Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Matt Cheuvront Of LifeWithoutPants.com
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I am very honoured to have gotten this Unusual Entrepreneur in question. His name is Matt Cheuvront. He’s a 26-year old entrepreneur and the co-founder of Proof, a full service branding and design firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
They specialize in everything from logo, web, and print design, marketing strategy, copy-writing and PR, and do all of these through the lens of branding, helping businesses, organizations, and individually think strategically about their brand on a holistic level.
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven.
It is my life mission to understand the unusual qualities of such unusual entrepreneurs and inspire as many others to profit from purpose by changing the world. If you’re not yet familiar with our philosophy of unusual entrepreneurs, kindly download our free ebook: The Entrepreneur’s Journey. This is the official manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world and profit from purpose.
Without further ado, let’s begin!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
The 3Ms Of Highly Effective Marketing
Why do some marketing work and others don’t?
What constitutes an effective marketing strategy?
How can you get the most from your marketing efforts?
These questions and many more run through the mind of entrepreneurs as they struggle to build a thriving business. And the reason is quite clear; marketing is the lifeblood of any business.
If you get your marketing right, your odds of success in business will be greatly improved.
But why do many struggle to get their marketing right?
This is the central focus of this unusual article. You will learn the 3 essential ‘Ms’ that constitute a winning marketing strategy.
Let’s begin!
The 3M’s Of Highly Effective Marketing
1. Message
What is your story?
The foundation of highly effective marketing is storytelling. The best marketers are storytellers. At the core of effective marketing is a strong message. This is why marketing is often referred to as communication. Because there’s a message that needs to be communicated to the target audience.
This message is the goodness [value] your product/service brings into the life of the target customer. Without this message, there can be no marketing!
This is contrary to what many entrepreneurs would like to admit. Many entrepreneurs often think the core of an effective marketing is the product/service. This is somewhat true, but more true is the story or message or idea behind the product/service.
People don’t form emotional bonds with products/service; they form emotional bonds with a story, message or idea. That is, the eventual outcome or benefit that accrues from using the product or service. If your story, message or idea is compelling and relevant enough, the product/service will naturally sell itself.
This is why Apple is one of the greatest marketing companies ever. They have a very compelling message that drives every product/service they offer; “challenging the status quo”.
Apple’s products/services are designed to challenge existing norms, beliefs and standards. They create products that disrupt the existing market. This message is at the core of everything they do as a company and is communicated through out their marketing. Their business is creating products/services that appeal to a tribe of ‘weirdos’ – people who are unusually different.
From their product development phase, they have created a secret cult that prevents the market from knowing about the next product until it launches. This further reinforces their message of “challenging the status quo” as it clearly communicates to the market that their products are not for the average Joe.
Only those who dare to be different fit the profile of Apple’s ideal target market.
What does this tell you?
Behind the product lies a message, story or idea that gives the product or service a meaning customers can relate with. That you have created the best product in your industry or niche isn’t going to make the customers beat a path to your door. No!
Customers identify first with a message, story or idea before making the decision to buy a product/service. Their decision to buy is an outward reinforcement of their inward attachment to the message, story or idea behind the product/service.
Here’s how this works; we are essentially emotional beings more than we like to think of ourselves as rational beings. People buy based on feelings [emotions] and justify with reasons [logic]. Meaning, the first question in the mind of every buyer is ‘why?’
Why should I buy this?
Why should I buy from you?
Why should I trust you?
Why should I do this or do that?
Contrary to what you think, customers don’t begin their buying process by asking ‘what?’, they begin with ‘why?’. Highly effective marketing begins with asking and answering this question; “why do customers buy?”
The best answer to that question is a compelling message, story or idea that will communicate value, trust and relevance. Give people something they can connect with, relate to and emotionally identify with, and you’ve won their heart over.
So here’s how to start creating a highly effective marketing strategy –craft a compelling message, story or idea around the product/service you’re offering for sell.
What is your story?
What cause are you fighting?
What are you fighting for or against?
To what purpose does your business exist?
What is the big picture behind your product or service?
Why should people bother or care about your company?
What problem is your business solving for humanity?
What contribution are you making through your business, product or service?
What is your BIG ‘why’ for being in business?
What gospel [goodnews] is your business spreading?
Finding answers to those questions is how you create a compelling message, story or idea for your marketing strategy. You have to answer the ‘why?’ question before the ‘what?’ question.
2. Medium
The second ‘M’ of highly effective marketing is Medium – how do you get your message out? It is not enough to have a compelling message, story or idea if it’s not being heard by the right people.
For your marketing to work, your compelling message has to be shared to the right audience via the right medium.
This is where medium comes into play. How do you get the word out? Through what channels are you going to disseminate your message, story or idea?
Most times, the message is right but the medium is wrong. For example, trying to sell a particular product/service to a bunch of uneducated people through a blog or website is highly ineffective. Meaning, your message won’t be understood however compelling it might be.
