Month: August 2016

>And thus I begin my August theme, a bit tongue in cheek.If I had a nickel for every time I heard a consultant mouth these words, I would no longer need my day job. The lure of making a lot of money and making it very fast is just so incredibly seductive.  We can imagine ourselves in that lifestyle, soaking up the glamor and luxury. But, while  “getting the lifestyle you deserve” may throw much fuel on the fire of capitalism and enterprise, it rarely produces a sustainable, game-changing business. Hang on, and I will tell you why.

Glamor surrounds the successful entrepreneur. Their stories are the stuff that TV shows are made of. We cannot get enough tales of ordinary people rising from Mr. Nobody to Ms. Somebody in a matter of months, weeks, or even days. Countless blogs filled with perils and bravery and chutzpah are heartwarming and fun to read. And I agree. The birth of a new business is completely magical.

So when someone we know has the guts to cut their own umbilical cord that connects them to a predictable income, we cannot help but sit back in admiration. We put our heads into our hands and watch as they make their way into a brave new world. It is all bliss for the baby entrepreneur. That is, until someone slaps their behind, turns on the bright lights right in their eyes, they feel the cold, and find out they are quite naked. Yes, the real world can be a rude awakening. The magic disappears like a poof in a Looney Tunes cartoon.

It is never as easy as it looks.

Many people start a business for the lure of running their own show. They are tired of working for “The Man”. “The Man” is an old idiom representing everything in the workaday world that oppresses, suppresses, and otherwise sucks the life from the very core of your soul. It is “The Man” that wrenches those mind-numbing, repetitious tasks from your day, and compensates you with a measly pittance at the end of what seems an an ungodly period time, (and reminds you just how thankful you should be). I sometimes wonder just how many new businesses “The Man” has inspired. Doubtless, it is countless. With any brain at all, anyone can calculate that these same hours could be used to great personal advantage. If given half a chance, you could escape to freedom, make twice the salary, keep all the profit, andkeep your four-week annual vacation. (Maybe.)

Ahhhh, the smell of freedom. It is intoxicating. But wait a minute. Aren’t you just escaping? Escaping “The Man” is one of the worse reasons everto start a business. And we must be honest. Many entrepreneurs will work 80 hours to avoid working 40. Some small business owners will end up enslaved again. Sure, you would never begin a business that does not fuel your fire. But many consultants will encourage you to build your business on whatyou want–upon the lifestyle that you desire to have. The strange thing about this advice is that it is not about you.

A successful business never begins with you. It begins with your customer–and what they want. It is all about them.

Every time I hear “get the lifestyle you deserve,” I notice the message has some glaring omissions. These consultants conveniently leave out the part where you need to deliver a value equivalent to said lifestyle. In other words, you have to earn it. They never talk about that. And then they leave out the part that the world must want what you have to sell. Oh, yeah. That means that someone has to like it enough to buy it. And buy a lot of it. That takes planning. And then there is this detail that the product must be better than what the competition has to offer. Oh, yeah. They leave that out too. To make a product better than the alternatives takes some planning too. Beyond all this, it also needs to be offered at a fair price.  

All these consultants want to talk about is how to get more leads. They forget that you need to give more in order to get more. It is not about getting likes and clicks and leads. And by the way, these leads? They are people. 

In the end, your income is a direct reflection of the value you offer the world. If I want to be paid more, I need to provide more. It is as simple as that.

When you begin to orbit your business around the customer instead of yourself, you find you will no longer have to struggle to get the customers you need. If you serve them well, you will deserve the income you make–and the associated lifestyle.

The purpose of life is to give, not get. What do you have that the world is waiting for?

“And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.”

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Why do we at etc!graphics inc, a graphic design company, care about your business strategies?  Because no matter how beautiful your graphics, they will never make more sense than the clarity of your own vision. The clearer your vision, the more lucid your marketing will be, and the better connection you will make with your target customer. We want to help you find the gold in your business. Join us all this month as we share ways to help your small business sustain and grow in a crowded marketplace. Etc!Graphics is devoted to helping you, the small business owner, think like a marketer.

