Be useful and be brilliant

Utility is one thing companies better think about as they work to connect with their audiences. With all the choices out there for consumers, if it isn’t useful, it isn’t going to stick or spread.

A couple of weeks ago I listened to Mitch Joel talk about this same concept. He talked about it in the context of brands having the ability to build a direct relationship with consumers in ways businesses have never seen. We won’t dive into that today but it is certainly something we’ll talk about in The Whatupdate. One example he used for illustrating utility was Charmin’s app, Sit or Squat (video below or click here).

This very useful app helps users find suitable bathrooms in proximity to where they are. As a parent of a toddler, this has utility. Charmin isn’t only showing bathrooms with Charmin or beating people over the head with ads of their super soft roll either. Their goal is to provide a utility app for anyone who finds themselves in a strange place when nature calls.

 Do you see how this application is useful?

Ray-Ban recently introduced us to Bright Light(video below or click here). It’s an app that helps you find sunny places in metropolitan areas. This is extremely useful for visitors or residents in a place like NYC where finding somewhere to grab some Vitamin D is challenging. Yes, the app is nicely designed, but creative with a purpose. It’s based on utility.

Not only does this apply to software but any interaction between a consumer and your brand. Marketing, Social Media, Customer Service, Product Development all have to have utility.

My questions for brands:

Are you building something useful?

Are you delivering it in a personal way with value driven design?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuthD3DIodc

If you can’y see the video, click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrTFld2M7Wg

If you can’y see the video, click here.

What do you think, does utility matter?

photo credit: Collin Allen

This business (marketing) is not about selling stuff. This business is about creating strong, provocative relationships between good companies and their customers. Those relationships will feed the business but you have to feed the relationships. – Dan Wieden

If you can’t see this video, click here.

Enough said.

A cord of three strands is not easily broken

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how we develop relationships in today’s high-tech world. I’d love to hear your thoughts but here is what is at the forefront of my mind

Our circle of friends used to be formed by proximity. Now they are built by relevance and interest without geographical constraints.

A lot of my strongest relationships are with folks whom I’ve made a three-cord connection.

Three-cord connections combine shared interest, real-life communication, and online interactions.

What are your thoughts? Are you seeing this proved with your new friends?

photo credit: shelley_ginger

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

This week we celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday. Yesterday was the bard’s official date of birth and like last year, we are sharing our stories and remembering the impact he has had on a lot of us.

I thought it would be cool to share this movie lesson from Henry V. The lesson Shakespeare teaches us is a simple one.

Define your moments or they will define you.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Be sure to check out all the cool folks sharing Bill’s birthday at happybirthdayshakespeare.com

Please take a look at this video. It will inspire and challenge you.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

This video accomplishes everything I was going to write about today.

Thank you for doing more, being more, and changing the world.

What can you do in 10 Days?

Over the last few years I have become a big fan of listening to podcasts. In fact, there are a handful I listen to regularly that are entertaining and informative.

The hosts are all super smart and people I would enjoy meeting if we ever crossed paths. I hope you will check them out and get as much value out of them as I have.

Marketing 

Six Pixels of Separation - The host, Mitch Joel, runs a Toronto based digital agency and is one of the brightest guys in the business. His interviews are insightful and cover digital marketing topics applicable for real-world business. There is not a lot of filler in this 60 minute podcast. It is entertaining but not at the expense of the content being useful.

Social Pros - Jay Baer is on the short list of social media practitioners and along with co-host Eric Boggs, from Argyle Social, delivers a lot in 30 minutes. The format usually starts with a few minutes of Jay talking about newsworthy social media happenings, Eric sharing a social media stat of the week, and then an interview with a person doing real work in social media for company or brand. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously and gives the audience a taste of how companies are using social.

The Beancast - Somehow, Bob Knorpp shows up every week discussing interesting current events in advertising and marketing. I enjoy his mix of guests. You can expect agency executives, brand managers, and trade journalists to be on the Beancast making their case on one side or the other of an issue. There is a good dose of humor and plenty of comments to make you think.

