The Brand Compass

In this episode: I have brought my friend and Intellectual Property (IP) genius Stephen Ruse back on the show so we can chew on the fat that is: Artificial Intelligence. You will have first met him on episode 20 when we talked about copyright and what you can secure, in terms of what you design or create inside your business. There is so much going on right now and it’s all moving incredibly fast....

In this episode: People choose you because of your unique points of (human) difference. In this episode I walk you through why I think you need to go a bit further in your personal brand work and find these unique human elements of you that are hidden. These are the things that will actually be the things that people will resonate more with – that a list of why you are ‘great’ at what you do, your...

In this episode: Have you noticed ‘muddy messaging’ when you are at local networking? People who do their pitch or ‘60second’ and you are none the wiser as to what they exactly do, or who they work with? Well, this episode was inspired by my experience of that, in a few different environments.  My feeling is that really: (a) people are struggling to work out who they are (in the eyes of other...

In this episode: We talk about STORIES. The reasons our friends, colleagues and clients are drawn to us is because of who we are, and the stories we tell.  Now, those stories could be the catchy ones you tell around a campfire, but more often than not – they are actually more subtle than that. In this discussion with my talented guest, I want to open your mind up to the possibility that there...

In this episode: Brand Experience is not just for big brands like Disney, Netflix, Nike, Virgin or Nobu, it’s actually pretty crucial for microbusinesses too. For us, as smaller businesses, how people FEEL when they work with you is even more important than it is for bigger businesses. We have so much more at stake and less leeway for getting things wrong. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that for...

In this episode: I dig into the meaty topic of ‘POSITIONING” in this solo episode. Spending time on your positioning is a highly rewarding way to really know how you are literally going to position your messaging and branding around the problem you solve and who you solve it for . It also informs your pricing. In this discussion I walk you through my simple three service priority areas I have deve...

In this episode: This episode is about a topic that burns bright, burns out, then returns again. Have you ever asked yourself: how on earth, in this digital world, do you separate your personal YOU from your work YOU? Well, I’m here to tell you my friend – you are asking the wrong question.   What you should be asking yourself is: how can you comfortably be MORE you, MORE of the time? Today w...

In this episode: Speaking is something we have all experienced from other people. As professionals we attend conferences, events and even professional development opportunities and there is always someone up on a stage in front of us. What if that SOMEONE…could be you? Have you thought about adding speaking to your toolkit of how to get in front of your audiences and gain more visibility as an exp...

In this episode: I’m excited to have this conversation with THIS guest today. She is a smart cookie. She will help you to shift your thinking around one-to-one services. As I see it, we, as service providers, have three deep challenges: We have to extract our extraordinary value from our heads and shape it into something that other people understand and grasp. We need to match our knowledge and wh...

In this episode: I thought it was time we had a little more of an educational or practical episode. This is a workshop-type episode with a download (no email needed) to help you do the work. I dig into the concept of product ecosystems and the five categories of products or services you will have in a well-functioning ecosystem  I know how easy it is for service-based businesses to: over-thin...

In this episode: I discuss the dichotomy of: is there a point when you think you are inspiring someone, but actually you are just throwing so much out there (in your passion to get it out), that you are quite frankly…intimidating people. This conversation is (obviously) heavily tainted by my own subjective opinion on this. But I’d invite you to consider this dichotomy with me and get in touch to l...

In this episode: There is a point in your journey as a solopreneur or micro business owner, where you’ll need to start asking for some REAL help. (So…not your friend Kevin who tinkers with websites, your neighbour Sue who does a bit of writing in the evenings and Jill’s son Rory who is great at Art and can snap you up something special for your social graphics.) I’m talking about proper help, the...

In this episode: I’m going to stretch your thinking a bit and play with what the difference is between a subject matter expert and a thought leader. And…how do we recognise someone as “thought leading”. I’m going to share what I think they have in their professional toolbox. In essence, my gut feeling is that there is a top tier of 20 to 25% of subject matter experts who can be described as though...

