Since we’re in a futuristic kind of mood this week, here’s another ten minute brand exercise that’s a great followup to Past Present Future (if you haven’t tried that one already try it here.) See, I have two kinds of coping methods for uncertainty and doubt when venturing into the unknown, either with a big creative challenge or a life milestone or... oh let’s say starting your own business for the very first time. One, is I pretend like I’m a robot.
Okay, I’ve only really done the robot thing maybe once or twice in extreme moments. This is more a personal coping method for stress. I just try to keep the emotions at bay and default to logic. Boop once for “no.” Beep twice for “yes.” You know, kinda just to put things in perspective.
Two (and this one is less freaky and more frequent) if I’m about to venture into something new, I pretend like I’m in a movie. I usually do this while driving in my car to a soundtrack that helps me visualize how the three day film shoot I’m about to do in a different city is going to go down. Or how being an entrepreneur for the first time is really going to look and feel.
Pretending like you are in a movie is really like telling your own story before you get there. And it’s our inspiration for this ten minute brand exercise, Time Machine.
Time Machine:
Imagine you’ve traveled three years into the future. When you look back and tell the story of your endeavor, it sounds something like this:
1. Once upon a time I decided to start a ____________________ business.
2. I wanted to be different than other _________ businesses who only ________.
3. I wanted to deliver ____________ to people who want ___________________.
4. It was a lot of work but found that people really loved our _________________.
5. They spread the word like crazy by sharing ________________________ about us.
6. Our most loyal fans are people who appreciate __________________________.
7. I’m glad our brand captured a sense of ___________ style and ___________ purpose.
8. Today, I think clients “get” that we stand for _________________________________.
9. Now I want to try “what’s next” by trying _______________________________________.
Chunking your intent into these simple phrases is a really simple way to build your future story. Hopefully it starts to paint a more concrete (and simplified) future vision in your head. If you still feel you need some more perspective? Beep twice for “yes,” and try more of our ten minute brand exercises.
Steel your courage for your leap year, read this month’s newsletter Leap Foward By Looking Back.
As any good Back To The Future fan knows, the things we do in the past can really jack up our present, our future and – apparently stuff we did back in the old-west times, too? I do admit I sometimes get lost in the timeline in these films. Perhaps it’s because crazy-eyed Doc Brown looks exactly the same age – and exactly like he just stuck his finger in an electrical socket – no matter which time period (or sequel) he’s in.
Past Present Future is a brand exercise we created for small businesses to help them balance out their crazy-eyed Doc Brown future-vision – with a realistic look at where they’re already great. Like Marty McFly (a.k.a. Michael J. Fox), who’s effortless confidence comes from sticking to what he’s good at – playing electric guitar really loud and looking boyishly mischievous in designer denim and puffy vests. Talk about what goes around comes around.
If a small business can find the overlap where big dreams meet proven core strengths – the result is a balance of truth and aspiration. But you don’t need a flux capacitor, just ten minutes, to try this brand exercise for yourself. 
So Try This:
A. In the PAST column write five most memorable accomplishments or victories.
B. In the FUTURE column write five goals or dreams that would define your future success.
C. Last, in the PRESENT column rewrite just one idea from the PAST and one from the FUTURE that have the most natural overlap between them. Why those two? How can you pull strength from your past and find a way to execute on that single future action?
The thing is, this brand exercise has been equally eye-opening for individuals who still have some proving to do and whose aspirations are frankly a bit overwhelming. We’re talking about creative professionals taking the leap into their own startups or micro-businesses. And this brand exercise can actually help them gain clarity and courage on what they should act on today – even when their actual “brand” is still a few more milestones away.
Steel your courage for your leap year, read this month’s newsletter Leap Foward By Looking Back.
Brand is such a big word. And brand problems can be even bigger. So stay on this small desert island for a moment, where distress signals are of two varieties. The S.O.S. in the sand (as to be seen by the scrappy little prop plane that is sure to help you) or the giant bonfire (all the palm fronds are getting stacked on that inferno) sending up major smoke signals for some major rescue. Here are six types of brand distress that we think can be helped with either 1. a quick fix or 2. a major rescue.
Quick Brand Fix:
So note the duct tape. It’s a perfectly respectable way of, well, fixing anything. If you’ve been “duct-taping” together your brand message and look & feel, but you, or your employees and your customers really like you and your product and the missing piece is just looking and sounding the part, here are some of the distress signals you might recognize:
- logo shame, you are embarrassed to hand our your business card
- you have trouble summing up what you do in one or two sentences
- updating your online presence (be it your site, or the need to engage in social media) keeps getting put off
If these signals ring true, then it might be time to wave down that scrappy little prop plane and get some support. Peel off the duct tape and scrape of the residual goop and get a clean fresh update. Mostly, just recognize what you’ve done well in the past, look where you want to go in the future, and find a realistic way to better interpret what you can inject into your brand today. That might mean hiring a designer, spending some time doing some brand exercises like our desert island series or finally getting your head wrapped around what social media style you can execute consistently (i.e. not dread or quit doing).
Major Brand Rescue:
Okay, so these are those big black smoke clouds puffing up. To a passing by ship or commercial plane they might seem small, but if you are on that island (i.e. in the thick of your small business) then they can seem looming and large. Here are some smoke signals for sure:
- a disconnect between what you are saying about your biz, and what people (be it you, your customers, or your employees, even just your business partner) are actually experiencing
- your online presence is confusing, it’s not just in need of an update, but is actually repelling what might be some great inbound traffic, or on the other end of the spectrum, it is non-existent
- your tribe is restless and just can’t get a clear grasp on your vision and are actually at a point of resistance to forward motion (and by tribe, this could be the people mentioned above, or even just all the conflicting voices and ideas in your own head, especially if you are an entrepreneur)
Before you can put out the fire, you need to just take a deep breath, know that you are busy and aren’t struggling with anything that anyone else hasn’t before, and just really try to find a partner that’s a good fit before you jump in feet first to coordinating your brand rescue plan. It’s going to take more than one pair of hands, but it will be worth it.
Some good books for DIY rescue are Rework by Jason Fried & david Heinemeier Hansson for getting scrappy and getting started, and Launch by Michael Stelzner for common sense social media and content sharing strategy.
