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In this episode, Chuck Anderson explores the power of branding with Anika Jackson, a seasoned branding expert and VP of PR and operations for a leading marketing agency. Anika shares valuable insights into understanding customer personas, refining brand messaging, and the significance of intentional partnerships for business growth.
Guest Bio:
Anika Jackson is a branding expert with extensive experience in marketing and promotion. As the VP of PR and operations for a marketing agency, she specializes in helping small businesses and minority entrepreneurs establish their brand identity and visibility through integrated marketing strategies.
Key Points Discussed:
- Importance of understanding customer personas and targeting specific segments before reaching a broader audience (06:12)
- Developing brand messaging, tone of voice, and identity before considering customer personas and social media channels (14:30)
- Necessity of fixing brand-related issues and establishing a well-structured ecosystem before pursuing big opportunities (21:45)
- Significance of collaboration, outside perspectives, and intentional partnerships in business (32:19)
- Offering a free 30-minute strategy session and the significant impact minor tweaks can have on branding (41:55)
Must-Read Book Recommendation:
"Secrets of the Sfrakhkar" by Eliza Reed and "Be Different or Be Dead" by Roy O'Singh
Guest's Website:
To learn more from Anika Jackson's expertise, schedule a free consultation with her ...
https://calendly.com/yourbrandamplified/30min
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Until next time, keep moving forward!
Chuck Anderson,
Hello everybody and welcome back. This is the Creative
Speaker:Collaboration Show with Chuck Anderson. And This is
Speaker:the show where we, we talk to business owners,
Speaker:entrepreneurs, and companies on a growth
Speaker:path out there trying to bring their mission to the world in the way
Speaker:that they're doing it, and we like to bring on guests who are experts
Speaker:in different areas of, You know, growing and
Speaker:scaling businesses. And today, I have Anika
Speaker:Jackson with me here today, and she is a
Speaker:branding And I'm not gonna say much more
Speaker:about, you than that, because I really want
Speaker:you to, You know, you we'll we'll get you to tell your story, and
Speaker:I think we're gonna also define what what is it what does branding
Speaker:actually mean, and I think that's a That's a great place to start this episode.
Speaker:So first of all, Annika, thank you for being here. This is amazing.
Speaker:I'm it's my pleasure to be here, Chuck. Thank you for having me. So
Speaker:that's the light introduction. So I always like people to tell their own story.
Speaker:So you you wanna go ahead and just let everybody know who you are
Speaker:and I'll try to keep it short. Yeah.
Speaker:I'm Annika Jackson, and, presently, I am also a podcast
Speaker:host. I have a podcast called Your Brand Amplified, And I also
Speaker:have a podcast and speaker series that I produce and cohost
Speaker:for USC Annenberg, so University of Southern California.
Speaker:Don't know where everybody is, so I wanna make sure they get the right USC,
Speaker:for, our one of our master's programs in digital
Speaker:media management, and that is called MediaScape. We interview digital changemakers.
Speaker:I am a VP of PR and operations for a
Speaker:marketing agency. I have an online program, and I'm a
Speaker:professor also at USC. So I do I wear a lot of hats, but they
Speaker:are all very connected. And I started out in
Speaker:this field in Kansas, growing up in Lawrence,
Speaker:Kansas, starting to promote music,
Speaker:DJs, clubs, because I love to go out, and it was a way for
Speaker:me to get free tickets and free entry into things and invite my friends
Speaker:along. And it just parlayed and snowballed from there into working
Speaker:for various marketing agencies, ad
Speaker:agencies, In house for magazines.
Speaker:I've I've had a very diverse career, and it's landed me back,
Speaker:after a few twists and turns in the Los Angeles area where
Speaker:I'm doing the things that I mentioned now. Mhmm. I love that
Speaker:origin story because, you know, it just started off as, you know,
Speaker:Something you wanted to do or something you're interested in. And who
Speaker:knows what's where that's going to take you. Exactly. It's kind of
Speaker:how I got started in this as well. I mean, a friend invited me over
Speaker:for dinner and, you know, and introduced me to affiliate marketing for
Speaker:the very first time. And, next thing I know,
Speaker:20 year plus years later, I'm still doing that, which is,
Speaker:which is a lot of fun. You just never know, you know, what doors are
Speaker:gonna open, when you when you go through them. And so that's,
Speaker:that's great. And so so so we wanna talk about branding in
Speaker:this in in this episode, and I know this is This is something in the
Speaker:agency work that you do, and and in your private, you
Speaker:know, consulting that you do. Branding is
Speaker:the, You know, the the thing that you're, you
Speaker:know, I would say known for. And so so so tell us a little
Speaker:bit about, like, kinda who are you working? First of all, what is branding? I
Speaker:mean, let's do that first, and then and then we'll kinda get, you know, and
Speaker:then we'll get into who needs it. Right? Well and I can kind
Speaker:of combine those. It's really interesting because I
Speaker:sometimes have small businesses, clients who are starting up or who want to
Speaker:shift from 1 industry to another come to me, And they have
Speaker:their idea and they say, I have a brand. What they really mean is they
Speaker:have a logo. They have a website. Maybe they've preserved a name on social
Speaker:media. That that's brand identity. It is not the
Speaker:ethos of a brand. A brand is so much deeper. A brand
Speaker:is the thoughts and feelings that are associated with the name of your
Speaker:company. When people see your logo, what do they feel?
