On Thursday, March 25, the National Association of Marketing Consultants is pleased and excited to be interviewing business visionary, author, and entrepreneur Kim Castle. Kim will be inspiring us all as she shares how to create your own long-lasting, successful brand for your business.
CLICK HERE right now! – to get all the details for Kim Castle’s live interview, “Waking Up Your Business: How to Tap Into The Most Powerful Business Trend in Decades to Create Your Long-Lasting Successful Brand.”
In the article below, Kim is sharing with us how small business owners, who connect to the soul of their businesses, can create a competitive edge over large, impersonal businesses.
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by
Kim Castle, Co-creator BrandU™
Soul and business. Business and… soul. You don’t often see these two words in the same sentence — especially over the past 60 years of “I’m going make-it-until-I-drop… I don’t care who’s in my way” mentality.
If you have “it,” you understand the concept without skipping a beat.
If you’re looking for “it,” you feel a longing with every step you take in your business — even if it’s just the unspoken tug of unknowing.
If the concept of soul and business in the same breath incites you to… uncomfortable levels… well… that’s a whole different article.
To understand the concept of the soul of business, you have to consider what “soul” means. The challenge is… that it has a different meaning for each individual. The context is flexible; it’s in the beholder.
This is also where the fun and the power of business is… IF you know how to tap into it.
Soul Defining
Defining the meaning of soul is like defining the concept of reality — you make it up. The real power resides in your meaning of soul; its application to your business and your unwavering command of that power.
The dictionary defines soul as:
These definitions come close, but lack that mysterious unspoken essence of something that is far bigger. It’s that space that you fill up with… experience.
If you apply this unspoken power to business, both large and small, you will arrive at the very core of what makes a business tick — from why it was created to why it continues to exist.
Unfortunately, the problem is that most small entrepreneurial business owners focus their initial business efforts “outside” of their business core, and focus instead on marketing, on sales, on… proof.
Then, if they are able to hold on enough to stay in the game, layer after external layer begins to form which solidify with tactical approaches to continue to market, to sell, to prove.
Eventually, this outer layer becomes heavy and can cause a business to implode if the core of the business isn’t established and maintained. Or it could lose its way altogether if the wrong kind of funding is thrown its way.
Remembering the Future™
Over the past eighty years the way business is done has come full circle from the days of yore when you bought your soap from the general store, which was at the front of the grocer’s house, through the industrial revolution of mass production and distribution, to the return of the human to human connection — through the internet.
Unfortunately the way business has been communicated hasn’t kept up with this change.
The old industrial model of advertising, of “sell the sizzle,” or as I refer to it, “chasing the flash,” is no longer enough for people.
Consumers have the power of choice and they can feel if there’s “something” behind the flash or… not.
Brand communication, including marketing and advertising, is on the cusp to a whole new way of consumer communication—a communication that has behind it a greater reason beyond the money for product exchange. It’s communication that is fueled by the soul of a business.
The New Biz Buzz Word
If you polled a hundred people ages 25-55 about what they were missing in their lives and you were able to drill down to the core of their answer, they would say, in one form or another, an authentic connection.
Even large brands, like Starbucks, Nike and even Apple, are starting to toss around words like real and authentic.
Howard Schultz, the CEO and mastermind behind Starbucks, one of the most successful and often admired brands today, says, “Our rapid growth has led to the watering down of the Starbucks experience. Our company’s soul is dripping away.”
In the New Marketing Manifesto, author John Grant notes, “Authenticity is the benchmark against which all brands are now judged.”
The dictionary defines authentic as:
Where does this realness reside? It resides in that mysterious space of the soul.
Your Guiding Light Through the Unknown
As a business owner, you no longer have to be at the mercy of the unspoken unknown of what is at the core of your business.
Taking your business idea through a process to define that soul shines a guiding light on everything your business is to be and every step you take to make it so.
This result is a definitive and unique brand. When done right, it gives you the soul of your business. Once it’s in place, it never burns out; it might evolve with time, but it never burns out or changes drastically.
For the past several years, I’ve been saying there’s a global return to the soul. It’s never been so true in business today.
