Up to this point, the past three courses (listed below)
have shown the basics to running any successful business. From how to
communicate to how to be a leader, and then how to apply those tactics learned
into a team setting and business environment. In Business Storytelling &
Brand Development, the skill of communication was refined further down and
focused on the brand of an executive and business. The business storytelling
side of the course required one to dig into one’s past experiences and figure
out a way to express those experiences so as to better deliver an intended
message. For an executive this ability is crucial, because it is through the
use of this method that he or she will best be able to communicate with their
employees. Whether it is for uplifting moral, or getting everyone on the same
page in order to accomplish a task, the easier it is to relate to others the
better the outcome one finds at the end. As a leader, business storytelling has
sharpened certain invaluable skills, like creating a brand identity story and
building a personal brand strategy. Both of those skills are tools needed in
today’s work environment, and can be the difference between either becoming a
success or falling just short of that goal.
With Brand Development, one takes the notions of
storytelling and applies them to a specific project or product out on the
market. By conducting a market analysis and pinpointing certain trends through
out the market, one can best decide how to position their product or project to
the masses. Just as a leader is capable of creating a brand identity for
themselves, that same leader and his team must be able to do so as well for
their business. A lot of people think that a brand stops at a company’s logo.
The truth could not be any farther from it. Everything a company says, does,
sells, or does not sell, speaks to and helps build upon that company’s brand.
Realizing the importance a skill like this can have on a business, it is
imperative that one learns how to best execute and develop a brand. For even
though the word “brand” can work on many levels, such that of a business, a product,
or a person; maintaining and enhancing those brands are done using the same
tactics for all levels. Being able to create S.M.A.R.T. marketing goals
(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, & Time Scaled) and initiatives
and properly identifying the 5 P’s of
marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, & People) are skills any basic
businessman or woman need in order to succeed in today’s business environment. One
does not need to have majored in marketing to realize that the skills taught in
this course are basic and fundamentally needed by any professional wishing to
become successful.
