Have you wondered what makes a brand stick around? How can your brand stay relevant? How do you evolve your brand with changing times to ensure you stay on top of it all? And, most importantly, how does your brand avoid having an “expiration date”?

Use the checklist below to keep your brand in check:

1. Does your brand image look like it’s from 2008? It’s definitely time for a makeover. Your brand appearance should be updated consistently. Go ahead, give your brand a manicure, pedicure, and a haircut! (Or in other words, a change in layout, colors, logo and overall setup to keep it interesting.) Of course, if you have something considered to be your “signature” style, you definitely want to keep it or just only make very small updates to it. Even the smallest changes can make your website, blog, social media pages, marketing materials or logo look more cutting edge — the technology behind brands are in a constant state of evolution these days, so keep up.

2. Is your content out of date? As business owners, our audience looks to us to provide the most up to date information, products and services on a regular basis. If your audience is no longer responding to your brand it might be a sign that it’s time to generate more relevant content. The same goes for your personal image, if you are wearing items that are no longer in style or don’t properly represent your personality, it’ll be hard to move forward with your brand.

3. One of the main goals of your brand is to attract new ideal clients, while building a trusted and dependable reputation that keeps them coming back. Therefore, you should always be experimenting with new ideas and different ways to present your brand. One effective method is to make videos, or perhaps posting onto your social media profiles more often. Look for as many avenues as you can think of to reach more of your ideal audience then stay engaged with them in order to gain their trust and keep them hungry for more of what you have to offer!

4. Have a brand plan. What goals have you set for your brand? This week? This month? This year? Define what your goals are and set systems in place to make sure you meet them. Today companies no longer sell services and products, instead, clients buy them. And once your clients have bought your product or service, you must do everything possible to hang on to them. After all, you’ve investment a lot of time and money to gain that client right, why let them go?

5. Keep up with other brands. The best way to stay ahead of similar brands in your industry is to be aware of what they’re doing. Make sure you’re dropping in on other brands like yours at least once a week and take note of what they do and the changes they make. What works for them? Could that work for you? Can you find obvious ways to improve on what they are offering? I’m not condoning plagiarism or stealing ideas at all, but other brands can be a great source of inspiration. You can learn from your own mistakes, but sometimes you can learn better from what others are doing.

The internet is ever evolving, so as cutting edge brands we must keep evolving. As we become more advanced and knowledgeable, our brands should obviously reflect our ability to keep up with the market.

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We all have the ability to think creatively. It’s learning how to do it that matters.

Here are 6 ways you can instantly unlock your natural creativity and create success on your terms.

1. Think Like A Child.  As adults we tend to think more conditionally in order to show how clever we are. But, as children, we were spontaneous and a lot more creative in our thinking. To re-capture your childhood curiosity, allow yourself to just wonder at things, to be completely present in the here and now, and to detach yourself from what you thought was real.

2. Make New Connections.  To be innovative doesn’t require a university degree; it simply requires making a connection between existing ideas. For example, did you know that ice cream was invented in 2000 BC but it took another 3900 years for someone to come up with the idea of a cone? It’s when you take two seemingly unrelated items and use the spark of creativity that genius happens.

3. Be A Little Illogical.  It is a distinct Western trait to want to tie things up in neat bundles. We prefer solutions to problems, and answers to questions. To be creative, you need to be comfortable with things that don’t fit. The Eastern tradition is more incongruent.

4. Laugh More.  American writer Tom Peters says that the creativity of a workplace can be measured by a laugh-o-meter, i.e. how much it laughs. Humor is one of the greatest creative devices. It jolts us out of our normal patterns and puts ideas together that shouldn’t go together. It has been found that after listening to comedy tapes, students’ ability to solve problems rises by 60%.

5. Think Outside Your Limits.  Many of the products we take for granted today are the result of people thinking outside their limits. A conference attendee recalls attending a computer conference in the 1980′s at a hotel when someone joked that the next thing they’d be thinking of would be computerized doors. When he went back to the same hotel 20 years later, all the doors used computer-programmed key cards.