So you’ve got to use the right avenues to spread your message to your target audience. This is where advertising agencies and media houses excel. They help you identify the right medium to disseminate your marketing message.
What are the different marketing mediums available?
They are essentially classified into two parts;
- Print media: all forms of spreading your message in print forms such as newspaper ads, newsletters, handbills, billboards, books, magazines, brochures, catalogs, complementary cards, posters/flyers, stickers, branded clothing, souvenirs/gift items etc.
- Electronic media: all forms of spreading your message electronically such as online, TV, radio, audios, videos, mobile, etc.
The most important factor to consider when it comes to choosing a medium for your marketing is its relevance to your target market. You must identify the relevant medium for your target market. Failure to do this is failure in your marketing.
3. Messenger
The third ‘M’ of highly effective marketing is the messenger. The message and the medium are incomplete without the messenger. The messenger is the face of the brand. This is why most marketing campaigns use celebrities or other known public figures.
Other than the message, story or idea, people also connect with people they admire. Successful marketing must involve the effective use of a strong personality. As an entrepreneur, you are the first brand ambassador of your company, product or service. You are the face that must win the confidence of your target market.
For Apple, the strong personality of Steve Jobs was one of their most effective marketing strategies. Steve was eccentric [weird] and nothing could be more fitting to their message of “challenging the status quo” than having an unusual leader.
He was the face of Apple. People connected with his personal philosophy of life, they bought into his message of daring to be different. And it worked!
For some other companies like Nike; they are known to always use highly successful athletes as their brand ambassadors. This further reinforces their core marketing message of “competitiveness” which comes from their brand name Nike – the greek goddess of victory.
So what does this tell you?
A message becomes more compelling when connected to a person. People form emotional bonds with other people and this is the secret behind the messenger strategy.
Personal branding as a form of marketing originated from the messenger strategy. The more a person can be connected to a message, story or idea, the more compelling and sticky the message becomes.
So here’s the takeaway; give your message a face!
And for startup entrepreneurs who do not have so much marketing budget, no other person fits this position better other than you the entrepreneur. You’ve got to back up your company, product, service and brand relentlessly.
The faith you have in your message, story or idea will become contagious the more you boldly communicate that message to your target audience both in words and in deeds.
So stop expecting others especially your salespeople to do all the selling. This is your business and the success rests more on your courage to face the world and boldly declare what you stand for!
Your turn
What do you think about these 3M’s of highly effective marketing? Do you find them necessary? Have you noticed them in application? Are there any other ‘M’ I forgot to mention? How do you intend to put them to use in your business?
Use the comment box below to share your thoughts on this unusual article.
Over to the comments!
- Published in Marketing, Thought Bank
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Mark McGuinness Of LateralAction.com
Here’s another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I am very honoured to have gotten this Unusual Entrepreneur in question. He’s been one of my mentors since 2008 and I have learnt so much from his wealth of knowledge.
His name is Mark McGuinness; he’s is a poet who earns his living as a coach for artists, creatives and entrepreneurs – and mavericks in various other fields. He blogs at LateralAction and is the author of several ebooks on creativity. Mark is a very generous guy so he’s provided us with a link where you can download them for Free! Click here.
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven.
It is my life mission to understand the unusual qualities of such unusual entrepreneurs and inspire as many others to profit from purpose by changing the world. If you’re not yet familiar with our philosophy of unusual entrepreneurs, kindly download our free ebook: The Entrepreneur’s Journey. This is the official manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world and profit from purpose.
Without further ado, let’s begin!
How Unusual Is Mark McGuinness?
Mark McGuinness is a qualified psychotherapist, registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy. He also holds a MA in Creative & Media Enterprises from the University of Warwick and a BA in English Language & Literature from Oxford University.
He’s been coaching artists and creatives since 1996 and have worked with people in all kinds of creative professions, including artists, designers, writers, film-makers, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs, architects, singers and fashion designers. He has also consulted for organisations including the BBC, Channel 4, Arts & Business, the UK’s Institute for Practitioners in Advertising, and creative agencies of all sizes.
His work has been featured in media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Creative Review, Mslexia and the Discovery Health Channel. His main areas of expertise are; Business coaching, Creativity, Motivation, Managing creativity, Time management and productivity, Presentation skills, Influencing skills, Online marketing, and Social media.
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
How To Choose A Unique Brand Name For Your Business, Product Or Service
Business Startup FAQs [2]
This is another unusual article under the business mastery series. In a previous article, I listed out 10 Business Startup FAQs that most entrepreneurs often ask when starting out in business. Here are the questions again below.
I have answered question 1 – 3 in the first article, you can read about it here; How should entrepreneurs successfully start up a new business? I will be providing the answer to the fourth question; “How do I choose a name for my business?” in this unusual article.
- What kind of business should I go into?
- How Should I start; small or big?