In this episode: How often do you hear people (usually marketeers or do-gooders who fancy themselves as marketeers) say: “YOU HAVE TO BE VISIBLE.” Well, I’ve been more of a subscriber to the idea of: “do what works and be consistent.” (And, I am a marketeer by broad trade terms.) However, I’d invite you to approach this ‘having to be visible all the time’ thought, and balance it with fresh insight...

In this POD BITE episode: A short, digestible tid-bit to snack on as a quick reflective prompt, a rally for new thinking, or to just throw a challenge out there for you to take up - should you choose to. These are dropped in between my normal episodes. This episode is about thinking about growth differently. I’m going to invite you to think that may NOT be about increasing what you are doing or ge...

In this episode: Have you contemplated creating a course or online programme in your business? I’m not a fan of the hype of “build a course” and they will come. In fact, building a course or a programme is not an easy journey, but it also doesn’t have to be hard. I decided we need to dig into this, on the show, so that maybe I can open you up more to the benefits of looking at diversifying how to...

In this POD BITE episode: A short, digestible tidbit to snack on as a quick reflective prompt, a rally for new thinking, or to just throw a challenge out there for you to take up - should you choose to. These are dropped in between my normal episodes. This episode is about digging into what your Future You wants from Present You. Until you have practically articulated exactly what it is that your...

In this episode: I introduce the concept of Brand Banking to you by explaining an example of how I choose what I share openly and what I don’t. This concept was brought to my attention by the talented Margaret Mark, who co-authored the book ‘The Hero and The Outlaw’ with Carol Pearson. Together they were the birth mothers of the 12 Brand Archetypes which are used extensively today by brand strateg...

In this episode: The idea of the show is to dig into the cross section where your brand meets the humans you serve. This episode is a little side step to swivel that magnifying glass around to look at YOU...the human behind the work, and how you meet the person you serve. By "meet" I mean how do you metaphorically meet them where they are...in their place of need...and then work with them to move...

In this episode: I don’t know about you – but as soon as someone says the word “niche” I want to cringe into a little dark corner of ignorance, poke my fingers in my ears and pretend it’s not important. If you feel the same – you are in good company. My guest in this episode has actually made this subject a whole lot more palatable for me. I’m not a fan of the word niche…but the concept of narrowi...

In this episode: As a subject matter expert there are some things you need to be really conscious about when it comes to the work that you create and generate. (If you are not sure you are a subject matter expert – listen to ep17, this will help work that out). When I was a franchise consultant - looking at the aspect of intellectual property (IP) became a necessity in building the value into my c...

In this episode: Growth is a really weird, personalised experience. I find that it helps to talk it through with different business owners, because everyone’s triggers for growing …or growing in a specific way are different. This is why generic advice never works. “Guru” advice never works. Talking, listening and gathering a variety of insights helps inform your thinking about what would or could...

In this episode: I talk to Daren Smith, Founder of Craftsman Creative based in Provo, Utah. What I love about this episode is we get into the nitty gritty of designing a product ecosystem and what that looks like on the inside – for Daren. You’ll learn how he had to shift his focus from his technical skills to where his REAL value lies – and that is what I call your ‘marketable’ skills. The pandem...

In this episode: I shine a light on the term: subject matter expert . Its occurred to me that this is a bit of a mystery for people. Heck, I'm not even sure I really like the term. I feel the challenge is that without fully understanding who you are in the eyes of your ideal customer or client - could mean that you’re miscalculating your worth and value. If you don't identify yourself as a subject...

In this episode: Today…’how you work’ can be whatever you want it to be. Never before have we had so much flexibility in designing what our working day, week, month or year looks like. I bring my talented friend Alison O’Leary back on the show (she’s on EP2 as well) to help me with this discussion. You’ll hear us try and help you, the listener, with defining what “IDEAL” looks like for you, and al...