Do you inspire your customers?

Think about inspirational leaders and brands.  Do you know why they inspire you?

Think about you and your business.  Are you inspirational?  Does your product, brand or service inspire your customers or clients?

Simon Sinek, anthropologist turned marketing professional, argues that inspiring others is all about why you do what you do - your purpose or your cause. It is not what you make or what you say that delivers the inspiration.

Find 20 minutes today to watch this video of Simon Sinek talking about his simple, but enlightening principle for inspirational leadership. He stresses the idea that people choose to do business with you because of the "why", not the "what"  - and his examples using Martin Luther King and Apple really help bring it home.

The New Faces of Social Media | Fast Company

Interesting article in Fast Company for marketers grappling with how to make the most of their social media marketing initiatives.


Key insights:
Identifying and engaging the influencers in your space, that matter to your target audience, can have dramatic impact on growing your brand awareness in a genuine way. This means someone your customer trusts is sticking up for you, spreading your ideas. 


As this article highlights, it is critical you take an authentic approach and partner with the influencers to bring interesting & relevant ideas to your customer, not just a promo for your product. Think longer-term about building relationships, not making a quick sale. Social media presents a unique opportunity to do that. Are you part of it? If not, get going!


The New Faces of Social Media | Fast Company

Aspirin or Vitamin?

Which one are you?  Are you (and your product or service) addressing a real, unmet need - a pain point that your target customers have & feel deeply, therefore making your solution a must-have?  Or, are you trying to sell a vitamin - a nice-to-have product or service?

You need to be the aspirin.

If you are a vitamin, consider how you could change your product, service or delivery of it in order to become an aspirin.  Your target audience will thank you, and reward you for it.

Fast Company addressed this very concept in a recent article.  Worth a read - the Felt Need.