8 Pillars

If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.

~Howard Schulz, CEO

1. Purpose…define your mission and vision. Write a *Mission Statement. Express your Mission Statement through all of your marketing.

*We read the book, "The Path" by Laurie Beth Jones to write ours.

Our Mission Statement is, "To create what only the heart can see with the quality only a few can produce."

Notice we put the heart first but left no excuses for poor workmanship.

2. Be unique…what makes you different? Why should I come to you? Show how you are different as it gives clients a reason to dig deeper and learn to love your brand. Don’t ever copy the competition. If you don’t differentiate, then you will be competing on price and that is not a good place to be.

3. Make it personal. Create relationships with your clients that are honest and respectful. Our clients have become our friends over the years. They send us photos of their kids and keep in touch to let us know what is going on in their lives. What a wonderful place to be!

4. Be memorable…Create amazing experiences that people want to share. Be delightful by design. We created a refreshment tray with all kinds of goodies on it for our clients. We also installed a beverage refrigerator with a clear glass door and filled it with all kinds of drinks. Our clients prefer to help themselves and enjoy picking out their favorite snacks and drinks. 

5. Be focused…you must be narrowly focused to break through the clutter. If you try to be too many things, you end up losing clarity and definition of your business. Loss of focus leads to brand failure and stretches you too thin. It's is called the TUF principle...TheUltimateFew...TUF

6. Simplicity…people’s attention spans are shrinking. You have less than10 seconds to make an impression. Less is more. Simple is better. We always say, "Do less. Do it better than anyone else."

7. Visuals matter…what about your product packaging? Does it enhance your brand or hurt it? Do your marketing materials look good and promote your brand the way you want it to be seen? Every “hit” matters!

8. Consistency…having a simple, core message and reinforcing it over and over again is smart. Repetition is vital for your brand to be understood. Consistency is also critical in your client's experience. People relax when they have a consistent experience and will return to those businesses. Read "The E-Myth" by Michael Gerber. It will revolutionize your thinking!