Speaker:Right? And so it's the collective kind of impression
Speaker:a perception that potential customers have
Speaker:of who you are and what you do in the marketplace. And that could be
Speaker:a personal brand. It can also be a business. And so it's
Speaker:it's really interesting, and that's why I love the space because, as
Speaker:you mentioned, people usually think, oh, if I just Create these materials,
Speaker:then I can start my company, but you really have to go back. And this
Speaker:is something that I teach in my brand amplifier program, Going through the
Speaker:steps of creating your brand blueprint. So who are you? How do you
Speaker:show up for your purpose, your vision, your mission, your
Speaker:values? How do you want people to perceive you? What kind of
Speaker:language are you gonna use? Right? Yes. The identity pieces,
Speaker:the colors, the taglines, the comments, all
Speaker:those things make up what your brand is.
Speaker:I love that. I particularly
Speaker:love how you said it's it's really about how we
Speaker:want people to perceive us and how we want them to feel.
Speaker:And that is, that is a element of the
Speaker:conversation I really don't hear enough.
Speaker:It like you said, people are thinking about it in terms of their
Speaker:logo and their website, And I even know
Speaker:people who call themselves branding experts who are really, you know,
Speaker:website designers, But it's not it's more than that. Right?
Speaker:It's, you know, I always like to think of it is as what do
Speaker:I want to be known for And how do I want people to think of
Speaker:me? Is that kind of along the lines of what you're saying, or is it
Speaker:more than that? No. I mean, that's if you're gonna boil it all
Speaker:down, That's what it is. I I feel like we are
Speaker:all here for a reason, whether it's in our personal lives or in our business
Speaker:lives, And that purpose should be the driver behind everything you
Speaker:do, and somebody should be able to identify
Speaker:where where you stand in the marketplace against your competition Because they
Speaker:should be able to see what your values are, what your purpose is,
Speaker:how you show up. Yeah.
Speaker:I love that. So in your world, who are who who
Speaker:let's describe the kind of person who's coming to you for this kind of
Speaker:help. I mean, what are, You know, I would I'd say 2 parts to it.
Speaker:Like, what is the struggle? Maybe it's they they've already
Speaker:decided on that. They wanna do some branding, and they're trying to figure it all
Speaker:out. Maybe it's Maybe it's even earlier than that. And then what's sort of
Speaker:the desired outcome that they're hoping to achieve? So let's you know,
Speaker:who who do you find yourself working with And who's coming to you in
Speaker:this regard? And, I think it's there's a few different
Speaker:customer personas that I have for my brand, and it
Speaker:would include small businesses, particularly start ups. I work with a lot of
Speaker:minority entrepreneurs who are just starting out and trying to establish
Speaker:their businesses, whether that means they're working on funding streams,
Speaker:they wanna start a nonprofit as an offshoot of a brand they've Started.
Speaker:They just they wanna be seen for who they are and what they're trying to
Speaker:put out. So we always start with no matter where we are in the
Speaker:process, Somebody wants PR. They want social, whatever.
Speaker:I take it back to brand and figure out, do we know who you are?
Speaker:Do we know who you are compared to your competitors? Well, you
Speaker:know, we do a lot of analysis to see, like, what keywords are people
Speaker:saying when your name comes up or when your category comes up. What are the
Speaker:trends? What are people saying about your competition? So that then I can
Speaker:figure out what a good strategy is to make sure that that brand is
Speaker:being seen in the proper light. And so that's when we get into the the
Speaker:strategies and tactics of integrated marketing. But, yeah, I work with a wide
Speaker:variety, everything from my students. I teach PR and branding
Speaker:to the Brand Amplifier for Entrepreneurs program where I walk through the steps
Speaker:that I take with my retainer clients to get them to understand
Speaker:their brand before we put together a plan. I've worked with the
Speaker:retainer clients and then mostly entrepreneurs, but also workforce
Speaker:development and education. And so for every client, They they
Speaker:each have a unique challenge that we need to solve for, but a lot of
Speaker:times, it does come down to they know who they are
Speaker:Potentially. Right? They might need some help with that, but they are not being
Speaker:seen. And so how do we make sure that they're more visible and that
Speaker:their brand is representative of exactly how they wanna show up in the market. Mhmm.
