Written by Canon Wing

I teach entrepreneurs and organizations the proven action steps to stand out within their market, improve the perceived value of their business, and better connect with their audience through naming, branding, storytelling, and communication platforms.

June 22, 2021

What No One Knows About Branding

Today we are answering the question: How Can You Guarantee The Success Of Your Brand?

Seth Godin said in a blog back in 2016 that, “Everyone has an opinion, but no one has a guarantee.” And as a super fan, as a creator, as a brand manager, I agree 100 percent. I can share with you that there isn’t a single client, investor, or team member, heck even a family member that doesn’t ask me for a guarantee…

This isn’t about how there are no guarantees in life, this isn’t about risk analysis, this question is rooted in an illusion of control. And it is this “illusion of control” that eats all of your passion, purpose, and possibility like a non-stop starving vampire.

Waiting for a guarantee is a sure path to a brick wall perfect for banging your head-on. I have found that in the digital marketing space the use of this excuse and I truly see it as an excuse to not try – asking for a guarantee, wanting a guarantee… is used as an excuse to not try.

The fast path to success is the one you can enjoy, full of baby steps, and mistakes, and big leaps, and big wins, and whoops that ad didn’t convert, pivot to new kinds of baby steps full of new kinds of fun, and new mistakes that you’re actually seeing before these mistakes hit the whole team…

And you’re pivoting faster now, oh you’re trying something new and then you really see that trying, and ‘failing,’ and pivoting is actually how to be a successful entrepreneur, investor, market maker, president, investigator, brander, marketer, lawyer, surfer, teacher, costume designer, author, inventor, engineer, kid, friend, student, employee, employer, spouse, parent, human.

The lesson from Jack’s note was simple: Since no one is sure, since no one can guarantee that it’s going to work (or not), all we can do is our best work. All we can do is share our ideas with generosity, speak up, and shine a light.

The inner critic is just your ego-clinging to an illusion that is so masterful at holding you hostage, empty, scared, unsure, desperate for a guarantee, a winning lottery ticket, a prince charming, a get rich quick scheme… none of that is guaranteed either, really none of that is statistically more plausible than you trying to do what you love and living a life where you love how you do it, baby.

The critics (inner and outer) can repeat their failures to you as warnings of your guaranteed failure, and they can point out what doesn’t match the way they would do it or their expectations of your success.

Like Seth said, “Everyone has an opinion, but no one has a guarantee.”

So we started off with the question How Can You Guarantee The Success Of Your Brand? The answer is: By trying.

And here’s the best part and truly the only part that is guaranteed – It’s all up to you. And isn’t that wonderful? You get to choose to care enough to share your vision, your invention, your view of all its possibilities, all of its contributions to the world, regardless of any illusion of control that held you back in the past.

Oprah says, “If you’re still breathing you get a second chance.”

Really you do. You get to choose to take that second, third, fourth yup still breathing fifth second chance.

Thank you so much for joining me! If you enjoyed this episode follow me on FB and IG and subscribe to my YouTube channel, so you don’t miss a single thing. I release new videos every Tuesday and Thursday, so treat these episodes as a masterclass for becoming an Inspiration to Millions with Branding. And as always the way to becoming an Inspiration to Millions and having FUN while you’re at it, starts with our motto: Love What You Do and Love How You Do It.


P.S. Don’t miss the opportunity to download The Branding Checklist for Connecting With Your Customers in 2021! Get the exclusive link here.