Let’s face it, story is all around us. Since the cavemen shared stories around the campfire to reading the news on our cell screens, it’s been at the heart of every transaction. It defines who we are, and it’s the way we connect with each other. It can be absolutely profoundly powerful – and transporting – because it takes us to another place. Remember when you last pleaded, in that little voice, ‘tell me another story, please?”
Telling your personal brand story in the most fascinating way is going to make your brand stand out in this marketplace. What’s more, it’ll captivate and transform your world, your audience or your consumers.
Just take a look at what’s happening across the social media platforms. What exactly are 500 million people doing on Facebook? Well, mostly they’re sharing their stories in words and pictures. They’re craving that emotional and powerful hit that comes through telling a story. It’s the ultimate form of creative expression which is an innate desire, and characteristic of humans, by the way. So if you’re haven’t been crafting your own killer personal brand story, now is a good time to start.
Technology is making sharing stories more fun and more frictionless. Social innovator Rachel Botsman and co-author of the influential book What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, talked at TEDx SYDNEY about the new ‘trust mechanics’ online, and explored how technology is actually enabling trust between strangers in the new peer-to-peer social revolution. (You can hear her talk at TEDx Sydney, Australia May 2101: A Case for Collaborative Consumption http://bit.ly/dXkhYA)
So how do you start shaping your brand story so it has a distinctive and emotional resonance, shows you to be a real and trustworthy human being, and hits home with your audience? Here’s the secret: You start digging deep:
Identify the defining moments in your life
Look at the trajectory of your life and/or career and identify which are the defining moments for you. Why do they stand out? What happened exactly, and why are they so significant to you? Let your memory take you right back there and probe a little more. The idea here is to pick one of your defining moments and then weave it right into the fabric of your brand story.
Here’s one of my favorites. It’s a brilliant brand story: Jeff Nussbaum is a partner at one of the country’s most prominent strategic speechwriting firms, West Wing Writers, based in Washington, D.C. If you go to the About page on their site www.westwingwriters.com. and click on Jeff Nussbaum, you’ll see how Jeff has shaped his story by capturing one defining (and traumatic) moment in his life:
Jeff Nussbaum | Partner
The first speech Jeff Nussbaum wrote was to defend himself against suspension from high school. It was unsuccessful. Since that time, Jeff has written speeches, op-eds, and promotional materials for heads of state, corporate executives, foundations, professional athletes, actors, and trade associations.
Get the idea? I can only assume Jeff’s defining moment was quite a dramatic experience. But see how he has turned it around, and crafted a highly idiosyncratic, captivating and moving personal story?
FYI: Storytelling is critical to your personal brand and business for a couple of reasons:
• An authentic personal brand story makes you totally memorable (in the best way possible)
• It differentiates you as desirable (what could be better?)
It brings your brand to life (nothing worse than a bland brand so this is all good news)
• It gives you a distinct competitive advantage (FYI not many people out there can tell a good brand story)
• Your audience becomes hugely responsive (absolutely)
• It lands an unforgettable spot in the psyche of your audience (what more can I say?)
Warning: Our brains are constantly on alert, scanning the horizon for insincere messages. Just write your story with absolute sincerity. Consumers out there are savvy. They can smell a fake story a mile away. Be exactly who you say you are. Then, watch heads turn!
So have you identified one of your most remarkable defining moments yet?
This was published on January 30th, 2011 at 5:30 am on Dan Schawbel’s award-winning Personal Branding Blog by weekly contributor Mary van de Wiel.
My eyes popped a few days ago. I was walking the dog in Brooklyn Bridge Park right on the waterfront here and came across a couple of rocks being upholstered by two artists. An amazing sight!
OK. Meet Elizabeth Demaray and PILLOW CULTURE. She’s dubbed her work of art – a series of giant upholstered boulders at Brooklyn Bridge Park – Twenty-Four Stones I’d Like to Know – and it’s all about offering visitors a slightly softer rock upon which to sit while viewing DUMBO’s magnificent waterfront. Nothing quite like branding a few boulders in striped fabric!
