brand strategy | Strategic Juju

31/03/16 How to Brand Your Juju , Uncategorized # brand strategy, branding, copy writing, marketing, story telling

How Telling Your Story Translates to Sales

There’s a lot of talk in the branding and business worlds these days about story telling. And every day I read long, involved stories from business owners who lead with their life experiences – who use their own journeys as the basis for presenting their products.

And last week, I had an interesting question from a reader:

“How does finding a unique story translate into actual sales?”

27 responses

28/03/16 Uncategorized # brand strategy, branding, copywriting, marketing, marketing strategy, sales

Are you trying to sell your product? Or the transformation?

I recently had a call with a client who told me she wasn’t sure why someone would buy her art. She felt that she had a beautiful product – art infused with a healing energy. She felt connected to her brand and motivated by the “juju” she’d identified in her brand story. She felt, from the bottom of her soul, that her product would bring something to the buyer.

And then she said, “But I’m just not sure if other people will feel the same way. I’m just not sure why they would buy it.”

8 responses

24/03/16 Uncategorized # advertising, brand strategy, branding, business plan, strategy

“Six Figures In Six Months.” Five Words with No Meaning.

I live and work on the Internet now. After 25 years of making money offline, the web is my office these days. And I keep my eye on the market leaders, the competition, the movers-and-shakers, and the talkers.

And almost every day, I see people make promises about how quickly I can make money on the Internet. Not a single day goes by that a hot-shot doesn’t tell me how I can make $50,000 a month, or a million in my first year, or how I can sign clients up for a $10,000 program with ease.

I can only guess that you’re reading these things, too.

And I want to take a moment to call “Bullsh** on the “Get-Rich-Quick” lie.

Now before you get up in arms and send me examples of people who were $225,000 in credit card debt last year and are currently sipping Mai-Tais in the Bahamas while riding the jet skis they own free-and-clear, I want you to hear me out.

35 responses

17/03/16 Personal Juju , Uncategorized # brand, brand strategy, branding, marketing

Anatomy of a Good Brand, with Mihai Herman

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Mihai Herman sat me down for an interview. Mihai is a business coach for creative entrepreneurs – and he lives in Romania. He’s young. He’s ambitious. He’s a firecracker. He’s got a social following of more than 30,000, and he’s a regular contributor for the Huffington Post. And what I like most about Mihai is that he’s looking to learn and improve every chance he gets.

no responses

14/03/16 How to Brand Your Juju , Personal Juju , Uncategorized # brand, brand strategy, branding, haters, how to deal with haters, negative reviews

How to Handle the Haters? What to Do About Negative Online Reviews and Comments.

In my last two blog posts, I introduced you to some friends of mine – business owners who were blown away by a brutal online review from a high profile client. And how this review started a downward spiral for my friends that resulted in them losing enthusiasm for their business, then losing actual business, and then sliding into a dangerous sea of inactivity.

In the first post, I addressed the inactivity, and what to do when you feel like doing nothing. (You can find it here.)

In the second post, I addressed the issue of how my friends allowed someone or something outside of them to define them — and their brand. (You can find it here.)

And in today’s post, I want to address something less emotional, and more pragmatic:

How do you deal with critics, angry customers, and haters online?

4 responses

18/02/16 Badass Juju -- Brands We Love , How to Brand Your Juju # brand strategy, branding, great brands, marketing

Whiteout Conditions. But I Can Still See the “B” Everywhere I Look.

I’m blessed to be at Mammoth Mountain in northern California this week. It’s “ski week” for schools in California (no… that is NOT a joke), and our teenager, like so many others, is drawn to snowboarding like moth to flame. I grew up skiing, and then outgrew the urge. I tried snowboarding, and it was an unmitigated disaster. These days, I spend my time in Mammoth like a “brand detective,” watching, listening, and learning about what sells.

And what an amazing place for brand-watching this is.

It snowed 18 inches last night. There are 25-mile-per-hour winds. You can hear the cannons on the mountains, starting safe avalanches to avoid disasters. It’s a cold mess. But even in whiteout conditions, I can clearly see the Burton “B” everywhere I look.

4 responses

09/02/16 Good Juju and Brands that Have It , How to Brand Your Juju # brand, brand confidence, brand strategy, brand workshop, branding, branding course, esteem

Do You Suffer from Low Brand-Esteem?

Recently I hosted two live webinars where I talked with hundreds of business owners about the 7 common mistakes I see in branding, and a “Flub-Proof” formula for building a great brand. (You can watch a replay here.)

In the chat box during the webinars, I saw these comments (or iterations of these comment) again and again:

“I don’t have the confidence I need to ask for the business. “

“I need to be more courageous in promoting my brand.”

“I’m afraid to put myself out there.”

Confidence. It’s a loaded word, isn’t it?

2 responses

01/02/16 How to Brand Your Juju # brand, brand personality, brand proposition, brand purpose, brand strategy, paper doll

How to Breathe Life into a Paper Doll

Shallow and meaningless.

Looks great on paper, not so interesting in real life…

Just another pretty face.

Skin deep.

Superficial.

Empty. Devoid of character.

Arm candy.

Does this sound like someone you’d hang out with? Make a connection with? Follow to the ends of the Earth? Is this a person you’d share your money with? Invest in? Believe in? Tell your friends about?

Not one bit.

But here’s what’s interesting: I meet brands like this every day.

14 responses

28/01/16 How to Brand Your Juju # brand strategy, branding, business strategy, clarity

Why Moments of Clarity In Business Are Way Overrated

You know that moment when you see things in your business for exactly what they are? When everything lines up for you and you understand JUST how things work? When you really GET something? When all of the sudden it occurs to you that you’ve been after the wrong customers, or messaging from the wrong angle, or branding yourself entirely the wrong way?

When you say, “A-ha! OMG! Eureka!” and you smack yourself on the forehead?

You know when you have those moments of clarity about your business?

You shouldn’t be having them.

12 responses

18/01/16 How to Brand Your Juju # brand, brand position, brand strategy, branding, logo

Why Your Brand Should NOT Be About Logos, Colors and Fonts

Every day on social media – and in reader comments on my blog and in my email inbox – I interact with entrepreneurs who are building their businesses. And I see comments like this:

“I just finished my branding. What do you think of the colors?” or

“I’m trying to decide between three logos, which one resonates with you?” or

“I’m re-branding my website for the fourth time in two years.”

Are you saying these things? Is your brand about logos, colors and fonts? Are you asking for general opinions about visual direction for your brand? Are you “re-branding” again and again to keep things fresh?

Are you BEGINNING the branding process with the visual aspects of the brand?

If you said yes, please stop.

Because you are not helping your business. And you may likely be damaging it.

3 responses

How Telling Your Story Translates to Sales

Are you trying to sell your product? Or the transformation?

“Six Figures In Six Months.” Five Words with No Meaning.

Anatomy of a Good Brand, with Mihai Herman

How to Handle the Haters? What to Do About Negative Online Reviews and Comments.

Whiteout Conditions. But I Can Still See the “B” Everywhere I Look.

Do You Suffer from Low Brand-Esteem?

How to Breathe Life into a Paper Doll

Why Moments of Clarity In Business Are Way Overrated

Why Your Brand Should NOT Be About Logos, Colors and Fonts

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