The Accidental Creative - Todd Henry has a company that helps creative professionals stay on top of their game. His podcast features interviews and commentary about how to make the creative process more efficient and productive. Todd is very passionate about his craft and it comes through on every show. I always take away a technique or perspective that helps me stay sharp.

Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio – Brought to you by Copyblogger Media, this podcast hosted by Robert Bruce is my favorite content marketing and copywriting show. Every show I have listened to has been well done. In some other podcasts, bad conversations aren’t the guest’s fault. It happens because the host doesn’t lead the discussion. Robert is excellent in his role and asks great questions. This makes for a great podcast.

Entrepreneurship

Founders Talk - Host Adam Sacoviak talks business with some cool startups and entrepreneurs. I love getting to know the stories, challenges, and insights behind successful companies online and offline. It is easy to find stories about tech startups but Adam does a great job at finding interesting companies regardless of vertical. When I listen to Founders Talk I feel like I am sitting at a coffee shop across from two people having a conversation.

Mixergy - Andrew Warner doesn’t pull any punches on his Mixergy podcast. He isn’t afraid to ask his guests the hard questions that sometimes border on too personal. I love that. It makes for very candid and interesting interviews that reveal secrets from some of the web’s best entrepreneurs. You can tell he wants his audience to learn as much as possible about how the person succeeded.

Founder Stories - Chris Dixon is a smart dude. As a startup founder and investor, his interviews usually take the listener beyond the surface of how someone succeeded. Often he will get into conversations about thought process and business models with the company founders. Founder Stories will give you a good idea of how a tech CEO thinks.

Stories

RadioLab - Thank you Tom Webster for turning me on to Jad and Robert’s show. I love investigative journalism. Radiolab is fresh and the journalism and writing is superb. The stories are entertaining and innovative. Each show weaves seemingly unrelated events, people, things, and places together with a common theme. The use of sound effects and great post production make this show one of the most entertaining broadcasts on tv, radio, or web.

This American Life - Ira Glass and the team of writers and storytellers that put together these essays are top notch. I am a sucker for good storytelling and these folks are some of the best. Like RadioLab, The American Life, provides a series of stories linked by a common thread that is rarely obvious on the surface. Ira breaks them up into acts and let’s the audience enjoy the ride.

Enjoy

For the last year I have used Stitcher App to listen to all of these except Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio. It is only available on iTunes and their website. I am sure I’ve left out some great ones. But I believe you will have fun with these. If you have a favorite(s) podcast, please share it in the comments.

photo credit: Roberto Verzo

The winner of The Masters doesn’t just win a major. He becomes a part of the history of the game, and that’s what excites me. This tournament creates something that is very special, and year in year out, history is made here. – Phil Mickelson

For those of you who aren’t golfers, it’s the premiere golf event of the year.

True, there are four major tournaments in professional golf and the Masters is just one. Many would argue it is not the hardest to win. The US Open usually gets that nod. Nor is it the oldest, The Open Championship (British Open in the US) takes that distinction. The PGA Championship is usually the one most would agree has the most competition.

But The Masters is the best. It has the best platform and story.

 The Story

Bobby Jones started the “Augusta National Invitational” in 1934. He wanted to invite his friends to play in a fun event at his golf club in Augusta, Ga.

Over the years it grew into The Masters and captured audiences with villains, heroes, tragedies, miracles, and a hint of controversy.

In other words, awesome content. Non-golfers tune in every year for the “back nine at Augusta” to see what legend will be made.

 The Platform

The Masters has the distinction as the only major to be hosted on the same golf course each year. This is significant. The tournament doesn’t rent its platform, it owns it. Therefore, the tournament has complete control over the design, look, feel, and experience.

Augusta National’s exceptional condition and attention to detail online and off, from Magnolia Lane to Amen Corner, has produced the best experience for golfers and patrons. They continue to bridge the online-offline gap beautifully.

I hope you will watch this year’s tournament regardless of whether you are a golfer, like me, or not.

If you do, you will learn how to tell a story, create unique experience, and build a brand legacy unmatched.

photo credit:  gomattolson

Love what you do

One of the freshest companies out there right now is MailChimp. I recommend their product quite often and we use them at my companies.  A few weeks ago I shared this video with The Whatupdate community.

