December 23, 2025 • 17 mins
Want your marketing to feel smoother, your sales to close faster, and your decisions to get easier? We dig into the real gifts of a strong brand and why it’s the best investment you can make heading into a new year. Forget the myth that a brand is just a logo. We break down how clarity, trust, and consistency shape everything from first impressions to lifetime value, and we share practical ways to make your message unmistakable and your execution repeatable.
We start by redefining brand as a promise people can recognize and rely on. Then we explore how consistency across uniforms, truck wraps, phone scripts, and ad creative builds trust before you ever shake a hand. You’ll hear why “being remembered beats being noticed,” how mascots and taglines create recall, and how that recall lowers your lead costs by shifting searches from “who can fix my AC” to “call you by name.” We also pull back the curtain on tracking and spend: without a cohesive brand, your advertising dollars work harder and deliver less. With it, you spend smarter, not louder.
You’ll walk away with clear action items: audit your message for clarity and uniqueness, pick a specific brand pillar that guides behavior, clean up visual assets across every channel, and map the customer journey from first sight to follow-up. We also cover recognition, differentiation, and demand as the three compounding gifts great brands deliver—turning your marketing into a memory machine and your business into the default choice when problems strike. Ready to build a brand that outlives algorithms, seasons, and platforms? Hit play, take notes, and then put the plan to work.
Special offer for listeners: mention you heard this on the podcast in the intake form at lemonseedmarketing.com and get $1,000 off a brand package. If this helped, follow, share with a friend, and leave a review so more builders and owners can find it.
If you enjoyed this chat From the Yellow Chair, consider joining our newsletter, "Let's Sip Some Lemonade," where you can receive exclusive interviews, our bank of helpful downloadables, and updates on upcoming content.
Please consider following and drop a review below if you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to check out our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.
From the Yellow Chair is powered by Lemon Seed, a marketing strategy and branding company for the trades. Lemon Seed specializes in rebrands, creating unique, comprehensive, organized marketing plans, social media, and graphic design. Learn more at www.LemonSeedMarketing.com
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We'll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
What's up, living heads?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom the Yellow Chair and Merry
Christmas.
Happy holidays.
It is definitely a nice littlegift.
We wanted to still drop ourpodcast episode right here at
this holiday season.
And if you're listening pastholiday season, I hope you had a
great one.
But today we are going to talkabout the gift of a good brand.
(00:24):
So so many of you actuallythink, like, oh my gosh, I
really don't know.
I love my brand.
People know who I am.
And they really don't.
And when you have a good brand,it is like the perfectly
wrapped, most beautiful giftunder the tree.
Let's talk about it.
Let's dip some lemonade.
(00:54):
All right.
So listen, let's talk about whata good brand gives you when
you're when it's done correctly.
Okay.
So brand is more, we talk aboutthis all the time, friends.
Come on now.
If you've been a listener of theshow, you know brand is more
than a logo.
Definitely more than a logo.
Logo is a crucial, vital, veryvisual point that we need, but
(01:17):
it is not what a brand is.
It should be the depiction ofwhat your brand is.
So when you have a good brand,you get a couple of things.
Number one, clarity.
Clarity is so that people knowwho you are and what you stand
for.
So listen, if you like beingconsidered very basic and, you
know, not very innovative andvery, you know, let's go with
(01:40):
the word traditional.
So traditional and basic can bevery different.
But if you don't want to havesomething sticky, if you don't
want to have something that'sunique and stands out, right,
then then stick to things thatare super, super basic, okay?
Because that's not memorable.
A lot of times it's extremelyhard to stand out and be
memorable.
So what I want to talk about isclarity comes from people
(02:03):
knowing who you are and what youstand for.
So that needs to be determined.
And if you don't, if you don'tdetermine it and you don't
document it, someone else willdo it for you.
Someone else will do it for you.
Okay.
The second thing I think youshould do and that a good brand
would give you is trust.
It builds trust with people whenyou look professional and you
(02:25):
look organized.
And before you ever shake theirhand, you have made an
impression on them through theentire customer experience.
