by Guest Blogger, Dr. Fern Kazlow

I always say a good brand is evidenced everywhere from the CEO down to the smallest paper clip. But where does it begin?

Branding begins with what I call the Inner Game: who you are, what you want, your big vision, even your connection to yourself, your family, community, and Source (however you define it). That’s the seed that begins it all. Even if you are able commit to a business – whether product or service – before considering these questions,

it is only by clearly answering them that you can establish an effective, powerful brand.

And as necessary as these answers are, it’s only the beginning. If you don’t look at your inner game and make sure you’re aligned,  you will have a brand that misfires – or no brand at all. A good brand, a Power Brand, while it begins with you, is not about you!  It’s about them – your clients or customers, your potential clients or customers, the media – anyone who you want to reach. It’s about their problems, their issues, their wants and about how you become their ultimate solution.

If you don’t get that right, your brand will be wrong and so will everything else!

Yet, too many people work backwards. They go straight to their logo, website, colors, and marketing and wonder why there’s a problem, why they are always struggling with price and competition. And it goes way beyond that. Without being aware of your inner game, and how it fits with your business, you’re subtly – or not so subtly – plagued by vague feelings of something being off, not quite right. It’s as if your own business doesn’t fit you.

So let’s take a look at some basics about your branding – where it is right now. If you want to get really clear, write down your answers to these fundamental questions:

1) Does your brand reflect who you really are and who you strive to be? Here you will have to look at your personal and business brand and see where they support each other and where they diverge.

2) Is  your brand doing what you want to it to do? Does it answer your niche’s problem – and does it do it in a way that makes you the clear choice, the “fix” to their problem?

3) Is your target market  getting the message you want them to have, are they seeing what you want them to see? Are they saying what you what them to say about you?

4) Do you have a brand strategy? Write it down in no more than two sentences. Are struggling to do this?

We’re going to look at these questions and many more over the next weeks and months because the two most crucial factors that effect the success of your business are your Inner Game and your branding. And YOU control them both.

About the Author:
Dr. Fern Kazlow shatters limitations – especially financial ones. For over 25 years she’s helped Wall Street power players, international entrepreneurs and professionals remove limitations and double, triple, and quadruple their incomes.

by Dr. Fern Kazlow, Guest Blogger

Every problem in business or in life is the result of disconnection.

It can be a disconnect between who you are, what you want and your big vision. It can be a disconnect between your thoughts, feelings and action. In business, you can have a disconnection between you, your product or service, your target audience, and your market. The list goes on and on.

Unless you find these disconnections – at their source – and bring them into alignment with the total picture of what you’re trying to do, whatever problems the disconnections are causing won’t be fixed. Not only will you be stuck with limitations that hinder your ability to be all you can be in any area of your business or personal life, the problems will repeat and likely get worse.

Power up and create your business and your life

The more you want to “power up” and create the life you want, the more you need to find the disconnections – and Power Connect.
What’s the difference between a connection and a Power Connection?
Imagine the difference between lighting a dark room with a flashlight or a flood lamp. A flashlight only allows you to see a glimpse of whatever it’s aimed. What you see as related to the whole is left in question. Turn on a flood lamp and suddenly nooks, crannies, and alcoves become visible. Details, colors, and patterns come into focus. You see the overall view and how everything works together to produce the whole. And opportunities and potential are illuminated everywhere.
A Power Connection supports, enables, allows, drives, inspires, creates, and has the power to see beyond. It’s honest, deep, reciprocal, respectful, and adds immeasurably to your life and your ability to accomplish what you want.

Power Connecting becomes the difference between living a limited life and the actualization of the life you want.

Say the word connection and people think ‘person-to-person’ connection. And that’s true. But Power Connecting happens between more than people. The opportunity for Power Connections exists in every aspect of your life. It’s in everything from your connecting with yourself – who you are, what you want, your Big Vision, and your spirituality to your family, your business, your branding, and the way you run your business – now and in the future.

Power Connecting happens on multi-dimensional levels:

• Mentally: Power Connecting gives you greater clarity, increased awareness, and depth of thinking. It provides the springboard for innovation, creativity, and relevancy. It increases your focus and flexibility.

