Brand

Your brand is not what you say it is; it’s what they say it is.

They’re not buying your product.

They’re buying the relations, stories, and magic.

Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

Invest in community.

Serve them.

Interdependence has more value than independence.

Change Your Future

Your future emerges from your habits.

Smarter

Today you get to be smarter than you were yesterday.

Become smarter about the process, effects, planning, leadership, management, and measurement.

Invention

Market access hardly involves invention and magic.

Except that, it does.

You are inventing the road for invention to reach those who need its magic.

Overcome Mistakes

Humans, by definitions, make mistakes.

Your best customers know that.

Set aside the shame and blame and allocate emotional labor for the most important part: making things right.

Care to understand the other person, what happened, and do the hard work of moving forward.

Plan

You’ll be surprised at your team’s capability.

Go ahead, boil the ocean!

But first, plan: set goals, timelines, and responsible stakeholders.

If I plan to succeed, I must succeed to plan.

Customer Map

Your customers have the same dreams, hopes, and fears as you do.

Care to embrace their dreams, worldviews, and energy.

What are they like? >> Transcend demographics and take a walk in their shoes.

Why are they here? >> Be clear on why they will come to hear you.

What keeps them up at night? >> Let them know that you empathize with their pain point and offer a solution.

How can you solve their problem? >> Let them know how you will make their lives better.

What do you want them to do? >> Ensure there’s a clear action for them to take.

How might they resist? >> Contemplate on what will keep them from carrying out your call-to-action.

How can you best reach them? >> Give the audience what they want, how they want it.

Wabi-sabi

The Japanese often repair cracked ceramic with gold. They don’t just tolerate flaw but celebrate it by letting it tell its own story.

Wabi-sabi is the celebration of beauty in imperfect things.

How would our relationships with customers, colleagues, and ourselves be different with the lens of wabi-sabi?

During the Spam Storm

During the Spam storm this month, just unplug.

Help clear the skies by caring to nurture relationships instead.

See them and hear them.

It might mean nothing to you, but it could mean everything to them.