Opinion
Food for Living: Distinguish Your Brand
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Destiny Friends,
Beauty lies in the eyes in the beholder is a popular saying, which has proved to be true because if you ask ten blind men to describe an elephant, they’ll describe the elephant based on the way they feel it. One of the beauty-aspects of life is its originality. In this contemporary age where digital communication has gone global, no one likes a fake product, a fake friend, a fake person, etc; everyone likes it when you’re the best version of yourself. Though some schools of thought might relish in the aphorism, “fake it until you make it”, If truth be told, there’s nothing sweeter than when success is organic, especially when people identify with you for what you truly represent. When you’re fake, it goes to prove you’re not worthy and confident of yourself. But when you’re the original version of yourself, it makes your life much more simple, easy and accessible. Let me share an insightful business tip with you; when you’re fake, you’ll only attract fake people around you thereby driving your potential helpers away from you, but when you’re the original version of yourself, you give fake people the opportunity to run away and the original people the opportunity to come closer.- Food for thought.
In one of the chapters of my first published book Design Your Destiny- Actualizing Your Birthright to Success, titled: Understanding Your Uniqueness, a striking statement therein is a quote from Oscar Wilde “Be yourself, everyone is taken”. This affirms the saying, you can lie to others but you can never lie to yourself. The question now becomes, how do you distinguish not only yourself but your brand? During the course of this article, we shall be focusing on how we can make not only yourself unique, but also our brands, business, and lifestyle in general. We shall conclude with advice on how to stay relevant in business.
A brand must uniquely solve a particular problem and it must recognize the target audience it hopes to serve. Brand differentiation can be a corporate brand, product brand, or even a personal brand.
In order to truly know yourself and what people think about you and your product, ask them what do think about you and your product? Depending on the response you receive, you can evaluate and reconcile it with who you truly are and what your brand represents. Let’s take the case of Coca- Cola, for instance, it has been in existence for one hundred and twenty years and therefore needs no introduction nor marketing. The interesting thing about Coca-Cola is that no one knows the composition/ ingredients. That goes to tell you they have distinguished themselves.
Let share practical examples of how you can distinguish yourself, your brand/product.
Position Yourself
Location is very important in business. Being at the right place and time is very critical for the success of your business. Your ability to know what is needed and lacking in any region can influence your brand recognition. Regardless of where you are in the world, figure out where your customers, services or skills will be relevant and find a way to get there. This helps to give your customers more opportunities to be involved in the decision-making process. It also provides customers the benefits of distinctiveness and variety, enabling them to choose the experience that is most meaningful to them.
Cultivate Stronger Relationships:
It is widely believed that you are addressed the way you dress and your network determines your net worth. If you have great clientele base and build a solid relationship, you stand a better chance of getting business opportunities due to the referral you’ll get.
Consistency
One of the most important keys to distinguishing yourself is consistency; over the course of months, will people begin to recognize and appreciate your brand for what it is. Craft your brand identity carefully, and stick to it once you’ve found a way to distinguish yourself.
Be informed
Information is power. Make it a duty to inform your customers about new developments in the industry. You can do this by way of newsletter, flyers, text messages or social media engagement. In that your customers will know you are not interested in their money, but you also care about them.
Tell A Story
People like stories that relate to them or why you do what you do. Your story may also be about the source of your product, service or inspiration and it can also relate to you.
Every successful brand has a compelling story behind it.
Great Customer Service
Customers love great customer. Exceeding expectations can differentiate your brand. For example, little words like thank you, gifts, can I help you find something? Constant checking on your customers and informing them of new products helps them to see you a reputable brand due to how you have positioned not only yourself, your employees but your business in general. Make people feel value: You can appeal to people’s emotions by delivering an emotional experience that’s associated with your product or service. Great customer service and pricing are very influential factors for customer service. When you deliver a world customer service, your customers stay happier and stick around longer.
The quality of a company’s customer support and service directly impacts the overall customer experience. Take care of your employees by treating them right and they will, in turn, treat your company/business well.
Give Back
Modern customers like a bonus, points, gift cards, and other incentives. Most people love to get behind a brand that gives back to the community. By emphasizing corporate social responsibility (CSR), you can differentiate your brand and get an edge over the competition
Provide Higher Quality
When you are recognized as a brand that specializes in giving quality products, a distinct class of people will be familiar with your business. E.g. Rolex watches are unique. Luxury brands are able to command premium pricing through an emphasis on higher-quality Toyota and Honda cars are regarded as durable cars while Bentley is regarded as a luxury car.
