Leave a mark
I don’t know much about livestock. But I bet the mark of a good quality branding iron is one that leaves a clear and lasting impression on its, er, target audience.
The same is true—though hopefully much less painfully—for the type of brands I’m always jabbering about.
Conversate
A brand is a conversation.
The best conversations are often between like-minded people about shared interests.
With the right person and the right topic, you can talk for hours and still not run out of steam.
The conversation flows naturally, and the rare moments of silence are mere pregnant pauses making way for new lively discussions.
These types of talks energize you, make a lasting impression, and may even bring out the best of you. Deep personal truths may be exchanged, nurturing the relationship. You seek out opportunities to connect and make time for these conversations.
One of my all-time least favorite types of conversation is small talk.
Small talk is often stumbled into begrudgingly— an obligatory nicety.
Small talk can be draining and filled with awkward silences that defy the laws of time. Bland, uninspiring topics like the weather make an impression that's quickly forgotten. No personal details are shared, no depth. Just safe, boring conversation between two fellow humans.
We fidget with our phones, insert earbuds, evade eye contact—anything to avoid these dreaded verbal exchanges.
So think about who you want to connect with and go forth and gush about the things you and your people are passionate about.
Go deep. You'll alienate some, which is a good thing—less small talk and draining relationships—and you'll build genuine, strong relationships that will stand the test of time.
Gather round
A brand is a story.
The best stories all make good use of words and images.
If you want to make it interesting think about who’s likely to listen to your particular story and consider which bits of your story are most resonant with them. Amplify those parts.
A good brand strategy should act as a filter that produces concentrated words and images that ring true to your brand and your audience.
When your audience hears your story they will naturally see themselves in it.
Fan the flames
Make time to play in creativity.
Sing a song. Draw a picture. Write a haiku.
Even on days when the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day try to hound you into submission. Especially on those days.
We're all creative beings.
Make sense, make dollars
Communication wins.
Not always the best ideas or the best candidates.
Learn to communicate value.
Passion policy
It seems to be slowly starting to catch on at forward-thinking tech and design companies to allow employees a certain amount of time each week/month to work on passion projects or self-driven initiatives.
I was introduced to the concept several years ago when I heard the founders of The Heads of State speak at a design conference. No-code innovator Webflow has a similar policy, and Google used to have a 20% time policy that produced Gmail, Google Maps, and Adsense among other highly successful and profitable products.
It's a policy that allows employees to bring more of themselves to work, and I think it's a great way to tap into bottom-up innovation. Fast Company published a piece a few years ago touting boosts in employee creativity, enthusiasm, and efficiency.
Innovation has become a buzzword in recent years, and it's a nice thought but an empty sentiment without the culture and systems in place to embrace and encourage it.
The most innovative breakthroughs often come from those of us in the trenches.
All I can say is, I hope this policy catches on as quickly as open-concept office spaces.
Reframing luxury
“Luxury is to be able to take control of one's life, health, and the pursuit of happiness in a way that is joyful.”
—Sir André Leon Talley
I don't want to live extravagantly. I've never really cared for flexing just for the sake of it.
But I absolutely want to take control of my life, health, and pursuit of happiness in a way that is joyful for me and my family.
I think if you've developed negative thought patterns, judgments, or ideas about money and those who have plenty, it's necessary to reexamine and redefine your relationship with currency to create a context where wealth feels welcome.
I've been making progress. But I still have automatic assumptions and subconscious beliefs hanging around, like crusty old stalactites that occasionally come crashing down.
So, I'm grateful for Sir André Leon Talley's perspective on luxury.
It increases my empathy. It reminds me that we're all in the pursuit of happiness and we each have personal preferences for what brings us joy, and it helps me along the next mile on my journey reframing luxury.
11 years
I just saw a post from Richard Branson about it being one year since losing his mom.
First of all, my sincere condolences sir, may you find peace and comfort.
I’m assuming he reads my blog, you know?
Now, to be honest, selfishly, my first thought was “Tsk…wow, he got to have his mom until one year ago!? So unfair.”
I lost my mom eleven years ago, friend.
Before I got married. Before her grandkids were born.
I miss her for every special occasion she’s not here for.
Sometimes I think about a weird melancholic milestone. At some point in the not too far off future, I will have spent more time on earth without her than with her.
And here’s Richard Branson, 70-something, and just lost his mom.
He’ll never pass that melancholic milestone—unless with his billions he figures out immortality.
It doesn’t seem quite fair.
But, c’est la vie.
Honestly, I don’t really believe in life being fair or unfair.
Life just is.
But I’m reminded how short life is and how fast eleven years can pass you by.
That’s probably enough old man philosophizing for one day.
Live out loud.
How do you do, fellow kids?
I want to write about the Seven Deadly Sins of Authentic Branding. This idea isn’t fully-formed yet, so I don’t know what all seven are yet, or if there even are seven, etc.
But I know pandering is one of them.
The word's probably most popular in the political arena, and for good reason—there are endless examples of politicians doing their best Steve Buscemi.
In general, I think the more authentic-seeming candidate will win most of the time. Many political campaigns have undoubtedly folded due to this nasty P-word.
But pandering goes beyond politics, and it's often more pervasive and subtle. Sorta like racism.
It's there in those goddamned stock photos, and beside them in that corporate-jargon, buzzword-laced, generic copy on the page so audaciously labeled "about us."
And there too in the mission statement and brand pillars.
It's there in our beefed up, important-sounding previous job description on our LinkedIn profiles and resumes.
And yes, my solopreneur design friends, there too in the copy of our portfolio websites.
It's a common tendency to feel that we have to be a more "fill-in-the-blank" version of ourselves to be accepted or hired or loved. None of us are immune to this problematic thinking.
