Ep: 042 Ben Baker on the GoAscend Podcast Nov 5 2018

Show Notes: Ben has lived all over the U.S. but has settled in Vancouver, Canada. He loves all of the things to do there. People buy from people. Relationships are important. The habit that makes Ben more successful is getting up early and reading for about an hour. It helps him get a broader scope of the world around him. Every brand (personal or corporate) has a story. Ben believes that companies should get rid of their vision and mission statement and tell their brand story instead. Companies have vision and mission statements that they’ve spent so much time perfectly & crafting and yet no one remembers them. Who are we? What are we? Where are we going? What are we doing? Give your employees and customers something to grab onto and interact with. You want to have your customers tell your story for you. It’s building marketing that you’re not paying for. Everybody needs a helping hand. People need to be able to sell themselves. If you write it down, it’s real. Defining your brand is how you show up. You can say whatever you want, but until you act it’s not real. What do we really do at the core of our business? Who are our customers we serve and why do they care? Ask your customers: What you do well. What you can do better. If you aren’t gathering data and making sense of it, it’s useless. Don’t ignore problems because your customers won’t ignore them. Companies need a differentiating factor. Someone always sells something similar so why do people want to buy from us? 3 Steps Insight and Discovery Where are you today? Are we happy where we are? Is our brand relevant? Do my employees understand my brand story? Get your story on the same page. Does everyone get what you do? Start Building Your Brand. A logo is not a brand. A brand is what people think of you when you’re not in the room. Make sure your brand is consistent and that staff understands your brand otherwise they can’t relay it to customers. Listen When Dealing with Marketing. It’s the comments that are gold. Negative comments tell you to pay attention to something. Respond to comments while helping people understand why you care about them. Be authentic. It’s not a sliding scale. Either you are who you are or you aren’t. Ben Baker’s Recharge Round Share with us how you believe your mindset affects your life? Mindset absolutely affects life. If you believe you can, you can. If you believe you can’t, you are also right. What do you do daily to bring Energy into your life? He tries to go for a walk everyday because it allows him to clear his head and refocus. Share the number one connection that has made the biggest impact on your life? His dad was always an entrepreneur. He said that it’s not about failures but about what you learn and how you move forward. What advice has Influenced you the most in your life? Do what it takes to take care of your customer. If you take care of a customer, they’ll take care of you. Define in one sentence or less, what legacy you want to leave on the world? He wants to make the world a little better by educating people. Contact: Powerful Personal Brands: A Hands-On Guide to Understanding Yours by Ben Baker www.amazon.com/author/benbakerspeaks Download a Free Chapter! www.powerfulpersonalbrands.com Ben Baker’s Bio https://yourbrandmarketing.com/our-story/#ben Order your copy of Positive Culture Wins HERE! http://positiveculturewins.com/