 What is freedom for you? For me, freedom is having the opportunity to be an entrepreneur and pursuing the things about which I am passionate. How can fear of the unknown, those ups and downs that all entrepreneurs experience still translate into a feeling of freedom?
Bravery and freedom are not an absence of fear. As an entrepreneur, I have plenty of fear. There are definitely things that keep me up at night. I know I will make mistakes. I know I may have days, weeks, months when I wonder how I will pay the bills. I know there will be mornings when I'm thinking what in the heck did I get myself into! I know some days will be an uphill battle to keep moving forward. I know I will experience small failures and I know there is a risk of completely failing. But, I accept those risks not because I am without fear, but because I am free to work at something I am passionate about. I am free to make and learn from those mistakes and failures. And I'm free to taste and enjoy my successes. Entrepreneurship takes us down some scary, bumpy paths and we may have days when we want to throw in the proverbial towel. But we don’t because we know that with hard work, a little bit of luck, some flops and all that learning, we are building something we love and we crave the freedom building our businesses gives us. Again, I ask you, what is freedom for you?
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 By Robyn Adair; istockphoto.com photo
We’ve talked about the brand promise being part of the brand definition. But there is more to a brand than the promise. What are brand perceptions and expectations and how do they define a brand? Brands are built by consumers. How your customers perceive your brand is what defines that brand. Once your customer has a certain perception about your brand, they will have certain exceptions from your brand. If your brand doesn’t meet those expectations during every interaction, you will confuse and alienate the very people to whom you are trying to appeal. Your now ex-customer will turn to another product or service that fulfills their perceptions and expectations. To illustrate this idea of perceptions and expectations, let’s take a look at Dove’s recent social media mishap. Dove’s brand promise is “helping all women realize their true beauty potential.” Their Real Beauty campaign was a solid success when the company initially implemented it. The campaign celebrated all women: all ages, body types, skin color. We perceived Dove as a brand that was for all women; it was a confidence boost, a statement that we all have worth, that we are all included. We expected future campaigns would continue to promote that inclusiveness. However, a recent social media ad showed that even big brands can screw up in a big way. The beginning of the clip asked if we were ready to get clean and goes on to show an African American woman removing her dark t-shirt and then morphs into a white woman in a lighter t-shirt. The perception is, well… you get the perception. The ad falls well short of consumers’ perceptions and expectations of the Dove brand. The ad was quickly removed amid a large outcry from consumers and Dove later apologized for their tone-deafness. And I sincerely doubt a racist ad was their intention. This is a great illustration, though, of how consumers’ perceptions and expectations can shape a brand. Think about your brand. How is it perceived? What expectations do your customers/clients have of that brand? Does your brand meet those expectations every time?  According to the SHRM Foundation, 35% of those in the US labor force will be 50 or older by 2022. Approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day. What does this mean? We have an aging workforce. And this workforce has experience and knowledge businesses should be utilizing and exploring. The SHRM Foundation offers these aging workforce strategy goals: 1) keep your older workers as long as possible and keep them engaged; 2) If they are retiring, have them help pass their knowledge on to younger workers; 3) Take advantage of their skills after their retire through consulting or part-time employment; and 4) Recruit older talent. Just because potential recruits are of a “certain age” doesn’t mean they do not have the chops for the job! To learn more, check out the SHRM Foundation.
 What is a brand promise? It is the emotional tie from your clients’ and prospects’ perceptions of your product or service to the actual product or service. Disney’s brand promise is “magical experiences abound.” Dove’s brand promise is “helping all women realize their personal beauty potential.” Subaru’s is one word and simple: “love.” What is the common denominator? All three appeal to emotion. As much as we would all like to believe we approach purchase rationally and with common sense, the fact is we are swayed by our emotions. It’s what makes us human! So when we see the commercial about the aging process of the beloved family dog—and we are dog lovers—it affects our emotions and potentially our wallets when we buy that particular brand of dog food. When we see a print ad and see someone who looks like us, it affects our emotions and, again, potentially our wallets when we buy that particular brand of soap or moisturizer. Take a look at your brand. What is your brand promise? Even if your product is light bulbs, you have a brand promise. Your clients and prospects have experience with light bulbs, others and yours. What is that emotional tie? Just a reminder, if you are attending the Wisconsin State SHRM conference, I will be speaking about brand promises and branding your wellness program for success on October 12 at 6:30 a.m. Sensia will also have a booth there and I’d love to meet you!
