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Posted at 11:33 am |
Posted January 16, 2023 |
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I burned myself out with socials in early 2021. I pushed myself too hard, committing to 90 days of carousels without a break. In the end I didn’t want that pressure. So I stopped. As you have noticed, the carousels continue, with the help of my awesome Sponge team. But… I have been reinspired by what my daughter has been using. A platform called BeReal, which prompts a raw front and back camera shot of whatever you are doing. I don’t want to use this platform, because I don’t need another one! However I do want to be real in the platforms I use. So I have created a little challenge for myself, because I am good with challenges. Commitment [click to continue…]
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Posted at 7:47 am |
Posted December 23, 2020 |
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What have been your favourite books for 2020? I have reflected on what I read and these 11 standout (in the order I read them). ✅ The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success – Jim Dethmer , Diana Chapman , Kaley Klemp ✅ Dark Emu – Bruce Pascoe ✅ Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World – Tyson Yunkaporta ✅ Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers – Tim Ferriss ✅ Humankind: A Hopeful History – Rutger Bregman , Erica Moore , Elizabeth Manton ✅ Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! – Richard P. Feynman ✅ Life in Half a Second: How to Achieve Success Before it’s [click to continue…]
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Posted at 1:43 pm |
Posted December 21, 2019 |
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At our last team meeting of the year we played a game which needed a prize. So inspired by a buddy of mine I decided on an impactful book. The winner chooses one of from top 10 most impactful books for the year. Good idea, but it required me to define my list. Now it is done, I thought I would share it here. My Top 10 Most Impactful Books for 2019 Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon – Dr. Joe Dispenza A New Earth: Awakening Your Life’s Purpose – Eckhart Tolle The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery – Don Miguel Ruiz The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your Life – [click to continue…]
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Posted at 5:39 pm |
Posted July 27, 2019 |
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In my 20 years in branding (yes, been doing it for a while now), the essential brand story formula has proven itself to me, time and again. It’s a simple formula: Know who you are as a brand Know your buyer and what makes them tick Then bridge the gap between the two with story… That’s your brand story. It’s marketing 101 really. Or, I should say, it WAS. In this new era of impact, the old way is fast becoming no longer enough. The market is changing. And with so many founders struggling with their story, I was compelled to share the next level of brand storytelling – in my new book Impact Brand Storytelling – A how to [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:07 pm |
Posted December 31, 2018 |
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It is NYE. I am done with the writing. All the content now awaits editing. As per the recommendations in the book I have been using as a guide I cannot touch it for a week. Distance makes it better. Apparently. The process has been fun, challenging, rewarding, inspiring, and easier than I expected. Thank you for following. Have an amazing 2019. Hopefully it will be a year of massive positive impact for your brand. I will leave you with the last thing I have written. Sound wisdom: How To Use This Book A few years back, at a time when I was ridiculously busy, a mentor of mine shocked me. He gave me a 10 CD program [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:06 pm |
Posted December 30, 2018 |
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One day to go. Today I spent a huge part of the day working on the impact brand story stack examples (case studies). Such inspiring businesses! Continue to be amazed by noble people around the world. Two parts to go. Prologue (rough done below) and Epilogue, which I will handle in the morning. Feeling good about this book. Hope it helps many. Prologue: Why You Need To Craft Your Impact Brand Story Now Modern business has to have a purpose other than making money ~Blake Mycoskie, TOMS Funny thing. I would have argued against that a decade ago. Ferociously. Back then I was a brand cowboy. I’d help anyone who paid the money to build their [click to continue…]
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Posted at 8:18 am |
Posted December 29, 2018 |
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Got sucked into the research vortex last night and forgot to post! So here is a quick update: All the chapters of the book are written. Not sure where I am at with word count now. Guessing it is around the 12,000. With the remains it should be a jam packed 15,000. I have intended on creating a book with all meat and no filler. One you can consume in a couple of hours and set about implementing. Two things remain: Inspirational Brand Story Stacks for successful impact organisations (case studies). This is where I got lost reading last night. (Patagonia has such a long and amazing history!) Prologue and Epilogue What I have realised is that when I made [click to continue…]