As a small business entrepreneur you actually have the edge over big brands on the authentic playing field. You haven’t lost your business soul yet. Then again… you may have not connected to it yet.
The exciting thing is… that the process to connect to the soul of your business is now at your fingertips. But first you have to put down the tactics.
You can always pick them back up… later.
© Castle Montone, Limited
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CLICK HERE right now! – to get all the details for Kim Castle’s live interview, “Waking Up Your Business: How to Tap Into The Most Powerful Business Trend in Decades To Create Your Long-lasting Successful Brand.”
There’s no lack of creativity when it comes to marketing these days – even when reaching out to attract more people to tend to their spiritual life. In Minneapolis on
Saturday night you might think this forward-looking church is a nightclub. Even when you go through the doors to check it out further, you’ll find a crowded dance floor, strobe lights, break dancing, graffiti art, a DJ and rappers. But among all the lights and action you’ll also see bibles on the chairs, and you’ll hear lyrics about mercy and grace. *
This is another great example of creating a marketing campaign that speaks to your potential clients at a level that makes them feel comfortable and creates an atmosphere of trust. It’s finding out what’s important to them and providing it in a way that builds a lasting relationship, not just a one-time sale.
If you want to set yourself apart and build a business based on genuine, caring relationships, there are many lessons to be learned from this relationship marketing business model used by the Urban J Church.
*(As reported by Jeff Strickler of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.)
If you’re a marketing consultant you’re probably familiar with the continuity program model. A continuity program is defined as a program for your business that 
allows you to make money on a continuing basis versus selling a product or service only once. An example of a continuity program is monthly group coaching or a membership-based program, such as the one we offer here at the National Association of Marketing Consultants. There is no end to the creativity business owners have in formulating their own continuity programs.
A powerful example of this concept is a new online tool created to make it easier for credit card holders and borrowers to manage their money. Zendough.com was created by the credit reporting agency, Transunion to help people see the big picture of their finances. It offers three ways for you to monitor your money. My Credit keeps you updated on your credit score and lets you easily see any inaccuracies and make corrections. My Identify gives you an indication of your risk of identity fraud. My Accounts provides a detailed listing of your credit accounts and debts in graph format.
Transunion offers this service for $14.95 per month, or $179.40 a year, and offers a free seven-day trial. In these economic times when many people are in the process of rebuilding their credit, this continuity program is a stroke of genius. It is just one example of how you can turn your product and/or service into ongoing monthly income, and provide a much needed service to your choice clients at the same time.
My definition of a successful business is – a business that provides a vehicle for the business owner to express in the world what makes them happy. It expresses their unique gifts and talents, and provides the means to create the lifestyle they long for in their heart and soul.
As a business owner, one of the most critical factors in building a successful business is making sure the right people, your ideal customers, know what you have to offer. So, one of the first questions you need to answer is, who is your ideal client? Taking the time to answer this question can make the difference between a struggling and a thriving business.
Here are five competitive advantages you will have by taking the time to determine who your ideal clients are and how you can best reach them.
If you decided to place an ad in a magazine, or online publication, to reach clients who are 25 – 40 years old, you might choose Cosmopolitan or Working Mother or New Lifestyle Magazine. If you were targeting 45 – 60 year old clients, you might place an ad in AARP or Grandparents Magazines.
Knowing who your ideal client is will help you decide how your gifts and talents can best benefit them, and it will help you determine what new skills you may need to develop to compete in the current marketing conditions. But most of all, it can help you boost your bottom line and have a healthy, profitable business.
Since social media came on the scene, it’s much easier to keep in touch with family and friends. It’s like a family reunion online! Suddenly we’re getting messages, pictures, and even videos from people we haven’t heard from in years. But powerful social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Linkedin are not just for fun and entertainment. They have become an important part of businesses’ marketing strategies.
This was reported in The Stockton Record newspaper (www.recordnet.com) recently:
In the waiting room, the patient’s family members circled a Blackberry. About every 15 minutes, Dr. Carlos of Miami Plastic Surgery gave them a few keystrokes of information about how the patient was doing.
