“But remember this—if you give little, you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much.” -2 Cor. 9:6 (TLB)
When sitting down with potential clients, whether in brand building consultations, or to assist in their quest to improve the graphic elements of their organizations, we always find it interesting that their first concerns are often costs. Not what their returns on the initial investments will be.. Not our reputation and track record with our other clients.. Not what the quality of the finished products will be.. But COST. As an entrepreneurs, trust me, we get it. TheAIDG doesn’t have some unlimited credit limit or ever-expanding bank account, but we do understand the importance of planting seeds.
In what ways are you getting out the messages that your company is the company that your potential customers should be using? What is it about your service or product that makes you the clear choice in your industry? What are you investing? Or in this case, WHAT ARE YOU PLANTING? In the same way that farmers have to plant with a plan, you will need to as well.
Sometimes your planting will be investing an hour per day to do strategic social media implementation across several platforms. More often than not, your planting will take place in the form of networking with potential clients/customers. You will need to carefully water and tend to these relationships if you want them to grow into meaningful, long lasting harvests.. (please keep your fertilizer to a minimum though).. Find a networking event that is open to the public, show up confident with custom business cards in hand –yes, CUSTOM (that is unless you’re not unique, and in that case your cards won’t need to be either), and plant them directly into the hands of your future clients, customers, colleagues and friends. (My personal weekly goal is to plant TEN business cards in fertile land.)
In business (and in life), you get back what you put out.. So, change clothes and get out into the garden so we can plant successes.
- @ALLENIMAGERY
“Know Thyself.” -Socrates
Think back to your days in middle school.. back when your body was changing, your attitude was horrible and you were just discovering the things that were important to you. For some of us, this was a very awkward time in our lives.. A time when old friendships were outgrown and new ones began to bud, a time when we developed our personalities and decided where we would fit in (or if we even wanted to). For many, middle school was when we really started to figure out who we were.
As adults (and as entrepreneurs), it is very important that we know who we are, what we value and what we stand for. Our personalities hinge on these things, and your business is no different. When I sit down with companies to do brand consultations, one of the first things that I want to know is who the brand is.. not WHAT.. but yes, WHO. If your brand was a person, what would it look like? Wear? Drink? It is just as important for your brand to develop a personality as it was for you in middle school.. but hopefully it won’t include watching that awkward movie about the.. uhhhm.. change.
- @ALLENIMAGERY
- Joseph ALLEN Woods
@allenimagery
CLIENT: Brandon XPLICIT
PROJECT: Promotional Cards
PROJECT LEAD: Joseph ALLEN Woods
web: www.TheAIDG.com
twitter: @TheAIDG
phone: 202.618.AIDG
CLIENT: @YaBoiCHov
PROJECT: #TheExperience Event Flyer
PROJECT LEAD: Joseph ALLEN Woods
web: www.TheAIDG.com
twitter: @TheAIDG
phone: 202.618.AIDG
CLIENT: 8729 Records
PROJECT: Red October Concert Poster
PROJECT LEAD: Joseph ALLEN Woods
web: www.TheAIDG.com
twitter: @TheAIDG
phone: 202.618.AIDG
-Joseph Allen Woods
@allenimagery
CLIENT: Lauren Crowner Heart of Gold Foundation
PROJECT: Afterwork Professional Networking Event Flyer [pro-bono]
PROJECT LEAD: Joseph ALLEN Woods
web: www.TheAIDG.com
twitter: @TheAIDG
phone: 202.618.AIDG
