Why Brand Your Business?

Having a concise, clear image that you project to your clients and customers is important in today’s market. More and more people are leaving the job market and creating their own business, whether by choice or necessity, so the competition continues to expand. Therefore it is increasingly important to stand out among your competition. You want your business to be memorable!

Customers remember images and feelings that are evoked more than just a name on a business card. What type of feeling do you want your business to evoke in your customers / clients? How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be the first one your customer thinks about over your competition? Of course you do. But what do you want to be remembered for?

• Your excellent customer service?
• Your winning smile?
• Your product?
• Your prices?
• Your logo?

How are you different from your competition? What makes your business special? Ask yourself these questions and then look at the answers. Maybe you are already projecting a particular image. It is cohesive, or is it sloppy? Do you even have an image? Do you have a brand name? Do you have any sort of identity?

What about your services? Does each one have a different look, feel and image, or does it tie into the image of your business? Can you look at your services and see the brand name, image or theme running through each description? Choosing to use the same logo on all your materials, sticking with a consistent color theme and playing off a specific theme is part of branding.

What about your company? Does your image reflect your product? Do your customers recognize you by your business name or a product name? Are you consistent with your marketing message? These are ALL important questions whether you are starting a business or looking to expand your existing business. So, ask the questions, listen to the answers and create a plan for branding your business!

Business Intuition: Avoiding the Cosmic 2 x 4’s

What’s a cosmic 2 x 4 you ask?

It’s actually a phrase that’s been used in the ‘new age/ metaphysical’ world for the past 15 years or more. It refers to the lessons we learned the hard way when we didn’t listen to our intuition.

In the process of our intuitive development, we learn to listen more deeply and follow the guidance that comes from within. Because conscious awareness is building during that time, whenever we choose not to listen and go against our intuition, the lessons learned seem twice as powerful and painful than if we had listened.

When it happens, it feels like a 2x4 hitting you right between the eyes. It’s especially powerful because ‘you should have known better’. These are lessons that are meant to get our attention either consciously or intuitively. It is infinitely preferable to have it come through the intuitive realm, then take action upon it.

Choosing to ignore, or bypass your intuitive sense will have repercussions that can lead to self blame, resentment and red ink in the business world. Have you ever sat in a business meeting and listened to a proposal knowing the entire time that it ‘felt wrong’ somehow, yet you didn’t say anything? Later you aren’t surprised to watch the plan fail, thinking you should have said something when you had the chance before the company took a loss.

Intuition is like our inner guidance system or a GPS. We all possess intuition. We didn’t exactly come into this life with a set of operating instructions, however we do have an inner road map. Each time we have a ‘feeling’, or what I call a ‘knowing,’ it’s a signal that we are on the right road and headed in the right direction.

Think about a time when you had a bad experience and you caught yourself saying afterwards, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that! I had a feeling, but I did it anyway!” We’ve all had experiences like that throughout our lives. Generally it’s something we want to ‘make happen’ or something we want really badly, so we ignore those inner feelings. Not listening to our inner voice can be detrimental to our wellbeing, and to our bottom line! It’s the repercussions of our inaction that I call the Cosmic 2x4.

Paying attention to your intuition is one thing, however acting on it is another. Why do you think you have an inner guidance system? It’s not meant to sit on a shelf and look pretty, only being dusted off once in a while. It is meant to be used everyday.

Our lives require constant course adjustments or corrections, similar to the automatic pilot on airplanes. In order to stay on track and reach the correct destination, we need to make constant small course corrections. This is where our inner guidance system comes in really handy! Just listening isn’t enough however. Taking action on the intuitive message is just as important. When we don’t listen, we steer off course. Usually those sort of off-road detours are very bumpy and filled with potholes. It’s a lesson in learning.

The moral of this story is that cosmic 2x4’s are painful and avoidable.

Tips for working with your intuition:

1. Sort and distinguish Intuitive messages from the regular mental chatter that goes on in your mind.
2. As you actively acknowledge your intuition it becomes easier to recognize.
3. The more you listen to your intuition, the louder the volume.
4. Trust your intuition will always guide you in the right direction.
5. Acting on your intuition brings rewards.

© 2005 J.Reece

This article was originally prepared for Ivy Sea Online by Jaelin Reece, a visionary consultant and spiritually guided Life Coach, offering unique knowledge, techniques, intuitive abilities and expertise to provide solutions for small businesses, organizations and individuals.

www.IlluminationsNetwork.com

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