Build Better Brands

Danielle spoke with Courtney Ismain, Co-Founder of Jamii, which is a community and home for black British creators and makers. Jamii is a discovery platform for British brands on the up. A discount card that is a community giving users up to 40% off. They want to introduce you to the small businesses who know what you need.KEY TAKEAWAYSCourtney shares how Jamii came about from the first wave of the Black Lives Matter movement and how off the back of that, there was a growing interest in where people could find black-owned businesses. The Jamii card, which is a discount card, incentivises people to go off the beaten track and discover new black-owned businesses they might not have heard of before.Jamii is impact-driven and community is a really important part of what they do. Courtney explains how they always try to be easily accessible to make people feel involved and be action-led. Courtney explains how Clear Channel approached Jamii to collaborate on their Compass initiative, aimed at supporting black-owned businesses. Together, they launched a competition that attracted hundreds of applicants, with ten winners receiving two weeks of free high-street advertising.BEST MOMENTS‘Customers, businesses and organisations alike, are able to kind of identify what we're about and align themselves with our mission and the opportunities present themselves because I guess these people who agree with our mission, they make themselves known and then we're able to work together, if that makes sense'.‘The way we work with businesses, we kind of have a package called partnership. These are all the businesses that are our partners. We list their products and we send them regular opportunities'.‘We decided that we want to refresh Jammie membership a little bit so something that we did in February was we hosted a focus group with some of our ride or die members. Honestly speaking, we're not trying to hide anything or make maybe membership look better than it is'.‘We reached out to Airbnb. We asked them for a donation for a grant fund so they gave us 20,000 pounds and we were able to distribute that to four businesses, 5000 pounds each'.CONNECT WITH THE GUESTJamii website: https://lovejamii.com/Search ‘ukjamii' on social mediaABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Susan C. Allen Augustin, Co-Founder & Chief Brand Officer of Here We Flo, which makes natural plant-based personal care for life's messiest moments. They tackle sustainability and stigma with natural products and funny, feminist and fierce approaches.KEY TAKEAWAYSSusan shares how Here We Flo came about from meeting Co-Founder Tara in the toilets at The London School of Economics, to taking the business global.Menstrual care brands have always been built around being discrete. Susan explains how they had to cut through a lot of cultural shame and embarrassment around menstruating, and build a dedicated fanbase.Susan tells the story of how they won the Sky Zero Footprint Fund, which recognises brands that are committed to driving positive behaviour change and tangible impact towards a more sustainable future. This secured them £1 million worth of ad spend with Sky.Here We Flo launched their products in Tesco recently, Boots is a long term partner who've quadrupled their distribution and they are soon to be launching with the UK's second largest grocer. BEST MOMENTS‘It was really helped by a lot of progress around the climate change movement and recognising the damage that single use plastics were doing in the ocean. As a small business, there's only so much pressure you can put on your manufacturers or suppliers to use alternative materials'.‘There's a reason why funny is first, and funny feminists and fierce is really using humour to break the ice, because there is generally a stigma and a shame that's been socialised around these topics'.‘Early on, there was a tendency to challenge or question what we were doing, but we met in one of the top universities in the world. We did the research and Tara wrote a dissertation on the business case for this so what we were saying, we weren't saying flippantly'.‘We were really intentional from the start to spend the time thinking about our mission, our vision, our values, and then we got to design our recruitment processes, which is super important. That's how you're bringing people into the company and those values are a part of that from that first phone interview'.CONNECT WITH THE GUESTHere We Flo's website: https://www.hereweflo.co/Search ‘Here We Flo' on social mediaABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Grant Mitchell, Creative Director at Future and Associate Lecturer in Graphic Design at Staffordshire University. Grant is an international award-winning graphic designer with over 25 years industry experience. As Creative Director at Future he works with his team to design brand identities and creative communications for clients across a diverse range of sectors including; healthcare, cultural, not-for-profit, education, property and SME's.KEY TAKEAWAYSGrant talks about his early steps into branding and how he started his own business but it isn't for everyone.Danielle and Grant know each other from Staffordshire University where Grant is a lecturer and Danielle was a student. Teaching wasn't part of the plan but Grant has found it to be humbling and flattering that he's been able to have a positive impact on so many students' lives.Future is a creative agency working across four key disciplines; design, websites, branding and motion. Grant talks us through how working with a client is about collaboration and that pushback can help the project become stronger.Grant and Danielle talk about the changing world of creative design and how time and circumstances have played a huge role in that. BEST MOMENTS‘When you get feedback, when you're generating ideas like the process we go through, do your homework, speak to clients, speak to stakeholders, understand the audience, understand the parameters of the project, understand the sector and then generate, generate as much stuff as you possibly can.'‘What you are trying to do is move a client forward from one position, to a much better position that will help support their business objectives. Whether that's designing a better website that helps drive inquiries or creating a campaign that communicates important information, making a difference, it's very hard.'On working for Future: ‘I feel like I'm starting again and in a good way. I love seeing the team create stuff and I love us winning new clients and I love us pushing on, adding to the team.'On advice for starting a business: ‘You've got to love what you do but that love and passion has to be coupled with business acumen.'CONNECT WITH THE GUESTGrant Mitchell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantatfuture/Future: https://designbyfuture.co.uk/ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Stephen Houraghan, brand strategist, consultant, CEO and Founder of Brand Master Academy and BrandBuildr.ai. He hosts The Brand Master Podcast, featuring guests like Seth Godin and Marty Neumeier.With a background in business and finance, he later gained qualifications in design and marketing, founding the Iconic Fox Agency, and offering brand strategy and creative services globally. Stephen has contributed to publications such as Hubspot, Marketo, Creative Bloq and has appeared as a guest on countless industry podcasts and summits.KEY TAKEAWAYSStephen talks about his early career in finance and stockbroking, moving into creating design and how he pivoted into branding. All of this experience has given him a great understanding of business and how to speak the right language to business owners.Artificial intelligence is already a big part of life and Stephen speaks about his AI-powered platform, BrandBuildr and how it streamlines the brand development process and enhances strategy outcomes.Stephen explains how the last four to five years have been spent on building the corporate brand of Brand Master Academy and how he became obsessed with the idea of being consumer driven and consumer led.BEST MOMENTS‘I didn't want to go back to a job, I wanted to work for myself. That led me down the road to asking, if there are all these other designers in this space, how can I convince my prospects to choose me over them? It's a fundamental question at the centre point of first positioning and then broader brand strategy that I didn't even know existed.'‘I knew I needed to get my ideas on my concepts out there and I struggled with the idea of, why would I put all of this in an article if people are just going to take it? It was a real struggle to overcome that mental challenge of look, this is how the industry works now, this is how the world works.'‘As we venture into the world of AI, that human connection and that ability to connect with your audience and to provide them that human guidance and that arm around their shoulder, that's going to become increasingly important in the coming years and it's a big part of what we do beyond the steps and the processes.'‘When we sit down with our clients, what ingredients we get is dependent on the questions we ask. The better the question, the better the ingredient. The better the ingredients, the better the outcome.'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Adam Housley the founder and coach at T3 Functional Fitness. Adam's mission is to help you discover an active, healthy lifestyle that you love making it possible to regain your energy & reduce your stress in a way that is easy & enjoyable to sustain.KEY TAKEAWAYSAdam talks through his journey into the fitness industry and how he ended up creating a training method that was very different from his competitors.Danielle and Adam discuss how running a business is hard, the key skills you need to make it work and how help and support are invaluable.Adam explains how he had a belief that he needed to target a certain type of person to make money, or do a certain type of thing from a content perspective. When in actual fact he needed to do it in a way that sits well with him because that will attract the audience he wants.You'll also hear about the challenges Adam went through when moving from an in person training business to an online coaching one.BEST MOMENTS‘One of the biggest shifts that I've made recently is instead of focusing on necessarily just time efficient strategies, it's wanting to really emphasise the enjoyment because my journey with health was a long one.'‘I've maybe kind of stuck with a message that didn't quite resonate because I was like, maybe if I give it enough time and people start coming in, it'll sit with me better. That kind of stuff, it takes a lot of experience, knowing the difference between this is right, but I need to give it time versus it just doesn't feel right and I need to change it early.'‘It just got to this point where I was like, why is this so hard? It came so easy beforehand and it was just over that time, trying something and thinking, okay, it's not quite working, and just kind of building that resilience. Every time I got knocked back to be like, no, there is a way that I can make this work.'‘When it comes to health and fitness, I believe the key is changing the beliefs because when you're stressed and tired, you think doing exercise is going to make you feel worse, whereas weirdly, kind of doing that physical exercise makes you feel more energised and helps relieve the stress.'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Mike Kirby, Founder of Find & Finance. Their focus is not on selling cars, but on guiding people through the various stages of buying a used vehicle and making it simple, safe and special. KEY TAKEAWAYSMike takes us through every element of Find & Finance from the challenges of launching, the customer journey, recruitment, growth and scaling. At the centre of everything they do is - Simple, Safe, Special.Find & Finance have an exciting year coming up in terms of growth but Mike explains they've had challenges along the way and he's very open about how he faced them.Danielle and Mike discuss what success looks like and how, as a business owner, you don't always have time to step back and assess what success would be.Mike finishes the episode by sharing advice for anyone who wants to start a business, has an idea and wants to build a brand.BEST MOMENTS‘There were a few key factors why I decided to start the business and what I identified quite early in my motor career was a few, I don't want to say negatives to the industry, but some challenges within the industry.'‘We're trying to create a relationship with our clients. We're not selling the car to them, we're selling a service to help them to effectively find a car. Right from the first communication, we're trying to find out exactly what's important to the clients.'‘If you don't have that clearly defined set of values and you don't have a clear direction with your value statement, when you start growing your business and you bring staff on, you bring people in that might not have lived and breathed these values before. They're highly likely not going to work within your business even if they have the experience that you're looking for.'‘This year is very exciting for us from a recruitment perspective, growing the team and also some key accounts, and then the launch of our three key brands, ensuring that we stick to our core values.'ABOUT THE GUEST - MIKE KIRBYMike Kirby is Owner & Director of Find & Finance Limited CONNECT WITH MIKE ON LINKEDINFIND & FINANCE ON INSTAGRAMABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Ria Burrage-Male, founder and director of Kibo, which helps leaders achieve personal and professional growth through mentoring, communication, and performance. Previously the CEO of Hockey Wales, Ria has a background in sports coaching, having been an international hockey player and a Commonwealth Games athlete. KEY TAKEAWAYSRia takes us through every step of her life, from growing up in Wales, becoming an international hockey player, rising to CEO of Hockey Wales, her family and how they've inspired her latest project, Kibo.Danielle and Ria discussed how life experiences, good and bad, make you the person and the brand that you are.Sport has played such a crucial role in Ria's life and she explains how she competed at an elite level, representing Wales at hockey, while juggling a full time career and how there just weren't enough hours in the day. Authenticity and confidence are key themes for Ria and she explains that you've got to be kind and positive to yourself as you are the most consistent voice in your head.BEST MOMENTS‘I'm very passionate about exposing people or holding up a mirror to people to show them that they have so much potential and people are there to support and guide them. I think as women, there's still a lot we need to do on that.'‘I was a teenager in the valleys, in a church school, knowing that I was a gay, and I spent my whole life being somebody that I wasn't because of that inability to be authentic and therefore not being able to be vulnerable.' ‘I feel like I've gone through all of these experiences and now I'm in a position where I can reflect and also share those experiences with people and help them on their journeys, because I feel like I've lived through so many different iterations of authenticity and vulnerability and weakness and communication and, you know, psychological safety and also working in high performing teams and all of those facets that I think are imperative for leadership skills and leaders at executive levels.'‘Another part of Kibo as well as the coaching is eat, sleep, breathe, connect. I talk a lot about and with businesses and with individuals around these four pillars that before you look externally, before you challenge culture that might not need to be challenged, let's stop and pause and look at ourselves first.'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Caroline McQueen, Founder and Chief designer at Impulsiv®, a digital consultancy specialising in branding and custom Shopify Themes. Impulsiv® helps independent companies in fashion, beauty and lifestyle connect with customers through engaging brand experiences. They blend neuroscience, brand psychology, and cutting-edge design to craft engaging customer interactions.KEY TAKEAWAYSCaroline delves into how she decided to pivot during the pandemic from focussing on tech and, thanks to a grant from Baroness Karren Brady, founded Impulsiv®, an ecommerce consultancy specialising in interaction design. Danielle and Caroline discussed how brands can enhance their online presence and make meaningful connections with their audience. Caroline suggested a good starting point is to do a website audit. Making sure the brand is communicating its values in a way that customers can really understand.Caroline shared a case study of working with a client and how Impulsiv® helped reduce the bounce rate from the clients website from 70% to 40% by making one change.BEST MOMENTS‘If you can get your customers to engage in the brand building process with you, especially if they're early adopters, then they are very open to giving you their feedback on what they think of your website or what they think of your products and how you can actually use that.'On working with clients - ‘I take it all the way back to the beginning and start looking at the strategic approach. What their goals are, what their visions or intentions are, and then also who their customer is and also what research they've done on their competition and how they're different'‘It was a lifeline because it came during the pandemic. If you're running a tech company, you are burning cash. She (Baroness Karen Brady) awarded us the grant money and I was chuffed to bits when that came through because it was just enough for me to just kind of go, okay, this is what we're going to do'‘Depending on what conversation you're having on social media will depend on whether or not someone will sign up to your list. If you've taken the time to understand what their needs and wants are, that would determine whether or not they're actually going to click through onto your website and buy something.'ABOUT THE GUEST - CAROLINE MCQUEENImpulsiv®: https://impulsiv.io/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinemcqueen/ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTHWORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROWCONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDINSUPPORT THE SHOWThis show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Andy Starr, Managing partner of Level C, an education program teaching principles of modern brand to business professionals, which he co-founded with international brand expert and author Marty Neumeier. Andy helps clients outmanoeuvre competition and conditions in their markets, and make marketing, advertising & PR content work better, land stronger, and drive real results.KEY TAKEAWAYSDisruption is something that Andy is really passionate about so he and Danielle talked about what this really means and why it's so important.Andy explained to Danielle how his collaboration with Marty Neumeier began and how Level C originated from his personal circumstances at the time.Branding hasn't always been Andy's thing. He's a trained musician, majored in English Literature, worked in finance and studied law before coming to the world of brand.Andy spoke about how his branding classes with Marty work, why they are different from traditional teaching and how they teach you how to think about brand.BEST MOMENTS‘These days, if you're a brand, if you're a business and you're trying to stand out and you think that just being different will get you there, we make an argument that it won't, that it's not enough'.‘Creative thinking, strategic thinking, design thinking - more and more so called experts and coaches and mentors out there, they've been doing the whole how to do thing - how to do this, how to use this template. More and more of them have been trying to copy us now and it's kind of weird because they end up almost completely contradicting what they were doing just a couple of years ago'‘I won't work with anyone now who won't acknowledge that this is what I'm doing, who won't allow me to have the opportunity to teach them how to be a great client, teach them where I'm coming from right now'.