I have since watched it again and believe it will give you some things to learn from as you grow your business. Before you watch it, do me a favor.

Write down three questions you have about what you need to learn to move the needle in your organization. I’ll bet they are answered in the 40 min video.

What I love most is how well Ben has created a high-touch culture within a high-tech business.  Stay tuned. Over the coming months more about what that means, how to do it, and why you need to.

Until then, enjoy and learn.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

photo credit:  jcornelius

“You sly dog, you got me monologuing”

Today’s movie lesson comes from “The Incredibles“. It is by far one of the best animated films I have seen and certainly one adults can relate to. I know some adults who even wear “Incredibles” pajamas (you know who your are).

One of my favorite scenes is the one where Syndrome gets caught monologuing (about 1:20 in to the video). There is a great lesson here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBIMQxsJb_s

If you can’t see the video, click here.

How often do we talk and drone on about ourselves when we should be listening to or conversing with our audience?

A monologue is a prolonged talk or discourse by a single speaker, especially one dominating or monopolizing a conversation. This is dangerous if you are attempting to connect with another human being.

The opposite of this is dialogue, which is a conversation between two or more persons.

Think about your daily interactions online and offline. Minimize the monologuing and maximize the dialogue.

Do you find yourself dominating and monopolizing your conversations or do you exchange ideas and converse?

Business models are largely driven by one or a set of key value propositions. Your unique value proposition (UVP) is the reason your customers buy from you instead of the competition. 

Whether you’re launching a startup or been in business for decades, you should spend time regularly building stronger UVPs. Today you are in luck because I am going to give you the secret to creating killer value propositions.

Ready?

Lean in.

Here goes.

Find out what your customers care about.

That’s it.

You see a lot of marketers stop at the demographics like income, marital status, education, etc. and stop. Go further. You must find out their aspirations, concerns, and behaviors. Develop insight about their environment and how it influences their decisions. This is what they care about.

Before we move on I want to clear a little confusion. It is easy to mistake value propositions for features. Features are ingredients. Value propositions are born from benefits. Benefits are the tangible or emotional payoff a customer gets from buying your product or service. Again, this is what they care about.

Got it?

Once you have a better understanding of your customers’ cares you can design stronger value propositions by knowing what they are really willing to pay for.

Ok, I’ve told you the secret. What are you going to do with it?

(One more secret: In the next Whatupdate I’ll talk about how to create a customer profile that goes beyond the demographics. Sign up here if you want in.) 

photo credit: RestrictedData

I love to concept. It is one of my favorite things to do professionally. You know, taking an idea and making it big, telling a story, and connecting it to the people who want it.

It isn’t uncommon for us to spend hours during the creative phase thinking of  how we want to communicate a brand’s story. We’ll cover every inch of branding and marketing from the logo to the “Four P‘s”.

Once you figure out the goal then you create the concept. It is your creative guidepost. It is an important piece to get right, but easy to miss if you are too attached to the details. Clients do this all the time and get so hung up on the trees that they can’t see the forest.

If this has been you, don’t worry you are not alone. Last week I was working on an outside secret project where I was wearing the client hat and I completely missed the concept  because I was focused on a design detail.

My agency partner totally called me out on it. We had a great laugh but I could have missed out on executing an awesome idea.

Here is a great concept from Jung von Matt for Mercedes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcAmUVZsCw

if you can’t see the video, click here.

photo credit: El Caganer

It sure is easy to complicate things. I do it all the time.

Two simple things you can do to win and keep customers:

- Create Positive Emotions

- Remove Points of Tension

32 examples:

1. Remember people’s names

2. Make it easy

3. Be remarkable

4. Make people feel special

5. Solve their problems

6. Keep your promises

7. Always give context to your content

8. Pay attention to how your message is received

9. Be a pressure release valve

10. Constantly improve

11. Say you are sorry when you mess up

12. Practice active listening

13. Be confident and competent

14. Stay humble

15. Smile

16. Give customers what they need

17. Remove distractions from the buying process

18. Send a thank you note

19. Do the unexpected

20. Stay consistent

21. Show up and be present

22. Know how your customer feels

23. Know what your customer sees and hears

24. Know what they do

25. Remember they have life going on

26. Show respect

27. Do: encourage, entertain, and educate

28. Don’t: criticize, condem, or complain

29. Set proper expectations

30. Serve and show them you care

31. Recognize people often

32. Leave your ego at home

I know there are more. What are yours?

photo credit: JD Hancock

There are three things I do everyday for my business, regardless of what else is happening. These things are in my control and completely up to me to do or not do. These three things help me create company culture, set priorities, guide strategy, and develop discipline. 

