Gunslinger of Choice

You may have a new business venture, or an established one, and any ”business expert” you may meet, will espouse that every successful business has both a brand, and a supporting creative tag, which timelessly endorses it in their chosen market sectors and greater general community. This creative tag is sometimes called a “Meaningful Motto”. If you don’t already have one which delivers as intended, those “experts” will challenge you to either invent one or may offer to help you invent one. You may then potentially expend an inordinate amount of time, energy and resources trying to create a "Meaningful Motto” which informs the world about both your business and personal brands. Whether you realize it, or not, often you actually already know what you want to say but putting it all into one succinct line of ten words, or less (which genius came up with that parameter), can be incredibly challenging, frustrating, distracting and dare I say it .. even depressing at times! Further, the extensive history and "experts" you can access in your “Meaning Motto” quest can sometimes lead to even more confusion, rather than the clarity you need. Consequently, after much "navel gazing" the desired “Meaningful Motto” outcome may seem even more distant than when you first started on this journey! Here are some “Tips and Tricks” which you may find useful in establishing your "Meaningful Motto" - Always trust yourself and your instincts, after all you got yourself to this position in the first place and you know exactly what you want to say The input and/or advice, from anyone who cares to contribute, can't make the decision, only you can Always keep your audience in mind (sound familiar but amazing how often ignored) as this is meant for them, not you, and what they see and interpret is biased by their own subjective experiences Your primary intent is to get their attention in the first place and then encourage their interest in exploring more with you Procrastination is perfectly normal, not abnormal, when you are trying to be creative and the benefit I got from a potential negative scenario, is it actually helps you to discard the "wannabe" options and focus on the "probable" ones What you ultimately create may already be someone else's mantra, that doesn't mean it's not available or right for you, you just need to figure out how to say it in an original way Test it out on your circle of trusted friends and colleagues, they probably represent a good spread of your potential audience and will give you good, constructive feedback, without prejudice, which will either confirm and/or help you further crystallize your thinking How much effort, time, resources, advice and money you wish to spend is always your choice, don't let it become the torpedo which sinks your ship before it launches on this quest Finally, you can always evolve it as the unknown future reveals itself, what you are trying to do is best position you and your business to take advantage of the opportunities as they present themselves today which is aptly summed up by my own “Meaningful Motto” .. “Today Shapes Tomorrow – We Help Shape Today”. Putting these points into context for when creating my own "Meaningful Motto", ie "Today Shapes Tomorrow - We Help Shape Today" - Original theme … not necessarily … original wording … "YES” Total time spent - approx TWO HOURS overall Total cost – ZERO $ apart from the OPPORTUNITY COST OF MY TIME End result = GOAL ACHIEVED and VERY HAPPY  If you found this article useful and would like some strategic help to achieving incremental business success, then please contact me at MD-Dakeyras@bigpond.com