The history of business has always moved and evolved from one generation to another. Values change, focus changes, and the way of doing things continues to adapt to the new consumer.

One of the biggest changes that has happened over the last decade or two has been the emphasis on transparency. The general public is no longer satisfied with simply buying products. They want to know what’s happening behind the scenes.

This is why there has been an increase in transparency reports and “drawing back the curtains” of how a business operates. Even huge corporations are not immune from this, and many have found the need to change business practices because their customers are demanding they be held accountable.

Regardless of the size of your brand, it’s important to understand what your audience values, and as the growing trend of transparency becomes more and more relevant, it’s time to think about what transparency looks like for your brand.

In today’s show, we’ll be talking about what brand transparency means, some practical ways to be transparent, and some great (and not so great) examples of brands doing transparency right.

Do you know why you’re building an audience? Do you have explicit reasons for increasing your number of followers or subscribers? Are these reasons vague in any way?

Building an audience is one of the best ways to increase revenue and grow a business online. It is a method that is tried and true, and while the steps themselves can seem complicated, the goal remains.

But “build an audience” is not the end goal. It is a means to an end.

If you’re building a list but aren’t really sure what you’re building it for, this episode is for you. If you feel like you need to send out tons and tons of emails but it’s not leading to anything and you don’t have any idea of what it could lead to, this episode is for you.

On today’s show we’ll be talking about defining your reasons for building an audience and why the implications of vaguely growing a following without purpose can be detrimental to your brand.

As much as some people want to deny it, change is part of life. We get older, our physical appearances change, our personalities evolve over time.

The world around us is constantly changing.

But what if you don't resonate very will with the brand of your own business? What if your customers or audience live completely different lifestyles than you do? What if your competitors or peers seem to have certain ways of doing things that you don’t agree with?

Sometimes you may have to adapt and change with the flow of your business, and other times you may need to fight against the “status quo” and the pressures of changing who you are.

On today’s episode, special guest Cory McCabe joins the show to talk about the idea of maintaining your sense of “self” as you grow and how to protect against the pressures of unnecessarily changing who you are to fit some predetermined mold.

Connecting with people online is primarily a visual endeavor, full of color, images, video, and words. If someone is on your website, there’s a good chance they’re experiencing it visually.

This isn’t limited to online experiences, either.

Brick-and-mortar shops and retail businesses thrive on trying to catch your attention a thousand different ways when you come into the store, attempting to use clever marketing tactics and “color psychology” to sway you into buying.

There’s enough on this subject to dedicate entire college courses to it, so today we’re going to be talking about some basic principles and why you should take extra care when choosing colors and images to represent your brand.

There are many instances where a name change for your business is inevitable or an improvement toward achieving your goals. It could be a minor technical change, or it could be a complete overhaul.

Even though it might sound intimidating, there are a lot of reasons you may want to change your brand name, all of which come with great benefits as well as challenges.

Change is difficult for most people in general, so these things have to be handled with great care and intentionality.

In today’s show, we’ll talk about how to bring your audience along with a name change and how to communicate your plans effectively.

There’s a saying among backpackers and campers, “Leave it better than when you found it.”

It’s a call to explore and enjoy nature, but leave it as undisturbed as possible. After you pack up your campsite, you clean it, remove all traces of your being there, and continue on.

The saying originates from a man named Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the modern Scouting movement, who once said said, “Try and leave this world a little better than you found it.”

This is the essence of a brand vision. It’s how we want the world to be, whether big or small. It’s the reason we started in the first place.

In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about how to define your vision and how to get other people excited about it and invested in it.

It’s pretty common to hear that business is built on solving problems. If you want to make money, solve problems. If you want to have a successful brand, solve problems.

But then there’s the moments when you realize what you’re trying to build doesn’t really solve any problems. You hear the term “nice-to-have”, and you adopt that term into your mindset.

“My product isn’t a necessity.”

“What I do doesn’t solve a problem.”

“It’s just art.”

“I don’t know how to tell someone how this thing benefits their life.”

“It’s just a nice-to-have.”

If this is you, you’re not alone, and you’re not breaking new ground.

That’s because “nice to have” doesn’t exist.

Today’s episode is a crash course on how to market and brand something that doesn’t solve a direct problem, something that people might refer to as a “nice to have”. We’ll even show you how companies are making billions every year even though they aren’t solving problems.

Talking about your brand can be a heavy subject. Once you bring in target audience, funding, mission statements, content marketing, and all the millions of other things, it certainly can feel like you’re carrying a giant on your shoulders. Or two.

Today, we’re going to lighten up a bit and talk about how to determine if your brand should be serious, funny, both, neither, or a combination of all four.

If you’ve ever put a lot of work into something, you know what it takes. You know the long hours it takes to get results. You know the investment of time and money it takes to accomplish your goals.

And then there comes those times when you need to make a choice: do you keep investing and pushing and working, or do you let it come to an end?

Nobody wants to be called a quitter. The idea of wasted time, money, and energy is enough to make any of us uncomfortable. How do you stop, pivot, or end something with grace and confidence?

On today’s episode, we’ll be talking about knowing when to call it quits, when to double down, and times when we personally decided to end something to make way for other things.

Target audience is one of the hardest parts about building a brand. It not enough to simply make something and hope people get excited about it.

Even if you already have a definition of your target audience or customer, you may find yourself hitting a wall and not understanding how to deepen your connection with the people who follow and buy from you.

You need Deep Audience Clarity. You need to know your audience better than anyone.

In today’s show, we’ll be talking about the kind of clarity that will take you from a surface-level definition of your target audience to a place of deep understanding.