I love it when people ask me about our brand and how the name came to be. We enjoyed our branding process immensely; and we as a team love it when start-ups come to us with their business concept and ask us to help them name, brand and market it.

Just yesterday we were presenting logo options to a client who commented that they were impressed by our process for naming, preparing a creative brief and then developing logo concepts. The leadership team had no idea how much time, energy and thought went into the process and were curious whether we thought other start-ups went through a similar process.

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

But they should! Naming your brand is an important process and must be tackled in a diligent, thoughtful way. Choosing a strong name requires that it:

1. Stands out from the competition (unless it’s more important to fit in)
2. Communicates the business you’re in
3. Reinforces your brand promise
4. Communicates your company’s distinguishing characteristics
5. Has long term viability
6. Is easy to read
7. Is easy to pronounce
8. Is simple to spell
9. Is short and concise
10. Is memorable

Do the work on the front end to analyze your brand, your business, your competitors and your promise to ensure that your identity represents all that you want and need. You will save time, money and energy down the road if you start off right!

Never underestimate the power of simplicity in business. Simplicity in design. Simplicity in communication. Simplicity in life. Less will always be more.

In the art and design world it is known as Minimalism, referring to anything that is stripped to its essentials. In the fashion world simplicity is dubbed the Ultimate Sophistication. Heck, there is an entire magazine with monthly tips for achieving Real Simple. It is full of tips and ideas to help the common gal, “simplify, streamline, and beautifully edit her life, armed with calm, confidence – and the power of the right lipstick.”

Apple is a shining example of simplicity. Steve Jobs’ love of simplicity is the foundation of Apple’s success in design, marketing and customer retention. Jobs developed a product that resonated with consumers because of its intuitive and simple interface.

Nowhere is simplicity more important than communication. Unfortunately, in our never-ending quest to make things bigger, better, stronger and faster, we occasionally overthink and complicate our message, which leaves your customer confused and disengaged. In order to really have your message heard, keep it simple.

A few tips for simple and effective communication:

• Keep your message clear and concise. Avoid the need for interpretation.
• Use short sentences.
• Have a strategy for delivery. Make sure your target audience is engaged.
• Offer a call to action. Inspiration breeds action. Make it easy.
• Communicate in a timely manner.

Communication is critical to building relationships. To capture your audience’s attention and build a relationship, craft a clear message and and then deliver via the correct outlet.

Keep it simple!

Often, during times of personal challenge, I say, “Without lows, there are no highs,” and it gets me through the struggle and the same goes in business today.

For a personal example, my youngest son recently cut his own hair. It was disastrous … resulting in a shaved head right before school pictures. That was a low. But oh how sweet it was to get that first real haircut! Before the low, I would not have classified a haircut as a high.

Without a valley, there are no peaks.

All companies, big and small, have peaks and valleys. Some turn around and some flatline:

• You might open and be flooded with customers, but business tapers off;
• You might open your doors and need to considerably grow your customer base;
• You might have a sustainable model, but outside influences (economy, commodities, technology) change.

It happens to the best companies – it happens to all companies. What you do while in the valley determines your future.

Do you give up or do you find a pair of boots and start hiking?

In the Summer of 2008 Starbucks Corporation eliminated 12,000 full and part-time positions and closed 600 U.S. company-operated stores. I was there. The employee-centric company was in a valley. I was in a personal valley, watching talented professionals, my friends and colleagues, leave their beloved company.

So how did Starbucks start hiking? Howard Schultz came back with passion and a plan. There’s a fabulous book titled Onward that details the journey.

Are you in the valley? Is your business at the bottom of the mountain? Put on your boots and start your journey to the top.

People change. Attitudes change. Environments change. Business landscapes change. Change is good. Movement is good.

Face the challenge and start hiking.

Chances are your business is using content marketing as part of your overall marketing plan. The objective of content marketing is to deliver valuable information that will engage your audience. Consumers are tuning out the more intrusive marketing tactics. What they really want is great, customer-focused information that helps them make a decision or solve a problem. That’s what content marketing delivers.

I actually like The Content Marketing Institute’s definition of content marketing the best: “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

So when it comes to content marketing, as a marketing professional, your job is to create and share valuable, free content to attract and convert prospective buyers into customers and engage existing customers so they are repeat buyers. The content you create and share should be closely related to what you sell without selling.

The purpose is to build relationships, awareness, branding and overall establish your company as an expert in your industry. You want to educate people and gain their trust so they do business with you.

There are many types of content that form a content marketing strategy including:

• Blogging
• Guest blog posts
• Social media posts and sharing
• Email marketing
• Infographics
• PowerPoint presentations
• Podcasts
• Standard videos
• Micro-videos (i.e. Vine)
• Public Speaking
• Webinars
• Articles

It’s up to you to know what is the best way for your brand to reach those potential and current customers. Just remember the power of great content marketing can make a person stop, read, think and behave differently. The return on investment for content marketing can be huge if executed correctly. And, it really doesn’t take a significant investment!