Speaker:So that might mean we do some brand refresh work, tweaking messaging.
Speaker:You know, they might have a great purpose, mission, and vision, but they just might
Speaker:need a little bit of update in the verbiage, an update in
Speaker:the tagline that they're using, An update in, it could be
Speaker:that they need updated brand identity because they're a 40 year old brand and
Speaker:haven't done anything Since, you know, in the 4 past 4 years
Speaker:to update. So we we look at that. We really see
Speaker:from a holistic perspective what needs to be
Speaker:fixed or solved for or made a little bit shinier and better, and
Speaker:then we can take them to the next level. And a lot of
Speaker:it is that somebody has a perspective. They need a little bit more brand
Speaker:building, and then they need to be able to be seen whether that's
Speaker:through digital advertising, whether it's through their social media,
Speaker:whether it's through podcasting or other types of interviews. And so
Speaker:that way, we can then drive more people to see who they are, and then
Speaker:they get more recognition, and that leads to sales. I love
Speaker:that. Speaking of challenges, what are what are some of the challenges
Speaker:that these, you know, the, you know, the companies
Speaker:or the people that you're working with are are experiencing right
Speaker:now that's causing them to look at their brand as maybe the next
Speaker:thing that they need to To tackle or to to
Speaker:improve? I would say a big
Speaker:one is for particularly for clients because we work with a lot of
Speaker:adult education, so community college systems, career technical education,
Speaker:fields that are really growing, where we really need people.
Speaker:Right? And there's a lot of great jobs. So it's making sure
Speaker:that they are standing out against their competitors in a region
Speaker:and that they're getting the right students in and that they have the right
Speaker:employers on the other side that want to employ these students.
Speaker:So a lot of times, it is about making sure that they are attracting the
Speaker:students that they really want to the right programs, to get the right jobs,
Speaker:to make the money that will make a difference for their families, and and also
Speaker:regionally fulfill the needs, whether it's manufacturing,
Speaker:retail, you know, auto tech, Whatever it is in that
Speaker:region in terms of the economic factors. On the other
Speaker:side, it would also be sometimes they wanna attract more teachers.
Speaker:They don't have enough teachers for the number of students. You know,
Speaker:it could be that they need more English as a second language teachers or they
Speaker:need more people who are Helping people get their high school equivalencies,
Speaker:which is I don't know what if it's the same exact thing in Canada,
Speaker:as it is here in the States. Right? And then for
Speaker:other brands, it is that they have a product. It's really viable,
Speaker:but they might need some help being comfortable representing their
Speaker:brand. Because I find a lot of entrepreneurs wanna stay
Speaker:behind. They wanna, like, oh, my my brand's gonna do all the
Speaker:talking. But in order for you to get brand recognition, you have
Speaker:to be seen as the industry expert, the thought leader, the person
Speaker:who really understands and has a great Story as well.
Speaker:Right? The storytelling. Why did you create this brand?
Speaker:What compelled you? What need did you see in the market that now is going
Speaker:to help Be a solution for other people.
Speaker:You know, one of the things I like to think about after the challenges is
Speaker:what some of the mistakes are that That that are making and I think you
Speaker:said one right there is that, you know, they're they're trying to let their
Speaker:brand do all of the work too early.
Speaker:And they're not putting their selves out as much.
Speaker:And when we think about some of the bigger brands out there, I mean they've
Speaker:been around for know, 50 to a 100 years,
Speaker:they've done the branding work and it's branded. Right? So
Speaker:we, you know, but early stage, It's
Speaker:not so we have to really get it out there. So, is there
Speaker:any more to that mistake? And are there any other mistakes that you're seeing people
Speaker:make when it comes to their branding? Another
Speaker:one is maybe they haven't gone through the whole
Speaker:exercise of creating a Brand blueprint. Mhmm. So a lot of
Speaker:times, it's all about cohesion. Right? So if somebody
Speaker:goes to your social media and to your website or hears you speak
Speaker:On an interview, it should all look and feel the same. And
Speaker:a lot of times, people forget about social media engagement and
Speaker:connecting to your customer prospective customer through that. So they
Speaker:might have somebody more junior answering people's
Speaker:questions, and that person might not have the right tone of voice
Speaker:to represent the brand properly. And that's definitely a mistake we've seen and
Speaker:a very big missed opportunity. It's something that you have
Speaker:to spend time and intention on, but it's really important that you
Speaker:have that you're being, responsive Whether it's somebody
Speaker:messages you through your website, through your socials,
Speaker:whatever it is, right, that you're being responsive and that you're being responsive in a
Speaker:way that's going to give them Great information, relevant information right away
Speaker:and that's also in the tone of voice that represents who you are.
