A Brand Identity|The Stamp of Creativity

#askmorequestions for the week of April 19, 2010. Follow me @sam101.

MONDAY
What are some opportunities you missed the first time they presented themselves?
What chance can you take today?
How kind have you been to those around you?
How have you managed your time lately?
What things make your days seem important?
What have you learned most recently through reflection?
Is your dream clear and big enough?

TUESDAY
Are you willing to do whatever it takes to reach your dreams?
What do you expect from today?
What do you expect from this week?
What do you expect from this year?
What do you expect from life?
Will achieving your goals lead you closer to your dreams?
What are you learning today?

WEDNESDAY
How much time do you invest in continuing education?
What are the greatest pleasures in your life?
How often do you encourage the people in my life?
Who can you encourage today?
What do you think about?
What makes me most effective?
How persistent am you?

THURSDAY
What are you capable of that you don’t do?
What would you most like to accomplish today?
What is the most powerful positive thought you’ve had today?
When are you the happiest?
What are your real dreams?
What are you doing about reaching your dreams?

FRIDAY
How much time do you spend trying to improve yourself?
What can you improve about yourself today?
How often do you say “Thank you”?
How will you show your gratitude to others today?
What are your talents?
Are you using your talents?
If you are not using your talents, why not?

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I challenged my Twitter followers to ask more questions in their life. Follow #askmorequestions and tweet your answers. You can post your answers here too.

#askmorequestions for the week of April 12, 2010

MONDAY

• In what situations are you the most creative?
• How can you expand your creativity?
• What is the most exciting opportunity you have today?
• What are your most creative abilities?
• Which creative abilities do you use?
• Which creative abilities do you neglect?
• Which do you say more often “yes” or “no”?

TUESDAY

• What challenges do you face today?
• How will you plan to respond to the challenges you face today?
• What have you read lately?
• Do you read a variety of things?
• What do you want to accomplish today?
• What do you want to accomplish this week?

WEDNESDAY

• What is the best use of your time today?
• Do you allow time for the truly important tasks in life?
• Do you get caught up in the urgent tasks and forget the important ones?
• What questions should you ask yourself today?
• What do you worry about?
• What do you really want from today and in life?
• How do you make the time for what you really want in life?

THURSDAY

• What brings you your greatest joy?
• How do you describe joy?
• What does “joy” feel like to you?
• Is it possible to be a failure at something you love?
• Are you asking the right questions of yourself?
• Who do you want to spend your most fun moments with?
• How do you enjoy life?

FRIDAY

• Do you have meaningful goals?
• What do you do best?
• What is today worth to you?
• What will you do today to make your day more valuable to yourself and those you love?
• How does persistence relate to your life?
• What positive came from your biggest challenge?
• Do you consider yourself a misfit in any way?

BONUS QUESTIONS

• How patient and brave are you?
• What have you gotten recently that you thought you wanted until you got it?
• What do you want to accomplish this year?
• What do you want to accomplish in life?
• What events in your life might have gone differently if you had said yes?
• What events in your life might have gone differently if you had said no?

See earlier abi post, “It Is Easy To Underestimate The Power Of Questions”.

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Last Friday, I challenged my followers on Twitter “to ask more questions”. Now I want to add value by making them and you think. Follow “#askmorequestions” and tweet your answers.

Here are the first of many questions to come during the event, I have added my answers/tweets in bold:

#askmorequestions In what situations are you the most creative?

• In the evenings, in the shower & at bed time-I keep a pen/pad by the bed at all time-be prepared
• Check out- http://www.thebrain.com/?gclid=CMrayrb0gaECFUqF7QodEHtpvw

#askmorequestions How can you expand your creativity?

• Brainstorms w/o editing-no idea is too stupid-don’t interrupt the creative flow.
• Check out-http://www.copyblogger.com/mental-blocks-creative-thinking/

#askmorequestions What is the most exciting opportunity you have today?

• I have the opportunity to live in the present moment.

#askmorequestions What are your most creative abilities?

• Creative vision-I often see my logos completed before ever starting a design.

#askmorequestions Which creative abilities do you use?

• My ability to conceptualize is my strongest creative quality.

#askmorequestions Which creative abilities do you neglect?

• The “challenge” sometimes I play it safe miss reaching the next level.

#askmorequestions Which do you say more often “yes” or “no”?

• I try to manage both yes and no–to many yeses doesn’t do anyone any flavors-especially me!

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BECOME A PART OF THE REVOLUTION … click here

Right, this has nothing to do with marketing – or does it? Social Marketing – hmm….

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Questions are strong attractors of ideas; they gather, focus, attract and energize a conversation. They have the power to break our current mindsets. They hold the key between not knowing and our desire to know. Knowledge emerges around good questions. Questions energize our conversations, draw people into the circle to participate and gather diverse opinions. Questions gather information, views and opinions. They gather ideas and reinforce learning. They assess learning and stimulate action. They help obtain feedback. Questions can help you to reflect on the past and focus on the future.

