YOUR ASSOCIATIONS MATTER.
Inspiration for you this August.
George Foreman is a legend in every sense of the word in the world of boxing. His records and history are so enormous that we don’t even know which one to write and which one to leave out. Let’s just give a summary we found on Wikipedia.
“Foreman is the oldest living world heavyweight boxing champion in history, and the second-oldest in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins (at light heavyweight). Foreman retired in 1997 at the age of 48, with a final record of 76 wins (68 knockouts) and five losses.”
Foreman at some point had health concerns related to his weight, so he opted for a lifestyle of healthy eating that yielded results for his weight loss aspirations. When he first returned from retirement before the final retirement, he posited that his victories were due to his new lifestyle of healthy eating.
It was about that time that Salton Inc. approached him to be the pitchman for their fat-reducing grill. As of 2009, the grill which was named ‘George Foreman Grill’ had sold over 100 million units.
Salton paid him $138 million in 1999, for the right to use his name. Prior to that, he was paid about 40% of the profits on each grill sold (earning him $4.5 million a month in payouts at its peak), so he has made an estimated total of over $200 million from the endorsement, substantially more than he earned as a boxer.
One of the most critical elements of branding is association; with the right associations, your brand (whether personal or business brand) will attain greater results. Whether you stand in the place of Foreman or Salton, you need the right associations to accomplish more.
You may not be a celebrity like Foreman and you may not even be interested in brand endorsements, but the point is beyond all of that. The point is that at your place of work, in your career or business aspirations, on social media, and life generally, look out for the right people and organizations and align with them.
May you succeed.
Mapemond Academy Team.
THE HAIR COURT. A JOB WELL DONE!
From when the idea was conceived, we were engaged to work with the owner in birthing this lovely brand. Covid-19 and lockdown obstructed the process a great deal, but the baby is born now in the city of Port Harcourt.
The salon received over 40 new customers (excluding personal friends and relatives of the owner) within the first two weeks, our marketing and sales strategies worked!
Here is a quick rundown of our work with this brand:
1. Brand strategy development
2. Marketing strategy development and implementation
3. Recruitment of stylists, technicians, and front desk staff.
4. Training of all members of staff
5. Setup of social media pages
6. Management of social media pages
7. Running of targeted social media adverts
8. Creation of free e-book for promo
9. General business support and advisory
The clients are already falling in love with the brand, but the journey just began. Branding is one thing, brand management is another.
We loved the client’s open-mindedness, nothing is as important as giving your business the right foundation.
We don’t do mere branding, we ensure that branding coincides perfectly with business model and strategy.
It has been an exciting project and it is another job well done!
Let’s work on your brand and position it better for the market.
SAME TOOLS, DIFFERENT SKILLS.
Letters from our Captain.
My Wife deals in jewelry and needed me to help her fix one of the silver neckpieces, three rings holding parts of the piece together had expanded and caused the piece to separate into two pieces.
So I went to an area in town where I fix my wristwatches to see if they could help me fix the rings to hold the pieces back into one. I had initially tried to fix it myself but the tools I have at home weren’t suitable for such work. In fact, it was in my attempt to fix just one ring originally that two more pulled out, so I had to humbly seek help.
When I got to the first wristwatch repairer, he started working on it before mentioning that I will pay him NGN400, I offered NGN200, he agreed and continued. After 20minutes of struggling, he returned it to me that he couldn’t fix it, he recommended that I meet a blacksmith (he meant a goldsmith).
Anyway, I thought to try a second wristwatch guy who helped me reduce my wristwatch chain some time ago. He looked at the piece of jewelry and told me to go see a blacksmith (again, he meant a goldsmith), I was happy he didn’t try to waste my time.
I left for another area of town where goldsmiths are clustered. A young man seated in front of the very first shop I got to beckoned on me, I heeded and met his Boss.
As we sat, he started working on it. In one minute, the first ring was in. In another minute, the second ring was fixed. And then within the next 3mins, the third and last ring was in place. Jewelry piece back together, perfectly!
And I reflected, both groups of workmen had exactly the same tools, but the skills set differed. I wanted to pay the wristwatch guy NGN200, but I paid the goldsmith NGN1000. The first wristwatch guy apparently wanted to try his luck, but the second refused to waste his time on what he didn’t have the skill for.
A lesson I picked was to focus on your skill, hone it very well, it will bring money and also announce you to the market.
What’s your skill?
Are you becoming a master at it?
If you want to earn higher consistently, keep improving your skill level.
You are valued according to your skill level.
Mister Maple.
SAILING THROUGH CRISIS [Free E-Book]
Whether you think the Covid19 situation is political or you believe the virus exists and the stats are valid, one thing we all have to agree on is that the crisis caused by the pandemic has affected everyone one way or the other.
There are so many lessons to take away from the Covid19 experience and one of them is the need for leaders at both the organizational and personal level to be better equipped in facing and getting through times of crisis, beyond Covid19. We are all bound to face crises in the course of work, business, or personal life, even without a general crisis situation.
How should leaders respond in a time of crisis?
How should organizations respond?