 I am excited to announce that I will be speaking at the Wisconsin State SHRM Conference on October 12 about branding your wellness program for success. If you are a HR professional who is in charge of your company’s wellness program or are on a wellness committee, I invite you to join me on October 12 to learn about creating a wellness brand and how to craft and tell a wellness brand story that will create brand ambassadors among your employees!
Click here for conference details  I’ve talked about this before and it’s something I say to my runners regularly: running is about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. My dad once asked me if I ever experienced a runner’s high. I laughed because the only time I typically experience a runner’s high is when I can see the finish line! Actually, I have probably only experienced it a couple of times, that state where you feel like you can run forever, nothing hurts, everything is going right, and you’re grateful to just be out in nature and enjoying the scenery. However, most of the time, I’m not loving running when I’m running. Everything hurts for the first mile and a half (sometimes the first 2 miles!) After that point, I’m thinking about mile splits, pace and when will this be done! And yet, I do love running but I think I’m more drawn to that great feeling I experience when I’m done with my run. My mood is better, I feel healthier, and if I’m tired, it’s that good tired that I know will also offer me a good night’s sleep later on. A long run is outside of my comfort zone. A tempo run is outside of my comfort zone. Track workouts are outside of my comfort zone. I have been training for races for the past five years. When you’re training, you're training outside of your comfort zone. That is how you improve.
Being an entrepreneur involves being outside of your comfort zone as well. We are networking, selling, planning, marketing, budgeting, targeting, hustling. And if we are solopreneurs, we are doing it all ourselves, which definitely can throw anyone out of their comfort zone. The key is to get comfortable with that discomfort. Discomfort won’t kill you. You will not die of embarrassment from being a little uncomfortable. What’s the worst thing that can happen? I ask my athletes that question and many times, they are afraid of coming in last. But if you never start, you will never finish, will you? If you stay within your comfort zone, you will never grow, as a runner or an entrepreneur. Will there be pain? If you’re racing at your full potential, then yup, there will be pain. But you survive! Is there pain when you’re freaking out about your accounts payables versus your bank account balance? Or because you aren’t sure you should even be self-employed? Yes, there’s that quickening of the heart that momentarily makes you feel as though you are experiencing a cardiac event. But it passes, until the next time you're worrying about another aspect of your business. The point is, eventually you learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. And then you continue to move forward! How have you faced discomfort in your life, whether in the athletic arena or in business? If you’re doing any video and using a DSLR, you’ll want to get yourself an external microphone. While today’s DSLRs shoot very nice video, the microphone is not great and the produced sound tends to sound as though those you are recording are sitting in a metal garbage can—very tinny and a lot of echo. You can purchase external mikes but they can be expensive. I recently started shooting video and instead of purchasing an external microphone, I decided to use my iPhone. Don’t discount your iPhone as an external mike—the sound quality is surprisingly good! To make things easier, I downloaded an app called Voice Record Pro (available on iTunes). The app is free and the files are downloadable from your phone and can be imported into iMovie, which is the video editing tool that I use. The audio quality is wonderful and the app is very easy to use. The only thing I did do is purchase a small tabletop tripod for my iPhone so it sits upright during recording. You can see it in the photo. Free, easy to use, good quality: what more can a girl ask for! So, the Voice Record Pro app is my Friday Find and Fave. If you’re starting to do some video, be sure to check it out! Here are the links:
Voice Record Pro Kenu iPhone tripod  Daymond John’s “The Power of Broke” isn’t necessarily a collection of new advice but rather common sense offered in an authentic, easy to read book that also adds his own SHARK Point Basics. The book tells the stories of a variety of entrepreneurs, as well as offering up John’s entrepreneurial story. It also preaches that being broke should make us hungrier for success. When we are handed something without struggling for it, we waste those resources.