• How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
• Which is worse, failing or never trying?
• If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
• When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
• What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
• If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
• Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
• If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
• To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
• Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
• You’re having lunch w/3 people you respect & admire.  They start criticizing a friend, not knowing she is your close friend.  The criticism is distasteful and unjustified.  What do you do?
• If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
• Would you break the law to save a loved one?
• Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
• What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
• How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
• What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?  What’s holding you back?
• Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
• If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
• Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
• Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
• Why are you, you?
• Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
• Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
• What are you most grateful for?
• Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
• Is “is” possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
• Has your greatest fear ever come true?
• Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset?  Does it really matter now?
• What is your happiest childhood memory?  What makes it so special?
• At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
• If not now, then when?
• If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
• Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
• Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
• Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
• If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
• Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
• Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
• When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
• If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
• Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
• What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
• When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
• If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
• What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
• When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
• What do you love?  Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
• In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday?  What about the day before that?  Or the day before that?
• Decisions are being made right now.  The question is:  Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

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Driving Home a Dirty Message – is.gd/zgaJ

HBO Appeals to Voyeuristic Instincts – is.gd/zgdD

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Developing time management skills is a journey that needs practice along the way.

Become aware of how you use your time as one resource in organizing, prioritizing, and succeeding in the context of your life: activities, work, family, etc.

Ask:  How do I spend my time each day?

Using your time wisely: Plan for blocks of time on your schedule to accomplish your goals.

Using your time wisely: Challenging material may require more frequent breaks to refresh your mind and body.

Using your time wisely: Plan blocks of time when you are most productive, as morning person or night owl!

Using your time wisely: Schedule weekly reviews and updates on your goals and strategies.

Using your time wisely: Sunday night is an excellent time to review your calendar for the week.

Using your time wisely: Be mindful that as deadlines approach, you must adapt.

Using your time wisely: Learn to prioritize, delegate, eliminate and postpone non-essential tasks when facing a critical deadline.

Using your time wisely: Created the habit of beginning with the most difficult task.

Using your time wisely: Build in “reaction time” when you can get feedback on tasks and assignments before they are due.

Using your time wisely: Don’t work out the details until your concept is fully developed.

Using your time wisely: Remove “Perfection” from your vocabulary – roughly draft your idea and proceed from there.

Using your time wisely: Develop alternative places free from distractions to maximize concentration

Using your time wisely: Use your “free” time wisely.

Using your time wisely: Review notes and research prior to meetings, being prepared speeds up tasks.

Effective aids in using your time wisely: Create a simple “To Do” list.

Effective aids in using your time wisely: Daily and weekly planners.

Effective aids in using your time wisely: Write down appointments and meetings and stop relying on your memory.

Effective aids in using your time wisely: First thing in the morning, check what’s ahead for the day; always end the day knowing that you’re prepared for tomorrow.

Effective aids in using your time wisely: Long-term planner so that you can plan ahead.

Effective aids in using your time wisely: Long-term planners also serve as a reminder to constructively plan time for yourself to recharge!

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Building relationships is about building trust and reputation.

Effective networking is about choosing the best person to approach, determine the best networking technique and determine the best networking strategy.

Prepare yourself to have successful conversation. Create 3 Q’s regarding the event or something you want to know.

Prepare yourself to have successful conversation. Focus on general subjects to open conversations like weather, sports, theater etc.

The best way to remember a name is to get it upfront and use it several times in the first few statements.

Unwanted behaviors: 1. The Tank: pushy to aggressive/loud – “the end justifies the means”

How to deal with The Tank: hold your ground, interrupt the attack, match volume by 75%, back track the conversation, aim for the bottom line and fire

Unwanted behaviors: 2. The Sniper: they get even not mad.

How to deal with The Sniper: use Q’s to expose behavior, “What does that have to do with this?” Suggest a civil future.

Unwanted behaviors: 3. The Know It All: knows 98% of everything. They don’t listen to you.

How to deal with The Know It All: be prepared, know your stuff, backtrack, present your views indirectly, blend their doubts and desires

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Successful communication with clients happens when we by pass emotional issues using conflict resolution.

When someone calls with a complaint, you’re guaranteed to have “their” undivided attention. What other time are you guaranteed to have “their” undivided attention?

Having “their” undivided attention allows you to re-establish the value of your company and enhance the relationship.

Conflict resolution is nothing more than realizing you have a responsibility to understand and deal with people’s problems.

Peple read letters and don’t think about whether they’re well-written or not; they react depending on whether or not they feel the letter’s message will benefit them.

3 Points for effective communication: know your goal, state what the client will benefit from and specify the clients actions

The average person spends only 9-12 seconds reviewing sales-related materials…

…and a brief 4-11 seconds when reviewing a print ad. So – GRAB your clients attention fast!

Your message should start with your purpose and your purpose must benefit and interest the client.

Call to action… “Call us with your future graphic needs. You already know us for our quality and timely delivery.”

Purpose and Results: focus on what your purpose is, what you need to communicate and what result you want to achieve. Anything else is not fit to print.

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An effective brand must have a clear definition of its audience and objectives that the brand needs to achieve.

What are the objectives you expect to achieve with your brand?

Your brand should make a dynamic impression, it is your basic framework.

With a strong brand you build credibility, influence your market and motivate clients to purchase.

To determine your brand objectives ask: What is it that you expect your brand to do for your company?

To determine your brand objectives ask: What do you want others to know about your products or services?

By defining your objectives it is easier to develop a plan of action to achieve those objectives.

By defining your objectives you are able to map out a plan for achieving those objectives.

Let’s say one of your objectives is to become an industry expert. Part of your plan might be to write and publish articles in multiple media platforms.

Let’s say one of your objectives is to become an industry expert. Part of your plan might be to volunteer to speak at associations and organizations you belong too.

Once you’re objectives have been determined build and develop your brand strategy by looking at how, when, and what you are going to do to accomplish to meet your objectives.

List each objective and map out to accomplish it!

Once you have your list break it into “to does” by the month and quarter. Now schedule those action items in your calendar.

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