Finding a true strategy
Having a unique strategy is very important in succeeding in business. Coming up with a great strategy may be the single most difficult step in building a business. But it may also be the most important. Here are a few possible strategy variables to consider: High quality versus low price, narrow versus broad product line, high-tech versus low-tech product, trendy versus conservative products, brand name versus generic, customized versus standard, niche market versus mainstream market
Solve a real problem for customers
Once you identify those unsolved problems, you can take a few different approaches to solve them. However, once you come up with a plan of attack, validate it with your customers before implementing it.
Brand Ambassadors
Brand advocates are people who love your brand so much they promote it to friends, family, or colleagues. They are also commonly referred to as “brand ambassadors”. When they become convinced of the value you offer the market, they start promoting. They do this on their own, without any request from your company. This constitutes a great form of free advertising for your business. And it’s the best type of advertising.
Become an expert
If you paint yourself as an expert in your space, customers and prospects will look to you for advice. They will look for your content when they have a problem that needs to be solved. They will search your website for other resources that will help them.
Focus on social listening Skills
Consumers use social media to gather new information about a brand than ever before. They also use social media to blast negative comments across the airwaves when they have a poor experience. Consumers using social media have more power than ever to dictate the direction and future of a company. If you disappoint customers, many will quickly take to social media to share their negative experiences with the world. And it is done in a public forum, which can kill your brand reputation.
When someone posts a comment—whether positive or negative—you need to respond as quickly as possible -be engaging.
In conclusion, how does your brand differentiate from the competition? Is your packaging distinctive or stand-out in some way? How could you change that? What does your brand do to differentiate your customer service? Are there new audiences you can reach through differentiation?
What would it take to reposition as a luxury brand and differentiate through added value?
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is everybody’s desire to be successful in whatever field of endeavour he finds himself. It can be in career, family life, business endeavors or personal development. But there’s absolutely nothing good that comes easy. Everything in life involves a lot of hard work, smart work, dedication, discipline, network, sacrifice, prayers, and determination among a whole lot if one is intentional to succeed.
Of a truth, success is not for the faint-hearted. In all honesty, everyone wants to be ahead of everyone, especially contemporaries and funnily enough, the average human being sometimes have a bit of ill- feeling when competitors arise or seem to outsmart them either with better quality or price. The good thing about this however, is that it makes one sit up.
Now, this brings us to the essence of today’s article. For anyone to be ahead of their competitors, they must fly like the eagle. Eagles are known for their powerful build, sharp vision, and fearless nature. They are highflyers, capable of soaring to great heights, and gliding for extended periods. Eagles are also known for their tenacity, using storms to their advantage to gain altitude. Other notable characteristics include their strong talons and beaks, used for hunting, and their protective nature towards their young. These are some of the qualities that make it unique.
The eagle is not regarded as the king of the sky for fun, no. The eagle flies so high because that’s where it gets a chunk of its strength. This ability enables the eagle to take its prey and predators alike to it’s abode where it will have enough emotional and physical strength to dismantle them.
I will be sharing characteristics of an eagle to enable us know why we ought to be like the eagle if we want to soar.
VISION
The eagle has a sharp vision. Their vision is so precise. They can see farther than any animal. They possess exceptional eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from great distances. As human beings, we must have eagle eyes to know what we really want, and what we don’t want. Vision allows us to go for what we desire and deserve. When we have vision, we won’t wait for anyone to tell us when to strike. We flow through the wind despite the waves and heavy current and associated challenges. When our vision is precise, it will give people clarity to understand how they can assist us.
Let’s take a closer look at great leaders of this world who have come and gone. There are many great leaders that came and went but one characteristic that is common in all is “Vision”.
Vision is a successful leadership characteristic
You must have a vision that guides and leads your team towards the organizations or societal goals. The vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision will produce big results
FLIGHT
Eagles are known for their ability to soar and glide, using their large wings to their advantage. Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10, 000 feet, you will never find another bird. If you find another bird, it must be an eagle.
An eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. It was Dr. Myles Munroe who said that. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.
Great leaders are problem solvers. They don’t complain like the pigeons do. They love to take challenges as the eagle does when the storm comes. As human beings, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always good for one to take any fight to their home ground where it will give them advantage over their predators. For instance, a fish is stronger in water, but weak on land, a lion is stronger on land, but weak in water, a monkey is strong on trees but weak on air. Just like an eagle is strong on air and weak on water and land. That’s why it always takes its prey to the sky where they have greater advantage to shine.