Last week’s game in which the St. Louis Rams special teams faked the punt against the Seattle Seahawks to help win the game, highlights the strategic importance of specialization, and believe it or not this type of strategy can be applied to teams in the workplace.

Special teams are some of the most overlooked in football. They can however, make the difference in controlling the game. Their moving the advantage up and down the field can lead to the big win. They are specialized and trained in their purpose. Whether punting the ball deep, keeping the opponent in a poor field position or making those final, last second field goals – they do something that the rest of the team cannot.

What makes special teams special? Practice, training, more practice, more training.

In this age of Do it Yourself (DYI), technology provides instruction on pretty much anything. Google has become the “go to” for immediate answers on how to accomplish an unknown task. No longer do we have to slog through piles of research. We can learn anything from how to reupholster a chair, how to tweet or learn how to sharpen our Excel skills. It’s great to be able to have access to this wealth of knowledge. But it does not guarantee the level of proficiency that only time, focus and mentoring can provide.

In order to create a winning strategy, become a leader and grow your small business, remember you can’t be all things to all people. It is critical to know when to call in the special teams.

You may only call on your experts for such specialized projects such as branding and marketing strategy and execution or human resources. As your business grows and time becomes more precious, you may use those special teams on a more permanent outsourcing basis to keep your eye on growth and innovation.

Whatever the case, when you need a game changer, call in special teams.

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? These eight innocent words are like loaded dice.

The word entrepreneur immediately brings to mind some obvious choices: Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Melinda Gates has also earned her own place at the table with her philanthropic and global development efforts via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

These folks are true forces of nature.

What landed them in this spot?

Talk to any successful entrepreneur and you will notice familiar traits. Entrepreneurs are driven by passion, not money. According to Tony Hsieh, founder and CEO of Zappos, “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will follow you.”

There is a myriad of research, articles and opinions citing successful traits of an entrepreneur. Most are variations of the same them:

• Passion
• Imagination
• Vision
• Tenacity
• Self Confidence
• Resilience

All packed with determination, perseverance and huge dollop of grit.

Lest you think it a glamorous endeavor, being an entrepreneur also means late nights, early mornings and everything in between. But the rewards of watching your vision come to life and grow supercede all else.

According to Eric T Wagner to be a successful entrepreneur is to, “Think Big and be Bold.” We would tend to agree.

Do you have what it takes?

One of the things that makes marketing rock is the combination of science, art and a whole lot of planning. Clients that come to Front Porch Marketing typically have marketing goals they are trying to achieve. Sometimes they are WOG’s (wildly outrageous goals), sometimes they are motivational or aspirational.

Regardless of the size or type of goal, without a brand strategy and marketing plan, it is just a dream.

You are planning a trip from Dallas, Texas to Taos, New Mexico. You have plugged it into your GPS and you have selected the route with the shortest drive time. You know how long it is going to take to get there and what it is going to cost.

The STRATEGY: (your why) Family of four wants to have a safe trip to Taos, New Mexico, and enjoy time together.

The TACTICS: (your how) Travel by car in 16 hours, spending $200 on gas. You have your plan!

Not so fast.

What tools do you need to be successful? A driver’s license, a car, food, water, lodging and gas. There are a lot of vehicle models just as there are endless marketing tools (branding, social media, radio, TV, direct mail, print, e-mail marketing, e-commerce, in-store POP, affiliations, cross-promotions, customer loyalty, on and on).

The vehicle selection for a road trip is important, as is the selection of your marketing tools. Having a budget upfront can be helpful in determining tool selection. Who doesn’t want to drive a Bugatti Veyron to Taos, but is that the best tool for the goal?

Always tie your tactics and tools back to your goal and strategy. The performance and constant analysis of your tools is the science of marketing. There are tangible metrics and formulas for each tool ranging from frequency, reach, engagement and ROI.

When and how you use your tools is the art.

Ask the tough questions. What else do you need to know to be successful? For the Taos trip you might ask: Are there other destinations you want to visit along the way? What is the weather forecast? What are the traffic patterns? What is the longest stretch of highway between gas stations? Even the most expensive and sophisticated vehicle without fuel is just a heavy piece of metal.

Ask every question that will help or prevent you from achieving your goal. Then ask 10 more and PLAN accordingly.

I know, I know, it is about time!

We are finally launching our blog where our team will share our perspective on current events, new technology, branding and marketing insights, thoughts and wacky ideas that we hope you will find entertaining.

We also hope you can learn a lil’ bit more about us, who we are, what we do and the impact we have on businesses today.

We encourage you to be part of the discussion and subscribe by e-mail or RSS. Also, join our Facebook and Twitter discussions or follow us on Instagram.  

We are Off Our Rocker, that’s what makes us who we are.

We take our work and business seriously, sometimes maybe too much so, but ourselves, well … not so much.

Rock on!