7 Steps For Building A Brand That Matters

As promised, here are Tony Hsieh’s 7 steps for building a brand that matters, from his talk at ERS (Tony = CEO of Zappos.com):

1. Decide. Building a long-term sustainable brand requires more patience with revenue & profits in order to lay the proper foundation.  Decide sooner rather than later.

2. Figure out your values and culture. Again, the earlier the better.  What are your personal core values?  What are the core values of your practice?  When your personal values are aligned with your business and everyone supporting you lives by them, things are so much easier.  Also: You must be willing to hire & fire based on your core values.

3. Commit to transparency. “Be real and you have nothing to fear,” says Tony.  Zappos’ tools for transparency include an extranet for vendors, tours & reporter visits, and (of course!) their very active presence on Twitter.

4. Whatever you’re thinking, think BIGGER. One of Tony’s favorite sayings is “Chase the vision, not the money.”  Does your vision have meaning?  Tony’s vision of “Delivering Happiness” became meaningful to employees.  They all got behind something much bigger than themselves.  Result?  Explosive growth for Zappos.com.

Focus on “the greater purpose behind the profits.”  If you’re doing something you’re passionate about, everyone will see it.  And the money will follow.

5. Build relationships. Be interested rather than try to be interesting.  There is something interesting about everyone you meet.  (Tony also pointed out how even the briefest connections can blossom into something great, even 2 or 3 years down the line.)

6. Build your team. “If you want to go quickly, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb quoted by Al Gore.  Hire your support staff slowly, fire quickly.  (If that sounds harsh, think of all the people you DON’T get to serve and support because of a poor hiring decision.)

7. Think long-term. It all gets down to repeat clients & customer service.  There is no “get rich quick” formula and “overnight successes” are years in the making.  It’s all part of your path, both personally and in business.