Author: admin

Confidence is essential to business success. It underpins our ability to network, trial new products and ask for the order when we are selling to customers.

I was asked the other day if I could teach confidence and after some thought, my answer was that I couldn’t teach it directly, but I could offer people tools and techniques to enable them to increase it. Confidence results from the experience we have and the self-talk that we run in our head in difficult situations. So, here are three things we can do to change our thinking and so increase our confidence:

1. Practice. When I work as a speaker I always practice at least 3 times beforehand and have my opening sentence written down. When we get up to speak the first thing that happens is that our head empties of all useful thoughts, so having my first sentence written down means that I can begin my routine in auto-mode and give my brain time to switch back on. When could you find time to practice?

2. Positive Set-up. If our self-talk is full of ‘I’m no good’ or ‘this is bound to fail’ or ‘I never get it right’ then what will tend to happen is that we live up (or down) to our self-talk. Instead we can say to ourselves ‘I can learn from this experience’ or ‘I’m not expected to be an expert’ or ‘I have done this before and it went well’ or ‘I can have a go’ …and so on. How could you change your self-talk?

3. Let It Go. If something doesn’t go our way it is tempting to hang on to it and use it to justify why we can’t repeat the event in the future. All that does though is to keep us down, when if we practiced and changed our self talk the outcome could be so different. If you’re hanging on to past failures then let them go…we can put down these heavy bags that burden us and look forwards instead of backwards. Past experiences are there to be learned from, so don’t be hard on yourself and instead just let it go – tomorrow is another day.

We can all do, say, and think things that increase our confidence. What will you do this week to help yourself?

Next week: A fresh look at sponsorship

I was reminded recently about the importance of branding, when talking to some guests on my radio show at www.futureradio.co.uk and they shared their story about merging with a similar firm and having to find a new name to describe their business. It seems to me that the previous vogue for funky sounding names such as Tartan Rhino, Big Blue Banana and just plain old Funkee (spelled wrong for added va va voom) has thankfully subsided.

They’ve been replaced by friendly, earthier sounding names that evoke people and places and are intended to suggest longevity and reliability. Examples would be Jones & Carthy, High Tower and Mrs Green & Co.*

In uncertain times, where growth is slow and the long the road to recovery is a gentle incline, people want to inculcate solidity in their brand and avoid appearing flippant or, to quote Douglas Adams, ‘so hip they can’t see over their pelvis.’

Rebranding away from a New York loft-feel uber-chic image, to something more reminiscent of a warmly welcoming Cotswold village, is now becoming the activity du jour of the MD looking for inspiration and seeking to preserve fragile market share. And why not be proactive and move with the times?

So, when you next look over your flyers, website header and business card, take a fresh look at your:

Business name
Sub-head
Colour scheme
Points of difference

And ask yourself:

1) Do they convey longevity and reassure potential purchasers than we are a stable, reputable organisation?
2) Is our message a loud shouty one, or is it quiet and thoughtful and invites people to feel good about dealing with us?
3) Do our colour palettes and graphics feel fresh and modern, or locked into the big shoulder pads and bouffant hair styles of the 1980’s?

Good branding doesn’t have to be complicated or cost a small fortune. However, you lead with your image and so it’s worth taking time to think about yours and the way your business passively presents itself across printed material and internet platforms. Take a fresh look at your Twitter entry too – is it time to update your biog and upload a new avatar photo?

Have fun thinking about your image and the brand values embedded within it.

Next week: Can you teach confidence?

*All business names used in the post, with the exception of the radio station, have been made up by me whilst sipping a mid-morning cocktail in my writer’s lounge. Any coincidences are entirely coincidental and no offence has been intended. If you named your business after a combination of whacky colour + endangered species that is entirely your affair.