A few months ago, my 10-year-old son announced that he wanted a new brand of body wash. He had been using Spiderman Berry Bubble for quite a while, so when he requested Axe Body Wash instead, I was a bit surprised. Nonetheless, I agreed, and we came home from the store with a large bottle of Axe Apollo shower gel. A few days later, we added the body spray to his collection. When I asked him why he chose this new brand, his response was “Spiderman is for little kids and, well Mom, it was time.”
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Since that day, he has not looked back. He showers daily, smells fabulous, and I’m starting to see sparkle in his eyes and swagger in his walk. He has officially updated his brand from a little boy to a 10-year-old young man. So, if a fifth grader can identify when it is time to update his brand, so can anyone.
4 Signs It's Time To Update Your Brand
Here are four signs that it might just be time for you to update your brand, too.
1. You Have Lost Your Voice
Not literally, but figuratively. Is your professional community failing to listen or respond to what you have to say? Or, perhaps you never had a voice or professional community in the first place. If so, It is time to re-evaluate what you know about your industry, what value you can bring, how you want to make a difference, and how you plan to go about making a difference. Once you have done this, identify the professional community you best fit in with, then hang out with them in LinkedIn groups and connects, as well as Twitter Chats and follows. Re-evaluating your voice will do wonders for updating your brand.
2. You Have Lost Your Community
Perhaps you are beyond losing your voice and have completely felt disconnected with your professional community. This tends to happen when you drop off the radar and stop corresponding and engaging. It’s time to identify your strongest colleagues and allies, contact them, engage with them, and get yourself back on the radar. Once you rebuild those strong alliances, your community will return and your brand will refresh and update.
3. You Have Lost Your Mojo
Perhaps you are just not feeling motivated or excited anymore. You feel stuck in a rut and can’t find a way out. If so, this is probably contributing to your lost voice and community as well. It’s time to do some soul searching and identify what triggers are killing your mojo. Are you overcommitted? Are you waiting for facts to change so things will get better? Are you complaining? Are you personalizing things? These are all mojo killers, and if you find yourself getting sucked into these attitudes, it’s time to kick it up a notch, take back control, and throw away the negative self talk. You have the power to turn yourself around and refresh a stalled brand.
4. You Have Not Left Your Comfort Zone
The longer you hide in your comfort zone, the more likely you will lose your voice, your community, or your mojo. It’s important to identify where this cycle is beginning, how to stop it, and how to turn it around. Branding is dependent on how often and how willing you are to take risks, feel uncomfortable, and push yourself beyond the limits you believe you have. Once you break out of the comfort mode, you learn more about yourself and you become empowered to launch your brand beyond its limits as well.
So, do you find yourself in any of these situations? Or, perhaps you can identify additional situations that are causing your brand to become outdated. If so, step back, assess, and decide what you can do to update your brand. Feel free to share your story of how you have updated your brand.
This post was originally published on an earlier date.Photo Credit: Shutterstock