It’s actually the brainchild of artist Elizabeth Demaray and Pillow Culture, and each stone sports its own uniquely fitted cozy-style covering in upholstery fabric over Crest’s EZ-Dri ‘outdoor reticulated foam.’ Lending a unique comfort, Twenty-Four Stones asks the age-old question: Can you ever make a stone any softer?! Mmmm. I wonder.
It’s really a marriage of hard and soft, I guess you could say. FYI Pillow Culture is utilizing each rock pattern as a template to re-construct the underlying boulders with foam – to create a geometrized version of each stone. The recreated boulders will be traveling and re-sited allowing visitors outside of the New York metropolitan area to experience theses unusual and comfortable stones.
BY WAY OF BACKGROUND:
• Pillow Culture , co-founded by architects Emily Stevenson and Natalie Fizer, is dedicated to promoting the pillow. Using current material technologies, Pillow Culture designs and produces, as well as collaborates with artists to create innovative pillows that relate to human comfort, beauty, and well-being. Go check out their site – it’s dazzling and full of insights.
Want to get in touch with Pillow Culture? Email info@pillowculture.com
• New York artist Elizabeth Demaray knits sweaters for plants, fabricates alternative housing for hermit crabs and famously familiarized a 10-ton Nike-Hercules Missile by upholstering it in 400 sq. feet of quilted satin.
http://www.elizabethdemaray.com or check out their blog here:
http://blog.pillowculture.com
• PS Why not plan on visiting the Dumbo Arts Festival Sept 23-25! See you there:) One of my favorites? There’s going to be the greatest Smallest Band in a procession through the streets of Dumbo. Check it out here: http://www.dumboartsfestival.com
If you’re looking to raise the visibility factor in your business, here’s an idea for you.
FYI I explored this idea last week on NY Brand Lab Radio, and you might want to listen to the 20 minute show because I go into detail about how important this is if you’re looking to understand your brand. (Of course, every business has to Brand For Business. So the message here is: Understand your brand in the most intimate sense, and you get to grow your business.) Sounds easy, right?!
Well, here’s a clue: Start tracking the defining moments in your life. Why? You’ll get a sense of the patterns – the common themes that weave throughout your life and career – and it’ll inform you – and it will give you a better sense of how you got to the place you are (right now.)
I talked about an exercise on the show … because I’m hearing the same kind of question from many business owners right now. They’re looking to land new clients or increase sales. There’s no single magic bullet, right? We all know that! So as the Brand Anthropologist, I’m suggesting this as one way to help get to the core of the issue – and get a ‘leg up’ around understand what’s really going on with your brand. Once you get your head around that, you get to raise the visibility of your business, make more money. You get the idea…
PS This is all about looking at the trajectory of your life and career – identifying the defining moments that stand out (the most). Ready? You need a big piece of blank paper.
- Draw a horizontal line: this is your life line, so to speak. (Go left to right. Think in years.)
- List the age you were when you remember the first most defining moment.
- Why does this identifying moment stand out in your memory?
- What happened exactly, and why is it so significant to you? How did you feel at the time?
- Now move on to the next defining moment. What age were you? Keep going until you get to the present.
- When you’re done, go back and look at how you survived the gaps between those defining moments?
PS I shared on the show some of my defining moments before I turned 11 years old – and how they impacted life and the way I see the world:)
Ah ha — but you’re going to have to listen to the radio show to find out more. So enjoy — and let me know what you found out, okay? There was one person listening to NY Brand Lab Radio who contacted me and wanted to share her story so I will be sending her to this link. So go share your insights!
The co-founders of Think Improv recently were on the hot seat for a live Brand Audit on NY Brand Lab Radio, and the three of us had a blast! Meet Jordan and Amanda Hirsch. They know improvised comedy is gaining recognition as an art form with valuable lessons for professionals of all stripes. (It’s not just about being funny – it’s about creative collaboration, and the power of play.)
Amanda and Jordan are on a mission: Hone your improv skills, and you hone your life skills. It’s that simple.
