Not all brands are created equal, and what usually separates the successes from the failures is a good story. The story makes the product better. If your story doesn't make what you do better, then you are missing a huge opportunity to help people care enough to invest in you.
Reawaken a thought or an idea your already had. Spark new ones. Discover different ways of thinking about what you do and how you tell your story. Make your business or platform the place where people want to gather. Then make your idea matter.
1. They miss us now we're gone
We (Customers) have moved on without them (Big Businesses), while they keep buying double spreads in the local newspaper. The world has changed. You (Small businesses) have everything you need to bring your ideas to life. To do work you care about, to tell the story about what you do to people who want to listen. It might be too late for the big businesses to matter, but it's not too late for you.
2. You got a business idea: Now what?
5 simple questions form the foundation of every business in existence
1. Do people want what I am planning to make or offer?
2. How can I create and deliver it at the price they are willing to pay?
3. Can this product or service deliver on the promises I make to people?
4. How will I let people know about what I have created?
5. Can I generate enough money to build on my idea?
3. What makes an idea matter?
Begin from where your audience is. Set out to deliver to them the feelings they want to feel. Your idea must matter to them, not just to you.
4. What is a brand?
Brand is just more than designs and symbols that differentiate.
A brand is
1. A promise.
2. Trust built between a customer and a business.
3. A story we tell ourselves.
4. A feeling created.
5. A complete field guide to a business.
6. A company asset.
7. Whatever the customer believes about a company.
8. A set of expectations met.
9. The tangible representation of personal or company values.
10. The way a person or company communicates what they do and why they do it.
11. The way we differentiate this from that.
12. Reasons to buy, buy into something.
13. A set of unique benefits.
14. A symbol of belonging.
15. Signals sent.
16. A waymarket.
17. The experience a customer has.
18. The impression that is left at the last interaction.
19. Communication with and without words.
20. Your word.
5. 8 Questions before you launch an idea
Create what people can't live without
1. Why am I creating this product / services and why now?
2. Who exactly is the product / service for?
3. What is the competition?
4. Do I need to worry about the competition?
5. How is this different and better?
6. How do I research, test, launch, market, distribute, sell, build and scale my business idea?
7. Do I need to research, test and scale or should I just press GO?
8. How will I know when I have succeeded?
6. Think Success Differently
It is the small choices, not the momentous one-off decisions, that define us. Layering the foundations long before the success happens. Have small wins each day.
Success is like the exercise that gives you washboard abs. It is a habit. It is the daily practice of making small choices that add up in the end. It is about doing you said you will do, even though nobody but you will notice, and about knowing in your gut why that matters.
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