‘We believe that creativity is more valuable in problem solving than just being more productive, but it needs more people who are able to think about what they do before they do it, while they do it, and after they do it'.ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Simon Dixon, co-founder of DixonBaxi, which is a global agency that's worked with clients like AC Milan, Warner brothers, Google and Samsung to name a few.KEY TAKEAWAYSSimon spoke about how and why he started DixonBaxi, what brand is and what is important to him as a business owner.Danielle and Simon discussed DixonBaxi's Essentials book, the practical thinking that drives them. How they run the company on principles and an ethos rather than technologies or what people say they should do and how diversity is so important for DixonBaxi.How the business survived Covid was a big talking point and Simon's view on remote working. People will still want to interact in some way, but there's now space for people to have time to themselves and privacy.Simon and Danielle discussed how to take your first steps into the industry and the attitude you need to succeed. Simon feels there is tension between education and the industry, where education is teaching people great creativity, but also there is a perception that everybody should have everything and should have it easily.BEST MOMENTS‘People get a little caught up or confused between identity and the design aspect of branding and branding conceptually, in terms of what it means as a whole. Basic branding is people's relationship with the company, the benefits of the service or the product or the business's relationship with them'.‘When we started the agency, we wanted to go back to something simpler, a bit more selfish and a bit more kind of refined how we wanted to create, because it was a kind of pivotal stage of our career and it obviously was something new, so we could build it in a different way'.‘You have to literally invest in training people, because if they haven't had the ability to go to St Martin's and you have to train those basic skills to get them into the industry, you might have to get visas and bring them from different countries and help them get into the industry'.‘The eternal thing is doing work that makes us excited. We'd rather be better than bigger, or we'd rather be the size that allows us to do the work we want, rather than it being about a certain size of company. So it's how it feels to make the work and make the work we want to'.ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle spoke with Matt Clutterham who is a transformational brand strategist and founding partner of Q Branch Consulting. He's also a speaker, board member and knows a lot about branding. KEY TAKEAWAYSMatt talked about his background in creativity, passion for graphic design and how his career in theatre lighting led him to the world of brandingDanielle and Matt discussed their love for branding and how storytelling and creating a feeling in the customer is key to a successful brand. Brand building is getting the customer to recall the business at every possible opportunity. The aim is to link the business and brand with a deeply emotional experience.Matt explained how his business has changed since he started working with his partner, Jenny. Working together has allowed him to deal with the emotions and the audience psychology of building a brand that connects to people outside while Jenny deals with the people inside the brand and helping them control and build the right emotions that are going to accelerate what they are doing.BEST MOMENTS‘In psychology, they call it anchoring. That for me is the whole purpose of what we're trying to do when we build brands is to anchor our business and what we're doing with people because they're the people who are buying and they're also the people who are going to come and work for you and invest in you'‘Overnight a team of people with diggers and machinery dug up all of the grass outside of City Hall in London and planted a fake UFO in a huge crater with smoke machines pouring smoke out of it. The press came down and are taking photos and we're like a UFO crashed in central London. We built the story up over a couple of days'‘I think it comes down really to one question, which is a powerful question and it's hard to answer. What do we want people to feel?'‘We want to help as many people with great ideas as possible, with the strategies and the confidence to take the action that will make all our lives better'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a recording of a live webinar Danielle did with Katie Brown, who is a social media marketing consultant. Katie helps small businesses, or SME's, refine and create a social media strategy that really speaks to their target market. KEY TAKEAWAYSDanielle and Katie discussed why brand consistency is important for building trust, why consistent branding on social media is really important, and how to translate branding onto social media effectivelySocial media strategy and branding overlap. Often clients aren't really sure who they're trying to communicate with, what they're trying to say, how they want to come across. The starting point for branding and social media is to focus on thisIf you want to actually make some progress and you want results and you want to know that what you're doing is actually moving you further towards your goal, then at some point you need to move away from reactive decision and become more strategicBEST MOMENTS‘I talk a lot about the social media funnel. You've got the top of the funnel which might be that first time that you see something or maybe I'll just give them a follow. Visibility, repetition, consistency is where we get to the middle of the funnel. You're building that relationship, you're building that trust which hopefully ends up with that person then reaching out or whatever it is you want them to do'‘When I do strategy with clients we'll look at competitors and we'll look at who else is out there that's doing similar things. And the difference could be in price, the difference could be in terms of location and the difference could be in terms of efficiency or the quality of the product or how quickly they can turn things around. There's lots of different areas that you can look into to go or how are we different?'‘It's about moving away from that idea of branding being a logo and a colour, and actually brand is more of a living, breathing thing. Your business, however many people are in, it doesn't matter if it's one or if it's 3000 it should still be this living, breathing thing that's made-up of human beings'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you are a long time listener or you've just found us, thank you for supporting the show. Danielle wanted to highlight and look back on some of the incredible conversations she's been lucky enough to have over the previous 62 episodes and re-share some of the learnings that may help with your journey.In this episode we hear from Kingsley Peters - founder and creative director of Kingel, Tze Ching Yeung from We Disrupt Agency, Sane Mafa from Studio M, global creative leader and brand strategy consultant Ezequiel Abramzon, the mental health PT James Roffey, personal brand manager Viktoria Jancurova and Ben Gallagher - veteran, athlete, explorer and keynote speaker.KEY TAKEAWAYSAre you a student looking to get into the creative industry? Hear about the skills you need to learn from being newly qualified to actually doing the job. What about starting your own brand? You'll hear how branding is a key part of a startup's birth and what you need to start building your brand.You'll also learn from people who are currently building their brands. What has their journey been like so far? What impact are they having on their customers? BEST MOMENTSKingsley Peters: ‘One of the things I was kind of saying to them (students) is that when you come out of university you might have a craft, but actually you don't really know anything about the industry. As a creative director, I'm not looking for them to come into the business and know everything about everything. What I'm looking for them to come into the business with is passion and ideas'Viktoria Jancurova: ‘I think of competitors as collaborators. They might have the same processes, they might have the same systems or similar, but they will never give branding the same personality as I do just because it's me. It's what makes me unique. My clients know exactly what they're going to get and that's a really important aspect to think about. Again, linking back to branding'Sane Mafa on the importance of brand for Studio M: ‘I will literally have this conversation with the partners everyday - How are we sticking to who we say we are and can we practically say that's what we're doing as a brand. I think continuous reflection (is important) on what it is that your values are, your philosophy is, and how you are as a company and sticking with those things in a practical sense'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviewed Radim Malinic, Creative Director, Designer and best selling author. He lives and works in Southwest London and runs Brand Nu, a multidisciplinary award winning studio.Before finding his calling in the creative industry, Czech born Radim was an ice hockey player, a bassist in death metal bands, an indie DJ, music journalist and student of Economics and Business management.At the break of the new millennium he moved to the UK to explore the music scene, only to find even greater interest in art and graphic design. Since then his eclectic interests have seen him working with some of the biggest brands, companies and bands in the world. Clients include Harry Potter, London Film Museum, SyCo, Sprite, WWF and USAID amongst many othersKEY TAKEAWAYSMindfulness is important for Radim and he believes it's especially useful in the creative industries; creatives have set a level of perfectionism, which may not even be possible. As a result we don't always know when to stop. This is reflected in his book ‘The Mindful Creative'.Radim has always loved trying different things. We discuss his new book releases - Creativity for Sale and The second Mindful Creative. Both books aim to provide anyone with a proven and tested framework for finding success in their career and systems to avoid burnout and stress. BEST MOMENTS‘I think my life motto is seeing something I like and thinking how hard is it to do? Let's give it a go and see if I can get through that entry point. OK, we'll do it for a while, if it doesn't work I'll just see something else. And I think, as a human beings, we are the collection of experiences of wins, failures, inspirations and information'‘I can tell you 20 different ways we can avoid burnout yet people will go and burn out because we followed that passion and expression in us. But it's then realising, OK, I have made a mistake even though I knew it was coming. How do I get out of this? How do I recover? Because we underestimate recovery. We underestimate the impact of the problem because it takes you to recover as long as it took you to break yourself'‘I just liken it to like the highway of life and creativity. Imagine a 5 lane motorway and you've got the self-made, self certified millionaires bombing it in the in the fast lane in their little flashy cars and you're in a slip road going, I'm sort of happy here going 20 miles an hour in your bashed up Fiesta and this is my beginning'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOUR 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeThis show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle was interviewed by Darren Jamieson for his podcast called The Engaging Marketeer. This episode of Build Better Brands revisits that episode where Darren asks Danielle lots of searching questions about her childhood and how she's ended up doing what she does. Darren has worked within digital marketing since the last century, and was the first in-house web designer for video games retailer GAME in the UK, known as Electronics Boutique in the States. After co-founding his own agency, Engage Web, in 2009, Darren has worked with clients around the world, including Australia, Canada and the USA.KEY TAKEAWAYSDanielle Clarke has always got a buzz from solving problems, going right back to fundraising for her school as an infant, through to refusing to settle for unsuitable work experience at school, and on to responding to the heartbreak of redundancy by going it alone in a male-dominated industry.As creative as she is determined, Danielle runs Danielle Clarke Creative, which specialises in branding, design and marketing solutions for the health, fitness and wellbeing sector. BEST MOMENTS‘My mum was a single parent and we didn't have much. I used to hate going home from school with these fundraising letters because I never wanted to ask my mum for money. I had this idea of doing a school magazine. Can't remember how much money we made but parents were buying them. That is the first memory I have of having a problem and feeling like I had the solving it'On becoming self employed ‘The main thing was because I've been made redundant a few times and even that word redundant. It's horrible, isn't it? You are of no use. You are no longer needed. That is what that word means, which is horrible'‘I think what I've learned (about being self-employed) is about having a balance, knowing when you need to take a break and understanding that there's always going to be something that needs to be done. There's always going to be quotes to do. There's always going to be emails to answer. There's always going to be work to do and it doesn't matter how long you work'‘I love what I do. I love working with brands and helping to create better ones. I love talking to people. I don't get bored doing my job'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TRIGGER WARNING We do talk about suicide in this episode. For support go to samaritains.orgDanielle spoke to Ben Gallagher. Ben is a veteran, athlete, explorer and keynote speaker. Ben suffered life changing injuries while serving in the British Army and now shares his experiences and how he's overcome lots of challenges, to help others.KEY TAKEAWAYSBen served in the British Army and had a very successful military career. He was deployed worldwide on operational tours and exercises and embraced all of the opportunities that the military gives you. In 2019 while serving in the British Army on active duty, Ben was involved in an incident where he received multiple gunshot wounds to his upper torso and blast and fragmentation injuries to both arms.After a long period of rehabilitation Ben tried to be the soldier he was before the injuries but, unfortunately couldn't cope physically or mentally. The effect of his injuries and having to leave a career he loved took him to a very dark place.Ben has gone from that incredible low to competing in the Invictus Games, becoming a keynote speaker, a mentor to the next generation and has hopes of competing at the paralympics.KEY MOMENTS‘...Fortunately for me, I woke up the next morning, and I woke up because I was that broken and that committed to taking the pain away, that I drank a bottle of whiskey too quickly and it knocked me out'‘In terms of the Invictus Games itself, it allows you to test yourself again, it allows you to be around like minded people. We all lost that connection when we were medically discharged from the military. So we all lost that comradeship, that humour and humility, the banter that flows through the military environment, you get all that back again. But you also get the sporting element as well'‘I wanna prove to myself and my family, my kids, my loved ones, that I'm capable of pushing forward and continuing to be Ben. And be the person that I was in the military and so successful through my military career, that I can still be successful even though now I've got a disability and an impairment'On the message in his talks: ‘The word failure is something that comes up every time I talk and that's both with kids, the younger community and in corporate companies. If we're not failing, we're not trying. Failure is about learning and developing as human beings'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle co hosted a live webinar with Viktoria Jancurova - a personal brand manager who helps coaches, creatives or founders in creative spaces leverage their LinkedIn and really brand themselves as the go to experts that they are. Danielle and Viktoria talked about the power of branding and actionable takeaways to make your business ready for 2024. KEY TAKEAWAYSDanielle and Viktoria demonstrate an exercise you can do to check the power of your brand to make sure you are on track for the new year. They discuss the differences between personal and corporate branding and the key elements to building a successful brand. They also share actionable tips so you can create a brand strategy for 2024At the end of this LinkedIn live, which has been turned into a podcast, you'll hear a selection of questions asked by attendees and the answers given by Danielle and Viktoria to help you take action.BEST MOMENTSDanielle responding to the question of what branding is: ‘One of the key things that I always try to say to people is there's a broader concept of branding beyond a logo. Branding is the sum of every interaction, every tactic, everything that you put out into the world'Viktoria: ‘I see so many people just neglect their branding. They think that posting on LinkedIn or Instagram using colourful carousels and adding some colours to their brand, that's it. They have a logo but do they have a brand?Danielle: ‘When you get it (branding) right and you do it consistently and you put out quality products or services that people know are going to solve their problems, they know that once they buy it, it's not going to let them down and you continuously reaffirm that, it builds trust'Viktoria on how branding helps your business: ‘Your sales are made easy because if people recognise you, they've already established some trust, they already have certain feelings about your brand, they've already set their expectations on a certain level' ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviewed James Roffey, also known as the Mental Health PT, is a well-being performance coach for CEOs, entrepreneurs, athletes & leaders. James is on a mission to change people's lives by improving their minds as well as their physiques.KEY TAKEAWAYSJames talks about his early life as a promising footballer and how, when that career didn't go to plan, it was the start of his battle with eating disorders.After a long struggle with anorexia and then bulimia, James managed to work his way back to health and became a personal trainer. He talks about how his business focuses on mindset as its key pillar. Becoming a PT wasn't straightforward as James broke his leg 3 times shortly after qualifying. He's now making great progress in his business and recently launched his own app for clients.James speaks about his business journey, what he's learnt along the way and how he's driven to give clients the tools to get back control over whatever it is in their life that they are struggling with.Authenticity is super important to James' brand; he made a deliberate choice to leverage his unique experiences. He recognises the power in sharing his story (which is pretty unique) and using his journey for positive impact—a calling he feels compelled to fulfil.BEST MOMENTSJames talking about his journey to this point: ‘I was in hospital and my parents had to sign a do not resuscitate form. I was at such a high risk of going into cardiac arrest my kidneys were failing'‘I think my core values are slightly different to your generic PT online coach. My most important pillar is your mindset and mental health''I love giving stuff back to people just as they've enabled me to do what I'm doing now. I want to give people value, for them to see what I can give them in a month, for free. Show them what I can do because I know I can help change people's lives'On how he wants to be remembered: ‘As the person that never gave up? I think it would be that. I think you've gotta keep going. As the guy that went through all that stuff but still managed to have a happy family life'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviewed Sane Mafa, co-founder of Studio M. After gaining a degree in Product Design from Birmingham City University, Sane gained experience designing a wide range of products including jewellery & retail displays before co-founding Studio M.Studio M is a sustainable interior and furniture designs studio. They are passionate about creating beautiful, functional spaces that promote health and wellbeing. In nature there is no waste, everything is a resource. This narrative of repurpose, reuse, and recycle, inspired the concept behind a new material developed by Studio M, called Erth, made from excess cow manure. Their furniture collections work with materials and resources that are readily available, even waste streams. They have exciting plans for next year, which include their first show and some big projects.KEY TAKEAWAYSSane talks about how Studio M's values - Knowledge, Integrity, Adventure, Love and Simplicity - are so important to the brand and why they continually revisit them to stay on track.Studio M has developed Erth, which is a new sustainable material made from cow manure. Cow manure is an abundant waste product of the agricultural industry, and is currently associated with environmental concerns. Studio M has decided to do something about it.The design style of Studio M is very much influenced by natural environments. Sane tells Danielle why this is so important to them and their clients and the mental and physical benefits of providing them with a space that echoes the environment.BEST MOMENTS‘Nature is our biggest inspiration and not even just in terms of our values but when it comes to design too'. Speaking about the new material Erth, which Studio M has developed ‘The purpose of Erth is to create a new demand for a material that is considered waste and that is causing environmental concerns. Talking about design elements in projects that describes Studio M ‘It's attention to space, how it's laid out. It's the colour palette that screams Studio M. Those elements that are speaking to the inside/outside'.ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU 3 ACTIONABLE STEPS FOR BRAND GROWTH: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO BUILD THE BRAND STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/d/48p-6ck-vy4CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by: The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviewed Ezequiel Abramzon, is a global creative leader and brand strategy consultant with 30+ years of experience in creativity, branding, innovation and entrepreneurship. Ezequiel is founder of Lalo, which helps take startups with brand strategy. They talk about how branding is a key part of a startup's birth.Ezequiel became a global creative leader while working as an executive at The Walt Disney Company for 22 years, where he helped develop brands such as Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar in Latin America and Europe. After many years of living a corporate life, Ezequiel is back in the independent world to help transform your business through brand building.KEY TAKEAWAYSEzequiel was always a fan of Disney and told his teachers at high school he would work there one day. When Ezequiel joined Disney he was responsible for creative marketing. From this he led hundreds of people and built 8 figure businesses within Disney where he found himself interacting with entrepreneurs, which led to the next phase of his career. He has completed countless trainings on creativity, innovation and branding, including Brand Architect certification with Marty Neumeier's Level C.Ezequiel knew that when his journey with Disney came to an end he would either be an entrepreneur or work with entrepreneurs.Having a brand strategy helps startup's navigate the early part of their journey and marry it with the long term perspective for their company. Ezequiel believes that startup B2B's can learn so much from long established B2C brands. They may be different on the surface but the essence is very similar. BEST MOMENTSDiscussing how Lalo helps entrepreneurs - ‘I always say I'm in the business of clarity and confidence. Strategic clarity leads to operational confidence. Because if you are strategically clear you know who you are and what you need to mean to people”‘Unless you have hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars you can't rush brand. If you are starting your company unless you have all that power you have to trust time'‘Demand excellence in everything you do. Quality on your onboarding, the product and your relationships. Understand what quality means for your business and customer'.‘Having no budget or lack of resources is not an excuse for not pursuing greater quality. If your website looks crappy it's not because you don't have money, it's because you didn't figure out how to do it right'.Ezequiel LinkedIn Twitter InstagramABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract their ideal customers.GRAB YOU FREE E-BOOK: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-brand-strategy-consultant/This show was brought to you by The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviewed Kingsley Peters founder and Creative Director at Kingel, a creative agency based in Birmingham. They talk about making the jump from being a freelancer to founding and running a successful creative agency. Kingsley started his journey a freelance art director before becoming one of the founders of Kingel back in 2015. KEY TAKEAWAYSFor Kingsley, starting an agency wasn't about making loads of money, it was about finding balance in life. After having his second son he didn't want to spend his life leaving the house at 7:15am every morning and getting back home after 7pm in the evening.Kingel, as an agency, specialise in helping clients stand out. They work with large corporate brands to identify that one thing that makes them different and then turn it into something that's really attention grabbing. Clients often don't think there's anything special about what they do so the job of the creative agency is to help them talk through their challenges and understand where they want to go and what they want to be. Kingel gives clients their experience and knowledge to help them know where to look and the right questions to ask. Moving from a freelance perspective, where you do part of the job, to an agency model where you are doing everything all hinges on pricing. It's easy to quote for the creative time but you must always include the account management as well. Energy is a key part of creativity. Everybody experiences stress, pressure and anxiety but understanding your mind and body and noticing the signs can really help avoid problems like burnout. BEST MOMENTSDiscussing branding workshops - ‘A lot of the time it's like a therapy session. Clients talk about their problems, challenges and competitors. Quite often it can be an inspiring process because you are giving the client the opportunity to say what they want to be'‘Ideas take time. What you are buying is not just an idea, it's also my time, experience and judgement'‘I was under a lot of pressure and stress. I had this horrible overwhelming feeling and I literally could not think. I remember standing in the office and I couldn't function. Looking back now, that was burn out'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU FREE E-BOOK: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle was interviewed by Tze Ching Yeung on her podcast "Lead with purpose" about branding for businesses and personal brands and her creative journey. Tze Ching started her entrepreneurial journey back in 2007 with the launch of a sustainable clothing and home furnishing ecommerce business. Through the 15-year journey, she learned so much, but easily the most meaningful lesson learned was about the importance of marketing. She now focuses on channelling those insights to help others succeed, through We Disrupt Agency, a business coaching, mentoring and digital marketing company.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhen people talk about a brand, it's someone's gut instinct, initial reaction to hearing a company name, seeing a logo. It's often a feeling, there's often associations, these are things brands like Nike have put out into the world for years that we now associate with them. That's what brand is, it's way more than a logo, some colours, a strap line. Brand strategy is all about figuring out your why – why is your company going to exist? It has to be something beyond making money, there has to be a reason you're starting this brand. Is there something in the world that you want to change?What's your purpose, your vision, your values? They define your foundation. Look at your product/service, and if it's actually viable in the market? If there is no competition; worry, because if no one else is doing it perhaps it doesn't make money. Competition is always a good sign. Once you've got your offer/product/service, who's it for? Not just the individual but the tribes/communities then look at how you attract them. BEST MOMENTS‘A brand is what people say about you and what you are when you're not in the room, people's gut feeling about your brand when they hear your name.'‘What's the one thing that no one else is doing that you can attribute yourself to? What makes you unique and different? What are people going to care about?'‘A lot of decisions are made on assumptions, but until you ask and do research you never really know.'‘If you're the founder, and it's your business, your brand is an extension of you. The company will change as it gets bigger, but the core essence shouldn't really change.'ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU FREE E-BOOK: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by The Media Insiders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviews Arlyne Chingyanganya, the founder of Roots to Froots. Arlyne shares her journey of creating a platform that demystifies finances and provides a friendly and approachable approach to financial knowledge. She emphasises the importance of understanding brand awareness and its impact on revenue, offering insights on pricing strategies and common mistakes new entrepreneurs should avoid. Arlyne also discusses the work she is doing with HSBC and Lloyds Bank to make finance accessible and support individuals and businesses in managing their finances effectively. KEY TAKEAWAYSOpen a business bank account: One of the first steps for new entrepreneurs is to open a separate business bank account. This helps to keep personal and business finances separate, making it easier to manage and track expenses.Create a business plan: Having a well-defined business plan is crucial for success. It provides a blueprint for your business and helps you understand your goals, strategies, and financial projections. It also helps you make informed decisions and adapt your strategy as needed.Seek help and advice: Don't be afraid to ask for help and seek advice from experts or experienced entrepreneurs. There are many free resources available, including consultations and networking opportunities, where you can gain valuable insights and guidance.Understand your market and pricing: Conduct market research to understand your target audience, competitors, and pricing strategies. Pricing your products or services appropriately is essential for profitability. Consider factors such as costs, value, and market demand when determining your pricing strategy.Focus on brand awareness and reputation: Building brand awareness and a positive reputation can have a significant impact on your revenue. Invest in marketing and branding efforts to establish your brand in the market and differentiate yourself from competitors. Consistently deliver high-quality products or services to build customer loyalty and attract new customers.BEST MOMENTS"The mission, especially for 2023, has been being loud and being visible and also taking a lot of people, the community, along with us along the journey." -"People actually gain something in terms of tools, resources or knowledge. And the more people that we can support, the better." "The first thing is getting rid of the jargon, because sometimes that's the thing that scares people when they don't understand certain terminologies, certain words." "So first things first, open up that business bank account, understand what you need to do, you know, government-wise.""The more people that I can help, the better." - Arlyne ChingyanganyaABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand Strategist and University Lecturer. She spends her time consulting and working with health and wellness business owners to help them attract and retain their ideal customers.GRAB YOU FREE E-BOOK: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danielle interviews Daniella Genas, the founder of Be the Boss. Daniella shares her journey of starting her first business and the challenges she faced along the way. She discusses the importance of having a clear vision and being intentional in business growth strategies. Daniella emphasises the need for diversity and inclusion in the business world, highlighting the value of relatable role models and support from within the community. She also shares her personal experience of selling her business and the lessons she learned from that tough decision. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights and strategies for building better brands and achieving sustainable growth.KEY TAKEAWAYSVision and intentionality are crucial for sustainable business growth. Starting with a clear vision and being intentional in your actions and decisions can prevent you from getting off track and help you achieve your goals more efficiently.Diversity and inclusion in business are important for creating a sense of belonging and providing relatable role models and support for underrepresented communities. It is not just about having diverse representation, but also about authentic support and understanding of the unique challenges faced by different groups.Failure can be a valuable learning experience and can lead to personal and professional growth. Embracing failure and learning from it can help you make better decisions and avoid repeating past mistakes.Overworking and lack of capacity are common challenges for business owners. Implementing systems, automation, delegation, and outsourcing can help alleviate the workload and create more time for strategic thinking and growth.Personal growth and mindset are just as important as financial success. Building confidence, overcoming self-doubt, and developing a strong mindset can have a significant impact on the success of a business. It is not just about the numbers, but also about personal fulfilment and happiness.BEST MOMENTS"A lot of the business support that was available was typically being delivered by people that had never actually run businesses." "The failure has actually been my greatest advantage… one of the things that makes me very good at what I do is because of that failure." - Daniella Genas"I always say start with vision… when you have a clear vision, you can then become intentional with what you do and what you don't do." "I don't think that business has a diversity issue I think what we often talk about is the lack of diversity within the mainstream spaces." "You're saying you want to support black business, but actually it's not being delivered by people that look like the businesses that they're trying to service." WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-callCONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultantSUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Danielle as she speaks to Simon Ward, CEO of ITG (Inspired Thinking Group). Simon shares his journey of founding ITG and discusses the importance of brand building and achieving marketing excellence. He highlights the need for businesses to identify and solve problems in the market, as well as the significance of having a strong company culture and passionate team. Simon also touches on the challenges faced by businesses in the current market, such as budget cuts and the impact of AI. He emphasises the importance of staying ahead of the curve and embracing new technologies while maintaining integrity and a focus on sustainability. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights and strategies for building better brands in today's ever-evolving business landscape.KEY TAKEAWAYSITG focuses on building brands with a creative approach and strategy, putting strategy at the heart of thinking. Innovative marketing solutions have been one of the key ways ITG has generated success, such as the Missions and Motivations Engine, which generated significant revenue for Wickes.Simon prioritises the well-being of his employees and ITG has been recognised as the UK's Wellbeing Company of the Year.The company is committed to sustainability and has implemented a sustainability program, including planting a million trees.ITG embraces AI technology and has its own AI coding business, using AI to enhance its services and stay ahead of the curve in image and text creation.BEST MOMENTS"Richard Branson has the same mentality and strategy""We're on a mission to help as many people as possible start and build stronger brands so they can create happier, healthier lives for themselves and those around them.""We have a complete sustainability program here. We have, I think, the Good Human Manifesto, which is… Do you know that off by heart? Yeah, I do. Yeah. Or pretty much, because I helped to write it.""AI will help to bring different things forward. So you got to jump on the, you don't need to obsess about it. It's not going to change the world so much that we can't live anymore. We have to coexist with it.""The way to my heart. Anything my daughter does gets a big tick in the box. Always melts me."WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-callCONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultantSUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Matt Fiddes who owns the world's biggest martial arts brand worth over £120 million, he was featured on Rich House Poor House and was Michael Jackson's best friend for many years. He knows all about building a brand and shares his expertise on today's podcast.KEY TAKEAWAYSI think everybody who has built something that's gone big had painful childhoods. Most of my entrepreneur friends were teased or bullied at school or had some kind of trigger point. For me bullying was the thing and not being good at school, being under-confident, wanting to achieve more and being told you're no good at anything. The only thing I was good at in my head was martial arts. Even then I knew that was all I wanted to do somehow. I'm quite a strong believer in the law of attraction.Everything the school system teaches I provide within my martial arts school's life skills programme: anti-bullying skills, stranger danger, fire safety, water safety, goal-setting, persistence, how to make money, what's good or bad debt. That set me apart from everyone else and made me go on to build the world's biggest brand in my sector. I focussed on putting an incredible service out there that no one else was doing.A brand is something that's been around and is trusted, you put the name in Google and you've got pages and pages of proof going back years, that's a brand. A person with a logo is someone who's just put together a mastermind or knocked together a franchise and called themselves a brand, but if you put their name in Google there's nothing there, there's no social proof. The definition for me is that a brand is people who don't want to mess around, who want to be in mainstream media (TV, radio, newspapers), because people will choose you over people that have no social proof. I'm not interested in personal brands, I think it's a load of nonsense. Personal brand is for people who don't know who to build a brand.I believe, to make a franchise, you've got to do things ethically. If your business is making money, you've got at least 3-5 years of profitable accounts, then it makes sense to take that business and do it over and over again. Where people go wrong in business is always looking for the next shiny object. Having a successful business, with proof of its success, makes it easier to sell as well.BEST MOMENTS‘I was bullied quite badly at school and if it wasn't for the first one, Anthony, I wouldn't be where I am now as it spurred me on to take up martial arts to defend myself. Anthony now is the Anti-Bullying Ambassador for my company.'