Your Brand Is Much More Than Your Logo. Here’s What Really Makes Your Brand Stand Out to Customers.

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Branding is one of the most vital parts of growing a business. It’s how you differentiate yourself from your competitors. It’s how you stand out from the crowd, and it’s what your customers feel when they think of you. It’s the promise you make to your customers, and your business’s success depends on how well you fulfill that promise. 

Your brand is the exact blueprint of how you will represent yourself to your customers. It’s the manual that tells you and anyone in your company who and what your company is not only from a design standpoint but also, who your customers are, what their wants and needs are, what the voice and tone of your marketing efforts and communication will look like. 

Branding is the upstream driver of everything that comes underneath a business’s marketing campaign. It drives culture, tells customers what to expect, and ultimately drives a business to succeed or fail.

We’ve all seen brands change and grow throughout the years. Logo changes, changes in marketing messages, new angles and approaches to delivering a product or service — a brand’s changes evolve and mold to fit different changes in the market. Most brands who’ve stood the test of time use these three ways to differentiate themselves and stand above their competitors. 
 

1. Sell emotions

If you look at great brands, you’ll see trends emerge. A mentor I once sought for advice used to say, “success leaves clues,” and while there is a lot left unseen when you look at large corporations… There are many traceable and tangible variables that can be monitored and valuable information to be gleaned from them. First and foremost is that most brands sell emotions.

Coca-Cola sells happiness. So does McDonald’s. Visa sells the feeling of freedom. Toyota sells freedom, reliability, adventure. Many large brands sell you a feeling and deliver it through service or product. They deliver it through an experience. 

Understand what emotions your customers are craving, and you will win your branding efforts. Oftentimes, a business’s marketing campaigns focus too much on delivery mechanisms and not the state the customer will be in once they receive the product or service. 

Most customers don’t actually want the specific item, service, or product they purchase. They actually want more safety, security, happiness… or less pain, less stress, less time or effort output, and more results. Most customers’ wants and needs are simple. While attempting to stand out, entrepreneurs tend to overcomplicate things and think that because their mechanisms of delivery for their products are so different from their competitors that their customers care as much about it as they do.

Get to Know the 3 Types of Influencers

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The following is an excerpt from Jason Falls‘ Winfluence: Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand, which will be released Feb. 23 via Entrepreneur Press. Pre-order your copy now via Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Bookshop

In my experience, the average Joe or Jane Consumer breaks down who they are influenced by into three main buckets:

1. People they know.

2. People who are like them.

3. People who are trying to convince them. 

The “people they know” group includes family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and anyone else they identify with in their personal and professional life. These are individuals they have a real-world relationship with and trust intimately.

I don’t know my mayor or Oprah personally. They belong in the next group. “People who are like them” can mean they live in the same town; are similar in age, gender or another demographic; or share a common trait like supporting a certain sports team, musician or even product. This group can also apply to celebrities, politicians, media members or other notable individuals they identify with. The trust factor here derives from their sense of identity. They might trust a product recommendation or news, opinions or ideas they share, but they wouldn’t necessarily invite these people to dinner.

“People who are trying to convince them” includes anyone who doesn’t belong in the first two groups and is trying to sell, persuade, convince or otherwise influence them. Trust is hard to come by here. In fact, I would argue that if a consumer develops trust in someone from this group, that person or entity automatically moves into the second group. This is where your business starts from when approaching prospective customers. The trick, then, is to move into one of the first two groups. That’s a rudimentary explanation of what influence marketing is all about.

5 Activities to Improve the Well-Being of Your Team

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This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
  • Activities should incentivize your team and promote their comfort.
  • More than 51% of companies have offered wellness activities to their teams.
  • All activities can be done remotely.

With the new home office modality, companies have to know how to play their cards properly, in order to be more productive and profitable, that is, they have to properly manage their production process, apply continuous improvement methods, modernize, and to the extent of where possible, innovate to generate added value that differentiates them from the rest. However, to be successful, it is necessary to prioritize the needs of employees, since they are the basis of any organization.