Speaker:And again, that tone of voice is gonna contribute to what you were saying earlier,
Speaker:and that is how do we want people to perceive us
Speaker:And how do we want them to feel when they
Speaker:experience Yeah. Our brand, our company, or
Speaker:Ourselves as as the founder or leader or spokesperson or,
Speaker:you know, the face of the company. I mean, and
Speaker:I think of some of my favorite brands, so many of them do have
Speaker:not they're not just a company, but there's there's there's a leader
Speaker:behind that company that we can also, So,
Speaker:associate with I always think about Wendy's, right, and Dave
Speaker:Thomas. I mean, you know, it's not it's not just a company that
Speaker:sells burgers. Right? I think of
Speaker:Dave Thomas when I think of Wendy's, right? And so,
Speaker:and I think that people ultimately want To do business with
Speaker:people, you know, the the people who are behind, you
Speaker:know, the companies. Right? Yeah. They they want the know,
Speaker:Trust and, you know, no trust and like factor. Mhmm. And
Speaker:so how much of that how much of that personality or how how
Speaker:important is it to have a A a person
Speaker:or a personality behind a company
Speaker:and its, you know, the brand that they're putting out there, in the
Speaker:marketplace? I think it's more and more important every day, especially with the
Speaker:younger generations. They really demand authenticity.
Speaker:They want to see, Do you is the person behind the brand,
Speaker:do you hold the same values that they hold? Right? Because that's part of their
Speaker:buy in. If They are very into environmentalism,
Speaker:but then they find out this brand that they love is funding
Speaker:horrible things and polluting, and that the person that is
Speaker:behind the brand is giving money to people to make sure that they can pollute,
Speaker:like, they're not going to support that brand anymore. So
Speaker:it's it's really important. It really is tied in, particularly since most
Speaker:businesses and organizations are small businesses. That's the
Speaker:backbone of America, whether it's United States or
Speaker:Canada. Right? And so people want
Speaker:to see who it is that they can form a relationship with you,
Speaker:so they can go, okay. This is something I can put my my money towards.
Speaker:This is somebody I can get into business with.
Speaker:Amazing. So what would be some of your,
Speaker:tips or advice for anyone listening in right now who It's like,
Speaker:okay. We've we've kind of defined the branding and its purpose and
Speaker:what its ultimate goal is. What are some of the next steps,
Speaker:or what are some of the things they need to be Thinking about next in
Speaker:terms of of, you know, getting their brand on
Speaker:point and achieving what they want out of it. Well, Well,
Speaker:I mentioned something a little earlier. So I'm you know, it's a really,
Speaker:short synopsis, I guess, but I talked about customer personas.
Speaker:And it's really important to think about who your ideal customers are so that
Speaker:you know where to find them because they're not going to live on every social
Speaker:media channel. Right? They're not gonna be everybody.
Speaker:Eventually, you might want to reach everybody, but you need to start with more specific
Speaker:examples. So I love to walk through exercises where we think about
Speaker:Who we are as a brand, what our messaging is, what our tone of
Speaker:voice is, are we playful, are we sophisticated, Are we
Speaker:irreverent? You know? What what how do we wanna come across when we're speaking to
Speaker:somebody? Because that's language you're gonna wanna put into your brand bible along
Speaker:with your identity and your colors, But then you get to your customer persona.
Speaker:So then how are you speaking to the customers and where are they living? What
Speaker:are their motivations? What are things that they're scared of?
Speaker:You know, how much money do they have to spend on our product or service?
Speaker:And so you rarely get into the heads, the psychological, the psychographics,
Speaker:the demographics of your consumers, Create some profiles. And
Speaker:then I always advise, yes, reserve every social media channel, but
Speaker:by no means do you need to post on everything. Post where your
Speaker:customers are most likely to live. Right? And so start thinking
Speaker:about what how what messages you wanna put out, content pillars. How do you
Speaker:wanna educate them and bring them along? How do you wanna share the your
Speaker:why with this audience? Mhmm. And so and that it it's not
Speaker:just social. It's What you're writing on your website. It's how you're showing up in
Speaker:the press. And then I have a lot of I mean, there's so many
Speaker:tips I can give, but one thing I also recommend is Go out and
Speaker:start talking about it, and don't be afraid.