‘I collaborated with Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson's older brother. We toured the UK, went to schools talking about our success and experience and the rough times we had as kids.'‘I've got no qualifications, I didn't do well at school at all, I failed at everything which I'm not proud of. But, at the same time, it shows people they can be whatever they want to be as long as they study the greatest to make themselves better and believe in themselves.'‘The more I give the more I receive. You've got to lead by example. There's too many fake-it-til-they-make it in this industry who say they've got a brand and they haven't, they've got a logo – big difference.'ABOUT THE GUESTMatt Fiddes is one of the most respected experts in the international world of martial arts and fitness. Matt's achievements have seen him honoured at the highest level, after being inducted into the UK Martial Arts Hall of Fame and presented with the prestigious ‘Martial Arts Superstar Award'.Matt's unique training programmes are designed for both children and adults and have proved to be a massive success with over 600 training schools across the UK, Europe, and South Africa.He is a 7th Degree Black Belt Master in Tae Kwon Do and holds Black Belts in Kickboxing and Kung Fu is now one of the most in-demand personal trainers thanks to front covers and interviews in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has numerous celebrity clientele including actors, supermodels and singers. Undoubtedly Matt's biggest client was superstar Michael Jackson. Introduced to Matt by his close friend Uri Geller, Matt was Michael's personal UK bodyguard for over a decade before his tragic death in June 2009.Website: https://mattfiddes.com/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEAs a Brand Strategist, University Lecturer, and Business Owner, Danielle dedicates her time to consulting and collaborating with health and wellness businesses, helping them stand out in the market and expand their customer base.GRAB YOUR FREE COPY OF DANIELLE'S E-BOOK: https://danielle-clarke.ck.page/b1043e5d05CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultantWORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-callSUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Amir Harvey Bazrafshan, head marketer and Apricot Sky, founder of Apricot Box, and MD of Apricot video marketing. Amir shares his extensive experience of audience building for B2B brands and how he helps businesses build audiences focussed on future buyers.KEY TAKEAWAYSI got into the Nottingham film scene in my late teens, early 20s which was thriving with independent films being made and government funding. There were a lot of opportunities to write, direct, work on film sets, learn how to shoot, etc. That was my entry into the industry while also working in marketing as a day job. After a while I was hired as head of marketing for a small film distribution company to source independent films, buy the rights to the ones we thought would be successful, and come up with marketing campaigns. After 4 years I got the itch to work for myself so I set up the video agency.Too many people go straight to tactics. The “over-ratification” of marketing is something that isn't good for the discipline and the people that do that. There's an opportunity cost there as well; it's costing you the ability to actually do something that's impactful.I was someone who always understood the importance of empathy and wanting to have a positive impact on people. But the impact and influence that going through the AltMBA has had on me is underscoring the absolute importance that if you want to do work that matters and make change you don't have a say, you have to be empathetic. It's a generous and difficult thing to do.In B2B there are a lot fewer people buying than you might realise. There's a 95/5 rule where around 95% of your audience aren't buying, but that means there are far more future buyers than people that are buying now. That should have a big impact on the way you do your marketing. You need to optimise and capture as much of the existing demand as you can, but you also need to be reaching, influencing and priming future buyers to think of us when they come to buy in the next quarter, the quarter after or next year. It's really important for long-term growth.BEST MOMENTS‘People in marketing can make a change… marketing is change.'‘Build the habit of noticing where there's resistance when you do something and get used to sitting in that feeling. It's just a feeling, it shouldn't stop you from doing work that's important and that matters.'‘Use the most customer-centric lens you can to understand what their priorities are, where their struggles are and create a strategy around those.'‘Storytelling is vastly under-used in B2B, but it's leverage, it's a really good mechanism for articulating the change that you make but again in a customer centric way, in a way that someone who's not buying will care about.'ABOUT THE GUESTAmir Harvey Bazrafshan: I'm a lifelong learner with an interest in strategy, marketing, persuasion and psychology.Before starting my agency in 2012, I worked in marketing in the film industry.Since launching my own business, the work we have done has helped b2b brands grow their brand, increase their audience and make more sales, faster.I've also coached on Seth Godin's altMBA since 2016 and worked with leaders from brands such as Google, Adobe and Oracle.ApricotSky is my latest venture. It's my most significant project to date because audience building is a key missing part of the b2b marketing puzzle.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amir-bazrafshan/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Natalie Bailey, a business owner who helps entrepreneurs get real focus and clarity around where they want to take not just their business but their health and unleash their inner confidence. KEY TAKEAWAYSWe cover “the triangle of life”: health, wealth and happiness. If you're in business you still have your body to look after, you still have relationships, you still have family, you still have things you want to do outside of business. That holistic view gives you so much more value that you can then bring to the world. We figure out what you're confident at, what do you want to be more confident at, and how do we do that?You didn't know how to do things like tie your shoelaces or even walk. You had to learn to do those things. If you can learn how to do the mundane things, the daily activities that need to be done in order to exist, then you can learn to do anything, you can learn to do the things that take you out of your comfort zone, to feel more confident in doing that task. It sounds really simple and it is that simple, though it's not always an easy process.If you don't fully believe in what you're doing and your abilities nobody else is going to buy into you. Without that utter belief and the confidence to get out there and do whatever business you're in, whatever thing you want to do in life, you're not going to get to where you want to go because people won't believe in you because you don't believe in you. You need to get internal validation before you go seeking external validation. Confidence is the foundation to your success because it gives other people the belief and the hope that they can do something too.There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Confidence is knowing and believing in yourself and what you do and being able to help other people. Arrogance is looking down on other people which is not the right thing to do at all.BEST MOMENTS‘Everybody has confidence in them. Where do you have confidence? You just need to unleash it in other areas of your life you want to improve.'‘If you don't have confidence in yourself why should anybody else?'‘When you are healthier your body functions better, your brain functions better, you feel better. When you look better you feel better and more confident. Why would you not look after the one space you have to live in?'‘If you have the right people around you and the right support you can do anything.'ABOUT THE GUESTNatalie Bailey supports entrepreneurs to realise their own worth, gain confidence in their unique abilities and level up to get out there and tell the world what they do, with pride. You CAN have the income you desire, along with the freedom, the network, and the life you deserve.She says: “I'm a property developer and confidence coach, and have been helping other entrepreneurs to be more confident and ultimately more successful for many years now. My clients routinely achieve more from working with me, following the health, wealth and happiness system: the Gold Star way. “I have helped exceptional but introverted individuals go from not wanting to even talk about their property portfolio to thriving by hosting their own networking event, helping people to create and launch new businesses, adding ££ to the bottom line and so much more.”Website: https://nataliearabella.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliegoldstarbep/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Andrea Pacini, a presentation coach and founder of Ideas on Stage UK who specialises with working with business owners, leaders and teams – especially those who want to become more confident presenters. He's on a mission to help people get their ideas out and make sure they present them well.KEY TAKEAWAYSI've noticed a couple of things have changed since Covid. One is the importance of technology. When you are presenting, pitching, and communicating in person there are a few things to consider like if you are using slides you need to make sure that everything works, but apart from that technology shouldn't make a huge difference. Online it does. We need to pay more attention to things like having a good microphone, webcam, lighting, etc. Another thing is audience interaction, which is always important, but online it's even more important because it's even harder to keep their attention.Ideally you should make good eye contact in-person with each person in the audience for a complete sentence or thought and then change the person you're looking at for the next one. Online, rather than looking at your screen at the other people or your slides, you should look at the lens of your camera as much as possible because that's where your audience is. There are two types of speakers: memorisers and improvisors. Memorisers like to have a script word-for-word or rely on their notes whereas improvisors prefer to have more freedom on stage. There's no right or wrong approach, it's whatever works for you, and it's also a spectrum. I always encourage improvisors to rehearse (not practice) a number of times beforehand and have some notes to fall back on in case everything goes wrong. You can have the greatest idea in the world but if you can't communicate it it doesn't matter. I'm sorry to say that, but our ideas are worthless unless we can communicate them. This is so important if you want to build your brand and grow your business. BEST MOMENTS‘An audience's attention is a bit like the sand in an hourglass: It runs out after a few minutes. But, it's very easy to flip it over and start again. As presenters we can flip you over and start again, which means that every now and again we need to find ways to interact with the audience. When you're presenting in person you need to do that every 10 minutes at least, online you need to do that more often, every 3-5 minutes.'‘80% of your confidence comes from your ability to develop a compelling message. If you don't have a story that resonates with the audience or a message which is simple for them to understand, easy for them to follow, relevant to them and their needs it doesn't matter how strong you are from a delivery perspective.'‘Great presenters rehearse in the real world. In an environment either physically or mentally that is as close as possible to the real environment that they will have in the presentation.'‘ABC of preparation: Audience, Burning needs, Context.'ABOUT THE GUESTAndrea Pacini Andrea is Presentation Director for the UK for Ideas On Stage where he has worked with many business leaders, including clients like General Assembly, Fiverr, ISTAO Business School, as well as TEDx speakers. Andrea is also the main voice of the Ideas on Stage Podcast.He specialises in working with established business owners who want to grow their business and increase their influence through great presenting.Andrea is on a mission to change the way people think about presenting. He is a big advocate of business as a force for good and his 10-year vision is to help 1,000 purpose-driven entrepreneurs share their message, make an impact and be memorable.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apacini/?locale=en_US Website: https://www.ideasonstage.com/Confident Presenter Scorecard: https://presentationscorecard.scoreapp.com/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Kyle Stout, an email marketer, digital marketing consultant, founder of Elevate & Scale which helps e-commerce businesses unlock hidden revenue and put their sales on autopilot while spending zero on advertising.KEY TAKEAWAYSEmail marketing is in the back of the business owner's mind as something that's always going to be there, so it goes on the backburner, and they don't dive into it or realise how much potential is actually there until they talk to other business owners or they start to implement it themselves. Assuming you have an existing list you can get traction going pretty easily. Email marketing is more valuable today than it ever has been because it's one of the only places left where you have a direct line of communication with your audience on a platform that you own and control. With social media everything's changing quickly where you can build up a following quickly on one platform and then the attention shifts to a new platform, or there's a change to the algorithm and your content is seen by a fraction of the people who used to see it. Email is reliable and sustainable. But, social media is also stronger than it's ever been before.Don't over complicate things at first. First, you need to have a way to capture leads like a form on your website where people can opt in and offer them something in exchange for signing up because people know how the game works and don't want to sign up to an email list for no reason, even the promise of exclusive content. You could offer a coupon for their first purchase, free resource or training, a consultation call – whatever makes sense for your business. Then, you need to have an automated email set up so as soon as they opt in they get more information about your brain, products, services, what kind of customer experience they can expect, customer reviews if you have any to share. Beyond that (for the vast majority of businesses) there are several other automated options you can set up that are tied to your sales process.Doing a storewide sale is the quickest way to get a spike in revenue, I'm not saying you shouldn't do that, but it's a tool to have in your arsenal. If you only send those kinds of emails people aren't going to want to buy at full price anymore. Don't rely on gimmicky subject lines to try to spike your open rates, your sender reputation – what they think of you – is way more important than the subject line, if you send them emails they like receiving you'll find (to an extent) it doesn't matter that much what you say in the subject line, your open rates will go up and down based on the content and when you send emails to specific segments of your audience  within you list. Don't send every email to everyone on your list.BEST MOMENTS‘When life throws things my way I just want to say “yes” and jump on things that interest me.'‘Social media is the tool to get the attention from your target customers and email marketing is the tool to capture that attention and turn it into revenue for your business.'‘Wait until you get a few hundred emails on your list before you start to take on the additional challenge of coming up with new ideas and sending emails on a regular basis.'ABOUT THE GUESTKyle Stout Started as a freelance copywriter in 2013 specialising in email marketing and sales process optimization. He has developed email marketing frameworks that generated over $50 million in revenue for clients. He launched Elevate & Scale in 2019 where his clients typically see 30-50% of their total revenue attributed to email marketingWebsite: https://www.elevateandscale.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-stout-6804a117/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ElevateScaleTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elevateandscalePODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Kate Richardson-Walsh, ex-GB hockey captain and national record holder, to talk about how to use her on-pitch expertise with team building in the coaching and business world.KEY TAKEAWAYSWe all find ourselves in challenging situations and the majority of times we pull ourselves through somehow, someway to the other side, and sometimes it takes a long time. During surgery for a broken jaw during London 2012 I really relied on my support network and the team around me to get me through, I'm not sure I would have done had it not been for them. They literally gave me all their energy.I grew up seeing leadership as one person at the front shouting at everyone else, very “I say you do”. Leadership looked like the most alien thing in the world, I was really shy as a teenager and didn't want to use my voice at all, which is actually really common in the teams I've been in since or have coached. I prefer connecting with people, understand them and each other and build out those different spaces that people really need. But, sometimes not speaking at all is totally fine, just taking things in, taking time, going away to think about it and bring your thoughts back to the team.We need to look at other people's experiences and what they're holding back because of the negative narratives and stereotypes that have been built by the white patriarchy that have put us in these positions and are holding us back. Managing our state and emotions is important, but at the same time there also needs to be an understanding that unless we hear from people about they're feeling and experiencing, how are we ever going to move on as a society. The moments that I've experienced homophobia or sexism or where I've experienced someone else experience racism or ableism are the moments I wish I'd spoken up more and it's something I'm trying to get better at. Otherwise those people carry on in their lives thinking they're right and have the dominant voice, we all need to challenge that status quo.Mission statements, goals or values often live in the meeting or on the piece of paper they're written on, they wouldn't transcend that time we were discussing them. But having more time to talk about it helps embed it into our processes, habits, how we behave, interact with and show up for one another. BEST MOMENTS‘The culture we created in the team was that everybody was leading themselves and leading the team, it was the most amazing thing to see and be a part of.'‘We've got to celebrate our differences. Wouldn't life be so boring if it was all the same, we need to lift difference up.'