1. Grow/Create. It is a responsibility I take upon myself to create and grow daily so I can be more valuable to my clients, partners, and future customers.

2. Strengthen Relationships. There is no doubt that long-term success in business comes from good relationships.  The currency of relationships is trust. They are hard and require tons of effort. Everyday I work to make deposits.

3. Dream. This sounds a little foo-foo but it’s not. The dreaming I am speaking of is specific and purposeful. I hope you ask about your business everyday, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”

What are the things, maybe there are three, that you do everyday?

photo credit: mrbill

Don’t do it! Everything will be ok. Please put down the shiny object. 

I’ve been working with a group that has shiny object syndrome. You’ve seen it before haven’t you? 

It occurs when normally smart and discerning people disconnect their brain and focus on any new or exciting technology, social media platform, or tool that gets picked up by Mashable or some other news source. A lot of people catch it from a well meaning friend.

Remember, there are a lot of good things out there to help you build a better business and be more valuable for your customers. However, not all of them are for you.

Before you dive into the pool, drink the kool-aid, kiss the frog, or put all your eggs in one basket – Think.

Ask yourself these questions:

1.  Does this apply to my business?

2. How can this help me accomplish ___?

3. Is now the right time?

4. Do my customers use it?

5. Why?

What else?

Oh, are we connected on Pinterest?

photo credit: hijukal

Each year I watch the Super Bowl’s advertisements and think about all the time and money invested into 30 seconds of grandeur and ask, is it worth it?

Brands use the commercials for the opportunity to reach tens of millions of people at one time in one place. The smart ones focus their effort to a particular segment of viewers (all be it the largest segment of the year) that will tune in to Super Bowl Sunday.

The majority of brands will take the path of least resistance and create a sensational advertisement for entertainment value, but with no economic or true brand value. (We took a deeper look at these observations in this week’s Whatupdate)

Think about your favorite ad from last year’s game. Do you remember what company it was promoting?

If you are creating ads or marketing campaigns for your brand, think about this:

• Sameness – dime a dozen

• Differentiation – better than

• Distinction – innovation and atmosphere

Great marketing (which advertising is a component) takes risks and challenges status quo.

Look at every strategy you create and tactic you execute and pursue distinction.

What are you chasing?

photo credit: Carl Van Rooy Photography

My marketing consultancy and digital agency both run Google Apps and Gmail. I love it’s flexibility and ease of use but I wanted more out of it and began looking for services and tools that helped me use Gmail for daily business use.

To be clear, I am not talking about email marketing to a list of subscribers. I am talking about managing the inbox in your business account.

Three tools that help me use Gmail for Business

1. Rapportive: Business intelligence is worth gold. Rapportive gives Gmail users the ability to gather the 411 on people in your inbox. By hovering the mouse over someone’s email address you can see their social networks and location. Don’t get all “big brother” on me. This software doesn’t pull any private information, only what is on the social graph.

I use it to help me learn more about my contacts. The more I know the better the chance I have to establish common ground. Rapportive even integrates with my crm, twitter, facebook, and Linkedin so I can add them to my list, follow, friend, or connect with one click.

2. Yesware: Here is a sweet tool that helps you create specific templates for each stage of the sales process so you don’t have to keep writing them from scratch. In addition, Yesware provides metrics for open rates and syncs with your crm too.

It is awesome to be able to test different emails in order to find the most effective type of messaging to send to prospects and customers. I also use Yesware to track if someone opens my email. Another great feature is you can share templates and tracking reports with your team if you have one set up.

