Branding is very similar to advertising but at a deeper level. Branding is about encouraging a potential customer to seriously consider your brand by the fact that it is uniquely different and better than your competitor.

So... Just What Is Branding?
Getting the message across to the customer clearly and quickly is the first point to ensure, if the brand is to succeed in the competitive market arena. Good branding styles will attract the customer base needed to help ensure your targets are achieved.

Good branding styles also helps to confirm your credibility. If your brand has competitors, as most brands do, there is a need to ensure the customer is very aware of the benefits in making a particular choice. This is where the branding element comes in.

Being able to connect with a potential customer on a more personal or emotional level is definitely an advantage. Good branding styles need to focus on making the sales pitch based on these if possible. 

When the branding message is firmly imprinted in the mind of the potential customer, this element will help to ensure the customer stays motivated to pick your brand.

Ensuring the loyalty of customers is another reason to ensure branding is part of your promotional style. With constant changes and new brands being available, keeping the customer focused and loyal is an uphill battle. Your branding style must be competitive and effective.

Because there is much more to branding than just a logo, I encourage you to read my post 'Copywriting and Branding Essentials' to help with your style and strategy.

I've been sharing a lot on the topic of 'ideas' recently because it's where creativity starts. And if you want to offer more than "me too" copy & paste goods and services, you are going to need to be creative. You have ideas, but you're not sure which ones are the best. How do you test the ideas you have? What is the best way to recognize a great idea?

The quickest way to find out? Ask yourself whether your idea has these traits:

Does Your Idea Fill a Niche?
There are all kinds of needs in the world. Does your particular idea fill any of them? Sometimes this can be a challenging question. You might have something wildly unique on your hands. But if there's no use for it, what good is it? 

Is Your Idea Workable?
Sometimes after a lot of brainstorming, we come up with what we think is a great idea, only to find out there's no way to make it a reality. Do your ideas feel like they belong in science fiction or alternate realities? If so, don't give up just yet. Think about this: some ideas which you might have seen in science fiction 30 years ago are realities today. So, don't lose hope! Either rework the idea to something possible or hang on to it for a while. You never know. 

Can Others Get Behind This Idea?
Sometimes even great ideas never make it because people never find them appealing. For example, there was a time when recycling was considered disgusting. After all, who wants to touch their trash? When judging an idea, ask yourself if there's a way you can make this idea exciting to other people. 

What Makes this Idea Better?
A fantastic idea needs to solve a problem. What does your idea do that no other idea can? What is the unique component? How does your idea handle something in a way nothing else does? 

Can Your Idea Gain a Following?
The ideas people get the most passionate about are the ones that have a story behind them. If you need the support of others for this idea to work, you need to find a way to connect this idea to them. What is it about this idea which can inspire emotion? What will make people want to share this idea with their friends?

One Of My Ideas?
LocalMeA - Best Of Local was created from the idea of wanting to make a difference at the local business level for more than just one day a year like the Small Business Saturday program does. LocalMeA - Best Of Local allows an exclusive group of locally-owned businesses to stand out 365 days a year and hits all the marks of these great idea traits. The Positive Brand Marketing platform that LocalMeA - Best of Local provides fills a unique workable niche that others can get behind, follow, and share with others... and it works.

​The more of these traits your idea has, the better. If you miss one, how can you go back and solve this problem? Keep running your ideas through this cycle until you have turned your good ideas into amazing ones.

​Want to learn more about LocalMeA - Best Of Local? click here

More often than not, if requested to come up with a good idea, you're going to have to do this in a group setting. At work or as part of an organization, it's common to give problems to teams or committees. Even in personal matters, it's not uncommon to want to bounce ideas off of someone else. 

It can be challenging, especially if you're not used to working in a group setting. What are some quick and easy ways to create ideas when working with others?

Start with a Goal
How can you possibly expect to work together with anyone if you're not clear on what the goal is? Start by making sure you're all on the same page. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? 

Create Ground Rules
The most important one? There are no such things as bad ideas. While this should go without saying, there will always be one person in a group quick to put down an idea for being too silly or unrelated to the topic. Nip this in the bud sooner rather than later.