‘In 2012 our vision was gold, it was simple – athletes have simple minds! Some of the women couldn't even say the word “gold”, the fear of failure was real for a lot of people because we'd failed a lot. When we built out a behavioural framework, things started to change because we could see what we could challenge each other against and celebrate our successes as well.''10-11% of organisations operationalise their values into behaviours which kind of blows your mind, but when you think about it it's obvious. You can really tell the ones that do. They're engaged and in tune with who they are., but there's not many that have it.'ABOUT THE GUESTKate Richardson-Walsh, OBE is an Olympic Gold and Bronze Medal winning English field hockey player. She was capped a record 375 times for her country and was the England and Great Britain Captain for 13 years.An inspirational and charismatic leader she has been widely credited for helping build the incredible team ethos and commitment that drove the GB team to victory at the Rio Olympic Games.  In winning gold Kate also made history in other ways, becoming one half of the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic medal playing in the same team.Having retired from international hockey following Rio, Kate is now turning her experience towards coaching, encouraging the grassroots development of the game and applying the leadership and performance lessons of a career in elite sport to the corporate environment.She currently serves as a Patron for the Women's Sport Trust and UN Women, supports disability hockey as an ambassador for Access Sport, and sits on the International Hockey Federation's Athlete's Committee.With the pressures of international hockey behind her she is also indulging a few of her other passions, including travel, fashion, cooking and Manchester United.Website: http://www.katerichardson-walsh.comPODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-callCONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultantSUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this, slightly different, episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Michael Janda (and a live audience) to discuss big branding mistakes that companies make. They cover several examples of rebranding failures, such as the Leeds United and Gap rebrands, as well as the importance of valid reasons for rebranding and why businesses should be careful with brand research.They also talk about the importance of building a community for your brand, choosing the right social media channels, and the fear of social media and personal branding. Michael and Danielle also touch on the topic of recession and how brands can survive during a recession. They emphasise the importance of speed to market and choosing the right brand name.Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into branding and marketing, highlighting the importance of avoiding mistakes and making informed decisions when it comes to rebranding, social media, and building a community for your brand, especially for business owners and marketers looking to enhance their branding strategies and avoid costly mistakes.KEY TAKEAWAYSLeeds United's rebrand, changing their logo was a mistake. The Premier football club has a rich history and heritage going back about 100 years, which is something that fans really care about. In January 2018 they unveiled their new crest after 6 months of research, questioning about 10,000 people, and it received a huge backlash from the fans. 77,000 fans started a petition to reverse the rebrand. So, if you ever decide to rebrand it's really, really important to make sure what your true fans really want.GAP spent $100 million dollars on a rebrand on their new logo, and it was up for six days before they bailed on it because the backlash was so massive. They got 2,000 negative comments on Twitter, 14,000 parody designs were posted on the make-your-own-gap-logo website. I love when people hijack a trend like that! They'd seen slumping sales, nothing dramatic, but they'd made an assumption that a rebrand was required to solve that.Some reasons to rebrand: If you want to appeal more to a different audience, if the data suggests you should rebrand (slumping sales, losing market share to a new competitor), if you're still hobbling along with your startup brand but you business has taken off and it needs to level up so it reflects the company as it is today – like Google did with its ugly serif font logo.In 2001 Royal Mail spent £1.5 million to rebrand to Consignia and it was such an epic fail they really did their best to cover it up and make people forget it happened. No one knew how to say ‘Consignia' and that the public thought was ridiculous, it was too long, too fussy and just didn't feel comfortable to say. Within just over a year they completely scrapped it and spent another £1 million to get it back to where it was before. The moral of that story is pick a name that people can say and feel comfortable saying and that aligns to what you already do, especially if you have the history and position you have in the market. BEST MOMENTS‘There's a difference between you audience and who your ‘true fans' are.'‘When doing research sometimes people feel like they have to answer in a certain way to ‘pass the quiz'. If you don't do your research right and ask non-leading questions, you can have massively skewed results in your research.'‘Why are you doing a rebrand in the first place? Oftentimes we'll find with a client that they have brand fatigue – they're sick of their own brand – and will want to change it to the detriment of their own business.'‘Don't kneejerk, take your time, think about it, do some brand strategy, don't confuse your customer.'ABOUT THE GUESTMichael Janda: I am an award-winning creative director, designer, agency owner and author. In 2002, I founded the creative agency Riser, which provided design and development services for clients that included Disney, Google, Warner Bros., Fox, NBC, ABC, National Geographic and many other high-profile brands. Following 13 successful years, I sold my agency to Eli Kirk in 2015. The combined agency rebranded as EKR where I served as a partner and Chief Creative Officer for a little over two years.Prior to founding my agency, I served as a Senior Creative Director at Fox Studios where I managed the design, editorial and development teams for the Fox Kids and Fox Family brands.My book, Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff They Don't Teach You In Design School But Should, was published in 2013 and is currently available in English, Russian, Chinese Traditional and Chinese Simplified languages. In 2019, my book, The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing: Price creative work with confidence. Win more bids. Make more money., was released and is now available in both English and Russian languages.Website: https://michaeljanda.com/  PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-callCONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultantSUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Elle Money, an Instagram coach who helps small businesses and entrepreneurs to get the most out of and monetise their Instagram.KEY TAKEAWAYSThe reason I even started on Instagram was because I was making content for The Futur and people would reach out and say: “Chris, this is such a good post”, no one knew who I was. Everyone at The Futur was building their personal brand, so I started an Instagram page and tagging myself in The Future's posts to drive people to my page.If you're already on Instagram chances are you've been focussed on growing that community aspect, which is great because your community values what you have to say and offer rather than feeling like they're being sold to. But, you need to start trickling that in and getting them to a place where they're ready to buy. Now you need to ask what they need from you and create the solution to their problem whether that's a download, a program, a consulting call. Then you need to get them to realise they have that problem. Finally you have to be able to tell them why you're the solution and why you have that for them.If you're a content creator you need ‘vanity metrics' like followers and likes, but if you're a business owner these don't matter. People seem to be coming to terms with this, but followers do not equal sales. It looks good to have a bigger following but I was selling on Instagram with 1,500 followers and I wasn't even selling anything, I had people reaching out to me. I now have a lot of people wanting to work with me but that's because I promote my offers. It's not about how many followers you have it's about how you position yourself.What I found after being a social media manager for year is that you could tell me about your business for weeks and we can do loads of discovery calls to pinpoint it down and still you'd want to word it slightly differently. Why would you pay me to do it for you and still not know how to do it yourself when I can teach you how to do it yourself on Instagram in a way that's easy enough to manage. Instagram is a small part of what business owners do, even for me it's only a tenth of what I do a day. I teach people to make it as easy as possible, know what efforts are working and focus on that rather than just do it for them. BEST MOMENTS‘I was first hired in 2017 to write clickbait articles and that helped with my copy writing skills.'‘When I started at The Futur its Instagram was at 30,000 followers but it had been left alone because the focus was on YouTube. I asked to take it over as I was doing Facebook ads and in the four years I was there I grew it to over 400,000 followers.'‘Sell the why not the how.'‘You know what you need and what your audience needs, you know what your strengths and weaknesses are, I help reign that in and make it as best as possible on Instagram.'ABOUT THE GUESTBefore joining The Futur, Elle Money studied Fashion Marketing and Branding where she dove headfirst into the intricacies of buyer psychology. This curiosity for what makes people buy led her to tap into Facebook Advertising, and master how to promote products.Elle teaches businesses and entrepreneurs to utilise Instagram as a strong, organic marketing tool to accelerate their business by creating great content in less time that attracts new leads and helps them grow on Instagram.Instagram: @elle.socialPODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Konstantinos Synodinos, a marketer and entrepreneur who helps businesses and athletes and sporting professionals become globally visible.KEY TAKEAWAYSTik Tok's short video format has dominated the attention of people who really love the fact they can get tons of value, entertainment and inspiration within 10-20 seconds. It entirely changed how people consumed and created content two and a half years ago during the first quarantine in most countries. As a marketeer, when you see something that grabs the attention of people so much, so instantly, and in such a different way, and when I realised that organic reach is cheaper than ever, I had to jump in and see if there was something in there for me.By experimenting, being consistent, and adjusting to the different kinds of learnings that I got through the process brought me to this point, having the biggest digital marketing channel globally right now in Tik Tok, Instagram and Pinterest combined.Martial arts, as a kid, teaches you discipline and that you won't see results the next day, you have to repeat specific movements thousands of times in a deadly boring way that doesn't make sense until 6-12 months' time when it's become second nature to you. You improve and perfect. This kind of mindset and adjustment and discipline is everything in entrepreneurship because that's how you need to adapt and adjust when you start a business.People need to get into NLP (neuro linguistic programming) and identify your limiting beliefs, working with a councillor who can really help you mindset-wise. Most people don't even know they have a limiting belief because it's so ingrained in their mind. It can really improve everything. Entrepreneurship is mostly about mindset.BEST MOMENTS‘I never had a plan of becoming a social media persona/influencer/whatever. I love digital entrepreneurship, which I got into in the last seven years after quitting my multinational corporate job.'‘You don't have to know exactly what you want to do, just take the first step as you see it at this point. Your vision will get better metre by metre, day by day.'‘Some lessons need to be learned through making mistakes yourself.'‘Mentors connect the dots faster for you trying to connect them yourself. Get a mentor ASAP, especially if they match your journey.'ABOUT THE GUESTKonstantinos Synodinos has 10 years of experience as a Marketing Manager in Procter & Gamble and Diageo companies for products such as Duracell, Ariel, Pantene, Braun , Pringles & Johnnie Walker for Greece and Western Europe.Website: https://simplydigital.gr/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Ryan Margolin, CEO of Professional Hair Labs to talk about his journey to help create world-leading products in cosmetic bonding and international businesses.KEY TAKEAWAYSMy parents were both entrepreneurs running their own businesses, so I grew up well versed in business. Sadly, over years of using products in a hair replacement studio, my mother got chemical poisoning. She's OK, but it forced her to retire early which pushed my dad to sell the business and he focussed his attention on building a product line that was safe for technicians. Since then it's developed into a completely different business, but at its core that's where the foundations of the company was built.Historically, the industry has used the same products for the last 40-50 years. Now, all of a sudden, here's my dad and his company offering a new solution. The biggest hurdle was about education; why they should be using this product over the others. This required a high level of research and development and commitment to getting the product out there and validating it across industry, and we did that.By the time I came into the business the foundations had already been set by my dad's idea. He had a really good baseline product, but it was missing a couple of key components that we had always felt would be beneficial to a water-based adhesive. The problem was the technology didn't exist at the time. In 2009 we realised a company had created that technology, though it was patented and really expensive to buy, we started to reformulate our product with that ingredient which gave it its water and oil resistance. Within 18 months we'd tripled the revenue of the company.I felt I could now take this repeatable process and put it into any marketplace, so I moved back to Ireland and opened up and it fell flat on its face! I considered shutting it down. It was performing that bad, but stuck at it and we were able to build a couple of really good distribution relationships in Europe. What I realised was the difference between the US and Europe is the cultural approach of doing business and I had to adapt to that, go to trade shows and meet with a lot of high level hair suppliers who were really helpful. It was a year and a half before we had traction. That taught me that you need to research the marketplaces you want to expand into and learn how to do business internationally.BEST MOMENTS‘I had no intention of working in a family business, I wanted to do my own thing. But naturally opportunity aligned back in 2008 with the economic crash.'‘I don't tend to moan about anything because ultimately what does it achieve? If there's a problem, there's a solution, so you can moan about it or you can get on and fix it. That's typically my mindset.'‘It's all about what you're willing to put in and how much you're willing to commit to learning and making not only your industry but the world a more ethical place to do business.'‘Knowing what I know now, if I was doing it all over again, if you have a physical product or even a service that has intellectual property such as systems that can be protected, I would always start by protecting those in the US, Europe and China.'ABOUT THE GUESTRyan Margolin: As an International Business Leader and Entrepreneur, I help create sustainable services and products for industries that are full of subpar options.At Professional Hair Labs, I am an integral part of our family business where we have become the #1 Choice of Hair Replacement Professionals and are a World Leader in Cosmetic Bonding. We manufacture and supply high performance products to the cosmetic industry.Website: https://www.prohairlabs.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmargolin/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Angela Lyons, an award-winning freelance graphic designer with a focus on print, including magazines and branding.KEY TAKEAWAYSI'll have been a freelancer for 11 years this April. I started off in a publishing company, then a software company before deciding to go freelance. It can be quite hard to do initially because of the fear that you're really stepping away from a salaried career and out of your comfort zone. You were going into other companies' offices (before working from home became a thing) trying to work out what's going on while working for them too.When I first started I Googled ‘freelancing' and nothing came up, so I attached myself to recruitment agencies, and they had a lot of networking events which I went to. I'd go to the offices of companies I was freelancing for and talk to the people there in the break rooms and told them what I was doing there .That's how my work developed over the years, those people would tell other people what I was doing and that I was good and would help them out with what they needed.I didn't have a social media strategy. I just followed a lot of people, saw what they were doing, I spoke to someone about whether I should join this group to get tips and she said: “No, you're clever, you can see what's going on around you, don't copy people. Just be yourself”. I've met the most amazing people through social media, like yourself. But if I do see anything negative there I just block and move on. There's too much going on in the world for you to have negativity on your phone as well.I always want to plan, but then stuff happens and gets in the way. I don't know if it's luck or being blessed but stuff comes to me, or people put things in my way. People have asked me to do webinars and I haven't done any yet, mainly because I haven't had the time but also because I was nervous. But, I could put a webinar together from repurposed bits of work I've done in the past. I think social media is going to become monetised soon and your content is going to be paid for so people can see it. LinkedIn is the best place to be at the moment, especially for reaching potential customers because  they haven't introduced any form of monetisation yet. Instagram and Twitter are asking the user to pay. I'd much rather post content only to my website because at least I own that.BEST MOMENTS‘I got headhunted by a software company to do graphic design for them and it sounds really terrible but I hated it. The people were lovely, but the work just was not me, it wasn't creative at all. I got ill, my body broke out in hives. I spoke to my husband about it and I decided to go freelance.'‘My husband says I like to talk too much and I really do, I even talk to people at the bus stop! They look at me a bit funny, but they tend to talk back.'‘I never used to use social media until a couple of years ago, I thought it was an awful place, but I've started using it recently and have found out it's not. Now a lot has changed!'