- How Should I fund my business; use my own money or get external funding?
- How do I choose a name for my business?
- How do I differentiate my company from other competitions?
- What do I need for marketing my new business?
- Do I need to have a business plan or not?
- Do I need to have an office space or not?
- Do I need to hire employees or not?
- How do I price my products/services?
How Do I Choose A Brand Name For My Business?
When it comes to choosing a name for your business; here are the 3 essential principles you need to obey.
1. Functionality
2. Memorability
3. Simplicity
Let’s look at each one of these principles more closely.
Functionality
This describes the nature of your business by its name. When you name your business based on the intended function it will carry out, you are naming your business base on functionality.
Functionality works very well for branding, as the name already speaks for itself. You don’t need too much talking to explain what your business is about. The name does it for you.
Examples of functional brand names are;
Soundcity
International Business Machines [IBM]
WashaWash
Chicken Republic
Starcomms
MTV Base –Music Tv
The major advantage of choosing a functional brand name for your business, product or service is its self-descriptive nature. I like this approach to choosing a brand name because of its ability to save you time trying to explain your business, product or service.
The name is the business, the business is the name.
No confusion whatsoever. There’s a clear communication of what you’re into once the customer comes in contact with your business, product or service. It doesn’t matter whether you or any of your people are there to explain to them or not. The brand name does the whole talking. Isn’t that what you want?
Memorability
The central objective of this second approach to choosing a brand name for your business, product or service is stickiness. You want your brand name to stick in people’s mind. You want to be remembered. This is a deliberate and creative combination of words. What is popularly known as coined words. You want a brand name that will attract attention, stir up the curiosity and interest of your target market.
This can be said to be the opposite of choosing a brand name base on functionality. Because in this case, what you are seeking to achieve is not ‘self-description’ of what your business, product or service is about. But rather, you are seeking to achieve ‘self-imagination’ of what your business, product or service is about.
With functional brand names, you make the task of understanding what your business, product or service does easier for the target market. With memorable brand names, you make the task of understanding what your business, product or service does interesting for the target market.
With functional brand names, you don’t engage the customer’s curiosity because the name says it all. You don’t stir up their interest for what you are selling. But with memorable brand names, you have their attention because they are involved in the process of imagining what in the world your business, product or service is about.
This is where the catch is; you want them thinking. The more time they spend thinking about your brand name, the more sticky your brand name gets in their mind. Your goal is to imprint your brand name in their memory. You want them to easily remember your business, product or service. The more unusual they seem, the more memorable they are.
Examples include;
Generis
Squidoo
Kadozky
Jegary
The major advantage of choosing a memorable brand name is its uniqueness. Nothing differentiates a business, product or service better than a brand name that’s uniquely yours. When no other company has used your business name before, it helps to really enhance your brand identity. You distinctively stand out from the crowd in your niche or industry. You can weave a compelling story around that uniqueness.
The downside to choosing a memorable brand name is that it requires more talking and that means more marketing. The more unusual the brand name, the more curiosity it stirs and the more communication [marketing] required.
That is; people quickly remember your brand name, but for what? This unanswered question is the gap marketing fills. You need to be consistent in your marketing to give your sticky brand name a meaning. You don’t want people to just remember your memorable brand name without associating it to something meaningful.
Successful brands don’t just carry sticky or memorable names, they also carry specific meanings. Successful brands are living entities. People know what they represent; they know what to expect every time from them. So, besides choosing a memorable brand name, you’ve also got to put a meaning behind it.
In the end, it is not enough to be memorable; your choice of brand name has to convey a meaning. And this doesn’t happen automatically, it is a deliberate and consistent marketing effort.
Simplicity
The third approach to choosing a brand name for your business, product or service is simplicity. After all is said and done, you don’t want to have a brand name that’s difficult to pronounce and spell. You really don’t want people biting off their tongues in an attempt to pronounce your brand name. The more complex it is, the more easily forgettable it becomes.
So whether it is a functional brand name or a memorable one you choose, just make sure it’s both simple to spell and pronounce. Simplicity is the underlying principle that ties up other two approaches of choosing a brand name.
It doesn’t matter which of the two you decide to choose. But it does matter that any brand name you come up with be simple. This is overly important. People don’t remember long or complex brand names. This is one of the reasons you find some brand names as acronyms. It’s because they need to keep it short and simple.
Here’s the simple rule of thumb; if your brand name will make people twist their tongues or squeeze their face, drop it!
Examples are;
Conclusion
If you are just starting out in business or working on a product or service, let your brand name be;
Descriptive – [functional]
Sticky – [memorable]
Short – [simple]
Your turn
As entrepreneurs, we are always coming up with ideas that end up as new businesses, products or services. What other principles besides those mentioned in this unusual article do you follow when coming up with brand names?
Share your comments in the section below.
ONE LAST THING!
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- Published in Marketing, Thought Bank