With everything going on in the world over the past year, it's felt easy to get trapped in the negativity. The world has felt just a bit off-kilter, more for some of us than others. For the businesses and non-profits we work with, the year has come with unique challenges – from some having to close their doors to others finding themselves too busy to get everything done. Both situations are high-pressure. Add to that some of the personal challenges we've experienced, and it's been a roller coaster. So when you're on the ride, how do you keep from going off the rails? We have one word for you…

As part of our logo development and brand messaging process, we ask this question, “What brands do you admire, and what brands inspire you, inside & outside your industry?” Over the years, we’ve heard so many unique answers to this question, and our time with a client yesterday was no exception. When you hear the surprising response they shared, you’ll gain immediate insights you can bring to your own business...

In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill writes about what he calls his “QQS Rating” and how this simple formula impacts our ability to sell our products and services. Here’s a quick explanation of his rating system and the one piece of the system that dictates success or failure in all we do...

Every day, multiple times each day, we follow processes. We observe patterns when we wake up in the morning and steps we note when we’re preparing to end our day. We follow a process to put gas in our cars, recipes that guide us in baking our favorite foods, and procedures we pay attention to when we onboard new clients. Frankly, there’s a process for just about everything we do.

At the end of the day, when you think about the products and services you are bringing your customers and clients, what are you really trying to create for them? The answer is simple. Delight.

About two years into launching our agency, we ended up on the floor of a med device trade show. We had acquired our tickets through a friend and were now in a space filled with companies leading in innovation, automation, and technology. We walked from booth to booth and had conversations with many leaders we viewed as prospects and potential clients. The most important conversation we had all morning, though, was with someone who didn't need anything from us. We needed them – or to put it better, we needed to hear what they had to say…

Over the past week, on four different occasions with four different prospective clients, we’ve heard the same thing. Two men, two women, four completely different businesses. They called us reaching out for help in their content marketing, and in each instance, they shared the following, almost word for word… “I know that I should get in front of a camera, shoot some video, and tell our story. I just don’t want to. It’s so uncomfortable... and it’s just not me.”

Strengths and weaknesses… What areas do you excel in, and where are you lacking? Often, we try to stretch our boundaries. We want to get stronger in the areas where we’re weak. From a growth perspective, that can be a good thing. Constantly learning new things and stretching ourselves leads to growth. At the same time, there are moments where we need to step back and reassess.

From 1997 to 2002, "Think different." was Apple's ad slogan. It showed up in TV commercials, print ads, and posters, and the campaign honored a collection of individuals who were known for thinking different and innovating. The list included Albert Einstein, Jim Henson, Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King Jr., and Pablo Picasso. The ad agency that created the campaign, Chiat\Day, referred to them as the "Crazy Ones" in the TV commercials which Steve Jobs narrated. The message is still influential today...

The exact date will differ for everyone who reads this, but we’re each coming up on the anniversary of that day last year where we realized that COVID-19 was going to impact our lives in dramatic ways. For most of us, we didn’t understand at the time what that impact was genuinely going to feel like or how many things would change, but we all had that moment where it hit us – things were going to be different for a while. Personally and professionally, everything changed in what seemed like an instant. Now, a year later, it seems like a good time to reflect back a bit. Here are three questions to ask yourself…