‘I'm a graphic designer, but I hadn't had a proper website in about five years, terrible, I know! We're working freelancers and solopreneurs, there's a lot to do.'ABOUT THE GUESTLyons Creative is owned and managed by Angela Lyons. I am a freelance graphic designer who creates clear and engaging designs. I offer graphic design services from initial design concepts to final produced graphics. Designs include magazines, brochures, branding, logos, social media graphics, event design and marketing materials for startups, corporates, and charities. Website: https://www.lyonscreative.co.uk/ WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Danny Allen-Page, CEO of Gravity 7 – a disruptive marketing agency that helps brands find their voice – about building his brand, building a personal brand and how he helps other people do that as well. KEY TAKEAWAYSAs an entrepreneur my downfall is that I don't celebrate any wins, I'm always chasing an expectation, I'm always trying to push. I'm growing my business, my passion is to go down the coaching side more, but the agency isn't in the position where I could leave it and it'll do its thing, so I'm trying to build the infrastructure for the agency to grow so that I can start being a coach as well.Being an entrepreneur, building a brand or a business, being a coach, all these things are hard. People like to paint a picture that it's easy but it's hard, so you need to gamify what motivates and drives you. These are all levers that you can pull to get yourself going. On socials everyone's just spouting info, you've got to digest it and then apply it to what it means for you. It's not gospel. It's a way that they might have found, they might have read it and copied it, or they don't even know anything about it, they've just put it in ChatGTP and it gave them some content – that is the reality of our world!Since 2020 one of the funnels I set up for a client has generated £20 million in sales. It does around £800,000-£1 million a month. Ultimately, to make those types of sales there needs to be synergy, an irresistible offer, an offer that's in demand. It needs to be a growing market and then you need an acquisition machine, a sales funnel, a system that's going to take them from cold to giving you money. With those three things in place you have a funnel that can scale to those numbers. Most people have an offer and a sales system but not the market demand which means it's really hard to grow to the millions because there's either no demand for what you're selling or loads of people are selling the same thing. You've got to try something different.You need to understand who you are, who you help, what you do, and what you're going to sell that at. People often go for the logo and brand identity, but that to me is just another kind of procrastination. What you should do is understand your values, understand who you help, and understand how you help them. Once you understand that at least you start putting out consistent content – don't even expect it to be quality, be consistent first – you're already going to be ahead of someone by building the muscle of consistency. Then you'll naturally get better and you start putting out better content. Then I would start to spend money on potentially branding and things of that nature.BEST MOMENTS‘I respond better to negative than positive, which is not always better. I'd rather you say something negative or critique me and I grow and learn from it rather than from a pat on the back. I'm not saying it's the right way to do it, it's just how I am.'‘AI is here and it's happening, you've got to understand what it means to you and it could not mean anything right now, or you could leverage it for your business.'‘If you're a coach or even an agency you're better off having a sales funnel than a website. If you're a brand agency or consultant you might want a website to showcase your portfolio and case studies, but it depends on what your goal is. If your goal is to make money and create leads you need a sales funnel.'‘You can grow faster on social platforms leveraging a personal brand in my opinion, unless you're exceptionally good at creating content. Scaling full-stop on social media right now is a nightmare and it's a game that will drive you crazy.'ABOUT THE GUESTDanny Allen-Page is CEO of Gravity 7, a marketing agency that isn't like the others. He likes to ensure that course creators and coaches get more attention, more leads and more sales by creating high converting sales funnels.Instagram: @dannyallenpagePODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Anthea McCourtie about her career from full-time employment to finding her passion, to having a side hustle which eventually became her full time job as a nutritional therapist.KEY TAKEAWAYSAs a teenager I was into the dieting approach, I was very obsessed with calories and all the unhealthy attitudes that a lot of us had in the 90s. I became really interested in what food could do for us, so I did a BSc in nutritional therapy part time while I was working and finally qualified at the end of 2012. I was also doing martial arts about 14 hours a week until I had to have shoulder surgery which meant I had some free time, so I got a personal training qualification which bolted on to nutritional therapy.People are never just looking for help with their nutrition, there's factors of weight loss or fitness. Now I work with my one-to-one clients at their homes (for the initial consultation at least) so I can get a feel for how they're living and their lifestyle. If they do the transformation programmes with me, they'll be doing nutritional therapy as well as personal training and/or yoga. We work on lifestyle changes as well, it's more all-encompassing than when I first started.Becoming more of a personal brand, with You By Anthea, to incorporate the different things that I do gave me a lot more freedom because, at the end of the day, you're buying from the person. When I work with people one-to-one, they are buying into me. That allows me to put a lot more of myself into what I do than in my early days on Instagram, it was soulless and very factual. Now I post pictures of myself climbing and doing pole fitness, I don't teach those things but I feel like I can show it because I want to share what I'm about.Calorie counting is a massively flawed system, I don't use it. Calories are not the same across all foods. Half the time they're not measured correctly, especially when you've got food that's more than one ingredient, it's not possible. Calorie output is such a difficult thing to measure – even the machines at the gym or smart watches, it's wild guess work. But also, food is information: 100 Calories of almonds is going to have a completely different impact on my body than 100 calories of gummy bears! So much of it depends on our hormones, our sex hormone balance, sleep levels, cortisol levels, blood sugar levels and insulin response. The gut and the microbiome have a massive impact on how much energy is extracted from food. BEST MOMENTS‘I like to really immerse myself in things, I'm a bit of an all-or-nothing person.'‘I work a lot locally, but since the pandemic we've all figured out we can do more online than we realised before.'‘Having my name in the brand has given me a lot more scope to show myself.'‘My mission is all about empowering mainly women, though I do work with some men as well, to feel amazing about themselves, not just discovering their health, there's a massive mindset thing in there as well that will directly impact their health and their food choices.'ABOUT THE GUESTAnthea McCourtie: I am a registered Nutritional Therapist with a BSc in Nutritional Therapy from the Centre for Nutrition Education and Lifestyle Management (in partnership with Middlesex University).I am a Level 3 qualified Personal Trainer specialising in at-home and outdoor training using a range of equipment including kettlebells, suspension (TRX) equipment as well as Thai Boxing fitness.  I also have a Level 3 award in designing Pre and Post Natal Exercise Programmes and am a Master Kettlebell Instructor. I am a qualified yoga teacher, registered with Yoga Alliance Professionals and offer vinyasa, yin and ashtanga yoga classes as well as individual and partner yoga instruction.I am a full member of BANT (British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine), the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) and Personal Trainer.Website: https://youbyanthea.co.uk/ Instagram: @you.by.antheaPODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Mike Villiers-Stuart, course director at Birmingham City University. He has worked in the creative industry for over 30 years running digital marketing and creative teams for global brands, including the BBC and ITV.KEY TAKEAWAYSFamiliarity is really, really important for brands. If I had to refine it down to one other word it would be ownership. Those are two very powerful words, and that kind of sums it all up really. Literally branding is ownership, right from branding cattle so it couldn't be stolen. Fundamental mark making is super important, like the red tab on the back of your Levi's 501s.When you're looking after a brand, or starting one from scratch, it's important to know where it's come from. You've got to know what your product is and what its purpose is. Is there something special in the market or are you competing with lots of other brands? When you identify these things, you start to locate your brand amongst other brands where people are looking. You've got to position yourself in that competing market, so you have to find something to mark yourself out with which sets you apart as different.After you've found the core of your brand, you then need to ask who's interested in it? Who's going to buy it? Who's going to invest in your brand and believe you? Once you've identified your target market, you'll have a pretty good idea of who you're trying to reach and convert. Now you've got a brand and an audience that you understand and the next trick is to find the shared values between the two – what have I got that they want – and in the middle is the zone where you're doing it right.Designers say you're taking away the creativity when you say you want to protect the integrity of a shape/logo. But, it's not. Your job is to find ways to creatively articulate that message. It's about preserving the integrity of the shape and being creative around it. So, again, you need to understand the product, the market and how the product differentiates itself from other products in the market, that's where you find the creativity and make the difference.BEST MOMENTS‘What's the secret ingredient that you've got that makes you stand out? That secret ingredient is frequently called your “unique sales proposition”. Once you've identified it, that's the very core of your brand.'‘Emotionally charged moments between a customer and a product make superb pieces of content for marketing campaigns because it celebrates the values of the brand at the very core of the brand and it celebrates what's important to the user at the heart of their own experience.'‘The iconic shape of the 2 for BBC 2 and you own that as a brand guardian, it's a beautiful thing to work with. I work with that shape to protect the integrity of that shape.'‘You don't need to put badges on it, you don't need to put wheels on it, you don't need to turn it into anything that it isn't, just go with the integrity of the shape (logo) because that's what people recognise and buy in to, that's the shorthand that everybody recognises without even having to read it, they see it and they know what it means.'ABOUT THE GUESTMike Villiers-Stuart: I'm a university lecturer in the Birmingham Institute of Creative Arts where I work with talented colleagues in teaching bright, hard-working students of design, advertising and digital marketing communications.This follows 30 years in broadcasting where I worked with gifted and fun teams of professional creatives at the BBC, ITV, Al Jazeera and many more international TV, media and advertising agencies around the world to deliver fab briefs, get results and win awards.Now I'm standing on the shoulders of giants and sharing the view... with inspirational colleagues and students at Birmingham City University.Email: mikev-s@virginmedia.com PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Luke Tonge, brand designer and director of the Birmingham Design Festival to talk all about his career and branding.KEY TAKEAWAYSEverybody has a personal brand whether they like/realise it or not; how people describe you when you are or are not there. That really is your brand, and it might not be what you hoped it would be or what you might want other people to think of it. That's true of consumer brands as well and about what customers think of them. We create these by telling stories and consistently doing certain behaviours, acting or coming across in a certain way.In your teenage days your tribe, culture, music, sport and all that stuff is really fundamental to what crowd you fit in with, how you dress, how you self-associate. Alternative music, BMX-ing, rollerblading and that scene was a part of my identity. It becomes less important as you get older, but it's definitely seeped into my psyche, language, tastes, how you dress, etc. How much of that you hold on to and how much you are is interesting to think about.Something people don't often warn you about as a young person, especially in a very connected and visible industry, if you come out and are having a go – it's easy to snipe on projects and to pooh-pooh work that you don't like. But, you don't realise that work that's gone on behind the scenes and why that stuff has happened, or the reality of working on some of those big jobs. You can easily get a name for yourself if you're not careful by sounding off about things. Be cautious and careful of how you come across, but don't let that stop you from having an opinion.People like to overcomplicate things to make it seem like they're doing a really lofty and special thing. But really, we're just very fortunate to be designing for a living, creating work for people, we're sharing it, we're having an opinion on things, that's all there is to it really.BEST MOMENTS‘There's always a worry in many different industries that if you don't look the part you won't fit in there. I think society has learned that lesson now, it's important to have diverse voices, backgrounds and interests.'‘Things tend to work out for those that are prepared to work hard. In every industry the ones that want it the most and are prepared to go the extra mile are the ones that succeed.'‘Be doing stuff, be active, be proactive, be enthusiastic, be consistent, persevere with things, be visible, be kind to other people, and be gracious.'‘No one bit of advice fits all people.'ABOUT THE GUESTLuke Tonge is a Brum-based, shorts-wearing, type-nerding, eyebrow-raising, ice-cream-loving independent graphic designer – specialising in brave brand identity & editorial work – currently found running Luke Tonge Studio, guest lecturing at BCU and co-directing Birmingham Design (inc BDF & Gather)Website: http://www.luketonge.com/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Ed Nell, a BBC radio presenter who helps business owners engage more deeply and turns audiences into customers.KEY TAKEAWAYSMedia Insiders has been going for 12-18 months and it came about partly because I felt like I needed a new career, but also because I felt like there was a need for what we offer as well. I've been a radio presenter for 20 years, it's all I've ever done and thought about. That came to an end and usually I'd get another contract, but because radio has shrunk by about 60%, those opportunities weren't there, so I sat with a blank piece of paper, wrote my skills down and thought about how I could turn them into something that other people might like!A lot of business owners, especially SMEs, think the media is one of those things that only big brands can afford. It's just not the case. They say you can't advertise on the BBC, but you can, it just depends on how you talk about it. If you're not gratuitous about it, and add value, you can become the BBC's go to expert in your field in your area, talk about your business and get loads of exposure to thousands, potentially millions, of people that you wouldn't normally get to speak to.People often listen to podcasts on their own through headphones, it's really in their ears, and often while they're doing something else. But, at the same time, that message is still going on. Radio is the same. You've got a captive audience and it's really effective to get your message out there, but it's about how you do it and how you sell it, that's what Media Insiders does. So much of radio is not only about telling your own story,it's all about connecting with the listener, talking about really relatable things on a really powerful level. If you think you're a  good story-teller I can make you into a better one, if you think you're not a great story-teller at all, I can give you basic techniques to start you off to become a really good story-teller. This is really good for business because people connect through story-telling.BEST MOMENTS‘The BBC does radio in a totally different way than I'd done before, it's a lot more speech-based with guests. I saw a real opportunity for business owners to get themselves out there.'We want to debunk the idea that: “it's going to be terrible, I'm going to look really stupid”. It's not, as long as you prepare, we can lift the curtain back for you, like the Wizard of Oz – it's just a man working a few sticks, it's not the voice of God!'‘Repackage you interview after it's been done, put it on your social media channels and then reach even more people by saying “look what I did, isn't it great?!”'‘It took me a long time, and probably only in the past few years of analysing it, to realise that story-telling is why I've always loved radio. The idea that, just with someone's voice, you can make people feel every emotion imaginable, story-telling is what does that.'ABOUT THE GUESTEd Nell has 20+ years of experience in the media and is a CPD certified corporate trainer and high-performance coach with extensive experience as a BBC radio presenter and event host. He has worked with Premiership football clubs, national retail brands and some of the biggest UK radio stations.Having lived and breathed their brands, Ed can teach you how they connect and delight their ideal customers to create deep and long-lasting relationships. He delivers in-person and virtual masterclasses on content creation and lifts the curtain on how you can become the media's go-to expert.Website: https://www.themediainsiders.co.uk/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ednell/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Illana Gambrill, lover of dance and founder of Dance Box. Illana runs online and pop-up dance classes for all, with a focus on empowerment. She has turned her passion into her career and the pair talk about how starting a business and growing a meaningful brand are achievable.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhen I was 12 years old, I decided this was what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I started at a local dance school because I had this innate passion to move, I just loved it. I begged and pleaded to be allowed to spend all day on Saturdays at dance school, from 9am-6pm. I stepped into the first class and took to it like I'd done it my whole life and many lifetimes before. I got into a professional dance college, but it was really toxic, they turned you into robots and encouraged eating disorders. At 27 I decided to take my life into my own hands and stop putting my worth into what other people thought of me, and I wanted to give back to the human race rather than just to dancers, that's when Dance Box was born.I've had the business for nine years and it's been hard. I used to do classes seven days a week and people wouldn't show up, because they've got other responsibilities as adults. But, I persisted, I never let it go and I kept it going, there's more to come.Dance studios are notorious for being unwelcoming to new people and scary. It's vulnerable to dance in front of a room full of people. If you've never danced before you really need to feel safe. That's what sets Dance Box apart, you could never have danced in your life but you're going to feel so welcome, so loved and supported.  BEST MOMENTS‘At 13 I was asked to join a dance class that was 16 and up, and I'd never felt so honoured, it was the best time of my life, I was so inspired, I was obsessed.'‘My motivation comes from an unshakable knowing, deep down that this is what I'm supposed to do and that everything isn't going to be easy to get where you want to be.'‘Dance is such a special thing and such a magical thing to do with your body. I'm going to bring back joy for other people and I'm healing my wounds as well.'