Phil Cooke, a brand guru, and all-around smart person recently shared common sense tips that will help anyone gain influence. 

1) Return every call and e-mail quickly. Show up on time, even if you’re the only one there. Dress like you deserve your salary. 

2) Write thank-you notes. Remember birthdays. Remember the assistants, and the secretaries, the coordinators, and the mailroom folks. This is a people business. And people never forget how they are treated.

3) Every day, you are placing a brick in the tower of your reputation. Remember, everything you do, big and small, either adds or subtracts from your reputation.

4) Watch what you say in elevators, in restrooms, on airplanes and in casual conversation. She could be the client’s wife. He could be the boss’s brother. She could be your competitor’s accountant.

5) Don’t care who solves it. Just get it solved.

6) Learn how to tell a story: Every client presentation, every report, every commercial-it’s all about stories. Stories are how human beings make sense of the world. If you want to succeed in this business, be able to tell stories in ways that capture your audience’s attention.

7) When emotions are running high, make sure yours are running low. Life is unfair, so learn to lose with dignity. And, learn to win with dignity. That means no excuses. No crybabies. No bragging. No trashing. Learn how to move on.

8) Proofread. Spell-check. (For Serious)

9) Good enough, isn’t. There is going to be someone out there who will sleep less and work harder, will give up their weekend, and give it one more shot. That is the person that I bet on to win.

10) Think different. Be brave. The world is full of people with conventional ideas who go along with the crowd. It’s the mavericks and the dreamers who move things forward. When you hear an idea that makes you nervous, makes you sweat, occasionally gather your courage, take a stand, take a risk, suck it up and go out on a limb. 

Bold, yet true. Let me know YOUR thoughts on this, email me at dominic@vujadestudios.com!

D 

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In case you haven’t noticed, I love blogging about books that have changed my marketing perspectives, and “The Hero and the Outlaw,” by Carol Pearson and Margaret Mark, is another Dom and Vujà Dé Studios approved read.

To summarize, each successful and influential brand throughout history, whether a person or an organization knows what archetype they represent, and without wavering promote their story, products, and services to be that premier archetype in respected category.

The Archetypes that are highlighted include:

*Innocent: Wholesome, pure, natural, safe, clean, happy (McDonald’s)

*Explorer: Self-Directed, innovative, individualized, (Christopher Columbus)

*Sage: Expert, teacher, smart, quality oriented (Oprah)

*Hero: Winner, competitive, heroic service (Nike)

*Outlaw: Rebel, counter culture, challenges outdated rules (Harley Davidson)

*Magician: Love magical moments, spiritual, visionary (Walt Disney)

*Regular Guy/Gal: Unpretentious, practical, inclusive, (Home Depot)

*Lover: Intimacy, sensuality, attractive, indulgent (Hallmark Cards)

*Jester: Fun, playful, impulsive, spontaneous (Pepsi)

*Caregiver: Altruistic, compassionate, anticipate individual’s needs, (Nordstrom)

*Creator: Willing to experiment, take risks; turn dreams into reality (Sesame Street)

*Ruler: Stable, decisive, efficient (Microsoft)

What archetype are you? What brands (people and organizations) and their archetypes earn your business? Personally, I think (and this is always up for interpretation) I’m a ‘Creator, Explorer, and Innocent.’ Let me know your thoughts, Let me know your thoughts, email me at dominic@vujadestudios.com!

D 

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A few weeks ago I mentioned I like-a the brands, and am conscious of the brands that I consume and promote. But what about promoting myself as a brand? Do I consider myself a brand? Should I?

Answer: Yes I should consider myself a brand.  (In-depth, I know).

Personal branding has gathered substantial steam with many books on how to accomplish this, including “Crush It,” which is another ‘must read.’ (All of us at Vujà Dé have), but Tom Peters’ wrote an article for Fast Company in 1997 entitled, “The Brand Called You,” that was way ahead of its time.  One of my favorite excerpts reads:

The second important thing to remember about your personal visibility campaign is: it all matters. When you’re promoting brand You, everything you do — and everything you choose not to do — communicates the value and character of the brand. Everything from the way you handle phone conversations to the email messages you send to the way you conduct business in a meeting is part of the larger message you’re sending about your brand.

Just when you think nobody is watching, someone is. Just when you think about answering the phone with “Hi” instead of “Good Morning this is ________, how can I help you?” someone is listening. Just when you think of emailing someone with … instead of a comma, someone is reading, and all of these ‘things’ form your personal brand.

How are you building your personal brand? What separates you from the rest? (As much as I hate that question, we do live in a dog-eat-dog world) Do you believe in personal branding? Email me at dominic@vujadestudios.com, I’d love to hear from you!

D 

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We all want and need to execute at the highest-level daily, and taking proper care of ourselves, from a nutrition perspective, will enable us to do so. However, we all want to be healthy, but are unsure of the basic steps that will provide us with optimal health.

Coming from a family that eats, sleeps, and spreads the gospel of nutrition, this is the beginning of a series on practical nuggets that will improve your overall health.

1.     Begin the day with hot water and lemon.  This is effective for detoxification, and also when you are sick.

2.     Eat one-half of a red apple daily. Eating apples daily help lower your cholesterol (the pectin inside the apples does this). In addition to lowering cholesterol, apples contain a double fiber combination that reduces the risk of hardening the arteries, heart attack, and stroke. Finally, apples are a great way to promote healthy liver function

3.     Eat one-third cup of beets everyday (for serious). Beets are a great source of Vitamin C, potassium, and iron. They also have beta-carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant that fights cancer.

4.     Eat one carrot (medium to large, with the skin on) per day. Carrots protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease, and are rich in Vitamins A, C, and K. Carrots also are great for skin and eyesight.

Hopefully this won’t scare you away from our blog, we’re here to help!

D

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I would consider myself brand conscious, ok, extremely brand conscious, whether it be the pasta that I buy (gluten-free of course) to the website where I make my travel arrangements. I guess this is one reason why I’m in the business of creatively building brands.

I don’t know when this awareness for brands occurred, but an article from Psychology and Marketing suggests that toddlers as young as three can now recognize and favor certain brands over others. One excerpt from the researches included:

“Contrary to conclusions drawn in prior research, the present findings suggest that children aged 3 to 5 years have an emerging capacity to understand the symbols of brands for which they form part of the target segment. Preschoolers can and do judge others on the basis of brand use. This finding has clear public policy implications in relation to at least two issues: materialism and the formation of eating habits.”

Of course this poses many questions, but let us know your thoughts on the following: When did you first become brand conscious? As a consumer, what are some of the determinants when you purchase an item? -D

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Source: http://bit.ly/9upBcN

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