6. Remember Your Dreams.  Dreaming and day-dreaming can create a rich seam of ideas, because that’s when we relax and let the subconscious mind work by itself. The Roffey Park Management Institute calls this “washing-up creativity” because most flashes of inspiration come when we are walking the dog, sitting Archimedes-like in the bath, or while washing up.

Apply these 6 creative thinking techniques and make them part of your daily thinking and I guarantee that new solutions to your problems will open up to you with ease and speed.

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Great brands stand for something. That means clearly defining your brand–but how do you do that?

Here’s another in my series in which I pick a topic and connect with someone a lot smarter than me. (Check out some previous installments at the end of the article.)

This time, I talked to John Parham, the president and director of branding at Parham Santana, an agency that focuses on brand extension for clients such as Kohl’s, PBS, Barbie, and Food Network.

You say a small business needs to know only two simple things to define its brand. So let’s start with the first one.
Rule No. 1: It’s better to be clear than to be clever.

We learned our own lesson on this one. Until recently, we described ourselves as “Experts in Store.” Sounds clever, but it meant too many things to too many people. So we changed it to “The Brand Extension Agency.”

It’s not poetry, but it is clarity. And clarity is what matters most.

To use you as the example, a focus on brand extension could limit your client base, though.
Not really. Every business is a brand, and every business can extend its brand.

Take magazines. Most magazines have seen their print ad revenue decrease due to the Internet. We helped Better Homes & Gardens enter the retail market with branded furnishings and décor. Better Homes & Gardens has a powerful emotional connection with its readers, and that made for a great opportunity to extend the brand.

We decided to be selective. We help big names–magazines or otherwise–define their extendable equity and grow their revenue streams.

There’s nothing more satisfying than walking into a room where people are counting on your specific expertise.

Read More

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Name: Katrina M. Harrell

Fame Name: Life & Business Liberation Strategist

Websites: www.katrinamharrell.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/katrinamharrell

Twitter: www.twitter.com/katrinamharrell

YouTube: www.youtube.com/katrinamharrell

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Name: Sharon Jenkins

Fame Name: The Master Communicator

Websites: www.sharoncjenkins.com   www.authorsnetworkingsummit.com  www.coolbeansuniversity.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharoncJenkins  http://www.facebook.com/americasfavoriteauthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sharon_Jenkins

BlogTalk Radio: www.blogtalkradio.com/themastercommunicator

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/sharoncjenkins

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Name: Lucinda Cross

Fame Name: The Activator

Website: www.lucindacross.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/authorlucindacross

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lucindaspeaks

YouTube: http://youtube.com/virtuallucinda

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What’s your Why for Procrastinating?

Procrastination can be a really big problem if you let it be. When you procrastinate on important tasks, you are only putting off the inevitable. If you follow the usual pattern, after procrastinating on something you will most likely begin worrying about procrastinating, which only causes you to procrastinate even more. It’s a vicious cycle. However, you are not alone! According to Psychology Today, 20% of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators. They procrastinate on everything from paying bills to buying Birthday and Christmas presents.

People procrastinate for a many different reasons. Ironically, one of the biggest reasons is perfectionism. A perfectionist will procrastinate on a task because she doesn’t feel she will do it perfectly. Rather than getting things accomplished, she puts it off further and further because it will not be “just right.” As a result, the task is not done at all. Other procrastinators learn their habits through their upbringing. Procrastination can be a learned behavior that can follow you from your childhood into adulthood.

Procrastination can also be a form of self-protection. By putting off difficult or “scary” tasks, a procrastinator will avoid the pain of completing those tasks. They may also be avoiding tasks because they fear failure, or fear success. Overall, fear is a very powerful motivator that can keep you from getting things done.

How to End Procrastination in 15 minutes

When you break free from procrastination, you will be able to accomplish all that you have wanted to accomplish – and more! If you are frustrated with not reaching your goals, focusing on your procrastination problem can actually help. Procrastination is not a time management problem or a planning problem. It is a problem with self-regulation. However, in order to be able to self-regulate, you need to deal with the emotions involved in your procrastination.

The next time you feel yourself procrastinating, you stop and figure out why you are engaging in this unproductive behavior. Try this 15-minute exercise.

