Telling an “authentic” story about your brand
Story telling can be a powerful marketing tool for your small business. Communicating stories about your company history, people, culture, services, etc helps customers identify with your brand. Seth...
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The Science of Differentiation
By Mark Smiciklas Author Jack Trout coined the term “Differentiate or Dieâ€â€¦a concise and powerful message that warns of the consequences of brand mediocrity. There is no shortage of great books...
View ArticleWhat is eDNA and How Can it Affect Your Brand?
Have you ever written anything online that might cause someone to question the integrity of your company or brand? Think about all the imprints you’ve left online over the last few years – emails, blog...
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The Steps to Brand Greatness…or Purgatory
By Mark Smiciklas This post was inspired by the great image below designed by David Armano. The process of developing your small business brand is made up of a series of steps – interdependent and...
View ArticleThe Fear of Differentiation
By Mark Smiciklas Building a unique small business brand requires some courage. Why are unique brands so scarce while middle of the road products, services, retail stores, etc dominate the business...
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Every Interaction is the Most Important When it Comes to Building Your Small...
By Mark Smiciklas Your small business will have the opportunity to forge relationships with clients, prospects, suppliers and employees across many different touch points. It’s important to understand...
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The Dark Side of Brand Evangelism
—————————————————————————————————————————- By Mark Smiciklas A recent news story about iPod Loyalists places the iconic Apple brand in the middle of a discussion about the spread of “iCrime”. What...
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The Risk of Becoming an Expert
——————————————————————————————————————————- David Armano doesn’t see himself as an expert – do you? To me, experts are the modern day oracles. Authoritative figures that feed traditional and social...
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Interview with Vikram Vij: A Common Sense Approach to Branding
——————————————————————————————————————————— By Mark Smiciklas Has the brand building process become over-complicated and intimidating…something for big corporations with big budgets – and out of reach...
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Differentiation
——————————————————————————————————————————– “Differentiate or die” (Jack Trout). What’s the opportunity cost of being the same? How are you REALLY different from your competitors? What can you do to...
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