The entire customer experienceis doing nothing but building
trust and authority for you.
And it is making it to wherepeople can, they know what
they're going to get.
Do you know what my biggest beststories about this is?
Do you know why when I go onvacation, I don't like to choose
(02:47):
somewhere that we have to eat athome?
I want to choose somewhere else.
But you know why it's risky?
I have no idea what I'm gettingversus I could drive through all
those golden arches, baby, and Iknow what I'm getting because
it's the same thing no matterwhere I go.
Right?
If I go into Target, I knowthere's going to be the red
buggies.
I don't walk into a Target andall of a sudden I'm like, oh my
God, this Target's green.
Right?
No, it is it is trust.
(03:09):
I can trust the product that I'mgetting.
I know them, I'm familiar withthem.
So I think that builds trust.
So number one, clarity.
Number two, trust.
Number three, ease.
And this one's very much missed.
But I love this one, y'all.
This is my favorite.
This is my favorite statementright here.
Marketing becomes smoother,sales get easier, y'all.
(03:30):
And decision making gets clearerwhen I have a good brand.
So when I have something that I,as a marketer, can sink my teeth
into, right?
I do not, you can have the mostbeautiful, plain fonted logo
that just says your last name.
And I'm like, there's justnothing.
What can I hold on to?
Versus if you have a cool coloror a cool font or an icon or a
(03:53):
mascot or taglines.
There's things for me to sink myteeth into and be creative
around.
Right now I'm looking at yourname in blue and block print.
And I'm like, okay, uh, don'tlet us give you the blues.
Like it's hard.
There's nothing there.
So it makes everything harder.
And I have to spend more moneyand get more expensive because
there's nothing just naturallysticking out and standing out
(04:15):
for people in my market.
I've you got to work a lotharder when you don't, when
you're scared to do anythingthat's got a little spunk, a
little, a little emerald legacy,a little bam to it, you know.
So that's ease, ease.
When you have a good brand,ease, ease of marketing tactic,
ease of campaign, ease of namingyour programs, ease of naming
your technicians, your news.
(04:36):
Y'all, I could go on and on.
I could go on and on.
Love number three being ease.
Number four, confidence.
When you set your brand, yourcore values, your expectations,
your look and feel.
People want to people want tooblige, people want to follow
those rules because theexpectation is.
(05:13):
You know, with us, I said, soyou showed up in some tennis
shoes that look like you mowedthe yard yesterday, last night.
And if that was the only pair oftennis shoes you have, then you
know what?
I thank you for coming to work.
I appreciate it.
But odds are I've seen you dressup to go out.
So I know that you got more thanthese tennis shoes.
And it's because they they justkind of had settled in and we
get lazy about things.
We also get lazy about ourpersonal brands and our
(05:35):
business's brands.
So you have to, you have to carea lot about being confident,
setting those expectations sothat your team is confident that
they know how to show up andthey know how to perform.
They know the expectation ofwhere to park that van.
They know the expectation ofoffering the maintenance club.
Those CSRs know yourexpectations of the booking
rate.
They know how to handle customercomplaints, they know how to
(05:57):
approach pricing objections.
They know because you've set thestandard and they are confident
in that.
And then last but not least,longevity.
The more branding equity youhave, the big the bigger your
business becomes because nomatter the season or the
platform, your brand is so richin people choosing you.
(06:19):
You've worked on it so long andso consistency and consistently
and so diligently that peoplecan't help but know it.
Right?
A good brand isn't necessarilyjust the wrapping paper, it's
what's inside that box that isthe jewel, right?
So wrapping paper, think of thatas your logos.
And listen, it's important thatyou look good, okay, because
(06:40):
that is the visual rep visualrepresentation, but it's what's
inside, right?
It's what's inside that reallymatters.
So, you know, you want yourbrand to be able to stop
competing on necessarily justlike these big coupon offers, or
maybe you want to get off thelead aggregator, uh, the Yelp
NGE local vibe, and you want tomove on from that.
Well, here's the good news.
