Ten Life Lessons from Richard Branson – by Dumb Little Man

Ten Life Lessons from Richard Branson – by Dumb Little Man.  A great post I wanted to share. Re-tweeting just wasn’t enough as this is a GREAT article.

The Most Important Questions Every Start-up Entrepreneur Should Know The Answer To…

They say that 1 in every 10 start-up’s fail in the first 3 years. Of those, only 1 in 10 will still be around in 10 years. The reason that so many entrepreneurs fail is that they don’t ask them selves the important questions right at the beginning. They get SO excited that they just launch into their business without building a solid foundation underneath it.  I’ve put together this slideshare (that you can also download for free) from Seth Godin’s award-winning blog.  I hope it helps all you entrepreneurs out there to be better equipped for success and less likely to become another ‘statistic’.

Get a coffee while you read and promise yourself you’ll find good answers for each question…

“Why is Your Brand Like a Marriage” by Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk from WineLibraryTV and Vaynermedia

Putting your personal brand ahead of your business brand has some major risks. Here, the founder of Vaynermedia defends the strategy.  If you own a company you’d like to sell one day, should you build your personal brand or your business brand?

Take Oprah Winfrey and her production company, Harpo, as an example of a personal brand overwhelming the business brand.

The Oprah Winfrey Show has 75,000 followers on Twitter; Oprah’s magazine, O, has 106,000 followers; Oprah Radio has 25,000 followers.

Oprah, the person, has 4,250,000+ followers.

So are people loyal to Oprah or her business? Will the value of Harpo be discounted because Oprah, the person, is “bigger”?

For an answer to the brand-your-company-versus-brand-yourself debate, I turned to Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the most prolific personally branded entrepreneurs on the planet.

Vaynerchuk got his start working for his dad’s liquor store. He noticed an opportunity to sell wine to novices and, among other things, created a video blog called Wine Library TV. Vaynerchuk promoted his new show through sites like Facebook and Twitter and ultimately became one of the first entrepreneurs to capitalize on the economic potential of social media.  He then wrote the book Crush It! to reveal some of his social media wisdom. It became a New York Times bestseller.

Vaynerchuk decided to promote his personal brand ahead of his company. His 850,000+ Twitter followers learn more about Vaynerchuk’s dreams (he wants to own the New York Jets), his no. 1 rule (“take care of your family”), and what pisses him off (lazy people) than about his company.

So should company builders brand themselves ahead of their company? Here’s our exchange:

Warrillow: You’ve built an amazing personal brand, but was it a mistake to promote yourself over your company?

Vaynerchuk: I know if I stopped hosting Wine Library TV, we’d probably lose 75 percent of our audience, but the remaining 25 percent is still a big number.

Warrillow: I think business owners reading this would be horrified at the thought of losing 75 percent of their customers.

Vaynerchuk: I understand, but look at the numbers. The average liquor retailer in the United States sells for 30 cents for every dollar in revenue, so a $10-million liquor retailer is worth around $3.5 million. I’ve been offered two dollars per dollar of revenue for my business, so I’m confident the value of my personal brand is accruing to my business, as well.

If people are worried about undermining their business value by promoting their personal brand, they are not thinking big enough. Look at Oprah or Martha Stewart or even Martha Stewart’s chef, Emeril Lagasse, whose business interests (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia) just acquired for $70 million.

Warrillow: So what’s the secret of transforming a personal brand into one that benefits your company?

Vaynerchuk: Brands mature over time, like a marriage. The bond you feel with your spouse is different than when you first met each other. Excitement and discovery are replaced by comfort and depth. Personal brands mature over time, and if you nurture the relationship you have with your audience for long enough, your personal brand will evolve to one that benefits your company.

Warrillow: Okay, so let’s say you have convinced readers to build a personal brand as well as a company brand. What advice would you give to those just starting their personal branding journey?

Vaynerchuk: Don’t be a brand whore. Do you know how many companies have wanted me to do an energy drink for them because I named my book Crush It!?  It might be fun one day, but right now I think it would undermine the personal brand I’ve built.

You have to understand your own personal DNA. Don’t do things because I do them or Steve Jobs or Mark Cuban tried it. You need to know your personal brand and stay true to it.

Warrillow: The name of your media company is a derivative of your surname. Will that make it tricky if the Vayner in Vaynermedia ever wants to sell it?

Vaynerchuk: Having your personal name in your company name is not right for everyone. Again, I think you have to know your DNA. I know how to make a brand larger than life, and I have no plans to sell Vaynermedia, so the name makes sense to me. Plus I get a little extra respect in meetings since my surname is on the door.