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Posted at 10:23 pm |
Posted December 27, 2018 |
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Finished writing the last chapter. All that remains are the case studies, the prologue and epilogue. Feels like I’m on track! Today was a 1500 word day. Spent it at the State Library in Brisbane’s South Bank. Not a bad view! Here’s the opening of the chapter… Part III Putting Your Brand Story to Work Long term consistency trumps short term intensity ~ Bruce Lee If you’ve done the work leading to this, congratulations! You’re ready to grow your tribe of die hard fans. Team and Customers! If you’ve been working with your team you will no doubt have already notice some changes. This work tends to bring people to life. Your team, like your market, now need to [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:00 pm |
Posted December 26, 2018 |
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Boxing Day. Spent most of the day at Moogerah Dam with the family. Public holiday. Summer. Sun. Jetski. Nice combo. And a bit of uneven sun tan. This afternoon and evening I have written about 1500 words. That is picking up on last night’s writing and then the next part today. On track. Here’s the first chunk: Be Buyer Aware When you can articulate a person’s problem better than they can. they unconsciously and automatically give you credit for knowing the solution. ~Wyatt Woodsmall This is the almost magical space we want to play in. Because when we do, there are no real competitors. And the big secret is to get intimately acquainted with your best customer. [click to continue…]
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Posted at 10:06 pm |
Posted December 25, 2018 |
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Christmas day (not my thing, but family is!). Have spent the whole day with family. Ate way too much and only sitting down to write at 9:30 pm. Aimed for 30 mins and 500 words. Did manage a new diagram (rough) for the yesterday’s writing though. Check it out. 30mins later my eyes are heavy (was up at 4:30am) and my word count is 280. meh. At least I wrote. Got clear on what this section will contain. Enough for today. I intend a solid 1500 tomorrow. Warmly, Luke Follow my journey here as I blog my daily progress to completing my book this year. 21 days to write a book.
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Posted at 9:09 pm |
Posted December 24, 2018 |
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I got carried away today. Johanna and Isaac were out most of the day. So I wrote and wrote. Part II is almost done. 4109 words done in this block. With another 1000ish for the appendix. Don’t feel like typing much more. Here is a grab of Hemingway Editor with the stats. Note: The one very hard to read sentence is Patagonia’s purpose statement lol (it’s not that hard – just long!). That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. Yes, I will write on Xmas. Luke
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Posted at 9:51 pm |
Posted December 23, 2018 |
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I have got a word count of 1113 on my document right now. And it is not half done! This is Part II, the Brand Story Framework. It is a meaty bastard! Last night I got to sleep late and I am feeling it now. Wanted to push through and finish this chapter tonight, but no joy. One thing I did get done today was a bit of a plan for the remaining days. Because when I looked back at my chapter list I got a tightening of my chest with the workload still to be done. I can make it work. Need to write every day. Including Xmas day. All good. Focus has to be on staying energised all [click to continue…]
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Posted at 10:23 pm |
Posted December 22, 2018 |
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Brand Story (Buffed) Think about your favourite brand and how you feel when you are shopping for their hottest new thing. What is it about this brand that makes you feel this way? Do you think you could talk for five, ten, twenty mins about how awesome this brand is? I’m not a gambling man, but I’d bet you would be telling me a brand story. Before we delve into what makes an awesome brand story, let’s get clear on what “brand” is. Brand is a combination of three expectations: Of Quality. Level of quality, or an attribute (comfort, speed, taste etc) Of an experience. How it will make you feel. Either through the actual product [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:59 pm |
Posted December 21, 2018 |
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Today is the end of the working calendar year. Holiday! Subconsciously I want to just chill out and not do anything! But no, I have committed to writing. So I write. It’s a bit of a hack tonight and I am leaving it at that. Will complete it tomorrow. It is another very important chapter of the book. I cannot rush it. I will share my rough work. A fleshy outline. And a diagram I use in my webinar, presentations and program. Brand Story Brand story is far more than a tagline. It’s more than a marketing message. It is the sum of all interactions with a brand for the entirety of the customer journey ~ me! Exposure to brand [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:39 pm |