‘You need to be showing up as your authentic self, if you're not it's soul destroying to watch.'ABOUT THE GUESTIllana Gambrill has been dancing since the age of 12 – starting her professional career in dance at the age of 18.Illana has worked alongside many artists in music videos, TV shows and tours.After travelling the world with dance, Illana gained an extensive amount of experience and now shares her incredible passion of dance with the world – DanceBoxWebsite: https://www.dance-box.co.uk/ Instagram: @danceboxofficialPODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by lifestyle entrepreneur, Sue Parker, who educates women on the how, the why and the what to help them create a life that works for them.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhen I had my kids I realised that this corporate career had no flexibility or freedom, I couldn't deal with the school holidays, I was never going to see them. I saw dads going through this as well, we all wanted to be successful in our careers and have purpose and contribute, but at the same time you can't get a work life balance when you work for somebody else. So, I thought enough's enough.I didn't know what my values were. We have a lot of conditioning when we're growing up. For me, success was having the career ladder, having the status/title, earning more money, doing better every year (while constantly hitting the glass ceiling). People think you're doing well when you have a good job, parents and family will comment on it. For me, when I became a mum, all this stuff I'd worked for, all these values I had were somebody else's, not mine, they didn't matter.You're brain-priming all the time. If I expose myself to negative people who don't believe in what I'm doing all of the time, and I let that become my inner monologue, I wouldn't have done this. But I didn't, I literally consumed and absorbed every influencer that was having a positive impact on me, every person in my life who was on a similar journey or interested, I would go for it.I was finding out who the person I was when I was a teenager and I felt like the world was my oyster. I'd suppressed this for so long to be this perfect professional that I'd forgotten my personality. When I'm with the kids I'm most me, authentic, open and honest, I laugh, dance and do stupid things and I was OK with that. But with my husband, family members and friends, I just couldn't be like that. I found that it was as much about showing up bolder, a little bit sillier or authentic every single day. BEST MOMENTS‘Becoming an entrepreneur, I've literally had to forget all the things I would have known, trusted, valued and leant on. I now check off against a different set of values which means my decision-making has changed.'‘For me, having a lifestyle business is not to do with building a Fortune 500 company, it's about having a business that works for your life, and I think so many of us need this now.'‘If you're in this position, it's going to take a long conversation [with your partner] over a long period of time. They want to know you're serious and that you've bought into this goal, that it's not just a whim because you've had a bad day or an argument with your boss.'‘If you listen to too much news it feels like everything's out of control, and that makes you feel powerless. You need to feel empowered, and the only way to do this is to change and control your narrative.'ABOUT THE GUESTSue Parker: Like most of us I studied hard and went into a tech career. I found myself in a male dominated space proving myself over and over. After finally climbing the career ladder to become a data leader I thought I'd have more time as the boss, more control and freedom to finally use my potential. Instead, I was stressed, I had no time and hardly saw the kids.My passion is helping women to unleash the best version of themselves while creating a business that works for their dream life… one with freedom, fulfilment, and joy.I started questioning every career choice. Frustrated and resentful of people with more freedom. Then I realised I must use my personal power to create a business that works for my dream life. It can be hard on your own without support to make a massive transformational change in your life. When I started my business I had commitments, I was the breadwinner with a successful career, and I had two kids under 5. And no one around me believed or supported my ideas. It's about choosing yourself & knowing how much others will benefit.Website: https://sueparker.io/ PODCAST DESCRIPTIONThe Build Better Brands podcast is to inspire small business owners and help them realise that they don't have to be Nike to have a great brand, and the sooner they start to focus on making it better, the sooner they can improve their lives and the lives of others.On the show I'll be talking to business owners that have built brands from the ground up. Branding is how you present your best self to your audience consistently. And if they can do it, so can you!ABOUT THE HOST - DANIELLE CLARKEDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.WORK WITH DANIELLE TO HELP BUILD THE BRANDING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO GROW: https://calendly.com/hello-danielle-clarke-creative/free-15-min-discovery-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative-brand-designer-marketing-consultant SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Emma Glover, founder of Victress Digital, a social and paid media agency to talk about all the amazing stuff she does in digital marketing and social media.KEY TAKEAWAYSAll I wanted to do was do an ethical business. I'd been in an agency for a long time and I always wanted to try and be the boss that I never had. It's my goal to have a team – not necessarily a big team – I like to refer to us as a micro-agency, bridging the gap between a freelancer and a 60-80-man agency. It's quite personal in that regard, but I like managing people and being around people.From the minute I started freelancing I never referred to the business as me, it's always been Victress throughout, which made an easier transition between me as an entity on my own and growing the team. Always in the back of my mind I wanted to grow it at some point and that would be an easier transition. The need to grow the team came from the demands of my clients, they were asking things of me I couldn't deliver on my own. I created the agency around what the clients were asking for.Naming the company Victress future proofed me. I wanted to work very hard, but I wanted to allow the time and freedom that comes with working for yourself. If clients didn't meet other people they would always rely on me being the only person they could talk to which puts you in the position of not having a holiday or a break, which is problematic when you're the only person people can rely onWe predominantly focus on social media and paid media, but with the freelancers we have we can service other types of marketing. We focus predominantly on SaaS brands and B2B brands, not a lot with eCommerce brands because they need to be serviced by people with that specialism. We're more numbers people, getting into data and getting into strategy. Predominantly we look at lead generation, so if you're a business that needs to get more leads down into your sales pipeline or you've got a sales team that needs to have more leads to handle, we look at creating those leads from a combination of either organic or paid media. It tends to be LinkedIn focussed and PPC – Google search, Microsoft search – though we handle a little bit of Facebook and Instagram for a couple of brands. BEST MOMENTS‘There's a lot going on in the world, especially with Gen Z where you need to have a work/life balance, which I completely appreciate and, if I'm honest, I don't want my team to have to think about work when they're not at work. But it's what I signed up for and chose, so if I need to work on a weekend that's fine.'‘Previously people wanted to go into shops and wanted things they could hold, now in a digital marketing space, the world has become more obsessive about how we make everything digital now.'‘A lot of the brands we work with are not doing something no one else is doing, they're doing something that 10-12 other people are doing, but they're marketing it slightly differently and they've found a gap they can get in with.'‘I wanted to set the standard that this is a female-owned company that is going to give heavy weight to females at director level. I had a vision of female founder female led company. It wasn't and isn't something I've seen before in this industry, so I'm flying the flag for that.'ABOUT THE GUESTEmma Glover is a social media specialist with more than a decade of digital marketing experience. She's managed the accounts of Kellogg's South Africa, Dulux, and Barclays Africa, and worked as the lead social advertising strategist on multi-million dollar SaaS brands.Website: https://victressdigital.co.uk/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmakglover/ABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeInsta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.comThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Carol Urry to talk about building her coaching business, Warriormum Coaching, amongst other things.Books mentioned:Open with a Close: The twelve point guide to closing more sales by Matthew Elwell https://amzn.to/3M2EwzeAlcohol Explained Workbook (William Porter's 'Explained') by William Porter https://amzn.to/3UZzZBwTHIS NAKED MIND: The myth-busting cult hit for anyone who wants to cut down their alcohol consumption by Annie Grace https://amzn.to/3V1MUmMKEY TAKEAWAYSA lot of people doing Sober October just want to do it to prove to themselves they're not alcoholics, which is a word that we don't really use in the coaching space around alcohol freedom. There are a range of benefits to giving up alcohol for a month, it's a great thing. But, from a coach's point of view it's hard to put yourself through that, and what have you actually learned at the end of it? As an alcohol free coach, the programme I teach looks at why we drink, why we need to drink and all the different scenarios around using alcohol – self-medicating, confidence, help sleeping, stress, need to chill.A lot of coaches go into coaching because of experiences they've had and they want to help other people, and that was the same with me. I started drinking in my early teenage years at the local disco in the pub, but drinking wasn't really a big thing. I spend 13 years in the Army and drinking wasn't a massive part of my life then – though there are a lot of veterans who use alcohol because they're away from home a lot of the time and it's quite difficult. Also, they're quite bored, a lot of people drink through boredom. Drinking, for me became more of a habit over the years and the thing with a habit is you then get the tolerance so you need more to get that buzz.I love studying the stuff that goes on in your brain and your body when you take on board alcohol. It's amazing. The one thing that blew me away was a single sentence in a book that I read that alcohol is a carcinogen, it's cancer causing, and after some more research I found out that in 1987 alcohol was classed as a class 1 carcinogen and actually derives from ethanol, which is what we put in our petrol tanks. That floored me, and I just thought I want to be around for my kids and my grandkids. That was a big turning point for me.Thankfully, a lot of young people aren't big drinkers. A lot of my clients are sitting around the 40-50 mark, the yuppie era where they were drinking champagne and partying and going to Spain and Ibiza and raving. There's a lot of people in this bracket where alcohol has been part and parcel of their growing up. People don't think about choosing an alternative, you're either drinking or you're not. I tell people to have one soft drink for every alcoholic drink as a starter. BEST MOMENTS‘I, like many other people, Googled “am I an alcoholic” and felt great when I didn't score highly on that.'‘After my divorce I drank at least a bottle of wine every night for over a decade. That's why I do what I do because it breaks my heart to think of mum's struggling out there, trying to keep everything together and turning to alcohol – and I don't blame them for doing that – but it's an addictive substance and once you get into that cycle it's really, really hard.'‘The night and day programme that I run is re-programming that subconscious thinking around alcohol because it's not our fault. Society gives us an addictive substance, promotes an addictive substance, puts it all over the place – on TV and in the supermarkets – and then blames us for getting addicted. It's crazy.'‘If you have 3 alcoholic drinks a week you increase your risk of breast cancer by 15%. One additional drink increases that risk by 10%. The drinks industry don't want you to know about these statistics because they're making an absolute shed-load of money out of it.'ABOUT THE GUESTCarol Urry: I am a certified This Naked Mind coach and a trained Integrated Coach to ICF standards.I have been alcohol free since October 2019 and work specifically with Mums who are struggling to keep children, work, relationships and home life running smoothly.Whilst raising two children of my own, one who lives with the challenges of autism and ADHD, I realised I was using alcohol to help cope with all of life's responsibilities, including a challenging marriage that ended in divorce.I have worked in the care sector since the 1980's, including 13 years' service in the Army. In 1997, after moving to a small rural village, I became involved in my local branch of the Royal British Legion, holding positions as Chairman, Case Worker, Treasurer & Welfare Visitor, and continue to be involved in our local Poppy Appeal. Community is very important to me and during my many years in my small community I have sat on several committees and been involved in many local projects and fundraisers over the years.My Christian faith is very important to me. I love nature, bird watching, gardening, travelling, and am passionate about steam trains. I am now remarried and enjoy riding pillion on our Goldwing motorcycle and supporting our favourite football team. A lover of Yoga and meditation, I love a challenge and have always been an enthusiastic self-developer.Website: https://www.warriormumcoaching.com/Socials: @warriormumcoaching or @carolurryABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeInsta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.comThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Robbie Swale who coaches people on the careers, work and lives to talk about what he does and how brands can succeed.KEY TAKEAWAYSMy Mother, for the last 20 years of her life, was a counsellor, my Dad had some time as a psychotherapist, so they understand talking to people and helping them – it's different to coaching but overlaps in some related ways – my Brother has worked in coaching a little bit and my sister is now doing counselling training so my immediate family gets it, I think. I tend to start with I'm a leadership coach and then I wait to see what people say because there's no perfect way to explain what I do to everyone.If what I really want is in the end to have more clients then the thing that I want is to have actual connection with somebody who is interested in my work so that at some point they might think “I need some coaching, I should talk to Robbie”, or when they're speaking to somebody else they think about me. To get someone to that place isn't about telling them the perfect thing. Most people like, when they get into an interesting conversation, learning about them and that's often what's memorable. These days I give three examples of what I'm most interested in which gives them a lot of space so that if they're interested in any of those things we can have a conversation about that so that I can find out about their leadership challenge, partly because that's what I'm interested in and partly because it's best for business.Everybody has self-doubt and procrastination happen to them and I'd take certain thoughts as proof that I shouldn't do certain things (create a business, write a book). But you don't have to listen to those thoughts, you can choose to believe that they're resistance, which is something probably trying to keep you safe or out of harm's way, but it's stopping me doing the things I want to do. Instead, you can power through those and dance with them in different ways. Each thing I've done has been a different dance with all these ways that I hold myself back and try to avoid the creative battles.Big sportswear brands' TV advs might feature different athletes, but the feel of them doesn't, so you have a feel for what ADIDAS means and Nike means because you've watched a lot of those adverts over a number of years and have that feel for consistency and the fact the message aligns. We've got a baby and buying nappies, I remember TV ads for nappies when I was 6, Huggies Pull-Ups – we don't buy Huggies, we buy Pampers – but I remember that so clearly and they're essentially the same product now because they've got a winning mix. I know Huggies do Pull-Ups and I still remember that because they said it over and over again. BEST MOMENTS‘I'm interested in the craft of coaching, creativity and how we lead with what we might call honour.'‘I'm a recovering perfectionist.'‘If an idea comes to you and you don't take it, it'll go on to someone else.'‘Any medium, like podcasts, where we share what's influenced us and been useful for us is really useful. It's how I've found loads of things that have impacted me.'ABOUT THE GUESTRobbie Swale As a coach, my clients hire me because I have a powerful ability to see things differently.I have cultivated for years the ability to understand different perspectives.I see the truth in the world - I'm not afraid of it. And I'm not afraid to do or say the right thing.I can dance in the moment, I have an ability to feel deeply, and I inspire and invite others to do the same.My clients are innovative, loving and creative. They yearn to understand themselves and their relationship partner. They have a heightened sense of right and wrong and a desire to change the world.My clients include entrepreneurs, investors, theatre directors and even other coaches.If you feel "the rules" are holding you back... If you are ready to break the rules in your field... Or if you just want a partner to challenge the way you think (especially if you already think big!)... then get in touch. We should talk. And your world will transform.Website: https://www.robbieswale.com/ABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarkeInsta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.comThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by ultra-marathon runner, coach and Oxygen Advantage Master Breathwork Instructor, Matt Bagwell about how branding has changed over the last three decades as well as his move into breathwork and coaching.KEY TAKEAWAYSI was right there at the beginning of things like e-commerce and the first dot com boom, and everything changed: Customers' interactions with brands changed, channel strategies changed, and I was right at the very heart of that. Inter-customer experience design, which in 2008-9 customer experience – of UX as people might know it now – began to evolve and develop and subsequently you saw the emergence of social media. With that everything was disrupted, the role of brands, the roles of individuals, so my work was about the transformation of companies to interact in those spaces across channels in the most appropriate way, which I did for lots of international brands, leading significant, successful and very talented teams.My job was to inspire people to do their best, encourage them to do their best, support them so they could do their best, make sure that the conditions that surrounded those people encouraged, engendered and nurtured them in such a way that they could do their best. But, I needed great people around me to execute the work. There's reciprocity in that, great thinking, great ideas, challenge, growth all comes from your interactions with other people.I'm the kid who used to take apart calculators. I took that curiosity into my adult life and went into companies and even breath work. I understand the spiritual modality and truly respect it. I love what Wim Hof does – never a dull day with Wim Hof – but I wanted to understand the science and the very practical application of ‘functional breathing'. In the pandemic I could tell that anxiety was through the roof, initially there was shock and then we started to become used to it. We all thought this was going to last for 4-8 weeks, which is why I drank so much rose wine! Not to misunderstand that it was a deeply stressful time with people displaced from their work and from their families. There was an unusual cocktail of high and low emotion and I looked at the issues that began to emerge very rapidly with social isolation and people began to carry anxiety. The way for me to help was to help people breathe through the anxiety to move into a calmer state, so I went live on Instagram and it took off.The internet has created a global village and I can interact with people, doing breathwork, with people in Texas, California, New Zealand, Australia and all over Europe. That's really powerful, because there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of breath work instructors all over the world. It's great that people internationally have been able to connect in these virtual communities that have been created and are so accessible with platforms like Zoom and Instagram Live. But even as brand marketeers, sometimes we overlook that stuff that's literally within 5 square miles of where we actually live.BEST MOMENTS‘There's an intention to ensure that everything that I'm doing is helping other people optimise their lives and live as extraordinary a life as possible.'