John Warrillow is a writer, speaker, and angel investor in a number of start-up companies. He writes a blog about building a sellable company at http://www.BuiltToSell.com/blog. You can also follow him on Twitter at @JohnWarrillow.

Personal Branding for Business Women : What’s in Your Wallet?

Lady Gaga : The Ultimate "Personal Brand"

A few weeks ago when I applauded Lady Gaga for creating such a unique and marketable brand, I suggested we all need to pay more attention to our personal brands.  But where do you start?  If you’ll follow these branding tips (that create an acronym for WALLET) you’ll be more likely to widen your wallet as you increase your marketability in the workplace.

W =  Write down what you want people to say about you when you leave a room or meeting. There’s a word on the street about all of us and most women don’t realize  that they can decide what they want it to be and make it a reality.  Begin by writing down in 25 words or less the way you want to be described.  It might be helpful to start by finishing this sentence, “There goes a woman who ___________.”

A = Apply actionable behaviors. It’s not enough to just write down your brand, you have to identify the behaviors in which you must behave if you are to be seen in the way you want.  For example, if in your corporate culture being a “team player” is an essential ingredient for success, and you have it in your brand statement, then you have to do things like offer to help others even if it means staying late or volunteer for projects outside the domain of your regular responsibilities.  Remember, people don’t know us by our intentions, they know us by our behaviors.

L = Look to the edge. Every workplace is a playing field and the winners play their games at the edge of the field.  Games aren’t won by playing smack dab in the middle of the field.  What are the most successful women in your organization doing?  Add some of these behaviors to your brand.

L = Let others know about it. Like any good brand, marketing is important for recognition.  When you receive a compliment for a job well done or you go out of your way, don’t say, ”Oh, it was nothing.”  It’s a better marketing technique to say, “You know it wasn’t easy to accomplish but I’m delighted I was able to do it for you and that you appreciate it.”  It’s subtle, but makes the point.

E = Elicit feedback. When we’re talking about products, feedback comes in the form of focus groups or customer surveys.  When it comes to your brand, it’s called 360 degree feedback.  If you don’t know what people are saying about you, you can’t improve on your brand.  Ask your HR department to help you with getting the feedback you need to build a strong brand that is seen as adding value.

T = Treat others with abundance. You want your brand to be associated with generosity of spirit.  If you’re reading this, most likely you live in a world of plenty as opposed to poverty.  I’m not talking about plenty of money, I’m talking about plenty of friends, support, and the things that enable you to live a rich life.  Don’t horde what you have — share it.  In the workplace it takes the form of sharing information, giving compliments freely, and offering your skills and knowledge to those who need it.  Believe me, the more you give away, the more you get in return.  It’s just the way the world works.

Posted by Dr. Lois Frankel c/o Forbes Work in Progress  | Career talk for women

Gerald Ford Became US President 36 Years Ago Today. Why Did His ‘Brand’ Fail?

Gerald Ford became President without any votes being cast

36 years ago today in 1974, Gerald Ford became the first US President to come into office without a single vote being cast in his favour.  The unprecedented transition of power under the 25th amendment officially occurred when Mr Nixon handed a letter of resignation to his Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger.

Speaking only minutes after taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House, he said: “You have not elected me as your president by your ballots. So I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers.”

It’s hard to build your reputation and your ‘personal brand’ when people haven’t had the chance to see what you stand for.

What interests me as a marketer though is that during this time, significant research was done to establish what the average attention span of each person was, so that Gerald Ford could attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the population, using media sound-bites on tv and radio.

The results make fascinating reading and show just how hard leaders have to work to get their message across (the same goes for entrepreneurs and brand owners).

Average Attention Span of the US Public for Political Soundbites

• 1967 – 42 seconds
• 1974 – 35 seconds
• 1992 – 9 seconds
• 2008 – Less than 5 seconds

President Ford served just over two years in office before he lost to Jimmy Carter in a closely fought election in November 1976.  He arrived at a difficult time with public emotions running high, due to the government was still embroiled in accusations of corruption in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Ford didn’t do himself any favours winning public opinion either when he formally pardoned former US President Richard Nixon just two months after coming into power.  After that President Ford’s reputation never recovered and within a year of coming to power he survived two assassination attempts in the space of 17 days.

I guess Gerald Ford didn’t quite perfect his 35 seconds. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake because today, you’ve got less than 5 seconds to land your message.

Tom Cruise : What Happens When A ‘Brand’ Implodes?