• Emotionally: Power Connecting brings joy, happiness, fulfillment, and peace. It allows you the ability to have a full range of feelings without getting or feeling trapped or stuck.

• Physically: Power Connecting strengthens you, gives you more stamina and the ability to regenerate. It not only de-stresses but allows you the freedom to relax in the situation, and maintain balance and fluidity.

• Spiritually: Power Connecting enhances and brings you closer to who you are, closer to the Source (however you choose to define Source).

• Energetically: Power Connecting strengthens and supports who you are and what you want to do. It provides the fuel to move you forward, strengthen your relationships, and encourage taking action.

Begin by noticing your disconnections – those things that don’t fit and aren’t aligned with who you are and what you want to do. Power Connecting even the smallest component can change and add immeasurably to your life, your business, branding, and marketing efforts. Take the first step towards shattering financial limitations and building the business and the life you’ve always wanted.

About the Author:

Dr. Fern Kazlow shatters limitations – especially financial ones. For over 25 years she’s helped Wall Street power players, international entrepreneurs and professionals remove limitations and double, triple, and quadruple their incomes.

Dubbed “Queen of 140 Characters” at Twitter’s Brandchat, she teaches her global clientele to “Remember you M & M’s: Maximize and Monetize business, branding, platforms, and expertise” through her Rapid Wealth System™ and Power Branding Clinic.

Visit Dr. K at www.DrFernKazlow.com

By Guest Blogger, Shawn Driscoll
Learn more about Shawn at the end of this article.

Shawn Driscoll, Guest Blogger

You do work that changes people’s lives. And you know you can have a bigger impact if you lead programs in addition to your one-on-one work. But if you’re like most of my creative, high achieving clients you also want to make sure you ‘get it right’. If your name is going to be stamped on a class, group program, workshop or event, it simply has to deliver amazing results.

And if you’ve been around the block at all, you’ve more than likely run into a program or two that simply didn’t deliver. It’s not because the presenter wasn’t a pro at what they do. And it’s not that they weren’t well intentioned. It’s because they made at least one of these simple, yet all too common mistakes in delivering their program.

Mistake 1: Too Much Information, Too Little Application

A program is about more than the information being delivered. In the age of the internet, information is a dime a dozen. Your information is only as good as how it’s presented and how ‘usable’ it is for your ideal clients.

Clients who sign up for your program want to learn your information, system, process, approach or philosophy. But they also want to be taken care of in the process. And they want to APPLY it. The most successful programs lead people somewhere they want to go (and can’t get to on their own). You have to know exactly where you’re starting, where you are taking the client, what issues might come up along the way and once they’re through with the program. And plan your program to meet them where they are. Application trumps implementation every time.

Mistake 2: Firehose Brigade

Information overload is everywhere. You don’t want it in your program!

Sometimes, in an attempt to quiet our own inner ‘is it enough?’ doubts, we throw in everything but the kitchen sink. It makes us feel better, but the clients feel overwhelmed and shut down.

Think of it like this: the client comes to you saying they are thirsty. You offer them a sip of water and they feel better. Yay, you think! You ask them if they want more…and they say “Yes, I do” (this is when they sign up for your program) and instead of giving them a big glass of ice cold water you turn on the fire hose and douse them in your content.

Now, the client is left soaking and trying to keep their head above water. They need time to dry out. To soak up what you just poured on them. So they disengage. By overloading your program with too much bonus material or too much actual content, you can cause people to backoff.

If you really believe in the value of a lot of content, pace it so clients can absorb what you’re giving them. Spread your bonuses out. Pace your content so it’s there when they need it, but they don’t feel like they’re drowning in the firehose. They’ll thank you for it!

Mistake 3: Too Many Bells and Whistles

Sometimes we overdesign our program. We give people too many ways to engage—there’s weekly calls, forums, material to listen to, online material, private calls, cds shipped—and so forth. It all sounds great when we’re planning our program, but it’s not so great on the receiving end.

My Grandfather, a consummate businessman, always said “Keep it simple. Too many bells and whistles are just opportunities for breakdowns.” He was so right!

