All the pressing projects of running a business eat up your time and you put off brand strategy. And it’s a mistake that’s costing you time, money, and headaches.

My 4 brand building takeaways — Irregardless of your musical tastes, you’d be a fool to overlook the lessons in the brand Taylor Swift has built. Because she understands that you’re not selling, you’re creating an experience. And when you do that well, the selling takes care of itself.

My worry is that the people we need — those that are kind, thoughtful, and driven by more than money and image — are staying away from the messy work of running their own show because they despise the idea of sales and self-promotion.

What are the things that you think about all the time, but haven't ever done? If you weren't worried about failure and the demands of daily life, what would you do?

A slow, thoughtful short documentary about a painter who decides it's NEVER TOO LATE and starts to create again.

Start with a comprehensive brand strategy. Have a brand map. Hang it on the wall, look at it daily. Create a brand guide and update it often. You need a compass otherwise you’ll go in circles.

Then get to work implementing. Create photos and videos that tell your story. Creative content that helps your audience know you on a deeper level. Then keep bringing it to life. Over time.

We want to create a series of stories from brands that have taken the workshop.

Here’s how it works. You book a live three-day workshop with Creative Voices using the link on the bottom of this page. And immediately after the workshop, we script, film, and deliver a free mini brand film.

Ask yourself, do you have a brand guideline handbook?

This is something that all the really big businesses do. But despite the fact that it’s both attainable and powerful, so many small businesses fail to put it to work for themselves.

Good creative ideas don't have to cost a lot. And just because something is expensive, that does not guarantee excellence.

You begin to hire for execution more than ideation. You know what you want to say, you just hire someone to put in on a website for you. You know what you want photographs to look like, you just hire someone to capture the images.

Learning how to craft experiences is going to transform your marketing.

Knowing the difference between features and experiences is critical in taking your business to the next level. Features have their place — in your copy and visual content — but the focus should be on experience.

How’s your work life? When was the last time someone asked you this question? When was the last time you asked yourself this question?

There’s a lot of talk of work-life balance. But less talk about the importance of cultivating a better work life. When your work life sucks less, the balancing part nearly takes care of itself…

The goal is to do work you like, do it in a way that makes you proud, and to do it for years to come. So much of successful work comes down to not just what you do, but the order that you do it.

Take our quiz to gauge how much you have to gain by investing your brand strategy.

Helping small shops and small organizations brand build isn’t just about work, it’s about their life too. More clarity means less stress. More strategy means more effectiveness. These things can provide a pathway to more balance in life and work.

Being a small operation means that some types of advice are just never going to serve you well, but it also means that you bring a unique set of abilities and opportunities to the table. And this is where I want to focus. Making the most of what you do different not trying to make you like everyone else.

It’s not just about one person’s work and profit, it’s about an ecosystem of thoughtful small shops that put beautiful options into the marketplace, slowly steering attention and income away from the greedy, corrupting kingpins of the old economy.

You can pay for a workshop with Creative Voices, where you get me teaching you, live and online, in ultra-small classes and a condensed format.

And starting this week, there are now bite-sized lessons on YouTube; each a piece of a carefully designed class and complete with a worksheet.

How often do you come across advice telling you to be authentic? Without any actual tactical help for doing so?

This term used to actually give me anxiety. As if I somehow wasn't cool enough to be authentic. There is pressure to choose the traits that are most likely to be popular.

Brand strategy is knowing who you are and who you serve — not just some vague sense of it, but a clear and compelling picture put into intentional words. And by doing so, you take the burden off your branding and your marketing.

The key to great marketing for small operations is personality. Combine personality with solid strategy and you'll really start to hit a state of flow. Of sustainable growth. Of peace, knowing your actions are actually leading to progress.

And hopefully this free marketing guide helps kick start the ideas.

Start the new year with a few moments of mindfulness. Download the worksheet to reflect on the year behind and plan for the year ahead with peace and intention. Because maybe the best thing you can do for your work life this year is to improve your mindset…

There is magic to this time of year. The long nights. The threshold where one year ends and a new one begins. It’s the time for reflections. And for making wishes.