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Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What stage are you in?

Posted on by Red Slice

Traveling home for the holidays, I watched a charming little indie comedy/drama called Beginners. The title refers to how we all act when dealing with relationships. The film is about how “deeply funny and transformative life can be.”  And one part in particular struck me as truly profound.

Hal (Christopher Plummer) has passed away from cancer and as his commitment-challenged son Oliver (Ewan McGregor)  navigates a quirky new love, he reflects back on his memories with Dad. After the death of his wife, Hal came out as a gay man at the age of 75. Oliver recalls watching his dad experience this  renaissance: going to gay bars, throwing parties, becoming an activist and even finding a hot new young lover. Hal used to be the typical middle-class surburbanite but it’s not until he comes out that his flamboyant, joyful, adventurous side really shines through.

And then he’s diagnosed with cancer and dies, only five years after this new lease on life..

But there was one part in particular that stuck with me.

When Dad is diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, he decides to throw a party instead of revealing his condition to his friends. Oliver is flabbergasted that his father refuses to tell anyone, especially his own lover, about his diagnosis.  They argue: (and I’m paraphrasing here)

“Dad, this isn’t going to get better! You have Stage Four cancer!”

“Oh, son, that doesn’t mean what you think it means. It just means there have been three other phases before this one.”

How often do we look at “the end” as a bad thing? How often have we looked at getting older as a bad thing, rather than simply “another stage that is happening after the ones that came before?” Or can you recall times you’ve looked at the end of something as sad or bad, when maybe it’s just about making room for rebirth or new opportunity?

For me, I never would have started my consulting practice and this blog had my old company not layed off the entire marketing team. What others might see as bad, I was actually hoping for so that I would have no excuse not to try my hand at freelance consulting. I saw it as the beginning, not the end. And I haven’t looked back since.

I love this idea of viewing every “stage” as merely another step in the journey – not to be judged as good or bad. Hal’s character proved that he was his best self and led his happiest life in what could be considered this last stage of it all. Maybe it’s not about the chronological order of things -but about what you do within that stage of the journey that makes it count. Just because it’s the last stage doesn’t imply it’s the worst one. Chronology has nothing to do with it.

Check out the film if you get a chance. It’s a bit slow and “cerebral” at times, but I found myself thinking about it long after the end. PS: There’s also a charming subplot about the human/dog connection as Ewan adopts his father’s dog, Arthur – and Arthur’s thoughts are revealed in subtitles.

When has an ending actually turned out to be the beginning of something wonderful for you? Did leaving a job end up helping you find one you absolutely loved? Did something bad happen in your business that opened up a new opportunity for you? Please share in the Comments!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

The “brand” of Women: Who’s responsible? What can we do?

Posted on by Red Slice

Last night, a therapist specializing in women and families told me girls as young as 8 years-old are dieting. That’s right….8. When I was that age, I was worried about completing my Strawberry Shortcake doll set.

What the hell is happening?!

In the last few months, I’ve had my eyes opened to how the “brand” of women is represented in our world and it’s caused me some concern. It’s my belief that it should cause everyone concern, whether you have little girls – or just hope for a better functioning society in general. It scares me – but I do believe we can change things.

I blog often about how brands impact our perceptions. Business brands carry both logical and emotional weight to them; for example, you shop at Walmart for the lowest prices, But you may pay more for Tiffany’s Blue Box to enchant, romance and delight. Branding is the story that is told and impacts how we relate to that company, cause or candidate.

I’ve never been a big “feminist” per se. I was turned off in college and in my twenties by what I perceived to be a movement that seems to play the victim, blame others and bash men. As I mature, I now see that while the messengers may have alientated some, the intent of the message is indeed valid.

