Guilty as charged. I was listening to Seth Godin, one of my favorite creative-brainys (that is a made up word), on 57 ways to get the world to spread your stuff and suddenly  I needed to go to the little girls’ room. OMG, there were at least 40 minutes left in his Webinar on MarketingProfs,  and even though I have a Pro MarketingProf membership (which is so worth it) and could have replayed it later, I was not willing to put this learning session on hold. I was engaged in every word he was saying.

How did that happen? How do you get people that glued to what you have to say?
Here’s my take on the Seth factor. He’s cool. He’s never boring. He challenges my thinking. He’s nice to listen to, compelling and calm all at the same time. He’s earned the very smart cat badge, a combination of status from credibility builders like his books, speeches and blogging and what others say the big media and fans around globe.

While he did share 57 ideas and some bonuses, here are my top four and what I going to do differently.

1) He does not have guest bloggers.
Why? Because it fuzzes it up.  It is his brand promise to his readers.

As I’m evaluating the guest bloggers on Oddpodz,and I have been thinking about this for a while, he has an excellent point. Plus, guest posts are  a lot of work. And unless they are highly read and  driving traffic, which unfortunately my guest bloggers have not been, the ROI is just not there. So starting next week, the guest bloggers section will be laid to rest. The posts will be archived  and remain on the site, but no new guest bloggers.

2) He blogs everyday.
That’s heavy. and scare the crap out of me to commit to that.

I said he challenged me. OK, then. I love to write. I do interesting stuff every single day. And even if I’m sick or staying in my cave, I think about really interesting things that I know others can benefit from.  If I can’t pump out at least a paragraph a day, then shame on me.

3) He does not tweet.
That’s a side-line of the next takeaway for me. The actual big idea is: he consciously decides that he will not do everything, Tweeting is an activity like golf or collecting fish bones. He knows he does not have the bandwidth to do it well and right, so he’s not going there. I respect that.

I think all to often we put pressure on ourselves to do stuff that’s not really required or in our “do it freakin well zone”.  For me this means not doing stuff that does not deliver happiness, money or peace in your soul. Personally, I like to tweet, it’s a good outlet for my inner soundbite, snarky side.

4) Try. Fail. Repeat.
That’s not a new one for me. But felt it was important for this list. Thank you Seth.

Love your thoughts on any of this.

Check out this Book review – “Tribes” by Seth Godin.

I have a pile of business books that I have been meaning to read, and I am now determined to finish them by the end of the year. I had a great excuse last week when my power went out. I ran my laptop until the battery died. When it did, I decided not to relocate to a place where I could power up and sat down to read instead.

Tribes
I started with Seth Godin’s Tribes. It is a collection, I believe, of blog posts on leadership. If you are an entrepreneur, or if you work for a company and have the desire to champion a cause, this book will help ignite that fire.  A few key takeaways for me were:

1.     The definitions of a tribe and its dynamics.  “A tribe is a group of people, connected to one another, connected to a leader and connected to an idea. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate. Tribes need leadership. Sometimes one person leads, sometimes more.  You can’t have a tribe without a leader–and you can’t be a leader without a tribe.”

2.     A tribe is formed when someone sees a group that is asking to be led. For example, “Fox News didn’t persuade millions of people to become conservative; they just assembled the tribe and led them where they were already headed.” Capitalize on a non-obvious moment/opportunity; get there first.

3.     A manager is not a leader. A manager operates within the status quo of the “factory.” The leader sees an opportunity to do things differently (and better) and sees a group that is willing to move toward that change. The leader doesn’t wait to be asked to lead, he or she just does it.

4.     The internet provides unprecedented opportunities for leaders and tribes to connect. One person with a YouTube.com account can impact the world in 24 hours with the right video. The power quotient has shifted.  Just look at the power of blogging, anyone can broadcast their thoughts or ideas and lead or form a tribe.

5.     Necessary ingredients for a tribe leader. Genuine passion and charisma – if you don’t have that, people will see through you and a tribe won’t follow. Authentic generosity – a true leader doesn’t need credit for his or her ideas, he or she is happy for them to be spread. The ability to use criticism to improve, curiosity, heresy (vs status quo), faith, remarkability, fearlessness, leadership/empowerment, passion and reinvention.

6.     Recipe for starting a micromovement: a manifesto, connectablity and tracking progress.  Making money can’t be the ultimate goal of the micromovement, that will guarantee its failure.

7.     Persuasion: don’t start with opposition, seek the uncommitted passionates.

8.     Elements of leadership: challenge status quo, create culture, be charismatic, communicate vision, connect.

9.     Do not get stuck in the way things were or are, get busy turning things into what they could be.

10.  Change isn’t made by asking permission. Change is made by asking for forgiveness later.

11.  True leaders understand that change is not only omnipresent, but the key to success.

12.  Great leaders listen to tribe members. However, truly great leaders can listen to the other opinion, still do what they had intended and retain loyal tribe followers.  He used Ronald Regan as an example of a leader with this quality.