Witness the near-fatal brand destruction of Tom Cruise. Way back when, Tom had one of Hollywood’s best publicists on this team. As is wont to happen, they parted ways at a crucial time in Tom’s career. With his sister sitting in the publicity hot seat, perhaps not expecting the land mine that was lying ahead, Tom met Katy Holmes and before you could say “where’s Penelope?” Tom was jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch like a lunatic.

Couple that with some disastrous press conferences, where Tom and Katy’s antics took the spotlight away from Steven Speilberg and the film they were promoting. The press had a field day and Tom’s career took a hit that a lesser star would never have recovered from. What happened? Tom cracked the emotional code when his behaviour was demonstrated outside the carefully crafted Tom Cruise brand.

He broke the sacred trust – the confidence that he had with his fans. His behaviour was inconsistent with his brand. He invoked embarrassment. Pity. Anger. Disbelief. And people started believing what the press were writing about this new Tom Cruise brand. Tom the crackpot. Tom the weirdo. The brand was many things. But a couch jumping fool wasn’t one the fans were willing to consider.

In short, be it packaged good or celebrity brand, when they don’t deliver the brand promise, it can be the kiss of death. Don’t believe the brand as celebrity angle? Visit a hotel review website like TripAdvisor.com. Check out the travelers’ comments section and you’ll likely come across more than a few who cite poor customer service for their negative hotel reviews. On the other hand, employees who represent the brand flawlessly and consistently can propel a business to stardom.

The brand is the sum of all its parts and brand consistency is vital. Without it, like Tom Cruise’s actions, you erode your brand equity and create misperceptions about your company in the market, that in turn could lead prospective customers, employees and even fans, to take a pass on your product.  Maybe any PR isn’t good PR after all.  Sure, branding is about telling stories – but it’s important to tell good stories! YOUR brands’ reputation depends on it.

[Huge thanks for this Guest Post by Jill Atkinson]

Online-only publishing may be the answer for struggling Erotic magazines

What a week it’s been for sex in print. I don’t mean framed masterpieces of erotica, I mean sex in the written form, and the few publications that present this complicated genre with words and not pictures.

First, the Erotic Review announced that it is going online-only, ending its fifteen-year print history. The June issue – its 110th – is available to download now.

Next, news leaked out that Scarlet magazine, a glossy for the sexually liberated woman, is closing.

Then there was confusion surrounding Forum magazine after its publisher, Trojan, went into administration. Once the storm calmed, Forum – another magazine that runs sizeable sex features – revealed to its readers that it was not withdrawing from print but rebranding as Foreplay.

What all these magazines have in common – apart from carrying adverts for vibrators – is that they explore sex intellectually for an educated, open-minded readership. Their longest word is not 36DD and none of them go anywhere near the top shelf.

Yet there is something prognostic in the notion that all three have been forced to rethink their business models. Do sex and thinking really pair off that badly? Is it really the case that titillation can not be high-brow? Can a British readership only engage in sexual subject matter in the form of a cheap snigger from a porno?

I think not. I think the problem can be blamed on our bashfulness towards sex rather than a lack of intellectual issues to explore around the theme itself. There are probably hundreds of people who’ve thought twice about buying a copy of Scarlet more for fear of being seen with it than because of a disinterest in the features inside.

I write a monthly column for the Erotic Review, I am a contributor to Forum and I write for national newspapers on a range of issues related to sex. So I’m more than confident that there are plenty of noble issues in amongst the smut, and I don’t think these magazines have been driven from the mainstream for lack of a hungry audience.

The Erotic Review does an laudable job of mixing humour with sex and over the years has attracted great writers such as Auberon Waugh and Sarah Waters. Forum seeks out originality and covers in-depth features about sex in different cultures. Scarlet captured the modern, educated, forward thinking woman, brave enough to celebrate her sex.

Yet in the last week these three titles have been rebranded, reformatted and axed. Jamie Maclean, editor of the Erotic Review refuses to concede it is due to lack of market demand: “I’m sure Alan Sugar would agree, you can have a brilliant product but if your distribution isn’t right you won’t become a millionaire. Ideally we wanted to put the Erotic Review in bookshops. We got it into Borders but then it went bust. There was lots of bias against us and we had to fight against priggish and prudish attitudes at both branch and corporate level. As in the whole industry of erotic publishing we struggled against a strong, but not entirely evident, censorship – an invisible censorship.”

Sarah Berry, editor of Forum – which is to become Foreplay – also alludes to indirect censorship: “I think the problem is partly because we’re seen as seedy; but also because people don’t necessarily know we’re there. A lot of newsagents won’t allow top shelf magazines and distribution is down.

“We cover all sorts of things for the voyeur to the player to the sex worker. We’re not sensationalist – we’re a community, a home for different ways of thinking that we allow to flourish.”