Offering too many bells and whistles—too many features—can trigger a feeling in your clients that they’re not getting their money’s worth. They feel like they’re wasting the investment because they can’t access it all. Or worse, they feel like they are ‘failing’ in some way because they can’t do it all.

And when we feel we’re wasting money or failing…what do we do? We want out. We want to feel we’re making SMART investments, not wasteful ones, right!?

I think it’s more sophisticated, elegant and ‘signature’ to give a simply structured program that delivers exactly what it promised and not overload it with features. I tell my clients to remember the ‘Power of 3’-no more than 3 ‘features’ (and make sure each feature serves a true purpose in the program and supports the path of growth you are leading clients on.)

Mistake 4: A Delivery Format that Doesn’t Deliver

Quite simply, the format has to fit the program. In my research, one of the big complaints I hear is about all-lecture, no-way-to-interact programs.

For example, you’re on a “mastermind” call with 150 other people and you’re muted. This isn’t a ‘mastermind experience’ and so the delivery format isn’t delivering on its promise, which creates a disconnect in the minds of the participants.

Another complaint I hear often is a lack of focus. Presenters and teachers who go down so many rabbit holes that they lose track of where they are and never deliver what they told you they were going to cover. Sure, they might have told you some great stories and gone down some valuable sidestreets, but they didn’t get to the content you came for. No one minds getting a little something extra, but they do mind when they don’t get what they came for!

Mistake 5: One Size Fits All Positioning

It’s great to believe in the power of your work, but you also have to discern who it’s best for. For a program to truly be effective it has to be right for a certain people and wrong for everybody else.

The best signature programs meet that need of exclusivity because they’re not for everyone. You’re not saying, “Come beginners, experts and everyone in the middle. I can get you there.” You’re really articulate about who it’s for and who it’s not for.

Take the time to truly describe who your ideal clients really are. What do they need to know coming into the program? Who isn’t your program right for?

Follow these tips and you can look like a Pro even if this is your first time running a program! Clients will become raving fans (and referral machines) because your program is a breath of fresh air!

About the Author:

Shawn Driscoll helps visionary entrepreneurs stand out, make a bigger impact, and stay relevant in a highly competitive climate by showing them how to create and deliver Signature Programs that get amazing results.  To learn how to cash in on the Signature Program Payoff visit www.ShawnDriscoll.com

I’m a big fan of blogs and the way they help you leverage online visibility.

Unlike social media sites, a blog is your piece of cyber real estate, and no one can deactivate your account or suddenly change the terms of service on you. You own it and with that power comes the opportunity to direct how to leverage your blog for maximum results.
When used in conjunction with a strong social media presence, your blog can serve as a powerful tool to drive traffic, establish you as an authority, and bring new opportunities your way.

Here are 3 quick and easy tips you can start using today to get more traffic and visibility for your blog:

1. Import your blog to your Social Media Sites

Most social media sites like Facebook and Linked In allow you an option to import your blog so it automatically updates on multiple sites with no additional effort on your part. In Facebook, you simply go to “Notes” and import your blog from there. (You will need to know your blog’s RSS feed to do that). On other sites, you’ll look for an icon of your blog’s platform, such as WordPress, TypePad, or Blogger. Click that, enter your user information, and the rest is done for you.

2. Tweet your Posts

Links to blog posts (especially when they have great titles!) are an excellent way to bring traffic and provide great content for your followers. Next time you post on your blog, be sure to let your Tweeps know and provide an easy link to click on. You can automate this action also with a number of services. My favorites are HootSuite , Twitterfeed,  and SocialOomph (formerly TweetLater)

3. Invite guest writers

This tip merits an entire post (if not an intensive class) because it holds so much potential. The more your blog publishes, the more traffic you’ll get, especially when the content is rich with great keywords and consistent topics. Consider opening up your blog to include posts by other writers. They can fill in on the days you need a break. When you add the efforts of others, it leverages your time, visibility AND keeps the traffic flowing 7 days a week!

Your blog holds great potential, especially with the easy ways to leverage it with social media. There are many more things I can add to this list, but I wanted to give you a couple of easy to quick start action steps so you can begin enjoying increased visibility with less effort.

If you’d like to add more leverage tips or chime in on how any of these 3 strategies are working for you, please drop a comment!