How should individuals respond?
In this mini-book that will take you a maximum of ten minutes to read, we have shared quick insights on how you can better manage the situation caused by Covid19 in your business, work, or personal life and also to equip you on dealing with crisis generally. It is written primarily for business owners but is recommended for career people, professionals, and individuals generally.
The book draws insights from the fall of a little boy in a Nigerian Island called Bakana, and other stories that will interest you. You shall glean insights on situational analysis, emotional intelligence, crisis management, crisis communication, resource management, and more.
As leadership is being tested on all fronts across the world, we hope that you will be among those to emerge stronger and more focused post-Covid19 and onward.
Click DOWNLOAD THE BOOK to get your copy now.
IF YOU MISSED ANY OF OUR OTHER BOOKS OR WOULD LIKE TO CHECK OUT OUR DEEPLY INSIGHTFUL SHORT COURSES ON BUSINESS, CAREER, AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, VISIT MAPEMOND ACADEMY
#DoBusinessBetter
DO YOU FEEL RELUCTANT SOMETIMES IN MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS? READ THIS!
There is a silent and internal conflict that we have noticed with some entrepreneurs.
On one hand, they want their business to grow in leaps and bounds and be known across the world.
And on the other hand, they don’t push their business enough like they should because there is the feeling of “should I be bragging about what I am doing?”, “shouldn’t somebody else do the talking of how good my product/service is?”, and so on.
It’s a conflict between market and social ethics.
In social ethics, you don’t blow your trumpet – this is why some people have concerns when donors at orphanages pose in pictures and broadcast it.
In market ethics, you blow the trumpet as loud as you can with support from customers’ testimonials – this is why some who have a default marketing mindset to pose in pictures at orphanages to let the world know their efforts and probably motivate others to also reach out.
We have left out the category of people who pose in pictures at orphanages just for show-off or clout.
In social ethics, it’s offensive if you offer money to a family that graciously showed you good hospitality when you visited. If you must give money, you disguise it as gift for the kids or something else but not as a reward for the hosting.
In market ethics, it’s irresponsible and wicked if you go to a dear friend’s restaurant to eat without the intention of paying for it or mentioning first that you don’t have money to pay at the moment.
Please, don’t stay quiet or modest about your business endeavour. Throw shame out of the window. Kick fear and timidity out of the door. We are not saying overhype it or promise what you cannot deliver. We are saying you should be more courageous, confident, and ready to talk about your business with every opportunity that you get.
Summary: There is nothing wrong with blowing your trumpet in business. Blow it or be blown out of business. It is called brand visibility and marketing, not boasting.
We hope this was insightful.
We are here if you need our support. Just send an email to wecare@mapemond.com
HOW TO GROW YOUR SMALL BUSINESS BEYOND YOU
When it comes to small businesses on social media, the personal timelines of the owners have more content and engagement than the official pages.
We think this happens for several reasons that are understandable.
But we would like to remind you to note that you would need others to drive the entire social media bit someday while you focus on other things. So in whatever you are doing presently, do not neglect the official pages. We see many business owners not responding to comments on their official pages or responding days later.
If building a sustainable company brand out of the business is your desire, keep thinking about putting structured systems in place, think into the future, and put things in place in the bits you can gradually.
A question to ponder on,
Can someone take over the social media drive of your business and move it to a level beyond what you have been doing or at least keep it at the same level?
No matter the amazing results you are getting now, don’t stay stuck with self-employment modus operandi.
You can build something truly phenomenal. Go for it and make it last.
We are a voice from the future speaking to you.
If you need support to get it right, send us an email at wecare@mapemond.com
Beyond The Crisis [e-Book]
Thinking Business ideas [eBook]
Building an awesome brand begins with an idea, this book shares perspectives on thinking through business ideas. It is a twelve minutes read of stories and quick insights. We hope you will enjoy reading it. We would love to get your feedback. Kindly share with those who need it.
You can get it via DOWNLOAD HERE
IN OTHER NEWS
Get your team smarter through our short courses on sales, marketing, proposal writing, and more at really low prices. Visit MAPEMOND ACADEMY
The Business Mindset [Free eBook]
How to get customers to pay the right price.
When we got engaged as brand consultants by a client, 7 out every 10 customers complained about the price at our client’s venture. Presently, only 1 out of every 10 complain.
What changed?
We overhauled the visuals!
1. We designed a new logo.
2. We created a new brand color.
3. We pulled down the old signage and put up a new one with the new logo and colors.
4. We procured a higher quality of chairs that were more comfortable.
5. We redesigned and reprinted the handbooks given to customers.
6. We created a slogan to give customers a sense of purpose for coming there.
We intentionally created a better visual appeal and customers’ perception of price changed. The number of regular customers increased, the average monthly sales went higher. New customers come more often to check the place out because the visuals got their attention.
Take your visual communications more seriously, it influences how customers bargain with you.
If most customers are underpricing you or complaining, it’s most likely based on the perception they get from what they see or sense.
We will be glad to work with your brand to solve this problem, let’s get the conversation started via wecare@mapemond.com
#DoBusinessBetter