Rolling Sands Consulting

Why do I need a brand? Part 3

“I’m too busy to think about branding.”

In small businesses, everyone wears a lot of hats from the CEO on down the line. You’re all busy with some combination of prospecting leads, meeting deadlines, putting out fires, managing employees, doing accounting plus more. It’s easy (and often reasonable) to say, “I’m too busy.”

Before dismissing branding and putting it on the “Later” pile, consider the business landscape we find ourselves in today.

In late 2021, it looked like the economy was getting better. There was cautious optimism that the small businesses that had survived to date could see light at the end of the tunnel. Supply chain issues were a pain but there was still some movement and they would be resolved eventually.

Then came February 24th. Russia invades Ukraine.

Why do I need a brand? Part 2

“I have a logo. That’s all I need, isn’t it?”

Use your brand to train & empower your employees
When asked, many people will describe a brand as a company’s logo, tagline, the style of their ads and/or their mascot if one exists. However, a strong, effective brand goes well beyond those superficial characteristics. Logos and such are merely symbols that represent your company’s mission, values and vision for your business.

Reconnecting…

My apologies! I’ve been neglecting my blog of late but I have a very good reason for doing so. Really… 😀

I’ve been working on some projects but something new has been taking up a big chunk of my time. Or should I say something old?

The last four months have been an adventure of sorts where I reconnected with both my first and my second careers: academia/teaching and retail management. (Marketing in career #3!) I was lucky enough to be hired on at the local college to teach a business course, “Retail Management and eCommerce”.

It took a while to get back into the rhythm of teaching a post secondary course as opposed to one-day skills or product training seminars. Teaching online was in its infancy the last time I did a formal lecture. e-Teaching is a completely different beast than face-to-face. I’m happy to say I survived! The final exam and final projects are marked and I uploaded the final marks to the college system yesterday. Whew!

Helping students succeed, seeing that moment when a concept “clicks” is rewarding and so much fun! Of course there are some not-so-great issues to deal with; plagiarism, managing group project disputes, excuses that may or may not be valid, and students just having a really hard time being away from home, especially during the pandemic.

Regardless, I’m hoping teach more classes, if not this summer, in the fall term. I’ll be much better equipped and up to speed the next time and hopefully there will be no need to go AWOL from my blog! On the plus side, the “kids” have inspired me to write more…and they’ve given me some good material!

Do you like/love teaching? How have you adapted to teaching online? Any tips & tricks you’d liked to share?