Well, they were willing to get on the Hot Seat with me to hone their brand and communication messaging. By the time they get off the Hot Seat, they started to see their brand through a different lens, and have the inside track on how to create a more powerful, playful and irresistible messaging on their site. What’s more, it’s going to be a better match with their creativity and high energy!
FYI They’ve been performing improv together for 6 years. Off-stage, they’ve been married for over a decade, and improvising their lives together since way back in 1994, when they didn’t have fancy things like cell phones or Beyonce. PS If you learn key improv concepts, it’ll sharpen the skills you use as a creative professional each and every day. Find out what why these creative professionals were willing to get on the hot seat for the Brand Audit! Then go check out their site: www.thinkimprov.com
Not so long ago, I had one of my favorite people, Baeth Davis, as a special guest on NY Brand Lab Radio. She’s a mentor to many women entrepreneurs around the world and knows something about tapping into your purpose. She also wears the hat of expert hand analyst!
Why purpose? Well, it not only can change the lives of individuals but society as we know it. Baeth is on a mission: To bring together world leaders in business, politics, science, the arts and other industries to help millions worldwide discover, claim and live their Purpose. You can find out more about Baeth and her Purpose Community: www.yourpurpose.com
Here’s what we covered, explored and then, pulled back the layers:–
• Being stuck is the the biggest issue for most people
• Why we continue to seek safety and security
• How to live life – and live a purposeful life
• Why uncertainty is just an excuse not to do anything
• The willingness to learn new ways of thinking, being and doing
• The art of bringing your own intuitive ability into the mix
Baeth’s dare to our listeners?
1) Determine your purpose
2) Then, make the decision to get your life to reflect that purpose
3) Trust your higher self
4) Then start living your life – your way!
Enjoy the show and let me know what you think — or how you are living your purpose. Deal?!
Thanks to Jonathan Fields, for posing the question: Branding For Small Business: Does It Really Matter?
Of course, that’s Jonathan Fields, founder of JonathanFields.com so go check out his site. His philosophy about life – living and, of course, business – is truly insightful.
OK: This is the real Jonathan Fields “…a giddy dad, husband, New Yorker, serial wellness-industry entrepreneur, author, recovering S.E.C./mega-firm hedge-fund lawyer, slightly-warped, unusually-stretchy, spiritually-inclined, obsessed with creation, small-biz and online marketing consultant and venture partner, book-marketer, professional speaker, copywriter, entrepreneur-coach, yoga-teacher, columnist, once-a-decade hook-rug savant, blogger and career renegade™…gone wild.”
Getting back to branding, Jonathan is writing a marketing column for Amex OPENForum, a huge supporter of small businesses. Here’s his post today on the OPENForum site. http://t.co/sxWpTED
Here goes: Branding For Small Business: Does It Really Matter?
By Jonathan Fields
July 11, 2011
Branding is one of those big words that marketers and multinationals see as core to business. But what if you’re not a giant company with a huge budget?
In the world of small business, where every dollar counts and every mistake is felt deeply, immediately and often personally, does branding deserve a place at the strategy table…and a line item in your budget?
For answers, I turned to branding guru, founder of The NY Brand Lab, Mary Van de Wiel, aka “Van.”
Q: Everyone throws around the word “brand,” but what is it really?
A: I’m going to put on my Brand Anthropologist hat to answer that question. A brand is a complex bundle of feelings. It’s how you’d like the people in your world (customers, tribe, clients) to feel about you and your business. So a brand infused with an irresistible luster is going to make your customers’ hearts beat a little faster. If they’re confused or baffled by your brand, they’re not to going to buy. Zero in on that scintillating spark in your business and bundle it up.
So your brand is what sets you and your business apart. It’s never just your logo, name or tagline. It has a real and distinct personality, an energy and attitude, character, behavior, value system, code of ethics. Your brand reflects who you are (you’re the Brand Guardian, after all), what you believe in, what you offer and why you do what you do. And, of course, why it matters.
Q: What about small business? Does it matter as much when you’re a local or regional player or small online biz?
