Looking at the tracks, I saw there’s no real genre that stands out as a favourite – there’s everything on there from hard rock to R&B, Motown to 80′s pop, classical arias to hip hop. Quite the mix.

Instead of being fractured, it makes sense for me to have so many different styles on there – I’m sure it does for you as well.

It all depends on how the mood takes us at any given time.

For instance, if I’m driving in the summer, it’s time for hard rock, windows down, full volume. But if I’m melancholy or introspective, it’s Marvin Gaye and Ella Fitzgerald time. Different sounds for the need at any given time.

And that should apply for us in business as well.

We shouldn’t be concentrating on just one area all the time. Sure, let’s be strong where our strengths are, but does that mean we need to limit our knowledge to these strengths?

People aren’t satisfied with the one-trick pony anymore, no matter how strong or sturdy that pony might be. Agencies and organizations are having to adapt to offer an umbrella service. PR, marketing, creative, customer service, sales, design – couldn’t they be available from one source (or at least have an option to offer more than one core strength)?

Think about what you offer at the minute, and what you don’t. Can you build on that? Can you learn what you need to know, so that you can offer multiple practices instead of just one? If not, how easy can you learn? It doesn’t matter if it’s online or offline, you can find the solution:

• Webinars
• Forums
• User groups
• Networking events
• Workshops
• Social learning
• In-house or on-site training

Think about what you’d like to see as a customer. Are you happy with having to go to 5-6 different agencies to get core skill sets at each one, or would you prefer a solution where everything could be under one roof? Or at least half the current amount of solutions.

Even if you don’t have the time to take onboard the new skills you need, why not outsource but keep it under your banner? Search for freelancers that you can call on for projects that need a specific expertise. Nurture relationships, build portfolios, treat as equals – you never know what could come from it, and it opens your own business up to many more possibilities.

Having a favourite band is normal. Having a favourite type of music is normal. But just think of the amazing sounds you could be missing out on if you don’t mix up your iPod every now and again.

Is it time for you to freshen up your business playlist?

photo credit: jakevol2

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For instance, if a company’s customer service is poor, there could be a very big uphill struggle ahead in terms of brand acceptance. But, if customers have a positive view of you, it’s an extra piece of firepower that can be used in getting the news out about a new product or service.

This is particularly true with social media and online networks. With the amount of blogs, micro-blogs and forums that can spread bad news like wildfire, examples of poor customer service will come back and hit you hard – and fast. This is equally the same for positive news about you.

So how do you make sure your customer service stands up to closer inspection?

Listen

The key to any great customer service is knowing what your customers are thinking and offering solutions where needed. You may have the greatest product in the world, but what if it’s only beneficial for right-handed people, for example? That means there’s a whole section of your customer base you’re not satisfying.

When you hear about problems, look at ways to resolving them. If it’s cost-effective, offer slight variations on a theme so that you at least offer alternatives to those that may not benefit from your original product. It’s true that you won’t be able to please everybody all of the time, but pleasing the majority is a great second place.

Involve

Do you have a way for your customers to interact with you? Is there a contact form on your website? A suggestion link on your company newsletter? If not, how will you possibly know what your customers are thinking?

Involving and interacting with your customers is key to knowing what they want. Without this, you might be missing out on a potential goldmine of information that could help you decide on your next course of action. Always remember your customers are who pay your bills – knowing what they want is knowing how to succeed.

Satisfy

Great customer service means great customer satisfaction. This in turn leads to customer loyalty – important at the best of times but crucial in today’s business climate. If one of your customers has a problem, how you deal with it will define how you are perceived.

Don’t be pig-headed and ignore a customer’s grievance or point of view, even if they are in the wrong. Instead, be open and professional, and offer empathy for their situation.

Coming to a mutual agreement is obviously the best result, but if this isn’t going to happen, offer a reasoned argument to your customer on why they are incorrect on this occasion. Additionally, work towards a solution on how best to avoid the same problem in the future.

There will always be instances when your customer’s expectations aren’t met. This is a simple fact of business and one that can’t be avoided. How you deal with it, however, is how you will be judged – make sure your response is the right one.

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However, apart from being one of the best party songs of the year, Pink’s song could also be looked at as a poster child for surviving today’s economic mire. After all, in a year when corporate America finally screwed over everyone to bursting point, a song about taking the hits and coming out fighting is strangely karmic.