As human beings, we also must know what we are naturally good at, the ability to know this will enable us to maximize our strength and work on our weakness. We can only do this when we know ourselves and what we are naturally good at. Our ability to focus on our expertise and what we are naturally good at will make us unique and ahead of our contemporaries.
TENACITY
The eagles are known for their ability to withstand storms and use them to their advantage, rising above the challenges. Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of the very storm that lesser birds fear and head for cover.
Challenges in the life of a leader are many. These are the storms we must face as leaders to rise to greater heights. Like an eagle, a leader can only rise to greater heights if he takes up the challenges head on without running away from it. This is yet another leadership characteristic.
As humans, we all will experience challenges and setbacks, however, the ability to apply strength will go a long way to show how determined we are to overcome the hurdles that pose as challenges.
FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. It will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory.
Successful leaders are fearless, so we are expected to fear no man, but respect all men. They face problems head on. We are supposed to have the eagle fearless mindset regardless of how big the problem may appear. Confront your fear and rise or face your fear and run. The choice is yours.
VITALITY NATURE
One of the strongest characteristics of an eagle is their vitality. Eagles are full of life and are visionary, but they find time to look back at their life and re-energize themselves. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagles reach the age of 30, their physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for them to survive.
What is interesting is that the eagle never gives up living, instead it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five-month period goes through a metamorphosis. As humans, we are expected to reexamine ourselves, retreat to a safe zone. We can do this by fasting as Christians, we can also do this by learning new skills, volunteering our time and seeking for mentors who can hold us by the hand to show us how the appearance of life is not the reality of life.
In conclusion, as human beings, we are encouraged to be like an eagle if we want to scale through life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
One of the greatest strengths of a rational being is the freedom to do whatever they want. That’s a fact! But one thing is sure, and that is actions have consequences. Even at creation, Adam and Eve were given instruction to eat any fruit except a particular tree, but they disobeyed, ate the forbidden fruit, and were thrown out of the garden of Eden.
This simply means that as a human being, one is responsible for his own actions and omissions. Sometimes, we blame people as being responsible for our failures and mistakes, not realizing that nobody will insult you without your permission.
I have come to the realization that choice plays a fundamental role in our lives. The way we speak, the way we write, the way we dress, and the way we live our lives are all products of our choices. Before we eat a particular meal or even wear an outfit, we choose from a list of several options. Before we serve any deity, we make a choice, and though there may be a level of external influence, we still have a role to play in the final outcome.
In recent times, I have developed the eyes of the eagle at looking at life from a vantage position. Anything I want, I strategically sit down and make strategic arrangements which will include what I need to do and what I need to deviate from. These are products of being intentional with our choices.
One of the greatest choices we’ll make as human beings is the choice of, who we will marry and how our life will become. I say this because we are the architect of our life. If you are intentional, how you live your life matters. This also entails the kind of jobs we do and the services we offer. They all define us in one way or another.
Some people are so intentional with their life that they make so much sacrifices spiritually, academically, financially, socially and even with personal development. They know what they want, and dare to go after it no matter whose ox is gored.
While they were intentional to plan their life by making sacrifices, some people are busy living their lives to the fullest and turns around to seek assistance from the person who has planned his existence. Life doesn’t work that way.
Just to let you know how decisive choice can be in the life of a progressive mind, consider President Donald Trump, who grew up to become a successful billionaire and two-term President. His brother, Fred Trump Jr., was an alcoholic who never managed to find success. It is interesting to know that they both have the same biological father and mother. They had the same upbringing, same school, but they had different outcomes. President Trump was intentional with his life and maybe his brother made a bad choice, or he was unintentional with this life.
The moral here is that we need to quit the blame game because we are the architect of our life. “Nobody” really owes us anything. Any favor we get from people is an act of gesture and not entitlement.
So, do yourself a favour, stop blaming your parents or anyone for how your life turned out! It is not your upbringing or genes that make you a success or failure. It is the choices you make in life that make or break you. You can decide to take ownership of your life and change the course of your life for the better.
There are numerous people who have transformed their lives from negative to positive. It’s all about determination and making the right choices.
The choice we make as human beings can either make or mar us. As a man, if you are mischievous in sleeping around, with different women, attending night clubs with several women, spending lavishly without being prudent, it won’t be long before poverty locates you.