First,  I encourage you to see the documentary Miss Representation. It talks about media’s portrayal of women, femininity, sexuality and the like. One segment focused on how women politicians are talked about so offensively by the press versus male candidates – and when you see the collage of clips and sound bites, you will be shocked this stuff is being said on TV in the 21st century – it’s disgusting. Another segment discusses how women in visible positions, like journalists, are just perpetuating the sexism themselves.  Female reporters sporting 3-inch heels and short skirts, female anchors wearing low cut blouses and heavy makeup, etc.  FOX News seems the worst at perpetuating this trend. But even a positive role model like Katie Couric , when she looks back at old broadcasts and what she wore, laments if she unwittingly helped contribute to this trend.

Second, I saw this insighful post from my friend Bronwyn Saglimbeni over at Sharp Skirts. It’s her “5 Aha! Feminist Moments” from the recent TEDx Women conference. She talks about the time being now to embrace women’s issues because its no longer a “pet issue” and women now make up half the population. This stuff affects all of us, people! She also talks about new ways we need to celebrate “celebrity” with positive role models (which gives me a ray of hope when I get depressed about the Kardashian-infested world my nieces are growing up in).

Women’s issues are no longer about men bashing. It’s about equality, fairness and a new world order. “Around the world, old power structures are crumbling and something new is emerging,” says Bronwyn.  Equality for women creates beter communities – for women AND men. Even Afghan men are finding that when there is equal education and opportunity for women, there is less violence and crime in the community at large.

In my opinion, the “brand” of women pervasive in our media and culture today – one of catfighting wealthy housewives, vapid spoiled rich girls, and shallow sexy “journalists” – needs to change to catch up with the REALITY of who women really are in our world. This is one case where the “brand identity crisis”  – when the brand does not match the reality – is dangerous: I don’t feel like women in the media or entertainment worlds represent me or my intelligent, contributive and supportive female friends.

The problem is that there’s a war on two fronts: the sexualization of women physically, and the juvenilization of women mentally. Reports abound about the state of “photoshopping women” for magazine covers and H&M was recently lambasted for inserting real model heads on fake bodies for their ads. Reality TV shows women competing for husbands on The Bachelor and tearing each other’s hair out in catfights on Real Housewives. Who’s fault is all of this negative  imagery? Who is demaning it? Is it women ourselves, contributing to the problem every time we thumb through an US Weekly at the nail salon to see what the Kardashian’s are up to, complain about our thighs being too big, get a Botox shot or tune into watch brides fight over wedding dresses on reality TV? Or is the men controlling many of these media outlets? I honestly can’t say for sure….

Many people (including me in the past) would say, “Lighten up! It’s just entertainment and everyone knows it’s not real.” And I get that. I confess to watching mindless TV and reading tabloid mags when I just want to escape or de-stress – it does make your own life seem like a dream! But collectively, what are we doing? Shouldn’t we start to model the behavior we want for our own young girls, so they don’t grow up thinking they will only be judged by their bodies being a perfect size 4, or that their women friends should be viewed as competitor who will only stab them in the back?

What am I saying to my 6 year old niece if she hears me complaining about my weight or sees me watching such trash on TV? What is she to think? Little eyes and ears are watching and learning from us all the time – even when we think they are not. Don’t believe me? Just ask any parent who has slammed their hand in the door, cursed, and then had to live with their 4 year old shouting that same word over and over again for the next 3 months in front of mixed company!

So what can we do? These are just some of my ideas….

  • USE YOUR VOICE: See what the Miss Representation movement is doing to combat negative portrayals of women and spread articles and blogs via social media that talk about this issue.
  • START AT HOME: Explain to the young girls in your life (and I mean 5, 6, 7) that models in magazines are altered and what they means. Tallk with them about the images they see and what they think and start a conversation.
  • MODEL BEHAVIOR: Don’t obsess about your weight or diet in front of young girls – show them healthy eating habits and a healthy appreciation for their bodies. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t combat obesity, but do it from a place of health not “physical perfection.”
  • FIND ROLE MODELS: Find role models of women doing amazing things and set up interviews for the young girls in your life. Tell them about extraordinary women you read about in the news. Let them play with Barbie, or watch Disney princesses if they like (this was a fond part of my childhood, too) but also expose them to women in all professions. If you have a female congresswoman or senator, draft a letter with your young gal to her. If they don’t see positive role models, they won’t know what is possible.
  • PRAISE MIND AND BODY: Praise girls for their talent and intellect, not just their looks. And speaking of looks, help them accept their bodies for all their unique qualities and strengths as well.
  • And if you have young boys in your life? You should actually try all of the above as well.