Speaker:In PR, I always like to say we You know, just like a
Speaker:baby, you you usually crawl before you walk, before you run.
Speaker:So start with smaller platforms. Maybe look for an
Speaker:online Publication that's catered towards your audience. If it's
Speaker:like a women you know, you can look up, women
Speaker:women's owned magazines or women in business magazines, and you can find small
Speaker:ones that will take submissions. So maybe start there.
Speaker:Start writing out who you are, Then start start getting on some
Speaker:smaller podcasts. Then you start getting on bigger things and start getting bigger
Speaker:press. And it's a great way to build up your confidence in speaking and being
Speaker:the voice and the face of your brand. It's
Speaker:a great way to hone your messaging so that when you get the big
Speaker:opportunities, the big stages, that you really know how to dial
Speaker:in what you're going to say. And that's one of the best things that
Speaker:I I love to do because a lot of times, that that's the other thing
Speaker:people come and say, I have a brand. I'm ready for PR. I wanna be
Speaker:in Forbes. So, Paul, let's let's take a step back. Let's make sure that we
Speaker:have everything all these other things done first, You know that but it
Speaker:when somebody, when you do get informed that when somebody goes to your
Speaker:website, that they're going to see that you are exactly who you say you are.
Speaker:And then when they go to your social media, same thing. And when they download
Speaker:your product or they purchase your product, same thing. So we really wanna make
Speaker:sure that The whole ecosystem is really well put
Speaker:together and then start taking those baby steps. And sometimes then it
Speaker:goes boom really fast. Sometimes it takes a little longer, But
Speaker:it it all works really well. And if you take the
Speaker:time and intentionality to do it right the first time,
Speaker:then you're not going to make a lot of the mistakes. Right? Because you're really
Speaker:gonna know who you are. You're gonna know how what you stand for. You're going
Speaker:to know That maybe the those persons or that funding stream isn't your
Speaker:ideal client, your ideal sponsor, your ideal funder,
Speaker:And this other person is. And so I think it's really important because
Speaker:as you're creating your brand and being showing who you are,
Speaker:You're really able to figure those things
Speaker:out and show up authentically. And it's not about trying to
Speaker:be authentic. It's just that you are. Mhmm. I think the,
Speaker:the goal of trying to get into Forbes is a great a great example and
Speaker:you you talked about taking that step back. How often when
Speaker:you take that step back do you find that,
Speaker:oh, there's some additional work that we need to do here versus,
Speaker:Oh, okay. Yeah. This all looks good. Let's go for it. Yep.
Speaker:There's always additional work. There's always something that to be done. And to your
Speaker:point, some of the other things that we see a lot with clients are they
Speaker:need something fixed with their brand. They also
Speaker:honestly usually don't have a lot of time, And they might not have big budgets,
Speaker:so we have to figure out what's the framework, how do we stair step to
Speaker:get you where you wanna go. Mhmm.
Speaker:And further to that, k, so if you identify these things that need to
Speaker:be fixed, then my goal is to get into Forbes.
Speaker:I've I've heard so much, you know I I think entrepreneurs get tired
Speaker:sometimes, and business owners get tired. And it's like, okay. That's good enough. I'm
Speaker:just gonna go for it. But what would be the downside of just going for
Speaker:it versus fixing those things before
Speaker:applying to, you know, to get into Forbes?
Speaker:Yeah. Well, are you showing up the way you really wanna show
Speaker:up? Right? That's the biggest question. Mhmm. If you get
Speaker:into Forbes, are people going or Do all of your links work on your
Speaker:website so that people can purchase easily? Is it easier for them to
Speaker:find the button to click through to join your mailing list or to get more
Speaker:information a product or service. So if you haven't
Speaker:fixed those things and you start getting traffic, people are
Speaker:immediately not going to trust your brand. So then it doesn't really matter what you
Speaker:say in the next article or the next thing or the
Speaker:advertising campaign you do because people will already have a bad
Speaker:taste about your brand. Yeah. It
Speaker:sounds like that's the the worst thing that can happen is that they actually do
Speaker:pick you up and put you out there, But put you out there
Speaker:with things that are either broken or
Speaker:not really, you know, Conducive to your overall goal and
Speaker:what you you wanna get. And that yeah. I mean, not to rush it.