(07:01):
Number one, those leadaggregators are a great part of
any marketing strategy, but youknow, when your brand gets
stronger, your lead cost goesdown because more people are
directly just looking for you.
You want people to go directlylook for you, not hey, Google,
show me everybody that canservice my AC.
That's not what we want,friends.
We don't want people that arelike, hey, who all can come over
(07:22):
here and fix my plumbing?
We want be we want people goingand saying, I want to call spot
on pest control.
I want to call McWilliam Cityand Cooling Plumbing or
whatever.
Not not wild and free.
Right?
Not wild and free.
Um, and then brand consistency.
Let me tell you, when you arewhen you are investing in decent
(07:44):
and healthy marketing budgets umthat have lots of advertising
tactics, right?
So marketing is the overarchingumbrella of all of our
advertising.
That's why they're two differentthings to me.
Okay, so your advertising,you're gonna be spending money
there because what got you herewon't get you there.
So every time you need to bumpup to hit those bigger
milestones, a lot of times youhave to do things that you've
(08:04):
never done to hit revenue you'venever hit.
Okay, so to do that, we've gotto spend more money.
Well, some of you are it'sgetting a little hefty, right?
We're spending a good amount ofmoney.
Well, to do that, we have tohave brand consistency and we
have to have tracking.
So if you want that to beoptimized and working
efficiently and effectively, geta good brand.
(08:25):
So some of y'all out herespending buckwild money with a
terrible brand and a terriblestrategy or not, a non-existent
strategy and no tracking, butyou're like, I don't know why I
can't get over a million and ahalf dollars.
I can't get over three milliondollars revenue, Crystal.
I don't know what's wrong.
I'm spending 10% in marketing.
And I go look and I'm like, no,no.
We have no tracking.
We don't know what's working, wehave no idea.
(08:45):
So we've got to get some of thatcleaned up, right?
So there's there's three giftsthat every strong brand can
deliver that that makes you betactical and memorable.
Okay.
So gift number one, another gifthere is recognition.
So being remembered is muchbetter than getting noticed.
Oh Lord, I I feel like I couldbe doing a Baptist preacher
(09:08):
right now.
Um, but being remembered isworth more than being noticed
because in our line of work,ladies and gentlemen, we people
only give two flips about youwhen they need your service.
So no one wakes up every daywanting to get a new water
(09:28):
heater, wanting to deal withbroken pipes, wanting to deal
with roaches, wanting to dealwith an AC unit that's not
working, wanting to deal with aleaky roof or shingles been
blown off of it or damaged byhell.
It's not what happens, right?
So we want to be remembered sothat when things show up, or
those problems prop their uglyhead up in your market, you are
(09:49):
who they think of.
So, yes, you love to get notice,but that notice that you're
getting needs to be part ofbeing remembered.
It is vital.
It is vital.
They think of you first when theneed hits.
That's why mascots kill it.
Love it or hate it, that's whymascots work because mascots
make you more memorable versusWilliams heating and air.
(10:10):
Whoop do you freaking do?
That's not memorable unless, butif I'm like, hey, here's a
picture of this littlecurly-headed little boy that
plays the guitar, looks like myson, and we're Williams heating
and air, always strumming theright comfort for your home.
And I tie it all together and Italk about why we did that, and
I do all these things and Isponsor music.
People start getting to know whoI am and they remember me
(10:33):
because I built a brand, notjust a logo, not just a name,
right?
So, you know, you want to makesure that you've got good
colors, good color palette, goodtaglines, good tone, good
editorial branding, goodconsistency, that your wraps
match everything.
That's why Lemon Seed, we havefull focus branding packages.
It ain't just a logo, and thenwe're like, well, if you want
anything else, it's all theseadditional dollars.
(10:54):
No, our packages are inclusiveof everything you need to be
successful.
So that was gift number one isrecognition.
Gift number two,differentiation.
Differentiation, friends, youneed to stand out.
When we do our audits for ourclients, I look through there
all the time.
You know what I'm looking for isa hole.