3. Boomerang: This simple tool allows you to schedule emails to be sent later and set up reminders for follow ups. The “send later” button enables you to schedule emails for when you want them to be delivered. This way I can make sure my emails are delivered at the recipient’s local time.

Boomerang also has a feature which allows you to return a message to your inbox if someone hasn’t responded. This is especially helpful for creating a follow up reminder without crowding your inbox.

Your Turn

How do you use email for business? Have you found any tools or services that help you manage your inbox?

Long term success in any business endeavor, social media or otherwise, requires a good foundation.

Not only does 500 days of summer have a killer soundtrack, it also teaches us a pretty good lesson about the hidden opportunities in adversity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk8EC9OeWzk

In today’s movie lesson we look at 500 Days of Summer. The story follows a boy who falls in love, has his heart broken, and overcomes.  The role of the boy, Tom, is expertly played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with an equally great performance by Zooey Deschanel.

The takeaway I want to highlight here is that there is always the seed of equal or greater benefit that comes from every adversity.

***Spoiler Alert***  You may want to watch the movie first if you haven’t seen it, then come back. We’ll wait. 

If Tom hadn’t gotten dumped, he probably wouldn’t have quit his safe job and taken the risk of pursuing his dream.

A lot of times we can’t see what good will come out of the desert or valley seasons of life. Sure it would be nice to know what the silver lining says on every dark cloud, but it doesn’t work that way.

The pain is often the thing that gets us moving, thinking differently, and taking risks.

Can you think of a time when what seemed to be the worst experience of your life was the catalyst for change that ultimately lead to success, happiness, love, or all three?

 Make this year count

There is a lot of talk this time of year about goals, resolutions, and change. Companies and individuals around the world have embarked on their new years journey to grow sales, lose weight, enhance customer experience, and improve relationships.

Personally, I am not a big fan of resolutions. They seem more like wishes to me. Wishes lack commitment and sense of urgency.

I also think rigid goal setting can get you in trouble. The circumstances in business and life change in real-time, and not giving yourself the flexibility to pivot can set yourself up for failure.

Here is what works for us.

Goals

For our family, and similarly my business parters, we start with writing down everything want to accomplish/do/change in the next year. I’ve learned to not think about what we didn’t do or revel too long in our press clippings either.

Reflection

One thing we do in reflection is take inventory of where we are so we know where we are starting. The other thing we do is audit our activities and processes. We want to make sure we are doing something because it is the best way not just because it is how we’ve always done it.

Validate

Then we make sure we have a “why” attached to each of those. This is our filter. We know if we have the “what” and “why”, we can figure out the “how”.

“Hows” are fluid and may get tweaked along the way, but they’re always doable when you have the “what” and why”.

Navigation

One popular exercise that has been going around for a few years is picking 3 words for the year. The words should be broader than goals or action words. They should serve as navigational stars that help you stay on the right path, and common threads which weave through your daily life.

Start

Then we are off to the races. At home we usually sit down on Sunday nights and create our plan for the week. It gives us an opportunity to re-prioritize if needed, share success stories and what we’ve learned, and get ready for the next 7 days.

Your turn

What are you doing this year to make it your best?

photo credit: designwallah

I appreciate all of you for stopping by each week or whenever to join me here. Here is my annual list of top fives (in no particular order).

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, click here to get new posts sent to your inbox. See you in 2012!

Top 5 davidhorne.me  posts of 2011:

1. Living Life On Purpose
2. How To Build A Mood Board In 5 Easy Steps
3. How To Create A Personal Brand Strategy With S.W.A.G. 
4. The 3 Cannot’s Of Successful Content Marketing
5. How I Use CRM

My top 5 Albums of 2011:

1. Eisley – The Valley
2. River James – River James E.P.
3. Rob Blackwell – Back To Innocent 
4. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
5. David Mead – Dudes

My top 5 new (or new to me) blogs of 2011:

1. theinspiration.com
2. the99percent.com
3. spinsucks.com
4. goinswriter.com
5. tentblogger.com

My top 5 books of 2011:

1. In The Plex
2. All of The Domino Project Books
3. The Lean Start Up
4. Steve Jobs
5. Today We Are Rich

Please feel free to add your lists in the comments.

photo credit: MaretH.

