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by Travis Cross

I had the good fortune to attend a leadership conference in Vancouver this past week and I want to share an insight with you.

The number one factor that makes a brand trustworthy is open and honest communication. It used to be product quality but it’s now communication. Actually, communication was mentioned a few times. Robin Sharma, author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, said “business is a conversation.” He also said that a great life is a conversation about your values and ideas.

Technology is rapidly changing and the tools we have to communicate will continue to change. If a company or even an individual is going to cut through all the noise they must have a very clear message that answers the question “why?”. Why are you communicating in the first place. Not, what are you communicating, but why.

Simon Sinek makes a strong point about communicating the why in his TedTalk video, see it on YouTube at http://youtu.be/qp0HIF3SfI4. In this video he provides an example of Apple being an exceptional computer company because they answer the why question better than anyone else.

As you continue your human journey this spring, give some thought to your why, both personal and professional. This may mean getting to the root of your personal mission or starting a discussion about your corporate mission. But, this reflection will give you the chance to affirm purpose and meaning in your step and voice. We do not live in isolation and every time someone crosses our path we broadcast our brand, whether it’s our personal brand or our corporate brand.

By clearly identifying the why you will be able to openly and honestly communicate your brand and build trust.

Continue reading »]]> What are you trying to say? What do you want them to do?

Be crystal clear or the words are mud. And I don’t know about you but I hate getting stuck in the mud. It’s messy. And it takes a lot of energy to get out. Better not to get stuck in the first place.

There’s a quote somewhere about being thought a fool and opening your mouth to remove all doubt.

The world is noisy, will you be adding to that noise or clear a path with your message?

In presentations, one-on-one or in a large scale marketing message have a single message or point. Include one take away or call to action, but only ONE. Be specific, be simple and be clear. One idea per message.

Make it easy for your audience and it will come back ten-fold.

Again, what are you trying to say?

Continue reading »]]> TechVibes posted an article by Chris Potter reflecting on a great marketing video by Dollar Shave Club that went viral and as Chris says, “The $4,500 video has generated brand awareness worth hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times its production cost”

Chris offers ten tips (re-posted below the video) that can guide you to making a great startup video, regardless of whether you are doing it yourself or working with a partner.

For details on each point go to the original blog article at TechVibes.

1. Address a clear pain point
2. Answer the tough questions head on
3. Have a clear strategy for your videos
4. Make it personal
5. Anchor the message by positioning against a leader
6. Use humor, but not just for humour’s sake
7. Keep it simple
8. Keep it short
9. Match the production values to the tone
10. Align the video with your brand

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Meditation, the rearranging of the flow of energy in your body, means awareness and has been around for thousands of years. But western society, slow to change, began to take interest in meditation in the mid 1960s.   Researchers speculate that primitive hunter-gatherer societies may have discovered meditation and its altered states of consciousness while staring at the flames of their fires.

It has taken almost 50 years for western society to stop rolling its collective eyes at the mention of meditation.   Today meditation has entered the public education system.    An article in The Vancouver Sun, Feb 16/12, confirms that meditation helps students concentrate.

People now realize that it is not required to walk barefoot while chanting mantras and wearing flowers in their hair in order to “meditate”. In fact, some doctors now encourage the practice of regular meditation. Some of the proven benefits are:

• the possibility of lower blood pressure
• increased chance of preventing, slowed or controlled pain of chronic disease
• a boosted immune system
• lowered cholesterol levels
• improved breathing, especially those with asthma
• The following newscast would never have made it into the mainstream media a decade ago.

There are lots of useful techniques available through the Internet: How to do Mindfulness Meditation and High Quality Guided Meditation MP3s and Music.