I'm looking for a hole in theindustry, in the market that I'm
(11:15):
in that I can plug myself rightinto and I can own it.
You stop looking like everyother contractor, you stop
looking like you don't have astory, and people, you know,
you're just fly by nightchucking a truck.
You start looking legit, andyour message becomes repeatable,
it becomes ownable, like it'svery, it's very authentic to
you, like no one else can takethat.
(11:36):
Um, but that is a truereflection, though, of your
messaging being on brand.
And that's how you getdifferentiation, right?
Is is you start telling the samestory over and over and over and
over again.
I'm gonna do it again and overagain and over again because I
want to drive home on point.
You're gonna get sick of lookingat your own stuff.
(11:56):
You get sick of hearing your owntaglines, sick of hearing your
own jingle.
You're like, gosh, we do thisover and over and over again.
You know why?
Because we need to do it overand over and over again.
We need to do it over and overand over again.
That's how branding works.
And number three, the gift alsothat branding can give us is
demand.
True branding creates its owndemand with not just fighting at
(12:17):
the bottom of a barrel, right?
So people kind of want to be,they want to be associated with
you.
This is why auxiliary products,I think, really come into play
here is when you launch a newservice or a new location or a
new, you know, vertical thatyou're jumping into, um, it's it
it just has so much more clout,so much more authority.
But a strong brand lets youspend smarter, not louder.
(12:40):
So listen, I'm just gonna giveyou a little secret.
Some of y'all need to be loud.
Some of us need to be loud atthe beginning so that we can get
softer as the years go on.
Unfortunately, for some of you,you've sat on your hands for so
long and been scared of your ownshadow for so long, scared to
spend a dollar for so long, thatnow you've been in business 15
years and now we got to getrowdy.
We got to get loud, we got toget boisterous, we've got to get
(13:01):
out there into the market andwe've got to get going, right?
Some of you can start fresh thatway, some of you need to revamp
it that way.
And it's a little bit moreuncomfortable when we have to go
from being the shy kid in theclass to the ringleader.
Okay, the, you know, we're we'reup there being loud and proud.
But when we can increaseinbound, it gives us more
customer acquisition, it givesus better LTV on those clients
(13:24):
because they love the brand LTV,lifetime value.
They trust the brand more andmore and more, and so they don't
look for other people.
So let all the people come inand out of your market left and
right, left new licenses leftand right.
But you do your job creating abrand in a culture that is
inclusive of all home level, allthose things, you're gonna win
the game.
(13:44):
You're gonna win the game.
So here's a couple of thingsthat I want you to do some
action items.
Number one, will you audit yourmessage for me?
Will you just take a listen andtell me?
Is it clear?
Is it unique?
Can your team repeat it?
Do they have their elevatorpitch?
Number one, audit, audit and golook at it.
This is what Lemon C literallydoes an audit before you can get
on board with us.
It's a non-negotiable right now.
(14:06):
I have to be able to do an auditbecause I can't give you a
prescription for an ailment thatI don't know that you have.
But one of the biggest thingsthat we do is this big audit of
the brand itself.
Look at yourself and then lookat others.
Number two, I want you to pick abrand pillar and commit to it.
Is it integrity?
Now, listen, I'm just gonna tellyou we treat everybody like
family, not unique, not uniqueanymore.
(14:26):
Okay.
We're trustworthy, not unique.
We're honest, I hope so.
So there's some things that youneed to think through there, but
a brand pillar could be like,you know, we are servant-minded
advocates.
That's one of Lemon Seed's corevalues, or we are good stewards
of your money.
We are pillars in the community,whatever you want that to be,
and stick to it.
(14:47):
But guys, it is time to clean upyour logos, your truck wraps,
your uniforms, your social mediaplatforms, your email
newsletters.
Clean it up, freshen it up,reinvigorate it into 2026.
Review your customer experience.
I want you to go through theentire customer journey with
your client from what they seewhen you're driving, what do
they hear on the radio, what dothey hear on the phones, what
(15:08):
are your team members lookinglike?
