Have you consciously built your brand, ingredient by thoughtful ingredient, or has it kind of fallen into place over time? Whether or not you have purposefully built your brand, you certainly have one. Ask any of your customers what your brand is, and they will come up with something. The million dollar question is: is it what you want to hear?

A brand has five components, which are shown in the graphic to the left. Your product or service (what you sell), your core values (what you value), your images (what you look like), your words (what you say), and customer experience (what others say) are the key ingredients of your brand. All of these are important, but I have seen countless business owners do something when it comes to prioritizing the pieces that holds them up and gets them off track.

What is that something? It's spending too much time on what you look like and not enough time on what others say. Sure, it's fun to work on your logo, your colors, your "stuff," but some people get stuck here and ignore something much more important. In reality, the thing that matters most in terms of business success is what I call BRAND CONGRUENCY.

BRAND CONGRUENCY happens when the "what you say" piece of your brand matches the "what others say" piece of your brand. Customer experience is everything. If your brand promise (what you say) really comes true for customers, then what they say about you is positive. Promise made - promise delivered. Simple, right? If your overarching goal is to create brand congruency in your business, you can't go wrong. If what your customers say does NOT match what you say, you create brand disconnect, the opposite of brand congruency. Nothing delivers the kiss of death faster than the customer experience of unmet expectations, disappointment, or disconnect from what you promised.

Want to hear more about this?  Watch this video  explaining branding, brand congruency, and tips on how to achieve it. It will help you focus on what I believe is the biggest single contributing factor to ongoing success, plus a few tips on how to make sure it happens. I think it's worth 15 minutes of your time. Let me know what you think! 

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It's almost the end of another year. I know - it happens - whether we are ready or not. If you find yourself in the same place as you were last year at this time, over a small marketing decision, questions about branding, or mass confusion about WHAT THE HECK TO DO at all, don't waste yet another year! Invest in yourself and move forward with a little bit of direction on planning and implementing projects that could make a BIG difference to your business.

We have a limited number of master strategy sessions available in December and January for business owners just like you who are tired of being stuck in one area (or many) of their marketing or branding. In-person coaching in the Denver area or via phone or Zoom chat from anywhere, we can spend an ultra-focused 2 hour session on something you know is holding you back in your business, so you can move forward in the new year.

Typical stuck-points spur common questions we hear all the time, such as:

If you need a master strategy session,  contact us  to grab a spot. $300 value, now available for only $197. Can we solve all your problems in two hours? Highly unlikely. But we can we attack one or two things that have you stuck and make an action plan to move you forward? ABSOLUTELY!!

Is it worth two hundred bucks to get some direction, have a plan, and be more inspired moving into 2018? You decide. We're here when you need us.

IF NOT NOW, WHEN? My "why" is to inspire and help small business owners: let me help you!

Happy planning!