Looking for more great books, visit our book store. Please share your comments too.

10 questions to ask yourself to determine whether a brand makeover or change is in your near future.

Before we dive into the “do you need a brand makeover” checklist, let’s all get on the same page with what the brand is and the brand means today.

The definition of a brand has exploded from a very simple concept to an extremely complex and critical part of economies and life. The brand is no longer limited to the mark, tagline or latest marketing campaign. The brand is the spirit, soul, purpose and promise of any entity. Operational or buried on the History Channel®, the brand is, as I called it in my first book, metaphorically a brain tattoo—a mental impression that the buyer allows into their head. The brand is the sum of tangible and intangible assets and liabilities, every touch point, every experience and every memory. It is what the markets, stakeholders, influencers and consumers think and feel, and what they expect when they choose one (brand) offering over another.

By now, most business leaders figured out the basic brand game. We were on our merry way, marketing, advertising, promoting and publicizing and then came the most monumental change to life and business as we all knew it. The Internet entered the planet. Brands and branding morphed from being a pure premium identity choice to an any-price-point offering with a story and a promise. We could now conduct business, building our brand messaging 24/7 and with no limits on geographical boundaries. For many, the Internet represented endless opportunities and reach, efficiencies, low production costs and a new sense of control for their brands. That didn’t last too long.

Then, technology got cheaper; Web engagement and functionality spawned like weeds and open source applications became the new oxygen, welcoming Web 2.0. The branding platform expanded too. We were no longer just buying our way into consumers’ worlds, pushing strategically crafted messages on them with hard selling tactics. We were instead having two-way conversations, listening, helping and educating. A new marketing mindset moved in. Brands everywhere went beyond brick-and-mortar, offline business environments to now earning new relationships and stronger brand loyalty thanks to the new army of digital branding tools at their and the market’s fingertips.

And what a difference five years makes. As the Internet continued to power economies and businesses, a new dimension of activity and media sprouted. It is called social media. Pioneered by companies like Friendster, MySpace and Facebook, user-generated content fueled this technology-driven, but century-old behavior better known as socializing. Blogs, wikis, micro blogging and podcasts are just a few options in the buffet of communication choices and tools. At the start, many skeptics were convinced this was purely a social pastime; a not for business movement and was a trend isolated for teenagers and techno-geeks. Today businesses, governments, religious groups and even grandmothers are active participants in social media. So did branding get a new friend, or is it a loose-cannon foe? It’s all in how you navigate the ever-changing terrain, manage the utilities and stay with or ahead of technology.

If a modern-day brand is the sum of an entity’s actions, a collection of emotions, attributes and delivered promises, then social media seems like a surefire way to provide businesses and organizations with many more branches to grow their brands. That could work in the perfect fantasy, a great dream or candy-land novel, but in our world, it’s not so easy.

And that puts new light on the the question of does your brand need a facelift, makeover or radial change?

My list starts here. I’d love to learn about your thoughts too concerning the question, is it time for change?

If you answer YES to more than 5 of these questions, I’d say its time.

1. Does your brand (the look, feel, language, mental image) represent and reflect your current customer base or does it appeal to a dying base of used-to-be buyers?
2. Has your core business model changed and does your brand reflect what it was?
3. Does your brand blend into the landscape of competitors (a sea of sameness) and if you covered your logo, could your business be mistaken for anyone else?
4. Do the graphic elements of your brand’s identity look dated, like a light blue leisure suit?
5. Do your brand touch-points tell a story? And is the story compelling and distinct?
6. Is your brand just plain, unexciting, boring and unremarkable?
7. Is there a disconnect? Does your messaging imply one thing, but you are someone completely different?
8. Do your brand identity and graphics work well in the digital communications world?
9. Is your brand memorable?
10. Do your current brand identity and story have legs to travel in a multitude of touch-points?

Brand makeovers can be scary and expensive. Often change will not be accepted by everyone including your employees and some customers.  And there is cost related to the execution of a new brand. But, there is is a lot of upside too. Leadership needs to look forward and understand that the brand is who you are, your voice and connection to the market. A new brand can be momentous and newsworthy. It can also send a strong message to the market that your company is progressive, innovative and relevant. Even the biggest companies like Xerox®, UPS® and WalMart® have had brand makeovers.

If it looks like it might be time for a brand change or makeover for your organization, Oddpodz, my community of creative-minded entrepreneurs, and my team of branding professionals at Brain Tattoo Branding are launching a very cool Win a Brand Makeover contest.

The lucky company or individual will be awarded over $10,000 work of branding services. And every applicant will get a gift just for registering. We hope to make this an annual contest. Contest details just went up. In a few days we will have a voting tool by each post as the winning company scores extra for popularity along with 6 other criteria.

Please help spread the word. We will be chronicling the brand makeover throughout the process too.