People are in relationships with brands. Where does your brand stand? Customers come to know you by how you behave, not by how you say you behave. Brands are evaluated and understood by their actions, not necessarily by their intentions. Above all, your brand must be meaningful and relevant to your audience. If it doesn’t motivate, persuade, or change behaviors and attitudes then . . . what’s the point? Today for your 5-Minute Break, I'll highlight some prompts to get you thinking about how clear you REALLY are on your branding. Learn more about the power of effective branding at craftmarketingandbranding.com.

Whose responsibility is it to take ownership of a customer-first strategy? Customer experience is key to the success of any company, and ensuring this positive relationship with your brand depends on your ability to truly know your customer, and ultimately deliver on your brand promise. Only when you know the voice of your customer can you truly improve upon your crafted strategy to better serve those who interface with your brand. Today's5-Minute Break centers around how your brand can implement a customer-first mindset and start seeing consumers as people, not just personas. Not sure where to get started with developing a customer-first strategy? Visit www.craftmarketingandbranding.com and learn more!

I'm guessing you're like me.  Your calendar is jam-packed with meetings.  But the one with the most meetings doesn't necessarily win.  Listen in for an idea to plan time in your day.

At the end of all of the planning, you need to execute.  What are the right tactics that reach your target customer at the right time, regardless of whether you're building awareness, generating interest, or making the sale?

What's your brand's product or service differentiation strategy?  Do you even have a point of differentiation?

You want to change.  Tried with the status quo.  But what resistance do you need to overcome to achieve that change?

Take a short break from your day  - how persistent are you in your marketing activities?

Take a short break from your day. How relevant is your brand messaging to your customers?

Take a short break from your day! Let's talk about the importance of research.

Take a short break from your day to talk Brand

Take a short break from your day to listen to how consistency is key in your marketing.

Jason Locklin, Founder and CEO of CloudCompli joined me at the Business Growth Cafe for a frank conversation about the ups and downs of starting and growing a business.

Krista Hollingsworth, Chief Revenue Officer for Consilien, joins me at the Business Growth Cafe to talk about CyberSecurity, Risk medications and Ransomware, and how to protect yourself. www.consilien.com Listen on your favorite platform: https://linktr.ee/BusinessGrowthCafe

Is there a right time to bring in a sales coach/trainer for your organization? Joining me at the Business Growth Cafe is Leslie Groene, President of Groene Consulting. Leslie's company has been helping companies for over 24 years set up, train, and manage sales organizations. In this episode, we'll explore various strategies, tips, and recommendations to get your sales team heading in the right direction for success. To learn more, visit: http://www.groeneconsulting.com/ To learn more about the Business Growth Cafe and Craft Marketing Architects, visit www.craftmarketingarchitects.com

INBRACE CEO John Pham joins me at the Business Growth Cafe to discuss how his company focuses on improving people’s lives. We explore his experience launching startups helped him to build a new kind of company; integrating advanced orthodontic methods, practice development, healthcare software systems, lean manufacturing, systems management, and marketing & sales excellence to innovate purposefully and nimbly. His efforts have been recognized in 2018, 2019, and 2020 when INBRACE was one of Orange County’s Top Workplaces and in 2019 and 2020 when he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Join us as we explore his journey to build this highly successful company.

Leilani Quiray, CEO of be the change HR joins me once again on the Business Growth Cafe to bring her year-long journey as she traveled the US while growing her business, and personally as well.  As a regular guest on the show, Leilani shares life and business lessons that everyone can benefit from.   www.bethechangeHR.org

Sales and Marketing are your growth engines for your business.  That's why it's important that the relationship between sales & marketing are in alignment to drive business growth and profitability.  Today my guest, Rich Cocuzzo, President of Sales Velocity Advisors, and I discuss the relationship between sales and marketing, as well as our own challenges in growing our individual businesses.   Visit www.salesvelocityadvisors.com to learn more about Rich's services Visit www.craftmarketingarchitects.com to learn more about my services

Karl Pontau, founder of Squash and Stretch Productions joins me at the Business Growth Cafe to discuss the power of storytelling and animation to communicate complex ideas, simply.  Karl’s mission is to improve the lives of people around the world by telling engaging stories that build empathetic connections and inspire positive change.  You can find Karl’s LinkedIn profile here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kpontau As a special free offer to Business Growth Cafe listeners, Karl is offering you a 30 minute Exceptional Brand Storytelling coaching session over Zoom. Click this link to schedule your session now! www.squashandstretch.net

Five hundred million plastic straws are used daily, and with many states and cities issuing bans on single-use plastics, what's the alternative?  Well, it's UrthPact! UrthPact is now the leader in compostable manufacturing focused on developing products from earth-friendly materials. UrthPact CEO Paul Boudreau joins me at the Business Growth Cafe to discuss his mission to keep 25 billion plastic pieces from reaching the oceans and landfills by the year 2025 and how UrthPact straws can help, one sip at a time!

Steve Hoffman, CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators, with over 50 partners in 22 countries joins me on the Business Growth Cafe to explore and discuss the world of startups. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. Hoffman is also a venture investor, founder of three venture-backed and two bootstrapped startups, and author of several award-winning books. These include “Make Elephants Fly” (published by Hachette), “Surviving a Startup” (published by HarperCollins), and “The Five Forces” (published by BenBella). www.foundersspace.com/10 to download the 10 Commandments of raising venture capital