‘A problem shared is a problem halved, or even an opportunity doubled.'‘They used to call me “Jazz Hands” in most of the companies I worked in!'‘The beach is a nice environment for breath work, there's the sound of the sea, a metronomic wave breaking and if you're on a pebble beach, like Brighton, you can hear both the inhale and exhale. There's something quite calming about that.'ABOUT THE GUESTOnce a designer, strategist, business leader and founder, Matt Bagwell is now a coach and Oxygen Advantage Master Breathwork Instructor.He is on his own quest to fulfil his potential. From an intentional daily practice to purpose and values, Matt is curious to find, to expand, to be extraordinary. Website: https://mattcoaching.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewbagwellInstagram: @mattbagwellABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.com This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Paul David Perry and William Gadsby Peet, founders of Literal Humans, who have a focus on creating not just resilient brands but brands that are mission-driven and have real values.KEY TAKEAWAYSWe gambled a little, but were thankfully proven right on, as there probably wasn't a better time to start than in the middle of a pandemic. Obviously the first six months were pretty rough, everyone battened down the hatches and no one had any budget. But then everyone realised that the only way we can make money is online and it was a good time to run a content and digital marketing agency because to sell stuff online you need content and digital marketing, so it proved to be a bit of a lucky/strategic masterstroke.The name gets us a lot of mileage, I think it sticks in people's heads and maybe they laugh about it initially, but they ask about it. To be fair, your first job as a marketer when you're starting an agency is to build something memorable, build a memorable brand for yourself that will be sticky in people's minds and thankfully we've accomplished that, I think.SaaS is Software as a Service – Dropbox is SaaS, technically Netflix is SaaS – it's anything you pay a recurring retainer for and in return you get software as a tool, like Adobe, Figma or Canva. With the world we live in today those are the ones that tend to be unicorns. The reason we focus on startups in the SaaS space is they tend to grow very quickly and very interestingly. With regards to mission-driven, we work with people we think are making the world a better place in some regards. We don't work with anyone we think is doing something actively bad and we don't work with anyone we think is not going to be into our style and our marketing, anyone who's going to be too by the numbers, boring, uninterested in what we do. One of the most common things that annoy us about brands is 1) that they've drunk their own Kool-Aid and they think that they've created a revolutionary product, then you use the product and you're like: “Mate, this is just a rip off of something else with slightly different branding and one USP.” Be eyes wide open about what you're selling. 2) No one has any fucking creativity or interest in being risky any more. In the 90s brands' logos and work marks were made, now every single brand copies Apple's; a straight monochrome word mark because everyone would rather be non-offensive than actually inspiring. One of the things we love about our agency and the people we get to work with is they're up for taking risks. They'd rather delight 70% of their market and piss off 30% of it than be a bowl of oatmeal to all 100%. That's one of the biggest things branding is missing at the moment: Risk takers.BEST MOMENTS‘Most marketing is shit. The reason that it's bad is it just talks at people rather than to them. All the best marketing tells a story, treats people like humans and tells a human narrative.'‘Everything we do is for humans by humans.'‘Bad branding is bad branding, I don't think by doing a bad job you should be crucified online. But, you kinda should do it.'‘A principle we laid down early on, and we've seen the data and we just know intrinsically and morally, frankly, that diverse teams perform better. It's not even just about performance, it's the ethical right thing to do in 2020 in one of the most diverse cities in the world.'ABOUT THE GUESTPrior to launching Literal Humans, Paul David Perry worked as a freelance writer and content strategist for a number of different tech brands, including Contentstack, Submittable, TransferWise, and Toptal. He also helped build a previous agency from $500K ARR to $1.5MM ARR in under two years by providing high-quality content strategy + execution across a range of clients and building internal agency systems. Before his career in content marketing, he worked in education and nonprofit management in the US.William Gadsby Peet is a former journalist turned digital marketer that specialises in content and digital marketing strategy. Before co-founding Literal Humans, he worked as a performance marketing specialist and consultant, generating millions of pounds in profit for a roster of international clients.Website: https://literalhumans.com/Socials: @literalhumansABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.com This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Anne Leatherland who helps people make a real impact with their voice.KEY TAKEAWAYSVery often, people who use the voices in their businesses don't realise that they're a professional voice user, especially if that voice use is quite extensive during the day. Even people using their voices less so will nevertheless depend upon them for when they're liaising with new clients or colleagues or staff, so it's relevant to all of us really. The biggest challenge as a voice trainer and personal growth coach is helping people to realise that their voice is something that's important, that they need to look after and that they can work with to make it better if they want to… and why shouldn't we want to? Why would I be happy with it just being OK?Human beings are very sensitive to even small nuances in a voice (pitch, pace, tone, volume), and sometimes it can even be subliminal. So what they can understand from a voice is going to be important to you, you might be giving out messages that you don't mean to give out if, in certain situations, the nuances in your voice aren't the ones that people need to tap into. These can all affect how someone understands us, but also, whether they trust us or feel that they can work with us. Ultimately this will be part of our business success and these are all things we can learn to control and work with.People in advertisements or people who are aggressively trying to sell me things and politicians, I can tell at a thousand paces whether they're A) telling the truth and B) whether they're genuinely interested in what they're speaking about. And they can't help it from leaking through to their face, you can see it in the eyes and you can hear it in the voice. It's those nuances that give it away. Having a relationship with your own values as a person and what message you want to bring across is absolutely vital if you want to sound believable and speak with integrity.The coaching side of my business is important because I have to take people on a journey sometimes. They think it's their voice and they might lack confidence or they might not like their own voice or they might not get their message across. But, when we actually start chatting, it turns out to be that they're not very clear on who they are as a person and how they want to get that across to the world. That's where that lack of confidence, or that inability to speak to a group of people, actually starts.BEST MOMENTS‘Our voice is obviously a vital part of our communication along with our facial expression and movement (which both affect our voice as well), so the whole package goes together.'‘There are certain aspects of voice that some people might find annoying. For some reason they can't put their finger on it, they just don't gel with a person and that can be the voice.'‘I've been thinking about Liz Truss for the last couple of days, and she's doing that thing that female politicians are probably instructed to do, which is to lower the pitch because you sound more serious. But what that does to the voice is that I can't get any tonal variety down there because I've a female voice and it makes it really difficult for me to make those nuances, which is why she sounds a bit robotic, in my view.'‘I think confidence comes from being secure in who you are as a person, what your own values and beliefs are and your message, and then having the control and skill to express that fully with your voice – as well as being secure in what you have to offer in your business and how your values and beliefs actually show up in your business day to day. If you're happy with that, the voices will follow and you will sound more authentic.'ABOUT THE GUESTAnne Leatherland: I have always been a singer but only came to formal singing training in my late 20s when I was producing a school musical. I simply wanted to know more and explore what my voice could really do. So, whilst training with Coral Gould MBE I gained my singing teaching diploma and left school teaching behind to run my own studio. After about ten successful years of this I was hungry for further training. I undertook the Vocal Process Accreditation programme with Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher, becoming their first Accredited Associate Trainer in 2012.There followed eight years of working with Musical Theatre and Acting Undergraduates at Liverpool Theatre School and LIPA, training them in Singing, Singing Technique and speaking voice for Acting.I decided eventually to return to developing my own business, VocAL Intuition as I wanted to work more widely with professional voice users of all kinds. It has become obvious to me that voice use depends not only on physical processes, but also on the way we see ourselves. So, as part of my own development I took a training course in Life Coaching, completing this in 2020. I am now passionate about integrating this with my voice training.In my downtime I love drawing, photography, walking, books, acoustics and going to shows and plays!Website: https://anneleatherland.co.uk/ Email: anne@vocalintuition.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneleatherland Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vocalintuition/ ABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.com This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Karese Laguerre, an orofacial myologist and myofunctional therapist, to talk about and explain her profession.KEY TAKEAWAYSI describe myofunctional therapy in a simple way as kind of like personal training, but for all the muscles below your eyes and above your shoulders. We work with the group of muscles that comprise your lower face and your throat. No one ever thinks about these muscles and why you would ever need to give them a work out, but these muscles surround your upper respiratory system and so having dysfunction anywhere in the chain there can create a lot of problem with you sleep, digestion, breathing, facial development, stability in terms of your teeth and how they shift, there's a lot of influence these soft tissues have. Working with a myotherapist really helps to amplify that upper respiratory health into overall health.I never though that my son's ADHD could be about sleep. You think it's neurological and you have to get medication and that's the only way to treat that. What we don't talk about is that there's a 70% overlap between the symptoms and manifestations of ADHD and those of sleep disorders in children. Children who are sleep deprived aren't like sleep deprived adults, we get lethargic, fatigued and drag through the day, children get more ramped up, their bodies can't slow down or focus their attention. If muscles aren't activating when they should in the neck or throat they're under-developed, so I have to work on strengthening and training so we can get them to become stronger and learn to co-ordinate so we can use that muscle appropriately. People who grind or clench their teeth may have over-developed muscles in their jaw, so we have to relax those muscles and teach them to engage other muscles. It's about finding a harmonious balance that's going to leave all the hard structures well supported.The way that we breathe seems to be the least thought about thing when it comes to health and wellness. We focus on diet and fluid intake, but the way that we breathe is so impactful on our body. Sometimes it's the simplest of things that we take for granted, how we breathe matters more than anything else. BEST MOMENTS‘There's a lot of things parents don't say about their kids when they talk to other people because of shame, we say they're great. But, I was in the principle's office all the time with my son who had ADHD, my daughter had every sleep issue under the sun for 10 straight years every single night. My littlest two had a lot of upper respiratory infections. All that stuff from all my kids came back to how they were using their facial muscles. Optimising that with myotherapy really changed my family.'‘I love working with children because they're so mailable and you see change rapidly. It's incredibly rewarding.'‘Every failure is an opportunity for us to learn and to move forward and be better.'‘We can go weeks without food and days without water, but we can't last a few minutes without air.'ABOUT THE GUESTKarese Laguerre: As an EDUCATOR/SPEAKER I offer lectures that challenge dental professionals to re-discover their passion, achieve sustained productivity, and enhance their clinical perspective. As a MYOFUNCTIONAL THERAPIST I work with patient's of all ages on natural resolution of sleep, breathing and digestive issues. As a HUMAN I strive for excellence in all things I put effort towards and am in constant pursuit of the best opportunities to utilize my skills and knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others; while providing valuable service to my community.I have various digital resources for learning more about myofunctional therapy and its benefits. My blog website, www.airwaymatters.blog, has many guides and free downloadable content, as does my practice website, www.themyospot.com. Amazon has both print and digital copies of my latest published book available, Accomplished: How to Sleep Better, Eliminate Burnout, and Execute Goals.Website: https://www.themyospot.com/ Socials: @themyospotABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.The Build Better Brands Podcast is a labour of love created each fortnight by our small team of committed editors and producers. If you love the show, we hope you'll consider supporting our work – for just the cost of a cup of coffee (or tea): https://www.buymeacoffee.com/danielleclarke Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.com This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Emily Redfearn, independent illustrator, animator and designer, to talk about her business which she started in 2020 after becoming a freelancer at a very difficult time. KEY TAKEAWAYSIt's taken me a long time to develop my own style and it is something that's ever changing and evolving, but it's something that so many people struggle with. Some people like your style to be diverse where others want to hone in on a specific visual aesthetic and everyone wants to be unique and different. But, it's inevitable in this day and age that nothing's entirely unique or different, some things will break that mould. But something I've come to realise is that I should be doing what makes me happy rather than what's going to change the world and how can I be immortalised? I can't choose what my favourite piece of work for a brand is. I've always been in quite varied roles doing multiple things. I love doing book covers, I love doing animations, I really enjoyed the documentary I worked on for Quorn, but it's really hard to say because there are different benefits to all of them.One of the biggest challenges as a freelancer is making time for yourself, giving yourself the boundaries between work and personal and letting yourself have that holiday, whether it's a day or a week. It's easy to neglect if you run your own business, you want to succeed and get more work. I wish I'd thought about budgeting for tax better, it's something people don't really talk about. It needs to be like a bill you pay every month to put aside for your tax and pension. But, I have an accountant who helps me to take a portion off each job to put aside now rather than leaving it til I needed to pay it and scraping it all together. Maths has always been such a struggle for me and I think it is the same for a lot of creatives. BEST MOMENTS‘Who am I trying to please? Is it the art directors, clients, my peers, is it something where people will remember me and is bigger than myself? Asking those questions has got me nowhere, in the end I've thought about what makes me happy? What do I enjoy doing the most? Through a process of elimination, I've found what's most fun for me to do: animation, fruit character, character design, illustration.'‘You can't force things; you've got to try it ‘til it feels right.'‘The five-day working week doesn't work today, what the hell's that about?! I can't imagine doing a regular week, 9-5 with an hour break. I like a two hour lunch so I can go on a long walk with the dog.'‘Set yourself lists to do so you don't go to bed and can't sleep because you're thinking about what you've got to do.' ABOUT THE GUESTEmily Redfearn is an illustrator, animator & designer based in Sheffield, UK. Some of the work Emily has been commissioned for ranges across TV documentaries, TV commercials, social/digital advertising, OOH advertising, GIFs & animations, hand drawn murals, branding assets and infographic designs.Previously Emily has created work for Vodafone, Intel, Quorn, Beauty Kitchen, True North Brewery Co, Heist Brewery Co, Bodog, DCMS, The Leadmill, Terrace Goods, Lucky Fox, Crooked, Hooch, The Scout Association, Sheffield Hallam University, Grimm & Co, Dig Deep, Printed by Us, Cathedral Archer Project and more.Website: https://www.emilyredfearn.co.uk/ Tag for all social media: @emredfearnEmail: emily@red-fearn.co.uk  ABOUT THE HOSTDanielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people's lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.Insta - @danielleclarkecreative | [https://www.instagram.com/danielleclarkecreative/]LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-clarke-creative/]Twitter - @D4nielleCl4rke |  [https://twitter.com/D4nielleCl4rke]Email - hello@danielleclarkecreative.comWebsite: www.danielleclarkecreative.com This show was brought to you by Progressive Media Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.