September 2, 2011
OPEN Forum Message
Affordably Build Your Brand
FedEx Global Brand Management Director Monica Skipper shares a cost-effective way to build a bigger brand for your small business.
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When people are envisioning their future and that of their company, they often downplay their potential successes to avoid coming off as conceited or pompous.
I am not one of those people.
When I put together my Painted Picture, I see myself swimming in success. My speaking calendar is full, my roster of clients has grown and includes really awesome startups, companies beg me to sit on their boards, heck, even my home life is balanced and amazing.
If you know me personally, you know I am not a cocky, arrogant braggart—so why all the sudden bravado?
Because having big dreams means setting lofty goals. And lofty goals ensure success, even if you don’t quite achieve them. Before you laugh, let me explain.
If you picture yourself in a sparkling, modern new office, or see your image on the cover of Fast Company, you’ve set the bar pretty high. You’ll need to work hard to get there. You might even fall short, but undoubtedly the effort you put in trying to make these visions a reality will have you moving in a positive direction.
What’s the benefit of picturing your company growing by a steady 10 percent a year? Or envisioning a future where you’ve hired 10 new employees? You can achieve these ‘goals’ with just a small bit of effort.
Some might call grand visions of success as egotistical. I call it confident optimism. If I had suggested three years ago that I would be where I am now (a thriving speaking businesses, an impressive stable of clients, phenomenal DVD sales) I would have come off as conceited to a lot of people.
I’ll admit this has been a hard sell to clients in the past. When I try to get them to write down some of these lofty goals in their Painted Pictures, be it appearing on an iPod commercial or landing Fortune 500 clients, they balk. “People who read this will think I’m delusional,” they say.
“Let them!” I reply. History is littered with doubters who scoffed at big dreamers. It never stopped visionaries like Henry Ford or Sam Walton. In fact, I bet it motivated them.
Do you think Steve Jobs lets modesty temper the vision he sets out for Apple? He’s famous for sharing his far out visions, and then creating an environment where achieving them is the only option. Engineers or managers that think his ideas are unattainable simply don’t last.
So forget the humility, you need to pump yourself up in your own Painted Picture. If you aren’t going to do it, who will?
Check your balance, review recent transactions and pay your bill on the go.
