Building a Big-Time Brand - Get Authentic (And a Few Years Older Won’t Hurt)

By Leah Komaiko Oct 29, 2011, 5:29 GMT

It’s simple but not always so easy to know that and capitalize on it. Picasso, wrote, “it takes one a long time to grow young.” You’ve worked a long time to get there. And look at the brand he remains today!

If you’ve lived for 45 years, you may notice that the older you get the more true to yourself you become.

Nature and science and just good news may have you longing to be more authentic than you were since when you first learned your ABC’s. And A” was for apple.” Authentic would have been too big a word. But you didn’t need to know it then.  You just were it.

Flash forward and today “authentic” is what a business needs to survive; grown up children with vision and voice.   Authentic is more than a buzz word. It’s your bottom line. It’s what makes you stand-out for the right reasons –because you are the only one who can solve your customers’ problems in the way you do.

It’s knowing what you’ll deal with and what you won’t.  It is the key to your prosperity.  

It’s simple but not always so easy to know that and capitalize on it.  Picasso, wrote, “it takes one a long time to grow young.”  You’ve worked a long time to get there.  And look at the brand he remains today!

So how do I know if my business persona is Authentic?

1. It’s what’s true to and for you.  And more importantly your clients and customers.
2.  It’s not your plan etched in stone but a heart that steeped in conviction and some joy.   It’s ever growing. Fluid and dynamic.  Like your life.  

Authentic isn’t:
1. Different. People will not pay you for being different. They will however pay you well for being unique.
2. For sissies or the faint of heart.  It’s is for those who want to put their hard efforts into growing bold brands that make a difference and a profit. 
Know your “A” and that’s the best way to develop your “B” for brand on the road to “C” – the cash! 

Let the good times roll!

M&C Guest Editor, Leah Komaiko, creates unique brand and marketing campaigns for Forbes 500 companies, major non profits and dozens of women small business owners who want to create bold, prosperous brands from their authenticity up.  She can be reached at www.LeahKomaiko.com