The events of the last week have left a gap in the print market for intelligent sex literature. When the new Foreplay magazine launches it also has plans to go online only, indicating that for those readers keen to give the theme of sex some cerebral effort, the web is their only option. Yet porn, soft-core lads mags and the less engaging erotic chic lit continue to chug along.

It is unlikely that this gap will be filled though, because whoever tries will likely have their attempts hampered by a culture of embarrassment and assumptions. Despite the sharp wit of the Erotic Review, the daring of Forum and the dynamism of Scarlet, most consumers – and distributors it seems – assume that these titles are full of dirty pictures and gags about whips and chains.

Maclean, however, sees a silver lining in the switch to online. He says the Erotic Review has great plans to introduce video content for its online subscribers, produced with the same signature humour as its written features.

“This is what is incredibly hopeful. Now people won’t have the embarrassment of purchasing an erotica magazine or facing the postman delivering it. They can download it – it’s much simpler.”

According to Maclean the title’s move online has had support from all its subscribers, with the exception of one 93-year-old long-term reader who expressed frustration that he had given up on using a computer long ago and given it to his dog to chew.

The first e-edition of the Erotic Review, including Helen’s column, can be found at www.eroticreviewmagazine.com. The first issue of Foreplay will be out on 26 June. Helen Croydon is a freelance journalist and producer: www.helencroydon.com

Jeremy Waite  |   www.jeremywaite.co.uk |   

Don’t buy a Silver Cross pram just because you saw Lily Allen with 12 of them

Silver Cross prams seem to be everywhere at the moment. The gorgeous Carly Cole, wife of Chelsea and England footballer Joe Cole has been photographed with a Silver Cross recently (inset), as has actress Jennifer Ellison and Britney Spears.  Lily Allen (above) even had 12 of them on stage during her performance at the Brit Awards this year.  Not bad for a brand that doesn’t do celebrity endorsement.

My friends are all having babies at the moment and I seem to be unconsciously tracking who buys what pram – as if it is somehow a statement of the kind of parent they want to be.  Do you go for a functional and modern Mama’s & Papa’s buggy, an ethically friendly Product (RED) Bugaboo, a super trendy Graco, a good value Mothercare, or an iconic Silver Cross like the royal family own?  Each one appeals to a completely different customer and yet all each of them do is take your whippersnapper from point A to point B.  Status, as always, is everything.  [Great article on the Statusphere here].

Established in 1867, Silver Cross is a heritage brand, and the thing with heritage brands is that they often arouse deep public affection,  But that doesn’t always translate into profits, as Silver Cross found out when it fell into receivership in 2002.  I worked in the Northern Quarter in Manchester next to award-winning agency Love Creative who were given the job of re-branding the company a couple of years ago.  Just eight years later, new Silver Cross owner Alan Halsall is taking the rejuvenated brand – which has been synonymous with generations of royal babies since the 1920’s – into uncharted territory, including a vast range of new product lines and social media.

What’s interesting about the brand strategy of Silver Cross now though, is that they have chosen to only trade on their royal heritage in international markets such as the Far East.  Burberry and Barbour, very similar heritage brands, have been doing this for years – focusing on their iconic ‘Britishness’ abroad, complete with photographs of the royals, and marketed in the UK as a funkier and more youthful brand, endorsed by the likes of Kate Moss, The Arctic Monkeys and my mum! (I spent my baby years in a Balmoral Pram!)

Success for long-established ‘Heritage’ brands in the UK now seems to be based upon celebrity involvement linked with a proposition for everyday luxury.  Silver Cross are not shy about talking about their celebrity customers, but these days they are more interested in talking about their new social media campaign. As well as talking daily with customers on their facebook and interacting with them on their Days Out Website (‘Tripadvisor for kids’), owner Alan Halsall has even set up his own blog to engage with customers at a grass roots level.  It’s all a very refreshing change from my agency days working alongside brands such as Porsche and LVMH who always seemed to operate on a slightly higher plane than the rest of us.

“Why do we need to engage with our customers? We are Porsche. They should engage with us.” I once overhead one of their creatives say in a planning meeting.

Heritage and luxury brands are often the last to embrace new technologies, running their brands with a certain degree of arrogance, so I tip my hat to Mr. Halsall and wish him every success for the future. Who knows, I may even buy a Silver Cross myself (should I be lucky enough to need one) and not just because Britney has one, but because they appear to be made by a company that genuinely cares about it’s everyday customers – not just the ones that appear in OK magazine.