Speaker:And just with all of this, just in listening to you, it really sounds
Speaker:like There there is benefit to, to working
Speaker:with someone versus doing it all yourself and I just know so many
Speaker:business owners and entrepreneurs who, You know, they're they're they
Speaker:do too much themselves. And, you know, my listeners know I'm big
Speaker:on collaboration and partnerships and finding somebody
Speaker:to work with. So, you know, 2 things,
Speaker:I think, you know, with this. 1 is
Speaker:what are the benefits to Working
Speaker:with somebody on the branding versus trying to do it all
Speaker:yourself and piece it all together. And, and and
Speaker:then also, like, what, You know, and and we'll take that further because,
Speaker:you know, how do how does, you know, collaborating in your
Speaker:business play a role in in in what you wanna And
Speaker:so so it's kind of 2 things there. 1 is on the branding, but also
Speaker:just in collaboration overall, finding someone to work with.
Speaker:It's anytime that somebody else can look at what you're doing and
Speaker:give you another perspective, I think is fantastic. A lot of times, I've
Speaker:worked I've worked with people who Have you been been in business 20 years
Speaker:and been in the same business and just wanted said, you know, something's not
Speaker:quite right? So we tested out some things, went through some of the
Speaker:exercises, and they realized they were not going after the right audience
Speaker:and that their messaging was drawing in an audience they didn't want. So they were
Speaker:able to course correct a little bit. Mhmm. Right? And so it's the beauty.
Speaker:Even myself as a marketer and brander and
Speaker:publicist, I need other people to take a look and say, okay. What do you
Speaker:what am I missing, or what do you see when you look at this? Because
Speaker:I You it's better to have those eyeballs. Otherwise, it's like,
Speaker:the cobbler with no shoes, right, or the emperor with no clothes.
Speaker:So I think it's always really good to get an outside perspective. It doesn't have
Speaker:to be cost prohibitive to do so. Right? There are a lot
Speaker:of great people you can work with, And collaboration is
Speaker:everything. There are you know, you can say there are a
Speaker:1000000 online courses you can take or programs you can buy. We'll teach you how
Speaker:to do x y z, but they're gonna be 1 piece of the puzzle, not
Speaker:the whole puzzle. And if you can get somebody who's an expert in their field,
Speaker:Why not work with them? I've I've been, talking
Speaker:to a lot of people and making a list of who the experts are that
Speaker:I wanna work with next year, and the year
Speaker:beyond and you know? Okay. What's the budget? So I need to figure
Speaker:out what point I'm going to be able to afford their services, but I'm identifying
Speaker:that now so that I can work towards that because I know
Speaker:they're gonna do it a lot better than I can.
Speaker:Yeah. And and that is so true. I mean,
Speaker:as a reformed do it yourselfer,
Speaker:I can say, you know, things things get done
Speaker:so much easier when when I get people who are
Speaker:Skilled in the way that they are to do what they
Speaker:do because, you know, it, a, it takes that thing off my plate,
Speaker:but, b, They may have a unique skill set where
Speaker:I'm kind of okay, but they're great. Yeah. Exactly. And they
Speaker:can do things in a fraction of the time. And and I
Speaker:think, you know, so many of us, business owners, entrepreneurs,
Speaker:Whether it be for profit or nonprofit or, you know,
Speaker:educational, sometimes we we we do too much. We do
Speaker:too much. And Collaboration and partnership is I really
Speaker:think is the the key. What do you look for when you
Speaker:when you're looking for, someone to collaborate within your
Speaker:business. Well, I I
Speaker:think we've covered quite a bit of it. I I look for I mean, I
Speaker:do a lot of research. I mean, for instance, I'm collaborating with you
Speaker:right now and it's been a year since I heard a podcast that you were
Speaker:on, but what you said to the point of
Speaker:branding resonated with me. It showed me who you were.
Speaker:I went and did a little bit of research. I reached out to you after
Speaker:hearing you on somebody else's podcast. So
Speaker:that that really does work for anybody who's listening. Oh, yes.
Speaker:Definitely get on shows. And then, and then you and I
Speaker:had conversation, and then I've been on your list. And I've come to a few
Speaker:of your workshops, and now we're working together. Mhmm. Right? So I
Speaker:wanna make sure that the people I'm working with aren't just Trying to
Speaker:be overtly sales y and just get my money in the door.