Posted December 20, 2018 |
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Impact Model. Be the Change “When you incorporate giving into your business, your customers become your marketers. We spend very little money on advertising and marketing.” ~ Blake Mycoskie – Founder Toms shoes Toms designs and sells shoes, eyewear, coffee, apparel, and handbags. When Toms sells a pair of shoes, an impoverished child gets a new pair of shoes. When they sell eyewear, part of the profits go to save or restore eyesight for people in developing countries. Between 2006-2015, Toms gave away more than 35 million pairs of shoes. And in 2015, the brand was valued at $625m. With Zero ad spend. Their impact model is “one for one”. This is one way of creating impact. We will explore [click to continue…]
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Posted at 10:01 pm |
Posted December 19, 2018 |
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For the last days each session ended with almost complete sections, or complete. There has been a sense of satisfaction on each occasion. Not so tonight. I’ve been working on this impact model content for over an hour and there is still a lot to do. Frustrating. It’s such a vital section and I want to make sure it is awesome. It is not my strongest suit however, so there is more grinding required. This will be one of the most impactful parts of the book. I am walking away from it for tonight. Will pick it up tomorrow. LF
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Posted at 10:22 pm |
Posted December 18, 2018 |
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Day 9 – Writing the Brand Story Introduction Journal: Today my incredible right hand Jess, a budding author, editor and translator volunteered to edit my writing so long as I mention her in the book. Deal! What this means is that if we follow the process we did today the editing will be done sooner than I had planned. Editing is NOT meant to be done while in the writing phase (my 21 day goal), because it slows the process dramatically. To a screeching halt. With Jess editing my raw blog posts the following day, we will be ready for a final read through and reorder on the 2nd Jan. Today I asked a good question. Who would I want [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:11 pm |
Posted December 17, 2018 |
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Nothing Personal, It’s Just Business Money. It has to come at expense of someone or something else. It’s nothing personal, just business, right? These same people volunteer, donate, and contribute in their personal life. Then switch off to that good nature at work? Does it all boil down to the old argument supported by economist Milton Friedman in a 1970 New York Times Magazine. Often misquoted: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business–to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud” Times are a [click to continue…]
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Posted at 8:40 pm |
Posted December 16, 2018 |
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A quick post. Today I wrote 796 words. It’s the opening chapter. Not quite done but I am feeling exhausted. Lots of thinking in this post! Challenging. I think this one will be a blog post on my impact branding agency website. It’s a meaty subject: Doing Good is Good Business What is Good business? Doing Good Why now? Good Business tribes (B Corp, Conscious Capitalism, B1G1 etc) I will let you know if and when I post it. Thanks for following this journey with me. Warmly, Luke
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Posted at 9:05 pm |
Posted December 15, 2018 |
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“43 percent of millennials envision leaving their jobs within two years” Build an authentic, impact embedded brand story and you will attract and keep the best millennial talent. And avoid all the disruption and expense of continually recruiting and training. If you have not yet made millennials a priority for your brand, here are three big reasons you need to! 1. Millennials are the new workforce. 20% of the workforce now 35% of the workforce by 2020 75% of the workforce by 2030 2. Millennials are the new leaders 91% of millennials aspire to leadership roles 3. Millennials are the new customer! By 2020 they will be 30% of discretionary spending What makes millennials different to [click to continue…]
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Posted at 9:40 am |
Posted December 15, 2018 |
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It’s the morning of Day 6. With some writing done last night, I am now recollecting my thoughts on chapters and content briefly before I do the next block. Thought it might be beneficial to share the outline for the content and chapters now. I invite you to comment on what you dislike, like, or feel is missing. Content Outline Advanced Warning: These are very likely to change frequently through the writing of the book. Introduction: Doing Good is Good Business What is Good business? Why now? Movements (B Corp, Conscious Capitalism, B1G1 etc) Personal vs Business Bringing Your Good Self to Work Brand Story and Storytelling Why it works? Part I: Why You Suck At Storytelling The [click to continue…]
