What makes you memorable is more than what is unique about you: your brand is sourced in the value you provide to your audience, and how they see it.

In the rush to market, small business owners often let their branding fend for itself, thinking it will evolve on its own.

How do you source your brand? Identify and address the three essentials of Brand Clarity.

I get a ton of of email.

It’s an occupational hazard, as I sign up for tons of things that help me keep up with what’s so in marketing and branding trends across a broad range of topics.

One of my more recent sign-ups was with an online marketer who came highly touted as a list-building genius and all ’round go-getter, but his #marketingfail did not sit well.

I am often asked, “What should a mission statement look like?”

You could think of it like this: “It’s how we do business.”

You have a vision, but that speaks to the ideal. Mission gets into the everyday. Mission Statements can be any length. You may even want to use more than one.

Most marketing plans fade away out of sight, out of mind— and out of date in a desk drawer that never sees sunlight, or buried in a folder subtitled “Ignore This.”

Why? Because written plans usually sprout from the seeds of their own demise. Such plans raise sugar plum guesstimates untethered to reality and skewed inside narratives that read like a business fairy tale.

Is there an antidote to the folderol? Yes!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what proof do we have that artful visuals are a worthy branding investment?

Let’s start with a fine arts exhibit originally known as “Pacific Standard Time” launching its third huge exhibit in 2024 after major earlier successes.

Conventional wisdom has it that art is right brained, and science is left brained, as I’m sure you’ve heard.

Well, in recent years, science studies have upended that entire paradigm, so we may all be in for some surprises soon. We will have to rethink our personalities, lifestyles, and maybe our entire identities. What fun.

As a business owner, you do not simply tape a flyer to a lamp post and expect the world to beat a path to your door. We live in the era of “content marketing” which demands more than ever from you to establish and expand a credible presence. That almost always requires having a modern online identity.

We often hear how essential repetition is for building a brand and staking a claim in a crowded marketplace. Yet what matters most in networking conversations is exactly that… it’s the quality of the conversation. People want to engage in dialogue, not fend off a canned mini-speech or sales pitch.

How can you do this? Ask yourself these 5 questions to simplify what you say and make your message worth hearing.

Marketing & Branding that inspires trust has the energy needed for the response you seek.

What does this require of you? Employing four principles is essential to craft offers with lasting magnetism for your intended audiences.

We in Southern California have too much experience with wildfires. This makes us especially sympathetic with our sisters and brothers in Maui who are grappling with an unprecedented, deadly tragic wildfire, raging in August of 2023.

I wrote what follows next in 2017, when six different fires overtook us.

Lately, business owners are pondering what risk means to those who take responsibility for a business of any size. We are pleased to present the following book excerpt from The Marketing Deck by Diane A. Curran (yours truly) inside the Chapter “Stage Whispers.”

Old fashioned Identity Theft, thievery and amateur hacking has grown way worse, despite all the precautions that major companies take to protect online clients and activity. 

Yes, you are at risk. Yet there is something you can do for yourself.

Choose a purpose big enough to inspire your audience… and yourself…

Leading with clear, authentic value equips your marketing ideal for success.

I am often asked by clients in the midst of building out their first website, if they need an FAQ page or post. And if yes, what to include. (Frequently Asked Questions.)

What follows is a real-life sample based on my own business, which you can use to spark ideas for your own.

Which came first? The picture worth a thousand words, or the words that painted a picture in our imagination? Let’s take a look together, just for fun.

The news these days is full of ethical questions about social media, and business owners (of any size) worry when they may have a sudden bad turn in the limelight themselves. Yet there is a bigger issue at hand. Our 2 Infographics are free, and offer a practical context for action.

I learned early that giving the client your full attention was essential. Not only was it necessary to get the many details right, but it was the perfect way to show real respect. If you let yourself get too wound up, you’d stop listening and miss the client’s signals.

Outside-In leadership invites participation. It welcomes the power of choice. Inside-Out leadership is witness to what’s present, holding the space for new discoveries. It naturally applauds others.