Branding is a vitally important component of your overall business and marketing plan.  A strong branding strategy ensures the public will clearly understand your company's value proposition. Poorly implemented, however, a brand strategy can leave clients perplexed and unimpressed.

There is considerable confusion over exactly what is meant by branding. Most simply defined, your brand is the total sum of people’s perceptions about your company. A brand is not a logo or your mission statement. In fact, your brand is not even what you say it is! Your brand actually exists outside of your company at the intersection of your corporate intent and the way the public perceives your performance.  Your brand is whatever the public says your company is all about! You can certainly shape…

I had a dream last night that shook me out of a sound sleep. It was a flashback to my younger years when I was a pretty good baseball player. (One of my favorite sayings when referencing my early athletic abilities is “The older I get, the better I was.”) But I digress.

I was playing shortstop when the batter hit a “blue darter” my way. For those of you who favored the theatre club over the sound of leather ball hitting bat, a “blue darter” is a well-hit ball traveling at the speed of sound heading your way.

In my dream, I had only a millisecond to step to my right before backhanding the fast-approaching missile. While off balance, I whipped my right arm catapult-style,…