Katie Couric said, “The media can be an instrument of change: it can maintain the status quo and reflect the views of the society or it can, hopefully, awaken people and change minds. I think it depends on who’s piloting the plane.”

What other ideas do you have to combat this negative brand image? Do you believe there is or is not a problem?Would love to hear from you in the Comments?

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How to solve marketing’s moral dilemma

Posted on by Red Slice

I’m having a moral crisis right now about my chosen profession.

Reports are everywhere about how our current global economic crisis has impacted the way consumers spend/save money. Given the scares we’ve had with a volatile stock market, the collapse of the housing market and troubles overseas, consumers are now consuming less, saving more and paying off their debts.

That should be awesome, right? Well….

Like it or not, our economy’s health runs on consumerism: on spending and borrowing. When people start acting the way they should – meaning saving and living within their means – this causes a glitch in the Matrix.

The WSJ cites: “During the Great Depression, economist John Maynard Keynes warned of a so-called paradox of thrift: When everyone turns frugal, everyone suffers.” Why? Because there is less money changing hands, less demand for products and services and more people – and companies – hoarding cash. This leads to things like retailers not selling inventory, which means they lay off workers, and in turn stop ordering more from their suppliers, which leads to more of those companies going out of business and more layoffs, which leads to now-unemployed people defaulting on mortgages or not buying homes at all, which leads to the construction industry screeching to a halt and people not being able to sell their own homes fast enough…..etc, etc, ad nauseum. Note: I am not an economist but this is how I interpret things. I’m not even going to touch how this impacts financial markets, stock sales, Treasury bills, and the like.

So what is my moral dilemma?

I have chosen a profession – marketing – that, by it’s definition, is all about bringing products and services to market and convincing people and businesses to buy them.

For someone who gets so fed up with our culture of consumerisn, for how much we place on material possessions; for someone who hates the idea of people spending frivolously on things they can’t afford when that money could be used for so much good in the world for people, animals or the environment, you would think I would be thrilled that more people are saving and being smart with money.

And I am. Truly. I think we all needed a wake-up call. When mortgage brokers tried to convince me and my husband to get a house with no money down back in 2007, we briefly considered it and then thought those people were smoking crack. We decided we’d rather get a traditional loan with less risk and no surprises. And while our house is worth less than what we paid for it, thankfully our mortgage is not completely underwater.

So what is a marketer to do, when she’s happy people are saving money,paying down debt and spending more wisely? How can I continue to be a part of the machine that makes people spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need?

Then I thought about it some more. My branding philosophy is all about meeting needs and adding value. It’s not about lying to people, or targeting those who can’t afford a high-end product to go into debt to afford it. My advice is about meeting real needs that people have, not creating ones they don’t.  It’s about making their lives better or their jobs easier or their customers happy. It’s about being crystal clear on who your target audience is and if they can afford  – and benefit from – your products or services: if they can’t, you should not be talking to them or marketing to them. And if you can’t benefit anyone, you should not have a business.

I realized my philosophy is about puting more “honest” marketing out into the world. We can’t deny we live in an economy based around consumption. I can’t change that or make us go back to an agrarian society. But I can help clients be authentic, transparent and honest about the value they offer and to whom they offer it. I can try to convince that coach who wants to bill out at $400 an hour that maybe they shouldn’t spend their marketing dollars at events attracting people who only make $30,000 per year. If you want to sell $400,000 cars, then that is your right – as long as you market them to the people who can afford them and not low-income families. And if you meet a need for a fair, reasonable price to attract the budget-conscious, then fabulous: the point is to meet the needs of the right people with the right message.