Embrace Differences
You are all going to see things in very different ways. You all come from different backgrounds, which means you should have different perspectives. Allow everyone to express their thoughts without interruption, giving careful consideration to what they have to say. They might have something very unique in their point of view, which will offer a solution.

Use Lists Wisely
Because you have more than one idea being presented, start writing them down somewhere where everyone can see. Now instead of looking for the solution out of this list of ideas, instead ask if any of these ideas can be combined to create a new solution. By using lists as a jumping-off point, instead of a menu of ideas to pick from, you might come up with something which suits the solution better.

Stop
If you jump right into a brainstorming session, you're only going to see the obvious. Instead, give everyone some time to consider the problem before offering ideas. Begin brainstorming only when everyone has had a chance to get their thoughts together.

Play a Game
Take advantage of groupthink by using an exercise in brainstorming such as forcing relationships, creating mind maps, or reverse engineering. By exploring things using even something simple such as word associations or swapping out of attributes, you'll drive all kinds of ideas from those within the group, giving you a great selection of ideas to work with.

As with any session dedicated to creating ideas, remember to try to keep the tone light and fun. Anytime you start stressing over finding ideas, they're going to be harder to pin down. Keep a supportive atmosphere for the best results and enjoy the process. Remember, groupthink is supposed to be fun!

When I greeted Major General Rich Staats upon his arrival for our chamber's monthly luncheon, I told him that I was amazed he was actually here. His response? "Mark, you asked and it is my honor to be here". I already new I had connected with an extraordinary man before his arrival, but from that moment on, it became more evident.

I take a lot of pride in working on our monthly luncheons, and when you average 150+ in attendance, you want it to be a great experience for all. For our July luncheon I wanted to have a patriotic all-American theme. I couldn't remember a time that we had connected with our active duty military so I started to research military bases nearby and found the Army's 75th Innovation Command located in Houston. Innovation sounded like a perfect topic for a business membership organization so I found the Commanding General's name and connected with him on LinkedIn. This is where I did it... I asked.

After the connection was made, I sent MG Staats a message asking if he would consider being our guest speaker. I received his response that he would but we would need to go through proper channels to get it cleared with the Attorney General. After getting that approval I connected with MG Staats virtually so we could go over the program. It was then I learned something I was not expecting. It went something like this:

MG Staats: "Hi Mark, I'm glad we are testing the virtual format before the event."
Me: "General, I have you as being our guest speaker in person."
MG Staats: "Mark, I'm in Washington D.C."
Me: After picking my jaw up from the floor, "Can we work on some alternatives then?"
MG Staats: "First, let me see what I can do to make this happen. I'll let you know by noon tomorrow."

As you can see I assumed the Commanding General was in Houston and learned that was not the case at all. The result however, is where I learned I was not dealing with what one might perceive as a Commanding General. I connected with a genuine man who's purpose was to serve. That became crystal clear when he let me know he would be flying in from Washington D.C. just to speak at our luncheon and would return home that same day.

At our luncheon the General talked about his purpose and plans after retirement. I feel this story is nowhere near being over but you need to remember how it all started... I asked.
​

• Learn more about Richard C. Staats, Ph.D. here
• Register to meet him in person as the guest speaker for the Greater EMC Chamber luncheon on 11/2/22

Positive Brand Marketing, what is it and why should I care? It's about helping you to differentiate your company from a crowded and overwhelming field by creating distinctive and strong brand equity. It's a way to make you stand out from the competition and it's why I created LocalMeA - The Best of Local for locally-owned self-branded businesses. But why just for them?

Locally-Owned Self-Branded Businesses have chosen the path of most resistance. There is no established brand, there is no blueprint plan, and there is no support team to call on for help. They are doing it all on their own and it's getting more difficult to build a brand with so many others in the market. And, they are what give communities personality and what keeps them unique. LocalMeA's mission is to help keep communities this way while helping these businesses stand out and grow their brands as a Best Of Local option, and it's making a difference.

​If you're a locally-owned self-branded business with great reviews, you should check out my Positive Branding Platform at LocalMeA - The Best Of Local. It will not only help you but others too.

