Branding and Communication -

This post will help anyone who is needing to create a brand.

For those of you who don't know what the picture above is it's Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. It spells out the underlying needs of all human beings and if you ever find it difficult to solve a social problem it's a great place to start thinking..

It's this pyramid which every mind, behind every great brand, from the smallest person, to the multinational conglomerate, looks to when thinking about how their product or service is going to connect with a user.

If your business is to be successful then you will need to fulfill at least one of the levels of the pyramid.

Look at FACEBOOK for example: It became so successful because it targeted the 3rd layer, human's need for friendship and relationships. Not only this, you see that as FACEBOOK evolved and its credibility in our lives increased from just being a silly website to what it is now, we can actually see that it has tapped into the 4th level - Esteem.

Most people might say that FACEBOOK has nothing to do with the 4th level but they are wrong. Facebook is so engrained in each of our lives that nowadays we detag pictures because we don't like the way we look in them. We take pictures of us on a nice beach or in a cool bar and upload them to facebook to tell everybody that "I'm successful or rich".


We are all in fact currently trying to brand ourselves on FACEBOOK but not many people realise that they are doing it, nor do they know what their brand should be?

Here is a great link for your viewing which will explain in depth how to create your brand, be it online, a physical good or just yourself....

This documentary by the BBC is an absolute must watch for anybody thinking of creating a business or brand. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011fjb5/Secrets_of_the_Superbrands_Fashion/

THE FUTURE OF FACEBOOK?

I'm an avid user of facebook as are many people. I probably spend 50% of my time online on facebook, or on a link which I came across through facebook. The reason for this is what facebook call the "social graph" for those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically the little networks between our friends and friends of friends.

Facebook became a really great site because it exploited this aspect of the internet. They managed to filter just the right stuff, and really only show me what I wanted to see or what my friends wanted to see. If anyone is thinking about setting up a website then you must read THE FACEBOOK EFFECT
and make sure your website appears to be all about the user!!
If you have read the facebook effect you will know that Mark Zuckerberg is a very curious man who likes to just go to meetings with no intention of selling his company just to learn from the way the Venture capitalist is going to try and buy his company. He is curious in nature, but most importantly, he is silent in response. It is a great business skill to take in as much knowledge as possible but give none out. It also helps you if you want to hold off potential competition in your market as you can string them along while you make some more market penetration.


I really do recommend reading the book, there's so much knowledge within it and offers a day to day diary of how a few students turned to billionaires in a few years. So here is a prime example of Mark Zuckerberg being a  savvy, cheeky businessmen. I read an article today which shows his nature and tactics. Click the links and make your own mind up.......

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-meets-with-banks-over-ipo-2011-5#comment-4dd1df8accd1d522120e0000

If your interested in what's been said in the above post then I strongly advise that you check this out. His name is Simon Dixon, his credentials and network are great and he's used a lot of powerful minds to help him create a viable peer to peer lending platform. You will be hearing more about him on this blog, but for now here's a link to a thread he wrote on the subject.

http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=164051

Why should I trust this blog? The OVERVIEW

There are many blogs which are a source for people to publish their views, experiences and knowledge, unfortunately there is a lot of bad information on the web.  If you can filter out the bad information and learn the good information you will be successful. The links and sources I post, will only come from people who have been extremely successful in their field of expertise. The people I learnt from range from billionaire businessman, Sociologist's, World class Trader's, Founder's of social networking and Genius scientist's. To name but a few of the sources: Blaise Pascal, Christopher Hitchens, Mike Harris, Thomas power, Daniel Priestley, Simon Dixon, Mike Baghdady and Sir Richard Branson. 


I studied Physics, Biology, Maths and Design & Technology throughout school, I got relatively good grades but never applied myself. I went to university in London and read Law, it was interesting but unfortunately not stimulating enough for a person who wanted to live in the present. Finishing university I decided I wanted to enter "The City" and get fully involved in business. By "The City" I mean the square mile in London where all the business and banking occurs. This is the heart of everything in the world! If you own a house, business or just have a bank account it's run by these institution's. The world runs on money and the Banks and big corporations own the money (well actually they don't, but we'll get to that later). I got a good job at Fidelity Investment Manager's and learnt to trade oil commodities and other indices on the side at work. I had a job, was doing well and had met some fascinating and forward thinking people who opened my eyes to the digital revolution, my career prospect's were looking good.


Amusingly the sources which I had used to get my great job and financial freedom were also the sources which have spurred me to leave the large corporation and start a global online business (soon to be revealed). The point I am trying to make is that Digital is the future, if your not online, your nothing. The power of the internet has far surpassed that of the normal store front or even person. Before anyone reads your CV they will search for you on google and facebook. If you want to buy a book, you place an order on Amazon an 12 hours later it has arrived. If I want to buy some orchids I can order them online and within 24 hours of them being cut in China they will arrive fresh at my door in London. Being digital and online is the future, but don't take my word for it.


I'm going to leave you with 2 videos for you to make your own mind up. It's the best 15 minutes of watching you will spend. Enjoy.

Thomas Power on Social networking: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gfXS-JFi0I&feature=relmfu

Daniel Priestley on the Digital revolution and starting a company:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jc7eVzgpKw

How to use this blog, the beginning.

I'm going to start by first warning you that this blog may seem somewhat disorganised. The reason for this is that I am currently setting up a company and my time is being stretched towards it's limit's. Part of my reason for writing this blog is that recently many people have become interested in how I got to where I am and what I have learned, experienced, read or seen. Rather than me sending individuals links to great resources I have used and explaining what I have learnt, I felt it would be more efficient to share it on a blog for everyone. Somewhere along the line I should hopefully be able to organise the information I provide, so that each reader can simply find what information they need to better themselves, efficiently. However, please take note, I believe you must read all of the information on this blog in order to truly better your life and the life of those around you. There will not be many posts on this blog as I will only link you to the most forward thinking, respected individuals or companies in their field.