According to the report ” The Future of Work in Latin America “ , produced by the specialized Human Resources platform, Runa, executives are fighting to increase the benefits for their employees. More than 51% have offered activities that promote well-being in their employees, in areas such as: stress management (63%), physical activity (39%) and financial well-being (35%).

“Regardless of the role they play, all employees are an important part of the gear that makes your company move forward, so it is necessary to establish activities that encourage your team and allow their comfort,” says Courtney McColgan, CEO and Founder of Runa.

McColgan, shares five activities that you can offer to your team remotely, so that they maintain their levels of productivity and satisfaction:

  1. Stress management activities: Yoga classes or relaxation exercises at established times can work to relieve the load of stress, release tension and clear the mind of your work team, use platforms that allow the connection of your entire team , from This way they will be able to interact at a distance in sessions of 10 to 15 minutes.

  2. Physical activities: Inactivity from sitting for 8 continuous hours in front of the computer can reduce physical health, with overweight problems, poor posture and even headaches; Therefore, dance, stretching or muscle strength and balance classes can be of great help to maintain health.

  3. Nutrition activities: The body is the engine that drives us day by day, so a good diet is essential, therefore, providing the advice of a nutritionist who provides guidelines on how to improve your health through proper nutrition will help you to stay healthy and productive.

  4. Financial wellness activities: Workshops or courses that encourage them to maintain good financial health is essential, so their worries about expenses at home will be reduced effectively.

  5. Psychological help: The uncertainty about the future can be a great torment for your team ; outings with friends; the return to the office and the vacations, at the moment are not viable, so it can lead to anxiety and stress. Psychological help these days represents a great contribution to the health of employees.

Expertise Is Not Enough. Here’s How to Become a Successful Business Coach.

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I will never advise someone about something I’ve never experienced or done myself.  

This is one of the first statements I share with a prospective client. In a world that is saturated with self-proclaimed experts, thought leaders and executive coaches, we are beginning to understand through disappointment, that it’s really hard to find someone you can trust and rely upon.

Those self-proclaimed experts may have a lot of knowledge, but they lack wisdom. Let’s face it, we live in a new world. A world that is transitioning from a knowledge- to wisdom-based economy. It’s no longer just about what you know, but what you do with what you know.

Related: 9 Qualities You Need to Look for in a Business Coach

We’ve often felt that wisdom comes with the age. This is a myth. We are now living in the age of personalization where the individual defines the business. The individual has expectations and is unwilling to assimilate to old, outdated standards that were defined by the institution. Whether you are an employee or a consumer, the individual is now in charge.

With this in mind, here are 4 critical success factors for executive coaches. And for entrepreneurs, pay especially close attention to ensure circumstances don’t force your hand:

1.  Experience is not enough

The days of having 15-20 years of experience in a particular function isn’t enough anymore. In fact, it can be detrimental. The business playbook is rapidly changing and if you haven’t evolved your thinking over the past 15-20 years, you are irrelevant. Also, it’s no longer wise to leverage your past associations with large corporations, with the hope it will give you credibility. Those days are over too. Whatever success story you were a part of in the past does not matter much in today’s more personalized world.    

The big question for you is this: what lessons did you learn from your experience, how many times did you fail, what could you have done differently, etc. Humble yourself and extract the wisdom and allow that to guide your executive coaching practice. Stop allowing perception to get in the way of your reality. 

2. Get your hands dirty

I’ve often said you must touch the business just as much as you lead it. Now that you know the limitations of your experience (unless you convert it into wisdom), the best executive coaches must get their hands dirty. Here are a few examples: A) Don’t just share your own perspectives and research. Be well-read about what others are saying and their research. Always offer broader perspectives than your own.  B) Share your network. My goal is to strengthen my network for my clients, not for myself. The collective wisdom of your networks shows that you can overdeliver, care and trust yourself to open new connections for the betterment of your client.