That's me in 1978 at the Florida State Fair in Tampa. I was known as Kaptain Keyboard and it was one of my first real jobs aside from mowing lawns in the neighborhood on and around South Tampa's Lawn Avenue. I worked for a man named Jack Hayes who owned a music store called Jack Hayes Family Music Center. I had been taking piano lessons for four years and was actually pretty good, but this was different. I was hired to perform and demonstrate how easy it was to play Kimball organs and it was a real circus-type act. I even remember a sign displayed, "Next Kaptain Keyboard Performance At" with the time placed on it. Kaptain Keyboard could not only play as mere mortals do, he could play blindfolded! He could even stand behind the organ, reach over the top, and play it backwards, and yes, still blindfolded. It was a real crowd pleaser and if a little kid could do all this, then it must be easy to learn and play it normally yourself.

Jack Hayes taught me early on about sales, showmanship and also giving back and being part of a community. He asked me to be a Greater Tampa United Way Ambassador representing his company and I was one of eight finalists. I had to speak and do a presentation to more than three-hundred attendees about my experiences with the program. At the age of twelve it was terrifying but helpful in so many ways that allow me to do and accomplish what I do today.

When I heard this announced at a recent Greater EMC Chamber breakfast as part of the many "First-Time" achievements for schools and programs within New Caney ISD this school year, jaws dropped and applause and cheers erupted from the crowd. This is a major national accomplishment and one that makes me even more #Proud2BeEMC. Well done Porter High School engineering students!

Porter High School engineering students won the grand prize of $130,000 in technology and resources for their school in Samsung’s “Solve for Tomorrow” nationwide contest. This prize is in addition to the $65,000 they had already won earlier this month for becoming one of the 10 finalist schools. This nationwide contest is designed to boost interest and proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and challenges public school teachers and students in grades 6-12 to show how STEM can be applied to help improve their communities.

The students at PHS designed and developed Gen-Bridge, an app and a website for local nursing home residents affected by COVID-19-related depression and isolation to provide them social interaction. They later raised funds to purchase and donate gently used tablets with Gen-Bridge pre-installed for the nursing home residents, lessening the effect of isolation and greatly impacting their social lives.

Our local chamber of commerce recently held a ribbon cutting at a snow cone stand in New Caney, TX called Junie B's. We hold many ribbon cuttings as a chamber and always post photos on our Facebook page. This one however was sweeter than any other post when it came to reach and engagement. In fact, it was 10 times the reach and 50 times the engagement sweeter! But why?

I can only speculate, but I think it has something to do with Junie B's being a locally-owned, self-branded, family-run business... that's down right adorable! People were drawn to want to see and know more plus they wanted to share it! More importantly, they wanted to know where Junie B's is located.

As you may or may not know, I have a passion for locally-owned self-branded businesses and have my own company, LocalMeA - The Best Of Local, created just for them. It's not only for my local area, its for any local area nationwide. Local is where you are at and businesses like Junie B's make communities unique and give them personality. Without them, we all start to look the same. Thank you for supporting these businesses wherever local is for you!

Do you have a locally-owned self-branded business with great reviews?

What started in the suburbs of Houston to help once flooded businesses get customers back after they reopened, is growing into something much bigger.

Under the umbrella of my company Local Influence, I created LocalMeA to help make a difference at the local level for locally-owned businesses. As it evolved over time, it became clearer to what its purpose is and how it adds value to both the readers and the businesses that support it.

LocalMeA is actually a play on words. Space it out and you will get, "Local Me A"- which is a search term that simply means "Find Me A" at the local level. Get it?

Now, add "The Best of Local" to it and what do you get? The cream-of-the-crop of locally-owned businesses. That's right, not just any business can participate. They must qualify first to be promoted as a "LocalMeA - Best of Local" option and to be part of an exclusive business network. This is accomplished using an online review average formula.

Readers of LocalMeA have access to informative and insightful business & lifestyle content to improve and enrich their professional and personal lives. They can also use the "Look Who's Best of Local" directory to not only shop and support local, but the Best of Local in doing so. That's the whole concept behind the marketing campaign "Don't Just Shop Local - Shop The Best Of Local!"

I've adjusted the advertising model to a low monthly rate for business members and the platform is always free for anyone to read and use. Did I mention I'm now taking the LocalMeA platform nationally?

​See it in action at LocalMeA.com