A: Absolutely. Your brand matters, you bet—no matter how big or small. No matter whether you’re wearing pinstripes in a corner office or fluffy rabbit slippers in the back bedroom. If you have a small business and an online presence, you’re on the global map (whether you like it or not!). After all, in this virtual world, everyone has total access and can come knocking on your virtual door any time, day or night. So if you’re interested in a business with customers, you’re going to want a brand because without it, you lack an identity, a pulse, a presence—and a purpose.
Q: What is the relationship between a person or company’s brand and their ability to sell and charge more? Put another way, how does your brand translate to more money in the bank?
A: The money’s in the brand. The successful brands understand how to engage customers—particularly when it comes to creating deeper emotional connections with them. The successful brands stand for something irresistible, attract raving fans who adore everything about them. Take Apple, for example. Their hot tribe wait in long lines with wallets wide open. Tap into the Irresistibility Quotient in your brand. It’ll pump the pulse of your business and spike your bottom line.
Q: For a small business, budget is a HUGE issue; Can you build a serious brand without spending a boatload of money?
A: You bet. In this virtual world, there are remarkable people out there willing to lend a hand without charging a boatload. A couple of things to think about before pulling out your wallet:
• Think about what kind of voice you want people to hear across your brand materials (site, collateral, social media). Amazingly enough, the tone of your voice and language is almost more important than your content. Track down a recommendation for a mindful copywriter who can massage your message so it hits home—every time.
• Start tapping into what kind of energy or spark you want to bring to your brand. Your brand has to communicate that you are who you say you are. Find an empathetic designer who can coax out and interpret your kind of aesthetic and intention so your brand reflects what you stand for.
• We’re living in a global village. Put your periscope up and get a grip on what’s going on. Many successful small business brands are staking out their territory, talking to their tribes across social media platforms, offering valuable content and an ongoing dialogue—all within a pretty small budget. Get plugged in, start engaging people and put yourself out there so the world can get a sense of who you are, what you care about and why it matters.
Q: What are some of the biggest mistakes small businesses make when experimenting with branding on their own?
A: • They’re not who they say they are. The best idea is to be your own person. Speak in your own voice. Be authentic, real and congruent.
The lights are out. People can tell when no one’s home, right? Infuse your brand with your own unique energy. If not, you’re going to fall into that trap of Dead Brand Walking.
Not being mindful. Language is a tricky thing. Be aware of the invisible clues embedded in your brand. They can be emotional triggers telling your audience to “go away or don’t buy!” Keep a close eye on what your brand is actually communicating to your audience 24/7.
Q: What are some of the most important things to strive for when building a small business brand?
A: Be madly, truly and deeply in love with your brand. If you have any ounce of resistance or doubt, your audience will sniff it a mile away. A potent dose of passion will get you through even the toughest patch along the way.
Nothing quite like clarity. Murky thinking is not a smart business strategy. Agility and a nimble mind tends to put you ahead of the pack.
Know what your audience is longing for. It’s all very well if you believe you have a special product/service to offer but if no one else gives a damn, you’re toast. Before you even start thinking about building a small business brand, make sure that there are real people are there who are craving what you’re really offering.
If you’re in NYC on Friday, July 15, I want to see you
sitting at the table @ The NY Brand Lab. It’s an all-day brand
immersion workshop in an exhilarating artful, light-filled loft.
(Beats sitting in a car in the steamy traffic heading for the beach.)
Every Brand Lab grad says it’s a transformative experience. One Brand lab grad called
it the best and only workshop of its kind in the city.
The most important thing? The key focus here is on how to avoid falling into the trap of Dead Brand Walking.
So if your brand is not showing strong, vital signs, you’re toast! Check out the summer NY Brand Lab
right here in DUMBO, Brooklyn — right near the Brooklyn Bridge — and come get totally immersed in
how to create a more irresistible brand. Ready?!
BONUS: I’m jazzed about this summer’s Brand Lab because I’ve invited two amazing speakers to join us: Michael Margolis, Dean of Story University, founder of
Get Storied, is going to riff and rant about how to create
your own fascinating Brand Story. (Love this guy!)