3. Do you see me? Do you know me?

The best executive coaches invest in getting to know their clients as individuals. Common sense tells you that you can’t advise someone that you don’t know. But if you know your clients intimately, the roadmap to accomplishing their goals and helping them find the success they were looking for, becomes easier. This now allows you to elevate your engagement by guiding your clients towards finding significance (something that is more sustainable and self-directed). That should be your ultimate responsibility as an executive coach.

Seeing and knowing your clients as individuals means that you have initiated this process by making sure they know about you: your journey, your vulnerabilities, your failures, your family, etc.  When your client sees and knows you – not only does this open the door for your client to do the same, but it leads you to the most important part of the relationship, one in which you both serve as each other’s mentor and mentee. Wisdom accelerates from both sides of this equation. Opportunities multiply.

4. Know how to build a strong network

Since I mentioned the importance of sharing your network earlier, it’s important to know how to coach your clients to build their network. Last year, I designed and lead a three-day summit.  I onboarded and coached 46 executives in support of the content strategy, delivery goals and what it would take for the summit to be successful. After the summit was over, the number one piece of feedback I received from the speakers was this: “Glenn, this process taught me that my personal and professional network is ill-suited to help me achieve my goals for the next 5-10 years.” When I asked why, they responded, “I was taught to build networks of like-mindedness. I was taught to build networks of people that had the same job/position I had. I never realized the power of networking with others whose wisdom I aspire to learn from and all the while be able to reciprocate.”

Related: Some People Have a Therapist. I Have a Business Coach.

Building a strong network is hard when it requires you to get out of your comfort zone. But in today’s age of personalization, that’s what it takes. We are all student and teachers. No one knows all the answers. Your network must also be viewed as your ecosystem of wisdom.

Opportunities are everywhere, yet few have the eyes to see them. Why? It takes a lot of work to manage opportunities. More so, it takes wisdom to see what’s right in front of you.

How to Start a Consulting Business: Determine Your Business Model

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As a consultant, you have a number of options. I’ll explain these while also discussing the pros and cons of each. Take your time with this. We’ll get to pricing soon, but you need to establish a solid business strategy first. 

The time-based model

This one is pretty common and straightforward. Your rate and scope of work are determined at the outset. You can choose to have an hourly rate or a day rate, which is often referred to as a per diem. 

Pros

You get paid for each hour of actual work. In the other models we’ll discuss, a fixed rate is established, no matter how long it takes you. It can sometimes be challenging to predict the amount of time it will take to address your client’s needs, so this model protects you from underbidding. 

Cons

However, this also requires detailed record-keeping. At my previous job, I had to detail my work in 15-minute increments. This was tedious and time-consuming since I had to write it in a way that my clients would understand. Beyond that, clients may ask why something took so long. You may end up explaining why you had to research one thing or another before coming to a conclusion, which eats up even more of your time. Lastly, you may feel like you always need to be doing something. Otherwise, you’re not making money. This can easily make you feel anxious while also causing you to neglect your health and personal interests. 

Another drawback is the challenges associated with projecting revenue. When doing hourly work your revenue is more likely to fluctuate since you don’t have locked-in agreements. This can result in you constantly feeling like you need to attract more business. 

For example, let’s say you want to make $100k/yr before taxes. If you charge $100/hr, you need to book 1,000 per year, or roughly 20 billable hours per week. That doesn’t leave much time for prospecting, administrative work, eating lunch or taking care of yourself in general. 

As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’m not a fan of hourly work. However, I do suggest offering this as an option for people who want your services on a one-off basis. I just wouldn’t plan on having the bulk of my revenue come from this model. If you choose to offer remote consulting at an hourly rate, consider using a platform like Yondo, which allows clients to book and pay for your time. 

