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Should you rename your business? Most people start with the wrong question, will this name make me sound bigger, more established, more legitimate? The real question is what you want to be known for. That’s positioning, and it’s the thing that actually determines whether your name works for you.
Every startup has a to-do list. Build the product, hire the team, land the customers. Brand usually sits near the bottom, but it’s already happening whether you’re managing it or not. Here’s the to-don’t list: seven mistakes that undo the reputation you were hoping to build..
More marketing usually isn’t the fix. Most businesses aren’t short on activity, they’re short on clarity. Here’s why brand strategy, not another campaign, is what actually moves growth forward.
Clarity is a competitive advantage, not a luxury. By integrating a Vivid Vision and Brand Positioning into your organizational culture, you move the board from reactive problem-solving to a proactive system of alignment that ensures every decision moves the needle toward a shared future.
Most prospects ask the same root question: how do I grow? Here’s a plain look at the seven ways we help founders and leaders build the brand clarity that growth is actually built on.
Mission, vision, values, and positioning statements are the most widely recognized strategic tools used to define a company’s business, strategic objectives, and overall approach to reach those objectives. Another less frequently recognized strategic statement that many companies neglect to employ is the Purpose statement.
Think about marketing as planting trees. The trees of brand marketing you plant today will guarantee business growth tomorrow. What you are communicating today is to help potential customers make the buy decision in the future when they need what you are offering.
It’s something almost every founder wrestles with, and most people spend more time on it than it deserves: what to call your business, and whether the name itself is doing more work than it actually can. A recent client conversation brought this back into focus, and the answer applies well beyond naming.
Most businesses don’t need more marketing. They need clarity on what’s on-brand and what’s off-brand. Introducing On-Brand/Off-Brand, the newsletter formerly known as The Creative Brief.
Being technically self-employed and actually running a business aren’t the same thing. This issue of Solo(ish) explores the gap between the two, and why the freedom of working for yourself always comes bundled with the fear of the sinkhole behind you.
Most businesses have trouble growing because they hang on to too much from the past. Over time, they gather services, processes, messaging, and assumptions that used to work but don’t anymore. Growth isn’t always about adding more. Sometimes, moving forward means letting go of what no longer fits.
Most businesses focus on logos, messaging, or design. But what actually holds a brand together is consistency. When positioning, messaging, and identity are aligned and applied consistently, decision-making gets easier, marketing becomes more effective, and your brand builds trust over time.
Pricing isn’t just a number, it’s a signal shaped by context. When your positioning is unclear, buyers define your value for you, often leading to price resistance. The issue usually isn’t your pricing—it’s how you’re being perceived.
Most businesses don’t need more ideas. They need clearer direction. In this article I explain the difference between brand strategy and creative strategy, and why clarity leads to better decisions, stronger marketing, and more consistent growth.
Clarity is a competitive advantage, not a luxury. By integrating a Vivid Vision and Brand Positioning into your organizational culture, you move the board from reactive problem-solving to a proactive system of alignment that ensures every decision moves the needle toward a shared future.
You can’t stick to the plan unless you make one. Why planning—not tactics—is the missing link between goals, strategy, and real momentum.
When your brand or marketing starts to feel scattered, clarity matters more than new tactics. A Start, Stop, Continue list is a simple three-step tool to help you decide what to focus on, what to let go of, and what’s already working.
Success in branding and business isn’t about big breakthroughs — it’s about showing up, day after day, and doing the work that builds momentum. From sales and networking to marketing and referrals, consistency beats complexity every time. Here’s how small, steady habits create big results for solopreneurs and small businesses.
Going solo is one of the scariest things you’ll ever do—not because of failure, but because of freedom. I’ve done it twice: once by choice, and once by circumstance. Each time taught me something new about fear, resilience, and what it really means to bet on yourself.