personal branding
55 posts
You Scratch My Back
The suited up guy approached me at the end of the meeting saying he wanted to find ways to promote my business. He was that impressed! “There is a quid pro quo though.” he said. The old you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours routine. A transaction. This for that. The most valuable relationships…
No Strings
Alexx saw the sign outside the local gym and decided that there was no excuse. It was just a hundred metres from her front door and was advertising a six week membership for just $99. An opportunity not to be missed. As she signed up Alexx tried to overlook the quiet desperation of the owner.…
6 Questions Every Startup Should Ask
1. What problem are we solving? 2. What need are we fulfilling? 3. Who are we solving the problem for? 4. How are we least like the competition? 5. How do we tell that story? 6. Why this, why us and why now? What questions have you asked yourself? Image by dasmart.
Great Marketing Is Baked In Not Sprinkled On
The most common misconception in business is that you should work on your idea now, and add marketing later…. when you’re done. Marketing is not just the icing on the cake, or the sprinkles on the top. Marketing is the whole cake. The quality of flour you use. The lightness of touch of the baker.…
Make Your Idea Matter
Make Your Idea Matter is finally available to buy on Amazon. Thanks to the people who bought the book yesterday it bagged a Top 3 spot on the Amazon Bestsellers list overnight! It’s taken most of our Australian winter (or your summer), to simply get the book edited, formatted, designed and ready for
Why The Price Doesn’t Always Matter
At the start of the last school year as I stood in a queue I overheard a mother asking an assistant if the $200 calculator she was holding would be coming down in price. The assistant replied that this had been the price for a while, pointing out that the calculator was only required for…
Marketing Is All About Values
In 1997 Steve Jobs was unhappy about how much Apple was spending on marketing and about the message the company was communicating. He realised that in an increasingly noisy world the chances for any company to be remembered were diminishing and that Apple needed to get really clear about what it was
When Will You Draw The Line?
When my mother left school aged just 14 she was sent to the Royal Candy sweet factory, to dip caramel by hand into big vats of icing, (pink or white). On the evening of her first day she told her widowed mother (who was raising 11 children single-handed), that she hated it and she wasn’t…
How To Charge What You’re Worth
The days when you clocked in and out, and got paid by the hour for dipping squares of caramel into big vats of icing, (pink or white—a job my mother did for years), at the factory, are largely gone. You don’t get paid for showing up. And yet that’s how many creative entrepreneurs try to…
If Only You Could Write Like Malcolm Gladwell
WANTED “A professional writer talented in non-fiction storytelling with a passion for the topics of startups, social entrepreneurship, cutting-edge science and technology, and the psychology of the crowd, capable of crafting non-fiction pieces that are captivating and massively popular (think Freako
The Last Thing You Should Rely On Is Your Resume
Your resume is not so much a testament to what you’ve done, it’s a timeline of where you’ve done it. The world doesn’t need to take your resume’s word for anything, it can find out more about you in three clicks of a mouse than you can tell in twenty perfect bound pages. When I…
Why You Need To Change How You Think About Success
From the outside looking in success looks so easy. Successful people make it all look a bit like falling off a log. It’s easy to think that success happens in the moment, or is catalysed by one major event. Like being stranded while travelling, deciding to charter a flight and then selling tickets t
The World Is Calling You. Be Ready
Turn Up The Volume On Your Mission
Whatever your idea, whatever you market, sell or promote, whether it’s a cause, art, products or services, the way you differentiate from your competitors is by turning up the volume on your mission. Products can be similar, but missions are unique You don’t want people to buy your stuff, you want t
You Need A Story Not Just An Introduction
If you’ve ever been to any kind of round table meeting where each participant introduces themselves, you’ll know that after the first few introductions most people switch off. In a world of shrinking attention spans you’ve got seconds to grab them. If you feel uncomfortable about bigging yourself up
The Purpose Of Branding
If a brand is more than just a logo, a tagline and the colour of the packaging, then what is branding? Branding is simply turning up the volume on your mission Branding is not something that’s arranged on the surface, like a stiffly coiffed hairstyle on a fashion model. It takes place from the insid
What If You’re Not Selling To Joe?
In a Googleised world it’s now possible to get a logo designed within a few short days for just $40. I know because my friends at the design agency Mat Dolphin wrote a post about it for Creative Review, The £25 Logo. What’s a designer, a freelancer or a creative entrepreneur to do? You’re not…
If : A Love Note To Entrepreneurs
If you’re doing your best work. If you touched one person. If it makes a difference to a handful. If you’re building a legacy, not just an empire. If your values are front and centre. If you’re launching ideas from the heart. If you understand why you’re doing this. If it doesn’t have to matter…
Why Learning To Say No Matters
When you started out you were so glad to get email enquiries, calls and visitors. Getting people through the door, even a virtual one was the best feeling! Someone was interested in what you were doing. Your idea wasn’t going to flop, your services were needed and more importantly wanted. You weren’
Why Knowing What To Leave Out Matters
The secret of any great book, movie, business, product, or service is in the editing. As an entrepreneur or creative, your understanding of what to leave out is just as important as what you decide to leave in. Christopher Nolan will no doubt leave hours and hours of carefully crafted shots and scen
