I have always thought that Cre8ion has more to offer than brand marketing services alone: it’s our years of experience of taking businesses from start up to scale up. We can leverage this experience to help founders, directors and CEOs make choices that they won’t regret later.
Imagine building a brand and website and not having a strategy for what comes next? It might seem obvious, but once the site is launched and the excitement has died down, you still need a strategy for directing traffic to your site. It’s the same with tech. Imagine building a multi-featured app but no-one wants what you have built? Users are the most important players in this space!
How about running a business and having nobody with whom you can be honest when you feel overwhelmed or when you want to go to the next level and you don’t know how? I’ve navigated those challenges for myself and I want to help others through the process.
When I look in the mirror, a bald, grey-bearded man stares back at me. He looks as if he might be past it but I know I’m not! Why? Because I have thirty years experience offering brand marketing services. I don’t know everything, but I can see an audience and messaging problem immediately. I can offer solutions that work quickly and I have a great team who can deliver.
I’m ready to put my experience to work, connect people and help them find solutions. So, here are a few things that I’ve learnt about growing a business that might be helpful!
Say hello to people!
Seriously underrated. I can’t tell you how many people don’t do this at an event. “Looking down to scroll” when there is a gap in proceedings has cost many businesses the solutions they were looking for. There is nothing wrong with talking to strangers, just saying hello could open a whole new world to you.
Ask:
Asking for help is not a weakness, it’s an incredible strength that helps you to build relationships. How are you going to get answers without asking questions? Asking means taking a position of vulnerability and admitting that you don’t know everything! Real experience comes from asking questions and then applying the answers.
Action:
Again, obvious but true. Taking action is all about taking risks and if you don’t take risks you won’t grow, ever. The people that win take action and keep moving forward. They book the class, read the book, spend the money, make the effort and travel those miles. I have found myself driving six hours to Scotland to go networking (I even took the family), and on a plane to Colorado for a short six day trip to do the same. You have to go forward if you want to change where you are today!
Commit:
I’ve been networking for years and have learnt to recognise freebie hunters who attend as many networking events as they can get away with for free. Freebie hunting doesn’t get you that far though as real relationships require commitment. I have enjoyed some great results by committing to Introbiz and HBBA, and I have invested in those networks and the people that founded them. You have to put down some roots if you want to grow tall! It’s like spending your whole life dating and playing the field. It can be done, but real success in life comes when you commit. Nearly twenty five years of marriage has given me a family that makes life so much richer. Networking in business works the same way, and no matter what network you’re in, the “commitment-phobe” networkers always get found out in the end!
Let them.
Not everyone will stay with you forever but they might play a part in your story. It’s fine, let them. Who knows, one day, long after they have left, they might realise that you weren’t as bad as all that and even admit it to you. Life is never simple. One of the most liberating things you can do is let a client try something else, only to realise that the lower the price, the higher the cost!!!
Uncomfortable is normal.
It’s not normal to live your life feeling 10 out of 10 every single day. Most of us hover around a 6 out of 10. That doesn’t mean life isn’t good, but 6 is more realistic than expecting a 10 every day. You will have some epic days and some rough days, and when you average them out, 6 is actually pretty good. As an entrepreneur, you will live in an uncomfortable place most of the time – and that is your normal!
Collaborate.
Working together is better than working alone.
I cannot emphasise how important it is to be open to different ways of working. Collaboration enables us to get further than we could alone. We’ d love to collaborate with you if you need a helping hand and a step up. I can also offer a listening ear and point you in the right direction (this might be towards someone in my network that can help if I can’t)!
2025 is a new year and it’s full of opportunity. So, if 2024 has been far from perfect, why not share the load and pick up the road together? Let’s collaborate!