I cannot imagine a world without music. A good driving rhythm can alter my whole day. It gets me out of bed, gets me pumped about my day, makes me try harder at anything, and raises my energy levels. It enhances my creativity. Why, I am listening to Bill Withers Lovely Day at this very moment. It cannot help but put me in a good mood. I am sure music affects many of you hep cats in similar ways. 

But did you know that rhythm can do the same for your business? 

Rhythm creates structure. Rhythm is management minimalism. A time signature tells a musician what notes to count, and how many of these notes to count in any given period. It may seem quite simplistic, but upon this minimal structure, anything and everything can be built. Rhythm in business sets the pace, and takes you somewhere. Do you know what things you should count in your business? It took me years to learn that you do not need to spend time counting everything. One only needs to count things that you can affect and the things that measure success for your business. And that success depends on which song you are trying to play. 

Rhythm creates predictability. Predictability builds expectations. Fulfilling expectations builds trust. Trust is the hardest thing to win and the easiest thing to lose in business. Trust is much easier to gain if you consistently do what you say you will do. Rhythm helps your whole team to understand what part they play, and exactly where they are to come in to help you keep those promises.

Rhythm builds credibility. Imagine treating your customers with utmost respect each time you interact with them. This is just the kind of invitation your customer needs to come back. And consistent honor is just kind of rhythm that will inspire your team to bend over backward to help you. 

Rhythm builds momentum. We all know what happens after a drum roll, yes? After that crash of the cymbals comes the announcement that something big and exciting is about to happen. Entrepreneurs can speed things up, and use this kind of rhythm as a strategy to build expectation and anticipation. 

Rhythm creates patterns. Humans can recognize patterns from their first moments on earth. Whether you like it or not, people judge your business by its appearance. Patterns and consistency in visual marketing help to create a clear, recognizable brand. Consumer confidence grows when every visual message expresses the same character and personality, without ever saying a word.

Rhythm keeps the pace. Rhythm provides the structure to keep your day on a roll. Applied to operations? It provides the cyclical salvation of systems. Applied to marketing? It sends out three emails a day or calls ten customers per week. Applied to management? It applies the same reliable schedule each week to all complete all necessary tasks. Applied to my daily schedule? It is called discipline. Discipline will create the jive to keep you going strong.

Oh, what a little rhythm can do for you.Rhythm and momentum can create a driving force in your business.  It can get you out of bed, get you pumped about your daily routine, make you try harder at anything, and raise your energy levels. It can enhance your creativity. Hey, it can even put you in a good mood.

Where does your business need more consistency? Where do you need more rhythm? You will know it when you are getting in the groove, because all of a sudden, your customers will get off their feet, and want to sing and dance along. So whenever you feel you are feeling the beat, remember to crank it up.  

We are all waiting to rock out with you. Fist pump. Bring the house down.

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Why do we at etc!graphics inc, a graphic design company, care about your business strategies?  Because no matter how beautiful your graphics, they will never make more sense than the clarity of your own vision. The clearer your vision, the more lucid your marketing will be, and the better connection you will make with your target customer. We want to help you find the gold in your business. Join us all this month as we share ways to help your small business sustain and grow in a crowded marketplace. Etc!Graphics is devoted to helping you, the small business owner, think like a marketer.

Skip. Skip. Skip. No thanks. Don’t need it. Nope. I don’t want it. No, I don’t want more like this. No. No. And no. Close pop up. Unsubscribe.

So follows the average consumer’s experience. Ads are an obstacle, an irritation, and an interruption. At the same time the entrepreneur is doing their best to be seen and heard, the consumer is doing her utmost to avoid it.

When marketers are from Mars, and consumers are from Venus, what is an entrepreneur to do?