Maybe, just maybe, if businesses were more responsible with who they target with their messages, we’d not only have less noise in the chaotic media landscape, but more people could get their needs met within their means and continue saving and paying down their debts where appropriate. And maybe, just maybe, the economic sky won’t have to fall just because people are finally acting responsibly with their money.

A girl can dream, can’t she?

Photo credit: executivecoachingforbusinesssuccess.com

What is your view of the economy? How do you think the culture of consumption has helped or hindered us? Are marketers to blame or not? I’d love your thoughts on this controversial topic below – share a comment and get some link love back to your site. And keep it respectful, folks! Thanks.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Are you walking only “on the left?”

Posted on by Red Slice

My precocious Black Lab mix, Eddie, can be a handful. With his deep chocolate eyes, he stares into your soul thinking he can make you give him a treat or rub his belly. OK, truth be told, it usually works.

But we have him fairly well-trained. One of the things we did with him immediately upon adopting him from the shelter was take control of the walk. This invoves keeping him on a short leash, always on our left side, until it becomes second-nature. Continue reading “Are you walking only “on the left?””

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

A high-end dive? Uneeda Burger

Posted on by Red Slice

I’m constantly amazed at how successful restaurants use brand experience to tell a story with everything they have: decor, menu, design, staff. Many of them really get it.  I mean, you can get a hamburger nearly anywhere these days, but Uneeda Burger in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood creates a welcome experience of a “premium roadside burger shack” that I’ve been craving.

The brainchild of Chef Scott Staples, whose other local favorites include a high-end bistro (Restaurant Zoe) and a fine gastropub (Quinn’s), Uneeda is playful, authentic and super fresh.  How does one open up yet another burger joint amidst options ranging from McDonald’s to the classic 50’s-styled greasy drive-in, Dick’s to the experimental and futuristic build your own burger vibe Lunchbox Laboratory.

Some ways Uneeda differentiates:

  • Decor: With an old gasoline station-type sign out front, and an outside patio framed by wooden beams, you might not give this place a second glance driving by. It’s got a very “last rest stop for 100 miles” feel to it. When you step in, wooden tables, floor and counters greet you in a very Western-evocative setting. You can alsmost hear the cowboy boots kicking up dist as they clomp, clomp, clomp over to the counter to order.
  • Design: The Uneeda logo mimics lettering from an old fashioned Western hot-iron brand, combining think block letters and scrip. It instantly conveys casual, farm-fresh and even a bit of rebellion, in my opinion. They also use detailed illustrations like you’d find in a old school book or almanac.
  • Menu: But anything but a dive bar menu awaits on the chalk board above the cashier. Burgers are made with all-natural beef or you can sub-out 100% Wagyu (Kobe) grass-fed beef for additional coin. They tout locally sourced beef, chicken and veggie options as well. Premium toppings run the gamut from Gruyere to portobello mushrooms to manchego cheese to carmelized onions to roasted chili relish to watercress. You an also order salads, sandwiches and soups. And hand-dipped shakes and “artisinal sodas” stand alongside standard beverage staples. They also offer craft beers and wine.
  • Staff: You order at the counter and your food is then brought out to you. But the behind-the-counter staff is as friendly as the table servers you’d find at Staples’ sit-down dining establishments. They know all about the food, can make recommendations – and our gal even let us know that another Uneeda Burger would be opening up in Seattle soon.  They cross-sell and interact with customers just as a table server would, which differentiates them from your basic fast-food joint.

Just goes to show that you don’t necessarily have to be selling something no one’s ever sold before. You just have to put your unique brand spin on it and communicate that differentiation through  every customer touchpoint. People will notice.

What customer touchpoints do you focus on to stand out from your competition? What is your unique edge in a crowded market? Post a comments and get some link-love back to your site!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Widows, Champagne and Entrepreneurship: Learn from Veuve Clicquot

Posted on by Red Slice

If you think small, family-owned businesses have it rough right now, step into Veuve Clicquot’s (The Widow Clicquot’s) shoes in this dynamic book, The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It. Talk about an “entrepreness” with moxie to spare. [Read More]

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #7: Find the Humor

Posted on by Red Slice

Enjoying the sunEven when things are serious, it helps to find the humor. It helps us cope, deflates a tense situation, and helps you think more clearly and problem solve than if you were angry, frustrated or sad. Laugher helps you get out of the “red zone” and into a more calm, productive state of mind.

