10PlusBrand branding10plus

A brand is like a house. It needs to be remodeled, repaired, and maintained. If your brand is not refreshed in a timely manner, as the fast-changing world is, you are already behind the competition.
Lewis Carroll said this in Alice in Wonderland: "...we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” 
A leading and influential brand must be always relevant to its changing and evolving target audience in content, and must learn from, inspire, and enrich their lives.
A powerful brand should have vast room for adaptability and growth.  To keep running twice as fast to get anywhere, as Lewis Carroll said, it must first know exactly where it wants to go, and how to fuel its run with exhaling the obsolete and inhaling fresh oxygen, constantly.
Not only must a power brand always be relevant to its changing and evolving target audience, but it must also lead its target audience, inspire them, learn from them, and enrich their lives.
In an ideal situation, the brand and its target audience feed off each other's ideas and energy, somewhat like a rockstar feeding off his/her fans' enthusiasm.

We last talked about the ultimate macro of branding, by leveraging the Big Bang, to expand yourself rather than shrinking like a black hole. 
Look deep into DNA, and align your actions with your purposes.
To build a brand is the same as growing a purposeful life. Step by step, line by line, brick by brick, just as a tiny spider spins a tiny bit of thread to build a beautiful web a thousand times more impactful than itself.  With faith, we weave the fabric of our creation, thread by thread; with patience, we let harmonious parts reveal the bigger picture, to reflect the grand design of the universe and to be an interdependent member of its larger purpose.
A fulfilled life and/or an accomplished business result from aligning every movement, every effort, every phase of growth with its raison d’etre, - the most important reason for someone or something's existence, - staying true to your “brand DNA”. 
Brands need to be readjusted, realigned, and reinvented.
To be fully alive is to keep growing, expanding, transforming. 
That’s the only way to be in sync with the ultimate macro AND the extreme micro of the universe, the cradle of life and the final purpose of life.
We at 10 Plus Brand are your brand’s partner from birth, during growth, and in transformation.

Julie Castro Abrams is the founder, CEO and chair of How Women Lead, a network of 14,000 women. They are top executives, leaders, current and aspiring board members and investors. Julie is also the GP of How Women Invest, an angel investing fund that has invested millions in women owned startups. 
Recently, Julie was featured on Forbes magazine for her accomplishments on leading How Women Invest. She's also on one of the task forces of California Governor Gavin Newsom, "the first partners" initiatives. The interviewer, Joanne Tan, is personally involved with How Women Lead for over two and a half years, both as a member of the Leadership Committee and through helping aspiring executives to get on corporate boards, with their board bios, LinkedIn profiles and resumes.
Joanne describes Julie: "I have come to know Julie really well, and admire her passion, talent, brilliance, leadership, authenticity, and business savviness. All of these are inspiring to me and to lots of women."
The tide raises ALL boats.  Diversity is the tidal wave. Diversity increases the whole pie for everyone, and everyone stands to benefit.
Like it or not, America will be the most diverse country in the world and nobody can turn the tide. For those who don't like to be politically correct all the time, - I get you; but, there is a right way and a wrong way of dealing with diversity. Either you ride the tidal wave, or better, lead the wave, or you are being dragged kicking and screaming and end up being a “loser”, and get drowned by the inevitable.
Learn from the true leaders like Julia Abrams, it's not a waste of your time.

Universe? Branding? What's the connection? - Everything, or nothing. Six minutes of this podcast might change your life. You won't be disappointed.
(Hint: Brand building leverages authenticity, core values, purpose and passion, given and propelled by the life giver and creator of the Universe.)

Ever receive "salesy" messages on LinkedIn? Bad behaviors can make one lose connections, even account closures. Appropriate, respectful, and effective givers gain influence & connections. What are the pitfalls, and the five recommended behaviors? 

Does a NDA protect a startup's ideas?
Iphone was not Steve Jobs idea, so what was so ingenious of him about Iphone?
What are the top 3 reasons for 90% startups' failures?
For all the entrepreneurs and business leaders, Steve Hoffman, a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and founder of the Founders' Space in Silicon Valley, has sage advice from this interview - you really do NOT want to start a startup, without hearing this first!