Brand confidence is the result of clarity and consistency. In episodes 111 and 112, I share the value of being clear and consistent with all aspects of your brand and your business. And the end result of that is brand confidence, the topic of episode 113. Show notes 

If you do a quick search on the power of consistency, you'll find articles about business, habit building, recruitment, personal success, and customer services - just to name a few. I'm going to add marketing and branding to the list. Clarity paired with consistency are two important elements of building a brand. Clarity of who you are as a business and a brand contribute to clarity in marketing and messaging.  But clarity of branding and marketing will not mean a thing without...

Clarity is critical for success in so many aspects of life - ranging from personal to professional. Are you clear on the purpose of your business? Of your life? Do you have clarity on what your brand stands for? Does your audience know and understand what your business can do for them - or that it is for them? As Brene Brown has said - Clear is kind, Unclear is unkind. A lack of clarity creates more work for your prospective clients, your clients, and your team. Clarity guides decision...

More to the point, where I've been? Excellent question and one I needed to answer before I was ready to start releasing new content. I've done that - this episode will give you some insight into what I've been doing and why I haven't released a new episode since February. Show notes

"Am I crazy to have all these different business ideas?" A friend and client asked me this question over coffee recently. No, she is not crazy. She is just full of ideas – and those ideas all happen to be business opportunities. As you think about acting on all those business ideas swirling around in your head, think about what connects them to the vision of your business. That connection is what I mean by a through line. If you are feeling as though you have too many business ideas,...

My goal at the end of the year was to bring purpose to 2022. I paused production of the podcast, spent time with friends and family, and directed my creative energies to art and the opportunities that have come from it. How have you started 2022 with purpose? 

How hard is it to engage your customers in a conversation? For some businesses, it is easy. And for many, it seems to be quite challenging. But why? Is it the desire to be more efficient? Hit a growth target? Achieve arbitrary metrics that may or may not impact the quality of the service we provide? Or have we've become too focused on the internal workings of the business that we've lost sight of the fact without customers, we don't have a business?

It was a Speaking Your Brand episode that inspired the primary focus of this episode. In a recent keynote address, Carol Cox suggested resistance comes with living your purpose. Resistance or tension comes with anything worth having and that includes living the truth of our purpose. And if we are not feeling one of those maybe we need to dig deeper into our search for purpose.

What if I told you there were three steps to get better feedback? Three steps that would lessen the stress you feel when faced with a performance evaluation. Carole Stizza has developed a formula that will do just that.

What is return on relationship? The purpose of the relationships you have should be considered and reevaluated periodically. Especially after a year like 2020, when relationships of all kinds were pulled in various directions, aligning the value of the relationship with the purpose it serves is more important than ever. In this episode of The Pursuit of Purpose, I discuss how to evaluate the return on relationship for a variety of key relationships in both our personal and professional lives. 

Branding. Marketing. What is the difference? Is there a difference? Everyone has an opinion. Including industry professionals - there isn't a standard definition of either branding or marketing.  Branding is.... Marketing is... There are so many different ideas, opinions, and nuances to these two words. Clients wanting a logo believe they need branding. Is it? Or is it marketing? Or maybe they want a blog written. Is that branding or marketing?

How do you respond when clients ask for services you don’t offer – but they think you do or should? It is easy to let this question get under your skin or at the very least, start that little voice of self-doubt in your head chattering. Whether you start wondering if you SHOULD be offering the service or if you get anxious wondering how best to respond, a clear and concise understanding of WHY you are offering the services you do will lead you to the best response to these requests.

Do you aspire to be a thought leader in your industry? My guest Carol Cox helps women create a signature talk to put them on the path to thought leadership. Being a thought leader is about inspiring your audience to dream with you - helping them see your vision of the world and benefit from this newly imagined version of reality. Carol and her team at Speaking Your Brand help women turn their personal stories into inspirational talks.

A recent episode of Gary Vee's brought me to the idea of connecting self-awareness to purpose. His core message was that success comes from being self-aware. And I believe success comes from an understanding of our purpose.  As I listened more closely to this short episode, I realized the definition of being self-aware and purpose are intertwined.  Also in this episode, I celebrate the 100th episode of The Pursuit of Purpose and share what I've been listening to lately. 

Is your fear preventing business success? Does your business have a clearly defined niche? And, if not, are you hesitant to declare one? Fear is a weight, holding you and your business in a place of uncertainty, confusion, and frustration. For more information, check out the show notes.  Connect with Amy Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter

As more and more businesses are moving to online courses and programs, experiential learning has become a hot topic. In this episode, I talk with Romy Alexandra about creating a learning experience to ensure our audiences learn and retain the content of our program.

Are you a purpose-led business looking to define success metrics related to your purpose? Do you work with a shared vision and intention but struggle to articulate the role purpose plays in the success and growth of your company? Many leaders intuitively know there is a benefit to knowing and embracing your brand purpose but have yet articulated the metrics to prove its value. This episode is meant to help you define those metrics. 

Do your messages leave your audience empowered to take action? The call to action in a marketing message should give them a sense of empowerment, a feeling of confidence that the action they are about to take is the right one.  In the final episode of the encore presentation of the Marketing to educate, engage, and empower, I talk about the value of a clear call to action and empowering your audience to take action. 

Are you engaging your audience in a conversation? Your marketing message should engage your audience in way that makes them want to know more and take the next step - working with you. Social media has changed the definition of engagement in marketing circles. The number of likes, shares and comments is one aspect of engagement but I don't believe it is the most important aspect. Be sure to download the complimentary worksheets to apply this strategy to your marketing tactics. 

In part two of this marketing strategy series, I talk about the importance of educating your audience. The foundation of any marketing strategy should be the who, what, where, when, why, and how of what you need your audience to know. But too often our desire to be creative gets in the way and we miss several of these key elements.

A primary goal of your strategy should be to educate, engage, and empower your audience through your marketing efforts. Because these three words are so important, I encourage all my clients to use these three words as a filter to run all marketing messages through. This week's Pursuit of Purpose episode is an encore presentation of episode 44, which ran in May 2020.

Saying yes to your true self - your Brave Yes - can be scary and rewarding. My guest, Shawn Fink, helps women move toward embracing their authentic selves. During our discussion, Shawn and I talk about how difficult it can be to step into our brave yes, the steps necessary to do so, and how fear can get in our way.

Recently I was reminded that asking for help is a strength even though the action itself is hard. This is exactly why it is so important to ask for it when you need it. And I was reminded of the importance of modeling the behavior.

How can coaching questions benefit your brand? As I was listening to Michael Bungay Stanier share the seven essential coaching questions with Brene Brown, I realized these are very similar to what I ask of clients when helping them define their brand. When you answer his seven questions about your brand, you'll find some insights you may not have considered previously. In the podcast, I share more detail on how I use each of these questions (or a variation) to identify key pieces of the...