And listen, don't get yourfeelings hurt because it's
probably rowdy.
And then stop just buying everynew marketing tactic, every new
advertising tactic that jumpsout in front of you, buying it,
throw some money at the wall,quit it.
Quit it right now.
Start building a memory, right?
So a good brand is something youhand down to your team, your
leaders, and your futureconsumers.
You hand it down, you keep itgoing, you um, you continue to
(15:33):
mature it and let it marinateand get better and better and
better and better, right?
It outlives, you know, themarket when it's up and down.
It outlives the algorithms,right?
It outlives your shoulderseasons.
And honestly, your brand willoutlive you and a lot of your
team.
If built correctly, it willoutlive you and a lot of your
team.
But it certainly will outlive,you know, a down market, a
(15:56):
refrigerant shortage, a laborshortage, shoulder season, an
unusually hot summer, uh, well,shoot, I wish, an unusually cold
summer, an unusually warmwinter.
It'll survive all of thatbecause a brand is built to
last, it's built to build alegacy.
And if you're looking for theperfect thing to give yourself
this Christmas or this new year,it is probably gonna be a brand
(16:18):
refresh.
And we would love to visit withyou about it.
And you know what?
As a special tip, if you mentionthat you heard this episode in
your intake form with lemon seedat lemonseedmarketing.com, I'm
gonna take a thousand dollarsoff a brand package.
We can't combine it with anyother discounts for those of you
that come from other things.
But if not, and you're like, Ijust want to talk to you, but I
heard you on the podcast, and Ithink I want to get a new brand
(16:40):
in 2026, put that in the in thecomments section.
I'm gonna give you a thousanddollars off.
Don't say that's on nobody.
Um, but you know what, guys, Iwant to encourage you to
evaluate your brand going into2026.
Follow along for all the freecontent that Emily and I put out
about branding, social medialives, email newsletters,
webinars, everything.
Um, and then let me tell you, Iappreciate you guys, each one of
(17:03):
you that listen to the show.
We love talking about marketingand branding.
We could talk about it all daylong, every day.
Um, again, I wish you all aMerry Christmas.
Hope you have a happy new year.
And here is to a great 2026where your brand starts building
your business, a great legacyfor you and your family.
Merry Christmas.
What's up, living heads?
Welcome to another episode ofFrom the Yellow Chair and Merry
Christmas.
Happy holidays.
It is definitely a nice littlegift.
We wanted to still drop ourpodcast episode right here at
this holiday season.
And if you're listening pastholiday season, I hope you had a
great one.
But today we are going to talkabout the gift of a good brand.
(00:24):
So so many of you actuallythink, like, oh my gosh, I
really don't know.
I love my brand.
People know who I am.
And they really don't.
And when you have a good brand,it is like the perfectly
wrapped, most beautiful giftunder the tree.
Let's talk about it.
Let's dip some lemonade.
(00:54):
All right.
So listen, let's talk about whata good brand gives you when
you're when it's done correctly.
Okay.
So brand is more, we talk aboutthis all the time, friends.
Come on now.
If you've been a listener of theshow, you know brand is more
than a logo.
Definitely more than a logo.
Logo is a crucial, vital, veryvisual point that we need, but
(01:17):
it is not what a brand is.
It should be the depiction ofwhat your brand is.
So when you have a good brand,you get a couple of things.
Number one, clarity.
Clarity is so that people knowwho you are and what you stand
for.
So listen, if you like beingconsidered very basic and, you
know, not very innovative andvery, you know, let's go with
(01:40):
the word traditional.
So traditional and basic can bevery different.
But if you don't want to havesomething sticky, if you don't
want to have something that'sunique and stands out, right,
then then stick to things thatare super, super basic, okay?
Because that's not memorable.
A lot of times it's extremelyhard to stand out and be
memorable.
So what I want to talk about isclarity comes from people
(02:03):
knowing who you are and what youstand for.
So that needs to be determined.
And if you don't, if you don'tdetermine it and you don't
document it, someone else willdo it for you.
Someone else will do it for you.
Okay.