Yet perhaps there’s more to this than my questionable connection between Pink and greedy suits? For years the music industry has shown how to take an extremely competitive business model and stay relevant. While it’s true that the labels are suffering just like every other business at the moment, again that’s down to greed – charging exorbitant prices for CD’s, tour tickets, etc.

No, when I mention the music industry being successful, I mean the artists in it – specifically the ones that have adapted and changed to suit current trends. Look at the most successful artists of the last 40 years – the Beatles, the Stones, Madonna, David Bowie. They all continued having hits in different decades because they moved with the times and searched out new audiences.

This is where businesses need to do the same thing. There is so much doom and gloom being spouted by so many negative business owners – but this needn’t be the case. Yes, the Government and the city slickers royally screwed everyone – but is there anything new there?

Instead of complaining about the why’s, perhaps we should be looking at the what’s – what can we do, what changes can we make, what technologies do I need to adapt to in order to continue my business? Ed Lee of Internet communications consultancy iStudio wrote a great blog post about this very topic, and offered suggestions on the three areas that businesses should be looking at to be more “recession proofed” (one of which is social media, unsurprisingly).

It’s a theory I’ve subscribed to for all of my professional life. Before I started my own business I worked under some static bosses in this respect – sadly many of these businesses are no longer around, although unfortunately I can’t say I’m surprised.

The business world has been changing for a long time – the Internet and the explosion of online trading has seen to that. Although we’re looking down the barrel of a very scary economic gun, it doesn’t mean we have to be held hostage. The businesses that realize this and adapt will be the ones that survive.

For the rest? They’ll be the equivalent of Pink’s ex in her song – hung out to dry while everyone else moves on.

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In today’s business world, particularly with the proliferation of Web 2.0 resources for marketing and promoting your company/name/product, it’s becoming even more blurry to define what exactly a brand is.

One thing that is definable, however, is that if you do have an effective and immediately recognizable brand, your business will be better positioned to succeed over your competitors. So how do you build your brand today?

Build Your Experience

If your brand is defined by who you are and what you offer, then the experience you have is going to be crucial at backing up your brand claims. After all, why should a business entrust you with building their brand if your own isn’t all that impressive? On the flip side, make sure your experience is in the field relevant to the brand you wish yourself or your company to be known for.

Self-Promotion is the Way Forward

Although you may feel that self-promotion is akin to egomania, how else are you going to get your brand known? Sure, if you have a client or two that mentions your services to a professional colleague or business partner, that’s the best kind of promotion you can have. Yet as much as we’d like to think our clients talk about us even in their sleep, that’s not always a realistic view.

Instead, start pushing your name out there. However, make sure you keep on the right side of self-promotion – after all, no-one likes a show-off. Some excellent ways of self-promotion include:

• Setting up your own domain name (especially now that .me is available)
• Have an online as well as offline resume
• Set up a blog to share your views on the topic(s) you wish to be associated with
• Use web applications like MeeID to show short snippets of information about you

The importance of using these types of self-promotion can’t be stated enough. Google makes it incredibly easy for information on companies and individuals to be found – if your brand doesn’t stand up to the scrutiny of an online search by a potential client, you may as well kiss goodbye to any chance of success.

Offer Your Expertise

Similar to building your experience, becoming an expert in your niche (and sharing that expertise) is a proven way to build your brand – just look at Chris Brogan for a good example. After all, what could be better than having someone immediately thinking of you as “the go to guy” when it comes to a certain area of help or expertise being needed? Write free articles or white papers; offer to speak at local conferences or meetings; offer to write a regular column in your local newspaper. All of these methods will steadily help identify you as someone to come to, either from a business or professional point of view.

It’s All in the Relationships

One of the best and most effective methods of building your brand is via your relationships. As I mentioned when speaking about self-promotion, word-of-mouth is still the best form of promotion around. Therefore, the more contacts you have and networks you belong to, the more chance there is of being talked about.

When you meet someone and become contacts with each other, maintain that relationship. Keep in touch and ask how they’re doing, as well as offering tidbits of your latest news and successes. By looking after each relationship, you’re more likely to be recommended to other people than someone who just contacts someone when you need something.

Of course, building your brand is just half the battle. Keeping it is just as difficult – there will always be contemporaries and business competitors after the same target audience as you. This is why it’s so important to continuously strive to improve and strengthen your brand at every opportunity. Look after your contacts; look after your clients; increase your knowledge and never stop learning.

In answer to the original question, your brand is quite simply you. Make sure you look after it.

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