I found several favorite stories in the book, including the story about about professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek. Johns says Dyrdek ultimately found success by “being real, being genuine, and being relentless in pursuit of what he wanted.” “Relentless in pursuit..." Isn’t that what perseverance is? As business owners and entrepreneurs, there are always going to be times when we want to give up. No matter how hard we work, how much we try, where we advertise or how we market, we meet with resistance of some sort. It’s those times when we need to persevere… be relentless in pursuit of what we want. It is the same when training for a race, no matter the distance. We have to be relentless in every detail, from nutrition to training, from rest to mindset. If we want to PR or get on the age group podium, we need to persevere through the crappy runs, bad weather and time management issues that crop up. This doesn’t mean we overtrain or run through injuries—it means we persevere through those difficulties. It is the same in entrepreneurship. Do you know what you want? Do you know your purpose? If you want it bad enough, you need to persevere. As Monday’s quote said, “Perseverance is not all one race; it is many short races one after the other.” In training for a race, you have many short “races” you do before your actual race: speed work, easy runs, nutrition, adequate rest… all of the things you need to work toward a PR. As a business owner, you are going to have short races every day as well: finances, marketing, getting your product out the door, paying your employees. You keep working toward what you want. You persevere. You relentlessly pursue your goal. Are you a small business owner without a marketing department? Are you frustrated or confused about marketing your business? Contact me to develop a marketing plan, marketing budget, or marketing content calendar that will help make your life a little easier!  I recently watched a great TED talk by Caroline Paul about encouraging girls be adventurous. My most recent adventure was biking the Elroy-Sparta trail; however, I grew up riding horses. As a matter of fact, from ages 4 to probably 7, I was turfed on a daily basis by a recalcitrant (i.e. typical LOL!) Shetland pony who found great joy and pleasure in finding new and innovative ways to have me meet the dirt. My parents were always watching but they weren’t overprotective by any means. If I fell off, I was expected to get up and get back on unless I was seriously hurt (which never happened; mostly, my pride was a bit dented!) So that’s what I did.
It’s that lesson that I took with me into adulthood as well. If you fell off, you got up, dusted yourself off and got back on, whether it was a failed relationship, a job loss, a business setback. I tried to raise my daughter in the same way. Yes, I told her to be careful when she was heading into situations where, as a female, you just need to pay attention (an unfortunate fact of life, but a fact nonetheless.) When she fell off one of the horses, I asked her if she was okay and then boosted her back up on the horse. I believe it’s a lesson that has helped her succeed with her new business and her life. She is willing to adventure outside of her comfort zone and take risks, just like her momma. What about you? Were your parents always telling you to be careful when you went outside to play? If they encouraged you to be adventurous, how do you think that has helped you succeed in life?  What is your one thing? Your purpose? This is the question Gary Keller’s book, “The One Thing” asks of you. I just finished the it and although “The One Thing” and my SELF Journal are not related, they do intertwine.
Keller’s philosophy is we need to find our one big thing. This is our purpose and we need to set priorities in order to achieve that purpose. The priorities are the steps we must take to realize our purpose. This is not unlike the SELF Journal philosophy, which asks us to choose a big goal(s). We then set down the steps and daily targets we need to do to achieve that big goal. Both philosophies stress that we should not live for the “to do list” nor should we place importance on multi-tasking our way through life. We should instead focus on the end goal, our One Thing, and do the daily steps necessary to reach that destination. Keller says, “Live with purpose and you know where you want to go. Live by priority and you’ll know what to do to get there.” Makes sense, doesn’t it? If you get a chance, pick up the book. It will make you think about your purpose and maybe help you do more than go through the motions of the day. |
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