Speaker:Right? I wanna work with people who I know are really genuine, authentic, really love
Speaker:what they do. And then I know that what they're so much
Speaker:smarter in that area than I am that it would be
Speaker:I'll I'll end up spending more money and making more mistakes
Speaker:if I don't work with them. And I've made that mistake before.
Speaker:So I think that story of how you and I connected is
Speaker:is a great example of, look, you don't have to rush into things, and we
Speaker:don't have to, you know, go and, oh, it's the
Speaker:Black Friday special, so we need to go and, we need to go and take
Speaker:advantage of this right now. We there's so many you know, so
Speaker:much slick marketing, You know, offers that are just it
Speaker:just feels like we're gonna miss out. And what I really hear
Speaker:you saying is, you know, you do your due diligence and, you know,
Speaker:Bring people in intentionally and not just because there's a great
Speaker:offer, in in front of them. And I'm much the same way
Speaker:in in how I collaborate with people. And To add to
Speaker:what you said, I think another great test is, you know,
Speaker:when you compare what somebody is
Speaker:offering now And what they were offering a year ago,
Speaker:is it the same thing or is it completely different? And I
Speaker:think We used to use this in advertising all the time when we
Speaker:were, analyzing our competition
Speaker:is how long have they been advertising that thing? Has it been a
Speaker:week, a month, or has it been several
Speaker:years? And I think that people who are really solid
Speaker:don't change that much. They keep offering,
Speaker:you know, who they were a year ago or 2 years ago is the
Speaker:same Because what they do works versus
Speaker:always looking for the new offer, the new thing, oh, I've got
Speaker:this new program. And I've worked with enough coaches
Speaker:and experts to know when there's a new program, the new program
Speaker:almost always, With some exceptions, because sometimes there is inspiration
Speaker:or some new thing that can definitely come online,
Speaker:but so often it's Motivated by
Speaker:the previous stuff that didn't work. Oh, interesting.
Speaker:Yeah. It's Something I'm gonna continue to watch and
Speaker:study. Right? But, but I I think consistency
Speaker:sells. Yeah. And Branding, when when you brand your
Speaker:you're not gonna change your brand every month. Right? And so that that's definitely gonna
Speaker:add to the consistency. So, Now we
Speaker:big on collaboration and partnership. We see you as somebody
Speaker:who's awesome to collaborate with As, you know, especially with
Speaker:everything that we've talked about here and I think I would
Speaker:highly encourage anyone who, You know, if your branding
Speaker:isn't working for you or if you have questions and you're trying to figure out
Speaker:like how can my branding contribute to a better
Speaker:result, I think a great thing for you to do is to reach out to
Speaker:Annika, and we've got her links right beneath this video and in the
Speaker:podcast show notes. What's the best way to connect with you? Do you
Speaker:do you have, like, a freebie or do you book a call or what what
Speaker:is it that you do? Yeah. I I offer a free 30 minute strategy
Speaker:session that they can book right on my Calendly. That's the easiest way.
Speaker:And in 30 minutes, you'd be surprised we can get so much done.
Speaker:I I when even when I'm teaching, I do office hours with my
Speaker:students, and I've had students who work at agencies come back and say, I have
Speaker:a big Proposal for Whole Foods. Here's our product, and
Speaker:we'll just take half an hour and walk through okay. Let's look at the
Speaker:products other products. Are the differentiators between what you're offering?
Speaker:How do we make that a compelling offer for Whole Foods? And so I
Speaker:use this And it's really easy and it you know, little tweaks in
Speaker:language, little little tweaks here, little tweaks there. It doesn't necessarily mean that
Speaker:you need to blow up your brand completely. And so that's a really great place
Speaker:to start, and I love I'm so passionate. Like, I love teaching,
Speaker:and I love sharing with people. So Happy to jump on
Speaker:with anybody. They can schedule right at that link, and,
Speaker:it's never a better time than now. And there's no I'm not a sales
Speaker:y person, so There's no obligation. Absolutely. Like, do
Speaker:it because it's a good fit for you. And, I think if
Speaker:you're listening to us still at this point that What we've been talking
Speaker:about resonates with you, so, so take that
Speaker:next step. And, and then, you know, have that
Speaker:Call with Anika and then email me. Let me know. How did it go? What
Speaker:did you learn? How did it make a difference in your business? And
Speaker:I know in the conversations you and I have had,
Speaker:you know, it it makes a makes a difference on on both
Speaker:sides. So so, and and So you're
Speaker:definitely now in our list of people to collaborate
Speaker:with. Yay. So Look, you
Speaker:know, we could go on, we could do an entire workshop, we could
Speaker:do an entire one day event just on this topic.
