out half an hour later having paid €37 for 4 drinks…. the most expensive cup of coffee I have ever had…. my husband kept the receipt!
The lesson. If you want to sit, not stand to have coffee in Italy you will pay a premium. The way a service is designed and delivered can alter its value. The price of a commodity has little to do with what it costs to produce and everything to do with customer perception and available alternatives.
Many of my clients struggle with pricing their products and services.
Here are 10 questions to ask and answer to help you with your pricing strategy
1. Have you covered your production and service delivery costs?
2. What’s your customer’s perception of the value you deliver?
3. What other choices do they have?
4. What do you want to communicate with your pricing strategy?
5. Are you telling a story about luxury, affordability or something else?
6. Have you taken the availability of alternatives into account with your pricing?
7. Have you done enough to convince your audience that there are no better substitutes to what you offer?
8. Can your mode of service delivery, specifications or design add value?
9. Is your pricing strategy in line with your longer term business goals?
10. What type of clients are you trying to attract and how can you use price to send a signal to the right people?
The MBA version on pricing strategy can be found here.
And for those travelling any time soon here are some tips for what not to do when you are eating out in Italy.
Image by Dan Zelazo.
Share this article
Better Stories Versus Better Stuff
filed in Marketing, Storytelling
Most things that you can buy are good enough.
The companies that succeed now, Tattly, Apple, Zappos and Amazon don’t find ways to make and sell better stuff. They work out how to tell a better story AND how to give their customers a story they want to tell too.
The story is baked into the product. “Hey check out my cool tattoo.”
That’s a very different kind of marketing and it’s certainly not advertising.
What are you baking in that’s worth talking about?
Image by Erica Feliciano.
Share this article
5 Questions You Need To Ask About Your Ideal Client
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy
1. Who is she?
What’s her backstory? What makes her who she is?
(Hint…she may not be you).
2. What does her typical day look like?
How does she spend her time and where (both online and offline)?
3. What does she care about?
What inspires and informs her? What motivates her to act?
4. What problem(s) does she need to have solved?
Is it a physical pain or obstacle, or is there a want she needs to have fulfilled?
5. How are you solving that problem better than the competition?
Why are you the business that changes how she feels, the one she can trust above everyone else?
If you don’t know how her story starts how can you be a part of it?
Image by Marianne Janssens.
Share this article
Why Belief Matters
filed in Marketing, Storytelling
Five years ago, just before Polaroids began to make a comeback, the owner of the Dublin camera store reluctantly allowed the sales rep to create a tiny, top shelf Christmas display. She spent a whole afternoon arranging then re-arranging the cameras. At last she stood back to admire her handiwork, slipped a digital camera from her pocket and took a shot for her records. The store owner stared at her in disbelief.
“Why on earth are you using a digital camera to take your display photos?” he said. Okay that’s it, you’ve finally convinced me. You can take it all down and pack it away. If you don’t believe in your own product how can you expect me or anyone else to?”
She had to admit that he had a point, as she began to reluctantly put things back in their boxes.
True story.
It’s a whole lot easier to spread an idea that you care about and believe in. The world will only begin to have faith in you when you do too.
Image by Steve Rhodes.
Share this article
The Secret To Spreading Ideas
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy
I recently had the opportunity to share an idea I care about thanks to the team at TEDx Perth.
The talk went live online two days ago. I hope it helps you to spread the ideas that you care about.
Image by Sally Jarvis at TEDxPerth