“M is asleep,” one of Wolf’s nurses typed at 9:13 am on June 3. “We will start surgery soon.”
Less than an hour later, the nose job was complete.
“Beautiful,” the nurse typed. “She’s going to love it.”
This is just one example of how doctors around the country are beginning to use social media tools as a way to keep in touch with families and reduce the fear factor of surgeries.
Social media is still in its infancy stages, and will continue growing as more people and businesses dream up ways to use it in their lives and professions. Just imagine getting daily tweets and/or quick direct Facebook status updates from your contractor, plumber, realtor, attorney, CPA, etc., etc. In the current economic climate, social media can easily be used as a way to communicate more closely with your clients - and set your business apart from the competition.
How can social media be used in your business? Be sure and stay tuned as the NAMC presents social media experts teaching you the ins and outs about Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, YouTube, and more in 2010!
The National Association of Marketing Consultants is pleased to kick-off 2010 with our first Business Building Expert teleclass call of the year “Facebook & Twitter Fortunes: How to Strategically Grow Your Business Using the Top Two Online Social Networks” with Mari Smith. Mari has been dubbed ”the Pied Piper of the Online World”.
To register and get more information about this content-rich teleclass CLICK HERE.
Get a preview of how Mari can help you get results on Facebook in the following article!
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by Mari Smith – Social Media Consultant, Speaker & Trainer
With 250 million members on Facebook and growing daily, if you host your own events – whether in-person or virtual, such as webinars or teleclasses – you can increase your visibility and attendance rate significantly when you know how to effectively use Facebook’s Events feature.
I love Hawaii, although I haven’t been in several years. You would think that a place that’s like Heaven on Earth would have a steady stream of tourists visiting just to get away from the economic gloom and doom we keep hearing about on this side of the ocean. It’s interesting that even the State of Hawaii has to market themselves. They compete on a global basis to get their name out there and remind people what they’re missing. They recently had to compete with all the other states to get Disney Productions to choose them for the new Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean movie to be released in 2011 – and they succeeded!
I’m often asked how I got started in social media and became so successful and well known. Well, first I like to think I’m humble and am just “one of the peeps” like everyone else, which is true. But I do recognize my business has really exploded in the past eighteen months, and so I thought I’d come up with a list of contributing factors that you might find of benefit too:
1. Get lucky!
My definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Since ‘99, I had pursued a path of relationship marketing, internet marketing, and success coaching… all of which culminated in social media when I got invited to join an alpha team of a Facebook app in 2007. I joke about being an “overnight success ten years in the making” – perhaps you can relate?! But all these years were preparation for my passion and purpose to intersect. I’d been preparing for many years, then an opportunity presented itself and I took ACTION!
It’s the beginning of a brand new year, typically the time when most people consider making New Year’s resolutions about their lives and their businesses. What’s the purpose of resolutions? To try to make your life better than it was the year before – to be happier, healthier, or more prosperous maybe? If you’re one of those folks making New Year’s resolutions, you might want to start by considering why you want what you want and backing into how you can make them work this year, finally…
In Holly Springs, Mississippi there is a man who is perfectly clear about what he wants and what he is willing to do to have it. Paul MacLeod is obsessed with Elvis, Graceland, and everything that has to do with the King of Rock ‘n Roll. Mr. MacLeod is ready to share his obsession with all who come knocking at his door 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – any time of the day or night… And why would you want to visit MacLeod? Because he is the owner of “Graceland Too“, his home, which is crammed, jammed with floor-to-ceiling Elvis memorabilia including photos, records, figurines, cardboard cutouts, candy wrappers, clocks, and any and everything else he has been able to collect since the late 1980’s. For a mere $5 visitors get to experience sensory overload and spend as much time as they want in Elvis heaven.
Here’s a link to the website mellow billow with the top 100 best social media books. This should keep you marketers busy reading all of 2010!
It’s interesting that Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
Have a fabulous New Years Eve!
P.S. How many have you already read?
P.P.S. In the interest of full disclosure… the above link to the Twitter Power book is through my Amazon Associates Account.
