Archives for April 2012

Make a Lean, Clean Business Machine

Ah, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing and the birds are chirping. It is definitely spring. It’s time for baseball, strolls in the park and of course, spring cleaning. For some, the idea of spring cleaning is about as appealing as getting a tooth pulled. Others love the process of clearing the decks and getting everything spic and span. Whether you love it or hate it, doing a deep, thorough cleaning once in a while is a necessary and important process for both your home and your business.

One of the reasons people resist any kind of cleaning process is because it requires assessing where they currently are. Whatever choices you have made up to that point are reflected in your environment. If the shop has been carefully watched and managed, the cleaning process will be fairly easy with a simple tweak here and there. If overwhelm or complacency has sneaked in over time, the job will be much harder. You suddenly find yourself face to face with the results of your choices and sometimes that can be quite unpleasant. Perhaps you have slacked off in your marketing efforts and your client stream has dried up. As uncomfortable as this realization can be, however, it affords you the opportunity to course correct and get your business pointed in the right direction again. [Read more…]

The Pace of Business

Today is Marathon Day in Boston. Thousands of runners from around the world will come to run the 26.2 mile course from Hopkinton to Boston. This is the 116th year of the race, but in all those years I doubt the runners have ever encountered the heat they will today. The temperature is suppose to reach the high 80’s. Even the most seasoned runners have been advised to pace themselves carefully. Upon hearing the warnings, my young daughter asked me what it means to pace yourself. [Read more…]

Is your Brand a Brown Box or a Thoughtful Gift?

Content is king, right? That’s what we are told over and over again. While I believe you need to have quality services and products to offer your clients, I don’t believe great content is a panacea for drawing in and converting eager clients. Substantive content is vital to building a valuable and trustworthy brand, however, it isn’t necessarily what is going to grab the attention of your audience.  What you need to go along with your relevant content is enticing packaging.

There, I’ve said it. You can all start throwing your tomatoes now. I know for many people the idea of glorifying packaging is exactly what they dislike about marketing. They feel it devalues the core of the message or product they are creating and selling. As consumers we sometimes [Read more…]

Put a little Spring into your Brand Step.

One of the pillars of good branding is consistency. Consistency makes your brand stick in the minds of your audience. The more consistent you are with your brand message and image, the more recognizable and memorable your brand becomes. When you are consistent, you develop a reputation for being reliable. However, we need to be careful we don’t let the reliability of our brands allow them to get boring. Sure, reliability and consistency are the foundations of successful branding, but let’s face it, if that’s all you have going for your brand it’s about as exciting as an old shoe. If you really want to entice your audience you are going to have to trade in those clunky loafers for some sexy sandals.

Here are some of my tips for putting some spice in the soul of your brand: [Read more…]