My Life in 30 Brands…

30 Years on and as much of a brand whore as ever...

For nothing more than my own indulgence, I thought I’d celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Pac-Man this weekend with a retrospective of my life in 30 brands…

1. Age 8 (1981) Mum buys Mini 1275GT. Love affair with Mini begins.
2. Age 9 (1982) Get my first computer. A Commodore VIC-20 with a 16k expansion pack. Friends have a 48k ZX Spectrum. Insanely jealous.
3. Age 10 (1983) First pair of Adidas track shoes. Canvas spikes. £10.99
4. Age 11 (1984) Beg for my first Nike’s because Sebastian Coe wears them.
5. Age 12 (1985) All my friends have Ocean Pacific coats. I don’t. I cry.
6. Age 13 (1986)  Stick a Porsche postcard with a Jeremy number plate in my school book. Vow to have one before I am 26.
7. Age 14 (1987) Watch Wall Street. Decide to be a stock broker and buy red braces. Read the Financial Times everyday (even though I don’t understand it).
8. Age 15 (1988) Buy my first pair of Levi 501’s. Sit in the bath (listening to Marvin Gaye), so that they ‘shrink-to-fit’. I can’t get them off so I sleep in them.
9. Age 16 (1989) Leave school and work for Burton selling Farah. Refuse to wear them because my granddad does.
10. Age 17 (1990) Buy my first suit from the Next Directory. Double breasted navy-blue pinstripe. Wear it at every opportunity.
11. Age 18 (1991) Get my first store card. £120 Nike Air Jordan VII’s later and I’m just like Mike.
12. Age 19 (1992) Friend tells me that the coolest look in the world is dirty jeans and t-shirt, old boots and £10,000 on your wrist. Vow to get a nice watch.
13. Age 20 (1993) Discover cologne. Buy Ralph Lauren, Benetton and Fahrenheit. Doesn’t seem to have the same effect on girls that it does in the advert. Feel betrayed.
14. Age 21 (1994)  Michael Jordan retires. Box up all my Nike Air Jordan’s out of respect.
15. Age 22 (1995) My first salaried job working in a Hi-Fi store. Get introduced to the Versace store. Wages soon vanish.
16. Age 23 (1996) Visit Nike Town in Chicago. Almost wet myself when I walk in. Spend everything I have on Tiger Woods apparel. Plan to take up golf when I get home.
17. Age 24 (1997) My first mobile. A Motorola Startac. My life will never be the same again.
18. Age 25 (1998) Buy my first Mac. Realise I can now never go back to windows.
19. Age 26 (1999) Buy a Ford Focus. Very sensible. The Porsche 911 is conspicuous by it’s absence.
20. Age 27 (2000) Design labels for Marmite. Love it or Hate it? (I hate being without it…)
21. Age 28 (2001) Read No Logo by Naomi Klein. Think about destroying all my labels. Feeling soon passes.
22. Age 29 (2002) Skateboarding becomes cool. Buy a pair of Etnies and a skateboard. Fall off and hurt my back. Realise I’m too old and decide to watch it on ESPN instead.
23. Age 30 (2003) Work with Irn Bru on an extreme sports event. After drinking 10 free cases it is no longer my favourite drink.
24. Age 31 (2004) Get an Omega Seamaster watch.  Not £10,000, but I do feel pretty cool. Practise my 007 James Bond quotes.
25. Age 32 (2005) Work on Savile Row. I must have a Norton & Son’s suit before I am 40.
26. Age 33 (2006) Work on a project for Reebok. Not allowed to wear Nike. Reebok project soon ends.
27. Age 34 (2007) Buy my first mini. Head on collision on motorway at 80mph.  I buy another one as it saved my life.
28. Age 35 (2008) Watch Product [RED] grow into an impressive concept. Discover brands can be cool AND ethical (without looking like charities).
29. Age 36 (2009) Decide to work full-time as a brand consultant. Can’t believe I can actually get paid for talking about ‘labels’.  Have a debate with myself about the morals of inflicting my brand addiction on others. Debate doesn’t last very long.
30. Age 37 (2010) Start writing a blog about brands and promise myself not to let myself be defined by the labels that I wear. My Adidas Shells beg to differ. I fantasize about the day that I won’t care…

Why Should You Care who Gary Vaynerchuk is?

I’ve known Gary for a few years now. 30,000 fans on Facebook. 850,000 followers on Twitter. He built his wine company from $2m to $40 in 7 years using social media without spending much money on advertising. Here he speaks about CARING in business. About yourself and your customers.

If you do nothing else today and you are interested in reaching your potential, WATCH THIS.

(Contains swearing. He tells it how it is. Love him or hate him – what he says is AMAZING).