Jennifer Abernathy, the one-and-only author of The
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Social Media Marketing, is
going to share her best-kept secrets. (Jennifer is in the know, for sure!)
Here’s the link: http://zingyourbrand.com/the-ny-brand-lab/
We look at everything from neuroscience (what your customer brains are craving) to understanding the emotional intelligence (EQ) around your brand and you bet, how to raise the pulse of your brand.
Here’s what you get:
• 8 hours of provocative new insights about your brand.
• Includes a 30 minute 1:1 session with me before the Lab
• Plus a follow up 30 minute 1:1 session with me after the Lab
• 7 Strategies for raising the pulse of your brand
• The best-kept secrets for creating a totally irresistible brand
• The importance of being the Brand Provocateur in your own biz
• Tap into the WHY in your biz (the clue to your success)
• How to bring more meaning to your biz and marketing
strategies
• Why bringing a stronger emotional connection is key
to your customers
• Plus exercises, explorations, on-the spot Brand Audits, visual
mapping, workbook with notes
• Plus all the tools, tips and strategies you need for taking
your brand to the next level.
• Plus a gourmet lunch. (Imagine a table groaning with food.)
Here’s the link: http://zingyourbrand.com/the-ny-brand-lab/
It’s an incredibly special offer ONLY this summer: $797
It starts at 9:30am-5:30pm and it all takes place in my branding and design loft in DUMBO.
(FYI Tomorrow, a photographer and his team are coming all day to shoot the studio for an
international design mag!)
Check out the link for more info: Then call me. 718 909 1140
http://zingyourbrand.com/the-ny-brand-lab/
Want to see you there – putting your elbows on the NY Brand Lab table. Enjoy the summer wherever you are,
Optimistic, as always
There’s so much talk about branding today, and I’m finding it’s really the kind of talk that most people can’t believe in.
So here’s my dare for you. Let’s do brands differently! Let’s take your brand from Blah to Zing in three intense 90-minute sessions. Join me?
The nextNY Brand Lab’s Teleclass kickstarts Wednesday, June 22 at 7pm EST. Because I want to help change the energy around brands and across business consciousness. Because I want to help people shift the way they look and feel about their brand. It all starts with looking (closely) at the underbelly of your brand.
Here’s what the NY Brand Lab’s Teleclass is really all about:
• I’m daring you to go a bit deeper, pull back the layers of your brand and see what’s really going on
• I’m going to help you create a brand others can believe in. (That’s when the need for convincing, marketing, persuading and sales goes out the window.)
• What’s more, you’ll walk away having a grip on how to create a more real, energetic and provocative brand that says you are who you say are. So others can recognize who you are. What you offer. Why it’s important. And why they should care about it.
It’s only $99. After three weeks, you’ll be seeing your brand through an entirely different lens, you’ll know how to raise the pulse of your brand and you’ll never fall into the trap of a Dead Brand Walking again!
Sign up for the first teleclass on Wed June 22 at 7pm EST.
Go this link and look forward to seeing you on the calls!
You bet: If I had a dollar every time someone commented on my photo on twitter or on FaceBook or LinkedIn (etc), I’d be in the money! (Isn’t that the expression?!) Well, the person behind those headshots? The amaZING NY-based photographer Susan Bowlus. She also happens to live up the road in DUMBO, NY. (Just near my studio!)
Susan shoots in color. I prefer b/w so it’s up to you, needless to say.
FYI There’s something very unique about Susan’s cinematic view. She was one of the first women Locomotive Engineers in the US piloting two-mile long freight trains across the barren Nevada desert.
Take a look at her background below. I’m totally fascinated by the way she straddled two worlds: the grit and grim of the dusty desert towns vs. the glamour & glitz of show girls and casinos in Reno. Read on:)
You can find her international work in the beauty and fashion here: http://susanbowlus.com
MEET SUSAN BOWLUS
Susan was raised in a quiet fishing village on the Pacific Northwest coast.
Now a New York-based photographer specializing in beauty and fashion, she was one of the first women Locomotive Engineers in the US piloting two-mile long freight trains across the barren Nevada desert.