Classics from The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bing and David, Elvis, The Ramones, and even Run DMC have been played out.  If you are looking for some variety in your holiday music, here are a few songs you may enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ZMU7Ka7_I

If you can’t see the video, click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4raabf7zVo

If you can’t see the video, click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OegXmMdaWWA

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Please leave your favorites in the comments.

Success is a planned event.

Recently, I ventured over to Raleigh to learn from a few of NC’s successful bootstrapper entrepreneurs. The event was part of a series of breakfast panels hosted by Southern Cap Ventures to help educate potential startups on matters like fundraising, operations, marketing, and networking.

The panel consisted of  Joe Colopy from Bronto Sofware,  Kent Hudson from SchoolDude, Jesse Lipson from ShareFile (acquired recently by Citrix), and Troy McConnell from Clever On Demand. These four entrepreneurs founded and built companies without funding from VC or Angel investments. MC-ing the shindig was business reporter, David Ranii. He wrote a great article not too long ago about successful software startups in the Triangle. You can check it out, here.

Business wisdom

Each entrepreneur built their business differently. There wasn’t just a single path to success. However, I did notice two common threads between all of them.

1. All the bootstrappers focused on creating a company culture filled with collective responsibility and growth. None of them hired contractors for anything essential to the business.  Instead, they focused on hiring people as excited about the venture as they were. This way, they could create a team atmosphere and keep the creative energy in-house.

2. They possessed business owner mentality and were extremely organized. It wasn’t luck or by accident that they succeeded. They knew what they were trying to accomplish and executed a preconceived plan while keeping a pulse on product development, cash flow, operations, and customer satisfaction.

I am sure their are more things they had in common. Passion, grit, and hard work was surely evident in their stories. But these were the two that stood out.

If you are searching for more, here is a great website dedicated to sharing entrepreneurial wisdom.

It’s your turn

What have you learned from successful boostrappers?

photo credit: atomicShed

Social Media doesn’t cause problems or make something great. It simple magnifies what is already there.

Sometimes I still run into marketing or brand managers that believe social media causes all sorts of problems. It causes customer service problems. It causes branding problems because you lose control of the message. It does…it does… it does…

The fact is that social media does what other communication channels do. It reveals the good and the bad that is already present in your organization or product.

Why this is good news.

Magnifying helps us learn. When something is enlarged you can see all of the details. This grants you an incredible opportunity to get better at the areas you are weak and highlight the areas your strong. You can then do more of things you do right and improve the others.

Welcome the magnifying glass. What have you learned recently?

photo credit: jakebouma

If you’re stuck in a rut, give yourself a 30 day challenge.

Sometimes we get stuck. This happens in business and life. But don’t fret. It is easy to get unstuck. It only takes doing something  new, or not doing something, for 30 days. Try it.

You don’t have to start big. You can do something little.

If your business hasn’t entered the world of social media. It’s ok. You don’t have to have a grand plan. Just start connecting and communicating with folks by setting up a Facebook Fan Page. If you are real ambitious, give Twitter or Google + a shot. Focus on creating, sharing, and responding once a day for 30 days. You’ll get the hang of it.

Maybe you haven’t done a great job at keeping up with customers. Start with a spreadsheet or simple CRM and add customers to it everyday for 30 days.

You will get unstuck

For years you have wanted to get back in shape. Take the next 30 days and do some physical activity everyday.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator up to your office or go for a walk on your lunch.

Remember the books you bought and stuck on the shelf? Try reading fifteen minutes a day for the next 30 days and begin to renew your mind.

You will get unstuck

Finally, you don’t have to do everything for the next 30 days. Pick one thing to do or not do. Next month, pick something else. Check out this talk from Matt Cutts on the power of doing something for 30 days.

If you can’t see the video, click here.

What are going to do to get unstuck?

photo credit: MJIphotos

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Before a brand can become incredible, it forst must be credible. Then a brand can become incredible by instilling confidence, being competent, and staying consistent.

Please check out the article when you get a chance and let me know what you think. You can get to from here:

How To Build An Incredible Brand