For starters, if you are a small business owner and you are marketing the way you have always marketed, you are committing marketing suicide. Consumers now control the marketplace. It isn’t about you.

And guess what? If it looks like an ad, sounds like an ad, smells like an ad, and acts even remotely like an ad? They don’t want it. No matter what you are selling.

You have heard it said from many a marketing expert, that you have to break through the noise.  And so most entrepreneurs, like the Who’s down in Whoville, just try to yell louder. The funny thing about this advice is that it ignores one of the most important parts of marketing: You need to say something that is worth listening to.

Becoming a brand is very much like becoming a good musician. It is about grueling daily practice, over and over and over, to prepare your song to be heard. It is about singing with a certain style, for a certain audience, in a specific venue, to create a specific experience. It is about belting out your song with clarity and confidence, knowing full well it is good. It is about singing your heart out, with the express purpose of blessing those that hear you.

Branding is everything you are, and everything you do. It is your promises, your culture, and everything you have set out to accomplish. It may come as a surprise, but like any street musician, no one has to listen to you.

We must earn the right to be heard. Our song is either remarkable or nothing at all.  So how do you hone your chops? How do you spend time in the woodshed?

I think you know intuitively:

Master your “instrument”. No matter what your industry, learn, and keep learning from the best. No entrepreneur earns a right to be heard by playing like a novice. You must become a master. This may require frequent jam sessions. Mastery requires daily practice until you exude confidence and are prepared for every opportunity. Practice until you see your audience tapping their toes, and play so crazy beautiful that they beg for more.

Create your own voice. Branding is about singing your own song. Sing in your own style, your own key, and your own genre. Don’t be afraid to show your personality. Don’t try to be someone else, and don’t copy what someone else is doing. This does not mean you can’t sing the same tune. Just make it uniquely your own.

Choose your audience. Like any pro musician, not everyone will love what you do. But those who do will form a tribe and become your fan club. If you try to please everyone, you will please no one. Branding is choosing. Branding is planned neglect. Think of it this way. If you were promoting an outdoor live music event that featured folk, jazz, classical, and country music, how many tickets do you think you’d sell? It is more about what you don’t do than what you do.

Become a show stopper. Learn to connect with your audience. Does your business have stage presence? Do the work to prepare an experience that your audience will never forget, and you will create raving fans. Understand what it is like to be in their shoes. Know what they like. Sing their experience too, and your song will resonate in their hearts. Practice your song until it becomes an experience in itself, and takes them on a journey.

Make it personal. Big brands are losing appeal. Why? They are not human. Today’s Brands connect with real people. Make your audience feel as if you are singing right to them. Let your song become their song. If it sounds too perfect, it sounds digital and inhuman. 

“If it sounds clean and slick, I’ve been doing it too long.”     Miles Davis

Real musicians and real brands are flexible, responsive, spontaneous, and generous. They are secure in their own identity and know where they shine. Because they are secure in their position, they can constantly innovate and explore new ideas within their genre. They cover enough new material that variation on a theme is easy.

That kind of confidence is impact. That kind of confidence attracts. That kind of confidence connects with the audience.

It is not about making more noise. It is about making the right noise.

If you strengthen your voice and your brand, you will not have to get louder. If you need to attract more customers, hone your offerings, and work on your Brand. Practice your song. Work to connect with your fans. Because no matter your industry, no matter the medium, and no matter how many ads you put out there, unless you hone your chops, your song will never be heard.

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Why do we at etc!graphics inc, a graphic design company, care about your business strategies?  Because no matter how beautiful your graphics, they will never make more sense than the clarity of your own vision. The clearer your vision, the more lucid your marketing will be, and the better connection you will make with your target customer. We want to help you find the gold in your business. Join us all this month as we share ways to help your small business sustain and grow in a crowded marketplace. Etc!Graphics is devoted to helping you, the small business owner, think like a marketer.