It was during those years on the railroad that she developed her cinematic view through the camera. Between trips, she started photographing showgirls and entertainers in Reno, and soon found herself straddling two worlds – grit and grime vs. glitz and glamour.
From the stark desert landscape dotted with miners and brothels, truckers and railroad men, Susan also shot Reno casino life – acrobats, showgirls and dancers in feathered headdresses and sequined thongs.
As well as her international fashion and beauty work, Susan shoots documentary and travel stories. She recently returned from West Bengal, India, where she photographed the weavers of the Handloom Districts, giving a voice to their struggle.
Susan’s unique background has been the subject of many articles and has been featured in Italian Marie Claire, Germany’s Der Speigel, and Photo Insider. Her current photography work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Graphis, Spanish Harper’s Bazaar and German Max.
When she’s not on location, you can find her puzzling about when she’s going to get a life. Check out her international work here: http://susanbowlus.com
It’s Thursday, May 27: you bet, that’s the Thursday before the Memorial Day Weekend in the USA. It’s my first Memorial Day as an American citizen, and I can’t believe I just sent out an eblast and guess what? I forgot to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day Weekend. Amazing. So here’s the update from the NY Brand Lab and Zing Your Brand & Co. on a sweltering warm afternoon!
WANT TO TAKE A QUICK TOUR @ THE NY BRAND LAB?
All new photos now posted on my home page. (Make sure you scroll to bottom of page: that’s where they live right now.) It’s also where brand anthropology, design and magic happen. PS Is that something your business brand is craving? (Nothing quite like brand magic, you know.) http://bit.ly/ilbNwb
SIGN UP @ THE NY BRAND LAB ON JULY 15
In just over six weeks, I’ll open the doors of The NY Brand Lab to a great group of business women (why don’t any men sign up, please tell me?!) and we’ll spend an eight-hour day totally immersed in the world of Brand Provocation. It’s where we rethink, re-energize and re-engineer your biz brands so by the time you leave the Lab, you have a spring in your step and a twinkle in your eye! Why? We work on what you do, why it matters and why anyone should care. What’s more, we raise the pulse of your brand. (Clue: A strong, vibrant pulse informs the world your biz is pumping.)
FYI It’s all based on neuroscience, and what your consumers/customers are craving. Sounds easy, right?! More details on this link, or email me van@zingyourbrand.com. http://bit.ly/gGRlBl (Only 12 seats around the table.)
LISTEN TO MY REMARKABLE & RECENT GUESTS @ NY BRAND LAB RADIO
Kudos to Dr. Bob Deutsch, Michael Margolis and, of course, Clay Hebert. I love these guys. In the past few weeks, I’ve interviewed these three remarkable men on the show, and if you missed hearing their insights, ideas and brilliant forecasts, you’re going to want to read all about them on my recent blog posts. Then, listen to the interviews here: zingyourbrand.com/radio
Dr. Bob Deutsch Cognitive Anthropologist, brain-sells.com Want to be a great marketer? Then forget about marketing and think about life.
Michael Margolis Dean of Story University & founder, getstoried.com Stumbling around in the dark and looking for meaning? (Your story is the answer.)
Clay Hebert Chief Engagement Officer, tribeswin.com and dailysense.com Incurable entrepreneurs are not typically complainers, naysayers or whiners.
FIND OUT @ WHY BRANDS FAIL (ONLINE & OFFLINE) | JUNE 1
I’ve been doing a lot of speaking gigs lately. Loving it, of course, and in fact, next Wednesday, June 1st, thanks to Kathy McShane, I’ll be speaking at Ladies Who Launch in Southport, CT. Starts 6:30-8:30pm. Topic? Dead Brand Walking: Why Brands Fail (Online/Offline.) Join us! http://bit.ly/eJg8QT
So wishing you a sweet and safe Memorial Day Weekend!
"An important investment in the development of your business, Van has a beautiful gift of creatively pulling out those ideas from you & adding her magic to support you in creating an impactful brand."
