"Walking the talk", "practicing what we preach" are common clichés in business and in life. Here is a cool story -

A woman approached Gandhi and said, 'Master, tell my boy to stop eating sugar." Gandhi looked at the chubby six-year-old boy and replied, "Bring him to me again in four weeks time." The woman was surprised but did as she was told. Four weeks later, she brought the boy again. Gandhi looked at him forcefully and said, "Stop eating sugar." "Why didn't you tell him that a month ago?" the woman asked. "Because four weeks ago I myself was eating sugar."

If you are a leader or parent or teacher, or coach (anyone who wants to influence or have others follow) etc. then it is important to remember this concept and the story. People follow those they trust and whose behaviour and actions are congruent.

Kids, students, players, employees they notice everything. Especially the things we don't think they will. If we want to influence and to lead then we need to "walk the talk". We've all seen how not doing so can go massively and painfully wrong - sportsmen, politicians, actors or anyone in the public eye that presents themselves in one way and then behaves in another. The fallout is uncomfortable for everybody. The same is true for what we might see as the smallest of inconsistencies - we lose their trust, they rebel or just switch off.

Our thoughts and actions occur within a frame of reference. A frame of reference unique to each of us because it is based on our beliefs, values, experiences, culture etc. Our actions include the things we do (or not) and the language we use as well.

When we make a decision about the advice we want to give or how we want to influence someone or something we do so based on our experience, knowledge and skills i.e. our frame of reference. The recipient of that advice or direction does the same thing in deciding what they will do with what they hear and see from you, only it’s based on their own frame of reference.

Who do you want to be? Do you want to be the person that gives out advice and directions they don’t believe in enough to do it themselves OR do you want to walk your talk and be a role model?

Sometimes it's not easy to do, I remind myself that trust is easy to lose and much harder to regain than it is to retain.

“If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.” ~ Confucius

You can follow Therese Wales on Twitter or find out more at Blog Dare and Up To You’s website 

When times get tough we need to become smarter about how and where we spend our marketing dollar.  Imagine if you could double the potential audience for your product or service whilst halving your marketing spend.
Well the good news is you can and it’s a lot easier than you think.

As a business you have core audience or demographic for your product or service – put simply this is merely the type of customer that is more likely to buy from you.  For example, let’s say that you are a trendy menswear retailer and your demographic is 18 to 30 year old males.  Now think of other non-competing businesses who would also share this demographic, like a new fitness club, travel agency, computer shop or a restaurant perhaps.

Interestingly these businesses like you spend their entire marketing budget trying to attract these customers.  So why not approach one of these businesses with an innovative direct mail or print advertising campaign where you share the costs?  For example, you as the menswear store join forces with the fitness club and offer ‘complete new you package’ where you receive a three month fitness membership, personal training session and a new outfit for one great price?  Both businesses share equally in the promotion yet halve their marketing budget.

But wait, there’s more!  Now you have halved your marketing budget it’s time to double your reach.  Your business and that of the non-competing business should have an active database of customers that you communicate with regularly through store promotions, direct mail and e-newsletters.  So why not cross promote?  In the example above the menswear store would offer an introductory, one month free gym membership exclusively to its database and in return the fitness club would offer its members a 20% exclusive discount on any purchase made at the menswear store.

So just by thinking a little smarter you can literally double your potential customer base and at the same time reduce your marketing spend by as much as 50%.

Brand launches – what’s new from our customers?

It’s been a big month for creating new business brands and we are proud to give you a taste of some of the exciting new corporate identities to hit the market …

Corporateyes

Brief:

To assist in the creation of a new business model and brand for leading corporate consultant, Linda Sirol.  Linda’s niche to corporate coaching, executive training and management is her hands-on, personal approach.
We developed the ‘Corporateyes’ brand around this together with the positioning statement, ‘Focusing on your business optimisation’

Solution:

WOW Fleet Consultants
www.wowfleetconsultants.com.au

Brief:

With a 30 year career in fleet management from across Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Keith Cormican was ready to go it alone. His no-nonsense and efficient approach needed a brand that had a point of difference – something that would demand to be noticed.

Solution:

Keith’s comment:

“The feedback from the website has been great!”

The Corpsych
www.thecorpsych.com.au

Brief:

After 25 years with same business name and brand, Dr Michelle from Interactive Life Skills was ready for a change.  Having grown from a small psychology practice to a multi-level human resource organisation, she wanted a brand that was both creative and corporate.

Solution:

Dr Michelle’s comment:

“WOW WOW and more WOW.  You continue to wow me Tony!!!
I LOVE this website.  It looks GREAT!”


If you would like to discuss your brand and how we can perhaps a little of the ‘wow’ factor please phone 1300 55 30 33 or email Creative Director, Tony Eades.