1. Write down everything that’s been bothering you lately. What are you procrastinating on?
2. Look at this list and take note of your feelings. How do you feel when you review what you have been putting off? Overwhelmed? Scared? Worried? Ashamed?
3.  Understand that by procrastinating, you are trying to protect yourself. What are you protecting yourself from? Write down any fears you have that are associated with ending your procrastination problem.
4. Look at your list of procrastination items again and think about how it would feel to have all of those items completed. Would you feel a sense of accomplishment or relief? Would you feel excited? Overjoyed? What would you be able to do knowing that those tasks are off your list? Write down some of the positive experiences you expect from getting your tasks completed.
5. Take a deep breath and forgive yourself for putting off these tasks. Start small with one item on your to do list and revel in the sense of accomplishment that you get from completing it. Build on those good feelings to work your way through your list.

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As the CEO, you are the lead spokesperson for your company. Your employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders all look to you to personify your brand. Everywhere you go and everything you do says something about your company and its brand.

It’s not a question of whether or not you will be a brand, branding is your life and you are a brand. The question is will be a brand by design, or by default. Your personal brand is actually built from the inside out. It is the essence of who you are. It is your personal values and belief system and how you express them to others.

To make sure the essence of your brand is being communicated at all levels, ask others close to you to describe you with one word. Look for consistencies. This is what defines your personal brand and how others perceive you. Is it a reputation that would make someone feel inspired to work with you?

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Being mindful and aware of your posture and body position is the first step towards monitoring what your body language is saying in order to determine if it needs to be tweaked. Try to get into the habit of noticing whether you are slumping or sitting up straight, making or avoiding eye contact, if you are fidgeting, and so on.

After taking some time to pay attention to your body language, here are a nonverbal ways make sure you are making a positive first impression:

1. Don’t cross your arms and legs. Dependent upon the situation, crossing your arms and/or legs can signify everything from impatience to disinterest or resistance to defensiveness. You want to keep an open and inviting stance as much as possible.
2. Make eye contact. Looking someone in the eye transmits energy and signifies interest. Keep in mind, eye contact does have to be monitored. Too little eye contact or none at all generally makes you come off as uncomfortable, and insecure. Too much eye contact, on the other hand, can make you appear to be overeager or even creepy. Try to notice how often very social people make eye contact. Make a practice of noticing the eye color of the people you meet.
3. Nod while listening. Nodding while you are listening to someone speak acknowledges that you are paying attention. Don’t be too emotional when nodding, though, as this can signify that you actually are not paying attention but instead trying to look like you are.
4. Watch your space. Don’t sit sprawled out, taking up a lot of space; especially in situations where space is limited), this can make other people uncomfortable and make you look arrogant. On the other hand, if you shrink down and take up as little space as possible, it makes you look insecure.
5. Straighten your posture. Power and Status and nonverbally communicated by your height. Stand tall, pull your shoulders back, and hold your head straight as a sign of competence and confidence.
6. Try not to touch your face. Aside from getting make-up and oils from your face onto your hands, touching your face can make you look as though you are not paying attention. It can also be very distracting for other conversation participants. Common variations of this are playing with your hair, pulling on or rubbing your ear, and fidgeting with jewelry close to your face.
7. Mirror the other person. Mirroring one another is the one thing that scientists have noticed in conversations or interactions where the participants are engaged and things are going well. This knowledge can be used to help with your body language engagement during interactions. Don’t do it in excess or you will look silly! If the other person tends to lean forward to talk to you, you should lean forward in response to them. If they smile, smile back at them. And so on.

Every encounter you engage in, be they conferences, meetings, training sessions or business lunches, presents you with an opportunity to meet new people, network, and expand your professional contacts by making a positive first impression. You only have about seven seconds; if you position yourself well, those seven seconds should be all you need!

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You are unique and there isn’t any other person in business, be they in the same market you are in or a different market, that is exactly like you.

We are living in a new age of “Celebrity” marketing where individualism is being celebrated putting us in position to be our own news reporter. In 2006 TIME magazine named “You” as the person of the year and printed 6,965,000 copies of their magazine with a reflective mirror on the cover. Their idea was that when the reader picked up the magazine and looked at the cover they would see a reflection of themselves.

It only makes sense to have a brand built around “YOU”. After all, who else can market you better than you?

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