Writing

Building a modern brand in a noisy, fast-changing world

In the good old days, companies spent millions developing brands that stood the test of time. Some still do. Like John Deere. Or IBM. GE. Not that they haven’t had to pivot and reinvent themselves a few times to adapt to change, but there was a time not so long ago that access to capital, markets, media and attention was expensive. Only the biggest could afford it. And that gave them a huge edge. No more. Now, a savvy 18 year old can create a brand and a company that can unseat major players when they least expect it. The

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How much should I spend on marketing?

Many companies know they need sound marketing but fear it’s too expensive or don’t know how much to budget for it to be effective. And many smaller companies lack the ability to budget, relegating marketing to ad-hoc dollars when they can. That’s a recipe for disaster. You might as well just light your money on fire. Marketing in fits and starts doesn’t work. You either believe in it and invest in a pragmatic, focused approach, or you don’t. That doesn’t mean it needs to break the bank, but you need to be realistic. Over the years, I’ve seen many who

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What do you do when no one knows?

If it isn’t clear, no one at any level of business or government knows what the future holds. Neither economists nor health experts know. What we understand about the situation changes weekly if not daily. We are literally back to drawing entirely new maps for how we live and how we transact. That is either an incredibly scary or energizing prospect depending on your mindset. But here we are. And we will be here for a long time. What then do you do when no one knows? How do you build a sound financial future? How do you preserve the

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Patrick
Business
Patrick

Patience is not optional

We Americans are an impatient lot. We don’t like to be told no. It’s contrary to everything we’re told about fighting for the American Dream. Yet a virus doesn’t care no matter how hard you talk back to it. With our economy turned upside down and inside out, our patience is being tested like never before (at least in most of our current lifetimes). Patience required to weather this storm. We can’t just fling our doors open and resume regular programming. We have to move slow. Slower than any of us want to. The unknown feeds the fear. And that

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Patrick
Creativity
Patrick

Uncertainty is not all we have

There’s been much written about uncertainty and embracing uncertainty over the past few years. Which is easy reading when we’re feeling pretty certain about things. It’s hard for us to wrap our head around things that are so profound yet seem so distant and intangible. This includes big earthquakes, something we keep hearing we’re overdue for on the west coast, and pandemics. We get complacent that the luxuries available to us via an app will always be there. Magically, they usually are. Until now. Until all of the restaurants and hotels close. Until we can’t go get a haircut or

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Patrick

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