But—perhaps counterintuitively—the more we embrace whatever makes us weird and wacky and wonderful, the easier we connect and build with our people.
More slides, please!
Please stop making us sit through slides with tiny financial charts we can't read—that most of us probably don't understand anyway.
Stop putting up slides with three columns of twelve bullet points plus five pie charts plus an inspirational quote jammed in for good measure.
Stop using important sounding acronyms. The others didn't want to say anything, but—we don't know what most of them mean.
When you're sitting down to make your deck, cut down the number of topics you're going to cover. Nope, it's still too many, take out more.
Now, this is probably the most important part: make more slides!
I know that probably sounds counterintuitive since you're trying to be concise and considerate of everyone's time—and we appreciate that, we do.
But here's the thing. If you let each slide communicate one or two things clearly instead of six or seven things poorly, it'll make it easier to follow along and keep us engaged.
We might even have some questions and comments at the end.
Upgrade required
If technology can greatly streamline or perform the majority of your job responsibilities without you—you probably should have upgraded your skillset years ago.
Start now.
Authentic branding with illustration
Stock photos are a useful resource. They can play an effective role as part of a brand’s visual identity.
But many companies use stock photography in an uninspired, heavy-handed way that projects a lazy, musty, uninterested look and feel.
It’s like the visual equivalent of a dead fish handshake. Seriously, no bueno, friend.
And honestly, this is true even if you’re curating quality stock photos. If it’s the only trick in your brand bag, you’re brand is probably giving off major Dunder Mifflin vibes.
One alternative is illustration:
Many modern, tech companies embrace illustration as part of their visual identity.
Unlike diverse-coworkers-shaking-hands.jpg—illustration gives off a human-made, authentic feel.
Illustration is great for communicating abstract subjects like inner peace.
Illustration can pair wonderfully with and enhance photos.
Illustration doesn't have to be complex, but it should be authentic to your brand—so don’t just slap some stock illustrations on your site and call it a day.
The curse of the visionary
Having the mind of a creative can be a great blessing.
Some days and weeks, great ideas sprout up like blades of grass in the spring. More than you can count, each vibrant and full of life.
So much possibility, so much change-making power.
But it can also be frustrating having all these seemingly golden ideas that don’t always see the light of day.
Being a visionary often means sharing ideas with others who can't see what you can. Which often means fruitlessly fighting to help them see, and all too often, eventually watching your ideas suffer an unceremonious fate.
You could try and stop the flow of ideas for unwelcome parties. But it's much like plugging a flowing faucet with a single finger. The ideas will keep coming.
Perhaps a better solution is to simply allocate less time and energy attempting to open closed minds, and more time brainstorming and constructing your own dreams.
Some assembly required
You order fajitas and get basically the same thing as burritos, but with more work on your part.
We pay extra to watch our fried rice made in front of our eyes on the hibachi grill instead of taking it to-go.
We carve hours out of our day to walk a mile picking apples when we could have those same apples in hand with a couple taps on the phone and a couple steps to the front door.
In all three sets of scenarios the end product is the same, so why invest the extra time/effort/money?
Enjoyable experiences elevate everything.
Taco subcription
Have you heard? Taco Bell is selling a taco subscription.
Bloody brilliant.
For $10/month, customers get one taco per day.
If you want to make the most of your subscription, you'll stop by every day to get your taco.
If you stop by every day—good lord—to get your taco, most days you'll also buy a drink and/or a couple of other items to supplement your single taco.
Or, if you treat your taco subscription like your gym membership and neglect it month after month, they still win.
Do you have a product offering as cheap as a taco that could entice your customers to stop by every day?
Unsolicited real estate content idea
I've been kicking around the idea of starting a YouTube channel for a while. Not about real estate, but design and branding.
I love creating videos and enjoy the challenge of pushing past the little voices of fear in my head that try and prevent my greatness.
But, one thing that's kept me mostly stagnant—other than those pesky inner fear mongrels—is that I don't have a clear content plan.
Well, join me on this tangent, a peek into the mind of a creative.
Lately, my wife and I have been watching a lot of luxury home tours by Briggs Anunobi. Every aspect of his videos is on point. Everything feels like effortless, modern, often understated luxury.
Many of the tours are 10-, 15-, 20-minutes long. And every last one includes a few minutes of slow-motion, 4K beauty shots spread throughout.
The long-form videos are great, and honestly make it hard to watch videos from other real estate channels. There’s not much I would change.
But, what I would do is extract all those beauty shots without narration, and create quick 1-minute teaser videos perfect for YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and TikTok.
I’d also make sure to capture a handful of stills to create Instagram carousels for each listing.
I’d even put together compilation videos showing off The Top 5 Properties of January or The Best Modern Kitchens.
Then I’d create a spin-off YouTube channel all about how to live luxuriously. It would cover men’s fashion, money matters, mindset, lifestyle, and occasional guest chats with interior designers, entrepreneurs, and home builders—like the actual Toll Brothers. Maybe even throw in some occasional tech talks with the cameraman, for curious creators like me who want to know what gear you're using. All things that would be a natural extension of Briggs’ real estate brand.
Tangent over.
As a creator, this is how my mind works. I’m never simply watching a video or commercial—I’m thinking about how and why it was made, who made it, and for whom.
It’s a fun way to look at the world and sometimes I find this helps me to process my own ideas.
6 benefits of pain
Pain is a powerful motivator
Persevering pain makes you feel invincible
Pain can let you know something is wrong
Pain is often a sign of growth
Pain can greatly contrast and enhance pleasure
Through the lens of empathy, pain can provide a vivid experience of others perspectives
We often try to avoid or ignore pain. But if we notice it and use it, pain can be useful.