As business owners, things will go wrong.  You may piss off a client or you might not make your sales figures in a given month.  But to diffuse the situation (and save your sanity) you absolutely need to find the humor in the situation.

In the darkest times when I was recovering from brain injury, my friends and family, true to form, found some lighter moments to help them cope.  Some might call it gallows humor, but I’m thankful they banded together and found some light in the dark.

While things may seen earth-shattering in your business, everything can be dealt with in one way or another.  The trick is not to let it break you, but to find your way to put it into perspective. It’s amazing what laughing at something that seems insurmountable can do for the psyche.

View the juicy video for Lesson #7  here.

BACKSTORY TO THE SEVEN LESSONS: What do recovering from a  brain aneurysm and branding have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out. Recently, I got the wonderful opportunity to share my dramatic story at a Women Business Owners luncheon and I promised I’d post the lessons here for everyone. This is a seven-post series. You can get your own copy of Rebooting My Brain, my humorous and heartwarming memoir, right here.

Lesson #1: Focus (and backstory to the series)

Lesson #2: Be Authentic

Lesson #3: Count on Your Tribe

Lesson #4: Practice Patience

Lesson #5: Learn to Say No

Lesson #6: Face the Fear

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #6: FACE THE FEAR

Posted on by Red Slice

jump_fearBuilding a business is scary. And building a breakthrough brand is even scarier. An in other breaking news, spinach is green and red lights mean you should stop.

Everybody wishes they were Apple. They wish they could just be so hip and cool that no matter what new products they roll out, people will line up for miles just to own one. They wish their own brands would have that “hipness halo effect.” But I’ve noticed in my years of marketing and branding, that there is one common trait across many of these companies:

They don’t want to take the risks and they don’t want to do the work.

They think they can just revamp their website and update their colors and all of the sudden people will think they are “cool.” They forget the fundamentals of brand – and that they need to revamp their company, culture, innovation inside and out. And that takes balls, to be frank. You have to be willing to lead, to say “black” when all of your competitors are saying “white",” to take the road less traveled or try not to use the same old industry jargon in al of your marketing campaigns. To differentiate and stand out, you have to DIFFERENTIATE AND STAND OUT.

And that scares the bejeezus out of most risk-averse CEO’s and the people who work for them.

As I state in today’s video, sometimes you have to face the fear if you want to advance. I was scared of so much during my brain injury recovery, but I just kept at it. I “faked it until I made it.” I could choose to crawl up into a ball and hide from life – but I chose to take a deep breath and plunge myself back into my life again over and over until one day, it felt comfortable again.

It’s the same with brand.  Innovative leaders don’t get there by doing what everyone else is doing. They do it by taking chances, by standing out. They face the fear.  I’m not advocating doing this willy-nilly, but if you have a well thought out brand strategy, you can make smarter choices – and smarter risks. And part of that brand strategy should include doing things differently from the inside out.

View the juicy video for Lesson #6  here.

Which risks have you taken that have paid off in your business? Which risks are you less willing to take and why?

BACKSTORY TO THE SEVEN LESSONS: What do recovering from a  brain aneurysm and branding have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out. Recently, I got the wonderful opportunity to share my dramatic story at a Women Business Owners luncheon and I promised I’d post the lessons here for everyone. This is a seven-post series.

Lesson #1: Focus (and backstory to the series)

Lesson #2: Be Authentic

Lesson #3: Count on Your Tribe

Lesson #4: Practice Patience

Lesson #5: Learn to Say No

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #5: LEARN WHEN TO SAY NO

Posted on by Red Slice

say_NODo you constantly say “yes” to all the wrong things, leaving you absolutely no time or energy when the right opportunities come along?

If you’re an entrepreneur and you can’t relate to this, I’d love to meet you.