The project-based model

With a project-based model, you agree to perform a specific type of work for a predetermined amount of money. Before starting, the details of all deliverables will be agreed upon by both parties. 

Pros

An advantage of this approach is that you can focus on providing value as opposed to watching the clock. You’ll also have more predictable income since this revenue is more or less locked in once the contract is signed. Let’s say your average project brings in $5,000. If you wanted to make $100,000 per year before taxes, you only need to obtain 20 clients per year or five per quarter. 

Cons

One of the drawbacks is underestimating the amount of time it will take to complete a project. Years ago, a project I worked on took way longer than expected because the client couldn’t remember the password to one of their accounts, and the recovery email was associated with an intern who was no longer with the company. Apparently the intern was turned down for a job at this company so things got really awkward, really quick. 

Another drawback is “scope creep”. This is when a client keeps adding more tasks that weren’t outlined in the original contract. This often happens unintentionally. As clients learn more about you and your work, they may discover add-ons that didn’t come to mind during the original scoping conversation. Over time, you’ll get better at protecting yourself from this by creating more detailed contracts. When scope creep does come up, just inform your client this would be an extra line item which comes with additional charges.

 

The retainer-based model

This involves providing ongoing or as-needed service over a set period of time. Unlike the project model, this approach doesn’t necessarily involve a specific deliverable. 

I often work on a retainer model for clients who want to have access to me in case anything comes up. For example, a particularly challenging business opportunity, or a second set of eyes on a proposal. I’ve also received calls and texts that need an immediate answer. I’m happy to be that go-to resource but it would be challenging to individually charge for a text that took me 30 seconds to send. 

Pros

For the client, a retainer model is almost like a safety net. At any given moment, they know there’s a knowledgeable resource available who already has background information on their company. For consultants, retainers provide a predictable source of income, which may be passive during slower periods. This allows you to focus more on business development and other areas of impact. 

Cons

One drawback is not being able to charge as much as you would for a defined project. You may also feel awkward getting paid when you clearly haven’t done much that month. When this happens, resist the urge to manually adjust your fees based on how much work you’ve done during that time period. You may quickly end up charging hourly rates instead. Inversely, you’ll still have to keep an eye out for scope creep and make adjustments as needed. For example, determining what days/times you’re available to respond.  

The consulting firm model

 

Another option is to go with a consulting firm model. In this situation, you hire freelancers or employees to complete work on your behalf. You still own the relationship with the client, but you have a team that handles some or all of the work. 

Anna Vatuone, a personal branding strategist, helps entrepreneurs and executives build their brands. To properly achieve this goal, many of her clients need a website built for them. Anna initially provided this service as well before hiring and training an employee to complete this process. Although she still drives the strategy and content creation, she can leave the nuts and bolts work to a trusted professional. This allows her to spend more one on one time with her clients, while still meeting their needs.  

Pros

The consulting firm model gives you a great deal of leverage. You can charge a client $2,000 for a project, then pay a team member $1,000 to complete a large portion of it. This model also allows you to expand the scope of your offering.

Cons

The downside, you need to make sure you’re still profitable after paying your employees. Imagine an unexpected hiccup occurs and the team member you were going to pay $1,000 to complete that task now needs $1,500? You’ll need to be highly skilled at project management to avoid these fiascos. Beyond that, your reputation is on the line so you want to make anyone representing you delivers on your promises. It can be challenging not to micromanage, which can have a negative impact on morale. 

If you became an independent consultant to avoid the challenges associated with managing others, this may not be the right option for you. 

 

Determine your business model. 

Research other professionals who are offering the same or similar service. This will also help you get a head start on determining your fee, which we’ll cover next week. Also, consider the model most aligned with your personal preferences and lifestyle. While a consulting firm model allows you to scale, you’ll also need to spend more time with management and administrative-related duties. Take advantage of this opportunity to build your business around your life, as opposed to the other way around.