The Credibility Branding Blog

Is It Time To Go To The Next Level?

What tools are available to take your business to the next level? There are two in this post to explore…

I just finished a branding audit for Carolyn McCormick, and what is so great about this consulting process is hearing directly from customers their experience of my client’s products and services. The customers know better than you ever will how great (or not so great) your product is. The branding audit process get’s you that feedback and additional insights into what your customers are looking for. If you are interested in this process check out the overview of the different services I offer.

 

For example in the case of Carolyn what we discovered was not necessarily surprising but it confirmed many things. Now we are able to use the descriptors her customers offered to explain her services. When a company uses these dialogues to add this customer generated content to their messaging there is a new authenticity and trust tone that is added, and new sense of crediblity. It is a subtle but powerful.

I want to bring up Carolyn specifically because she is offering an upcoming business boot camp in mid June that is not to be missed. If you are an author or a speaker or trainer (or and aspiring one), she will walk you through the step-by-step process she has spent the last 20-years developing working for the biggest names in the industry. She worked with Tony Robbins for 8 years and has also worked on the inside with Mark Victor Hansen, Bob Procter and John Gray among many other luminaries. She has been there and done it, and is now passing along this insider knowledge to the rest of us… trust me, I will be there!

Carolyn is the “Tiffanies” of the coaching world. She is a business and life strategist who works with those that are truly committed to taking their businesses to the next level of influence, relevance and revenues. There really is no one on the planet that has her depth and breadth of expertise creating programs and business models for the greatest minds in speaking and training.

So… the other thing that happens when I do these branding audits (with the really good companies) is I am hooked and become a loyal customer in the process.

Two things to do today… consider attending Carolyn’s Business Boot Camp, and pursuing a brand audit. PS... If you mentioned I sent you you might get a price break!

Ok that was my commercial for the month <grin>.

Press Landscape – Your Best Credibility Marketing Research Tool

The press landscape is a tool I use to create a map of exactly what the editorial community is covering. The idea is to conduct some basic research to map out what publications are writing about in relation to your product or industry. The key findings you are looking for include the following:

· What exactly are publications writing about similar products in the market? How are they being covered—the good and the bad?

· What are editors saying about the industry as a whole? This will give you hints as to what your messaging should be when approaching these editors.

· How are editors covering competitors? What are they saying about them? Are they believing your competitors’ messaging? (Review a competitor’s recent press release and then review the coverage it received.)

· Who are these editors using as press references? For example, who is being quoted in the article? This will assist you in identifying key influencers to pursue; if the editorial community is using them as a reference then they already have influence.

The press landscape is one of the most important research tools a marketer has at hand, but it is frequently forgotten. What better way to find the pulse of the market than through what the media are covering? The press landscape can also help you formulate your messages. The way an editor hears your story or the stories of your competitors and writes about that gives you a clue as to how he or she perceives you and the sector and what the editor perceives his or her audience will care about. Publications do a great deal of research on what their audiences want to read. Don’t reinvent the wheel and make assumptions about what customers are focusing on; use magazines and editors as barometers of industry trends to assist you in forming messaging and creating strategies and tactics that are relevant and will be embraced.