Recently I worked on some branding with a new project of mine and when I dug into the question of "why are you in business?", they gave flat answers. Of course you want to make money or some of the things everyone says, but it didn't tell me what they believe in.

Would you rather buy coffee from a company that just makes coffee to make money, or one that is trying to use its resources to help out other educators (like this company I worked with at the beginning of the year). Maybe you have kids and want them to have the best educators so you found your new favorite coffee company. Maybe you don't care so you look elsewhere. Either way, you created a super fan.

You have to believe in something. You need to have a backbone. What are you willing to fight for? Once you find out, you need to show the world. People who get behind that will become a super fan. They will defend you a rave about you. They spread the word further, wider, and more passionately than any advertising could.

However, it does come at a cost. Some people will be turned off since they have opinions, too. That is life. For everyone that loves you, there will be others who hate you. In fact, Darth Sidious even taught this lesson to Darth Vader when the Empire was in its infancy. Yes, I am a geek.

If you don't upset anyone, you are probably being boring.

Stand for what you believe and live it.

Check out my previous posts here, or shoot me an email about something you are uniquely struggling with.