Today, I charge you to sit down, and reflect on what kind of life you want to live and begin to intentionally work on it by making the right choices. I look forward to seeing you at the top.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Anyone who intends to go far in life must be intentional in stretching himself, and that explains why the importance of stretching oneself cannot be overemphasized. Nobody will assist anyone when they are not intentional in helping themselves. Someone’s ability to convince others of how passionate and dedicated they are concerning a given cause, position or project, is one of the weapons of inspiration that draws assistance. There aren’t many out there that stumbles into investing help where there’s no passion or dedication to a cause.
I will be sharing a personal, but practical experience that inspired this article with a background in my spiritual leader, Evangelist Ebuka Anozie Obi’s statement that, “I’m not preaching about Jesus Christ I heard, but I am talking about Jesus Christ I have personally experienced”. This statement captured my thoughts and mindset about this article.
In recent times, I have discovered the importance of being practical when writing or living generally. For instance, I got the inspiration to write this article a week ago when I visited the gym at my workplace. I was literally amazed to see the transformation that has taken place in my life.
The sad reality of life is most people want to go to heaven, but they are not willing to die. This means that a lot of people want to be celebrated, they are not willing to do the needful. How can people support you when you are not making an effort to succeed? Sometimes, ignorant minds want their benefactors, mentors or even destiny helpers to fasttrack their opportunities, but they are not willing to learn or do the associate work.
It’s instructive to note that your benefactors are not the lamb of God, who takes aways the sins of the world. They won’t do the work for you, rather, they will put the icing on the cake after the progressive minds must have done 90% of the work. This is just the reality of life.
Let me share a practical experience with you, I have a resourceful mentor with global influence. When my first book was ready for publication, I reached out to him to write the foreword, and he was glad. According to him, I have done something he has been willing to do for about 20 years. He was literally impressed to see my thoughts and efforts birthed into reality. The interesting thing about the success of my first book is that the book took me to New York Times, News12 in New York, United Nations in addition to introducing me to resourceful minds globally.
Imagine if I had not taken time to stretch myself, I wouldn’t have attained this height. That’s why I said, when you stretch yourself a little bit, there are bound to be opportunities and experiences that will come your way.
There was a recurrence of thesame experience when I incorporated my business, Global Empowerment and Mentoring Initiative, which helps uninformed youths and career professionals in self-discovery. Since forming the company, I have received invitations from resourceful minds, corporate organizations and contracts from the governments for training opportunities. I have also developed programs from my book and business. All this was made possible because I stretched myself.
Stretching oneself is not only limited to expanding one’s capacity, it also extends to expanding one’s mind. You can do this by reading and researching. It’s sad to know that many people find it hard to read and in fact, it is stated, if one wants to hide information from people, put it in a book because many people find it hard to read.
As human beings, we have an instructional need to stretch oneself. When we stretch ourselves, we’ll be surprised to see the level of opportunities we can attract to our careers, lives, and personal development. Stretching oneself is like taking risk, one will never know what to expect when one stretches oneself, but one thing is certain, we shall gain a new perspective and experience of life.
No great person has ever achieved success without stretching a bit further. They do this by taking unconventional paths which involve taking risks, taking certification courses, attending relevant events of interest, networking and learning from resource minds like mentors. All these are great ways of learning.
As a cultured Nigerian man, we have an adage that says, there’s no perfect time for one to learn, rather when an elderly person is speaking, a child who is there will pay attention. What does that mean? It simply means, when one stretches oneself, no one knows where the next opportunity will pop out.
For instance, when a recent graduate with a good grade, starts an entry level job, it might not necessarily be the grade that will secure the job, though it may contribute. It may surprise you to know that it may be your skills, extra work you have done or potentials that will give you the work. This simply means that one must add value to himself to attract opportunities, and attaining that opportunity entails comingout of your comfort zone.
Overtime, I have developed an intentional habit of updating my resume by adding value to my life by learning a skill every six months. Each time I add value to my work, I always see prospects each time I see someone of interest. I also evaluate my life and my work and see how I can edit my previous work and improve myself based on what I’m trying to achieve.
I don’t know what your storyline might be, but I’m here to encourage and inspire you to stretch yourself because nobody will save you other than yourself. The world is not a fair place, you just must do your best and leave the rest to God.
Do you know that stretching oneself also entails networking with resourceful and influential people. When you meet resourceful people with influence, endeavor to give them gifts as a token of appreciation for what they have either done for you, humanity or simply as a kind of gesture. That single kind gesture is capable of opening doors for you because it will separate you from other uninformed minds, who might be in the habit of begging without adding value to the person’s mind.
In conclusion, today I charge you to stretch yourself mentally, financially, socially, academically, spiritually, medically, professionally, personal development or in any other relevant area of your life and you will see your life blossoming.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
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