Constantly working on branding and IP projects means that I’m always coming up with new ideas on what I can offer clients to help them get more from my service. One example of this is my newest product and forthcoming book, provisionally called Brand Tuned - How to Create an Inimitable Brand to Win Business in a Noisy World.
However, one niche that always seems to be hit or miss for people when it comes to return on investment is social media. That’s not to say, I haven’t had some major successes personally, but, on other occasions, a piece of content will only secure a few hits.
The question arises - ‘Is social media even worth it?’
The obvious answer is ‘yes’, but only with the right type of content – content that really reflects your brand and makes an impact with your target audience.
Gary Vaynerchuk knows a bit about that. That’s how he’s managed to build a hugely successful social media agency with over 1000 members...
Over the last few years, I have really enjoyed creating content to share my thoughts about brands and IP because that is how I refine my thinking and develop new ideas. In the process, I have come up with a framework that moves the needle for business owners. It’s a product called Brand Tuned, which my next book will cover.
Yet in consistently putting out content on a range of social media platforms I have sometimes wondered whether there is any point in continuing these marketing efforts given that I do not get a lot of engagement on any of the platforms. There is the odd hit piece of content, but as a rule, I might typically get 4 or 5 likes on a LinkedIn update for example.
Is it worth continuing is something I ask myself a lot?
Although they say not to compare yourself to others, it is difficult not to do so, and to feel you are lacking in some way. Inevitably I have found myself wondering what content would have more impact.
I know Gary Vaynerchuk’s advice is to...
Although Interbrand’s ‘10 most common naming mistakes’ article is featured by Google as a top resource, it is more about getting the reader to think that naming is too difficult to do, so they’ll engage a specialist branding agency to help them to choose a name, than guidance for people looking to make a better choice of name themselves. Here is a list of the 10 Mistakes the Interbrand article mentions
Interbrand is a respected marketing consultancy, specializing in brands and branding management, and operates out of 24...
In the book, “The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board” Keith J. Cunningham describes how smart people do dumb things. Business is an intellectual sport, yet many entrepreneurs and business owners cause themselves problems due to their “excessive optimism and emotional belief in magic pills, secret formulas, and financial tooth fairies. (All balloons look good when they are filled with hot air.)” says Cunningham.
“The key to getting rich (and staying that way) is to avoid doing stupid things”.
I notice people’s tendency to freely spend on magic pills, secret formulas, and financial tooth fairies as Cunningham describes them while postponing or overlooking obvious steps to protect their business. People want to buy things that promise them a way to make money, but something like ownership of intangible assets that will secure the foundations of their business is neglected. It’s boring...
In my podcast Brand Tuned, Successful Brand, Successful Business, Ronnie Fox discussed how focusing on the right niche led to success in his long and illustrious career.
He mentioned that he decided to specialise in a relatively narrow field of employment law when he started his own law firm, doing “golden handshake” work. In those days there were very few exclusively Employment Lawyers. But when the Employment Lawyers Association was formed, the carta of Employment Lawyers grew and grew.
At the same time, he was getting some partnership law work and found that partnership work was very different. It wasn’t really recognized as a speciality on its own at the time. People came to him and said, “well, you went from one partnership to another, you were in a partnership that merged, so you must have learned something about partnership”. And when the number of Employment Lawyers belonging to the Employment Lawyers Association went into the...
Back in 2011 when I began writing my book Legally Branded I realised that despite spending years focused on brand protection, I didn’t really know what the word ‘brand’ meant and what was involved to create one.
Having joined BNI soon after starting my business in 2006 I kept hearing the designer in the chapter referring to how everything you do is your brand, or that it was important to stand out. Intrigued, I had become a client of the agency and undergone “branding”. Yet here I was a few years later unsure what ‘brand’ meant. I asked a group of entrepreneurs in a Facebook group what they understood by the word, and got a host of different responses. I also sought out definitions in respected textbooks.
Over the years, I’ve read many books on branding and heard many people refer to it. The word is bandied around quite a lot, and yet most people are largely unaware of what it actually means.
A brand is actually one of the...
The internet has radically changed the rules for most industries, be it news, music, PR, retail or any other you may care to think about. That’s not surprising given the rapid pace of technological development the internet has spawned. Society as a whole is being transformed radically, especially in the wake of the Coronavirus.
And yet many industries are plodding along much as they did in the 20th century, that is, if they can get away with carrying on as usual. They are adapting somewhat slowly to the shifts in the world that the digital landscape entails.
This silo approach in branding whereby brand creation and brand protection are separated doesn’t give founders the best outcome from their branding ventures. To choose brand elements like names that stand out should involve people who understand IP, that is lawyers experienced in copyright and trade marks, who “get” branding and know what the creatives are trying to accomplish.
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Understanding customer needs is at the heart of business success.
During these weird times of lockdown and social distancing, many business owners are pivoting to online solutions. We are certainly being approached by people with new ideas who want to make sure they address the intellectual property dimension appropriately.
Thinking bigger, specifically considering what business we’re really in, is a great way to potentially come up with ideas that would be valued by your customers.
A benefit of articulating a big purpose for your business is so you broaden your vision and don’t limit your thinking to the products and services your business currently sells. It’s important to see opportunities which you might otherwise overlook.
Although it isn’t an easy question to answer, it can make or break your business to see yourself correctly. Most companies think the business they’re really in is tied into their products and services. By avoiding a narrow...
Podcasting is the next marketing frontier. The shift to mobile and people’s lack of time are two reasons why podcasts are increasingly popular. We may all be too busy to sit down to read a book, but it’s easy enough
to consume content during times that would otherwise go to waste. If you want to learn then listening to a podcast or an audio book during a commute, when exercising, or cooking and cleaning is a great way to make time to do so.
There are far fewer podcasts than blogs. So, there is less noise, and podcasts are a good way to communicate a message to a wider audience.
That’s why I decided to create the podcast Brand Tuned – Successful Brand, Successful Business.
I want to support founders to create better businesses on stronger foundations, and one way to do this involves developing a powerful brand that uses distinctive brand elements. Your brand is one of the most valuable assets your business will produce if...
We usually associate brands with companies and products – particularly with big household names like Apple or Microsoft Word. But nowadays, anything can be a brand. Even as an individual, you have a personal brand. How should you deal with that?
Business branding is about creating a comprehensive message for your company and product or service, using names, logos, slogans, copy and other collateral. Branding actively creates the perception you hope consumers will have through coming into contact with your company, product or service.
Personal branding makes some people uncomfortable because it evokes an impression of falseness. If people spend time thinking about how they want to come across, surely that means they are being artificial rather than authentic? They might be too focused on creating the ‘right’ impression rather than just being themselves?
Personal branding is one small but necessary facet when it...
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Shireen Smith
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Shireen Smith is a lawyer and founder of a successful law firm, Azrights. She is a bestselling author on Amazon of two books on intellectual property Legally Branded and Intellectual Property Revolution. She is also a trained journalist. As well as advising top blue chip companies like Reuters Shireen has supported hundreds of SMEs to protect their intellectual property when launching, growing and exiting their businesses. She brings the wealth of insights this background has provided her with to her training courses.
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