Speaker:Before we run out of time and we want to bring this
Speaker:episode to a close, I want to ask you because so much
Speaker:Of this journey of being a, a business
Speaker:consultant, a business owner, an investor, it's
Speaker:been as as much as it's been a business growth
Speaker:exercise, it's also been a personal growth exercise. And I've
Speaker:learned so much from, courses and mentors and
Speaker:books. And so I wanna ask you,
Speaker:if there was 1 book, and I know it's hard to just recommend 1,
Speaker:But if there was just 1 book that you would recommend to our listeners
Speaker:as a must read or a next read, which one would you
Speaker:recommend? And I do I did bring 2 books.
Speaker:Nice. Okay. Share 2. Go go for it. Well, 1 is by Eliza Reed, the
Speaker:first lady of Iceland. It's called Secrets of the Sfrakhkar. Is
Speaker:a name for, extraordinary women. And so it's about
Speaker:Iceland's extraordinary women and how they're changing the world. And so that's more of an
Speaker:inspirational, for me, book to think about how people change the
Speaker:world and what what is their special spark and magic. The other
Speaker:one is by a Canadian, Roy O'Singh, and it's called be
Speaker:different or be dead. And he was an executive
Speaker:at TELUS and took it to $1,000,000,000 in revenue
Speaker:company. So he he but through audacious
Speaker:leadership. So he really talks about don't Do things within the
Speaker:box. Think about other ways to do things, other approaches
Speaker:in servant leadership, and he it's a really great informative book. I'm actually
Speaker:giving copies to all of my students, in my class
Speaker:tomorrow. But yeah. So so that's one that I think is a
Speaker:really good book for anybody to read who's thinking about How they want
Speaker:to structure their company, their business, not
Speaker:the physical or the, you know, the structure, the operational structure,
Speaker:but how you want to show up and how you wanna do things. That will
Speaker:really make a difference, create compelling narratives and offers,
Speaker:and get you to $1,000,000,000 in sales. Amazing.
Speaker:I love those recommendations for a couple of reasons. Number 1, I
Speaker:they're they're both in alignment with what I care deeply about,
Speaker:and that is our businesses should be world changing
Speaker:or should maybe not the right word, but could be. I mean, there's so
Speaker:much good needs to be done in the world, and I, you know, we're
Speaker:we're very pro, social entrepreneurship.
Speaker:How do our companies contribute to a better Society,
Speaker:community, country, world, etcetera, and both of those
Speaker:books I think, you know, are so in alignment with that And I've never heard
Speaker:of either of them. I've you know, so, yeah.
Speaker:Wow. So I've not only are we gonna put the link beneath this video
Speaker:and in the in the podcast show notes there for anyone else who wants to
Speaker:check them out. I'm gonna check those out as well. And,
Speaker:that thank you so much for those recommendations. And and so,
Speaker:and I can tell that they're both very personal to you, which is which is
Speaker:wonderful as well. Anika, this has been great. I mean, this there's
Speaker:been we've covered So much ground in a short period of time and I know
Speaker:there's more that we could do. I highly recommend that people do reach out to
Speaker:you and connect with you. As we bring this episode to a close,
Speaker:is there any final piece of advice or words of wisdom you wanna leave with
Speaker:our audience? Well, when when when you come on
Speaker:my show, I always ask my last question isn't booked. It's what do you have
Speaker:a favorite quote or mantra or motto? And mine is be
Speaker:kind whenever possible. It is always possible in the Dalai Lama.
Speaker:And I that's one of my values of my personal and
Speaker:professional brands, And it's something we we can all use a little more
Speaker:kindness these days. We can always use a little more
Speaker:of thinking about what somebody else might be going through instead of just
Speaker:reacting and being gentle with each other. So I'll just leave it
Speaker:with that. I felt every word of that. So be kind
Speaker:whenever possible, it's always possible, those are great words
Speaker:to end this episode by. So Anika, thank you. And
Speaker:to our listeners, thank you for being here as well, and I
Speaker:sincerely hope that this has been inspiring for you. I know
Speaker:you're on your journey of of taking your,
Speaker:enterprise, your business, your big idea to the world and
Speaker:And and you're gonna change the world with what you're doing, and you might just
Speaker:be 1 good partnership or collaboration away from
Speaker:that big result or that big impact that you are looking,
Speaker:to make. So keep moving forward. Keep being awesome,
Speaker:and, we'll see you on the next one. Thank you,
Speaker:everybody. Thank you, Anika. This has been Chuck Anderson with the Creative
Speaker:Collaboration Show.
