I went to a talk today by a couple of branding experts.  It was very interesting, and peppered with all the sorts of examples and facts & figures one likes to see in a good talk.  They had illustrated their points with slides.  So far so good.  However….. they were sharing a single mike on a stand in a manner that reminded me of Sonny & Cher.  The lady was operating a pc using a remote ‘clicker’ that sometimes worked and often didn’t, so we were often either 2 slides ahead or behind the vocals.  As they changed position and moved their heads the volume kept going up and down.  So the overall impression was not very slick.. AND they were telling us that everything you do reflects on your brand! 

I’m sure they knew their stuff and had I engaged them that they could have contributed to my business but how likely am I to give them that chance?   However this blog isn’t about their mistakes; it is about all those times when we fail to follow our own advice and don’t take the very medicine we are peddling to others.  We all do it and the the state of cobbler’s children’s shoes is proverbial.

As an individual, the ability to take the advice you are capable of dishing out makes good sense, but as a business, it is vital!

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”   Antoine de Saint-Exupery