We all worry about saying “no” to business, partnerships and even advertising opportunities. What if this is my one chance to attract a boatload of customers? What if this is the only client I get this quarter? That old adage, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” is definitely a truism…..sometimes.

If you constantly accept clients who don’t fit your ideal profile or the type of work you want to be doing, how can you free yourself up to attract a better, more profitable client for the long run? Understanding your brand in clear detail will help you determine if someone is a good fit. It will help you say no to marketing opportunities that seem seductive at first (“Wow! This event attracts 5000 women!”) but in reality, turn out to be a waste of time and money (“Oh, those 5000 women will never be the ones who will buy from me!”)

As I learned to adapt to my new reality post-brain injury, I couldn’t say yes to as much as I would have in the past. I had to be selective in which clients I accepted and how I spent my time. This meant turning down some work that, while intriguing and interesting, was not going to be a good fit for me. And you can do this in an elegant and tactful way. You can explain that you don’t have bandwidth right now with your current client load, or you can recommend another resource that might be a better fit for their needs.  With partners, you can gently say the opportunity looks fabulous but you think you might be going after different target markets. With an advertising opportunity – well, this is business after all, and you can simply say, “We don’t see this as a valuable way to spend out money, but thank you for thinking of us.”

Remember, your clients and partners say something about your brand. They are your advertising.

By focusing on what you want, what you’re good at and what you can realistically deliver, people will appreciate your honesty more than they’ll appreciate you not having the time or mental energy to properly serve their needs.

View the juicy video for Lesson #5  here.

How do you determine which work to take on and which to pass up? Any tips or fun stories about times you have turned down opportunities?

BACKSTORY TO THE SEVEN LESSONS: What do recovering from a  brain aneurysm and branding have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out. Recently, I got the wonderful opportunity to share my dramatic story at a Women Business Owners luncheon and I promised I’d post the lessons here for everyone. This is a seven-post series.

Lesson #1: Focus (and backstory to the series)

Lesson #2: Be Authentic

Lesson #3: Count on Your Tribe

Lesson #4: Practice Patience

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Reboot and Reframe: Branding lesson for life #4: PRACTICE PATIENCE

Posted on by Red Slice

dog_patienceIn our instant gratification world of 140 character tweets, instant geo-location couponing, and lightning fast Internet speeds, we often forget that human nature is what it is. It takes time to build a strong reputation, for people to get to know you, trust you and believe your claims.

Simply rolling out a pretty new logo or website will not mean you’ll meet your sales numbers the very next week.

You’d be surprised how many CEO’s  – especially in the tech start-up world – don’t understand this. They think that all they need to do is invest in more salespeople or run a cool email campaign and leads will come flooding in the very next day.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. To gain the trust needed for someone to invite you into their email inbox, or attend your event or schedule that demo, you have to lay the groundwork – and beat that drum clearly and consistently over time.

This patience lesson is just as true for our lives. When we get knocked down and we have to start over, as happened to me with my brain injury, you have to accept where you are and make progress each day in the right direction. It’s not about going from 0 to 60 overnight. But as with a brand, you can measure incremental steps along the way to ensure you are on the right path and making forward progress.

In this lesson, I talk about how it’s easy to talk about patience when speaking to branding clients but it’s hard to accept being patient in your own life when you just want to go, go go. Being patient is not the same thing as being stagnant and people often get the two confused. Being patient means understanding there is a journey ahead of you and that by taking the right steps, you can get closer and closer to your goals over time.

View the juicy video for Lesson #4 here.

What small steps do you measure in your business to ensure your marketing and message is attracting the right people?

BACKSTORY TO THE SEVEN LESSONS: What do recovering from a  brain aneurysm and branding have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out. Recently, I got the wonderful opportunity to share my dramatic story at a Women Business Owners luncheon and I promised I’d post the lessons here for everyone. This is a seven-post series.

Lesson #1: Focus (and backstory to the series)

Lesson #2: Be Authentic

Lesson #3: Count on Your Tribe