The second thing I think youshould do and that a good brand
would give you is trust.
It builds trust with people whenyou look professional and you
(02:25):
look organized.
And before you ever shake theirhand, you have made an
impression on them through theentire customer experience.
The entire customer experienceis doing nothing but building
trust and authority for you.
And it is making it to wherepeople can, they know what
they're going to get.
Do you know what my biggest beststories about this is?
Do you know why when I go onvacation, I don't like to choose
(02:47):
somewhere that we have to eat athome?
I want to choose somewhere else.
But you know why it's risky?
I have no idea what I'm gettingversus I could drive through all
those golden arches, baby, and Iknow what I'm getting because
it's the same thing no matterwhere I go.
Right?
If I go into Target, I knowthere's going to be the red
buggies.
I don't walk into a Target andall of a sudden I'm like, oh my
God, this Target's green.
Right?
No, it is it is trust.
(03:09):
I can trust the product that I'mgetting.
I know them, I'm familiar withthem.
So I think that builds trust.
So number one, clarity.
Number two, trust.
Number three, ease.
And this one's very much missed.
But I love this one, y'all.
This is my favorite.
This is my favorite statementright here.
Marketing becomes smoother,sales get easier, y'all.
(03:30):
And decision making gets clearerwhen I have a good brand.
So when I have something that I,as a marketer, can sink my teeth
into, right?
I do not, you can have the mostbeautiful, plain fonted logo
that just says your last name.
And I'm like, there's justnothing.
What can I hold on to?
Versus if you have a cool coloror a cool font or an icon or a
(03:53):
mascot or taglines.
There's things for me to sink myteeth into and be creative
around.
Right now I'm looking at yourname in blue and block print.
And I'm like, okay, uh, don'tlet us give you the blues.
Like it's hard.
There's nothing there.
So it makes everything harder.
And I have to spend more moneyand get more expensive because
there's nothing just naturallysticking out and standing out
(04:15):
for people in my market.
I've you got to work a lotharder when you don't, when
you're scared to do anythingthat's got a little spunk, a
little, a little emerald legacy,a little bam to it, you know.
So that's ease, ease.
When you have a good brand,ease, ease of marketing tactic,
ease of campaign, ease of namingyour programs, ease of naming
your technicians, your news.
(04:36):
Y'all, I could go on and on.
I could go on and on.
Love number three being ease.
Number four, confidence.
When you set your brand, yourcore values, your expectations,
your look and feel.
People want to people want tooblige, people want to follow
those rules because theexpectation is.
(05:13):
You know, with us, I said, soyou showed up in some tennis
shoes that look like you mowedthe yard yesterday, last night.
And if that was the only pair oftennis shoes you have, then you
know what?
I thank you for coming to work.
I appreciate it.
But odds are I've seen you dressup to go out.
So I know that you got more thanthese tennis shoes.
And it's because they they justkind of had settled in and we
get lazy about things.
We also get lazy about ourpersonal brands and our
(05:35):
business's brands.
So you have to, you have to carea lot about being confident,
setting those expectations sothat your team is confident that
they know how to show up andthey know how to perform.
They know the expectation ofwhere to park that van.
They know the expectation ofoffering the maintenance club.
Those CSRs know yourexpectations of the booking
rate.
They know how to handle customercomplaints, they know how to
(05:57):
approach pricing objections.
They know because you've set thestandard and they are confident
in that.
And then last but not least,longevity.
The more branding equity youhave, the big the bigger your
business becomes because nomatter the season or the
platform, your brand is so richin people choosing you.
(06:19):
You've worked on it so long andso consistency and consistently
and so diligently that peoplecan't help but know it.
Right?
A good brand isn't necessarilyjust the wrapping paper, it's
what's inside that box that isthe jewel, right?
So wrapping paper, think of thatas your logos.
And listen, it's important thatyou look good, okay, because
(06:40):
that is the visual rep visualrepresentation, but it's what's
inside, right?
It's what's inside that reallymatters.
So, you know, you want yourbrand to be able to stop
competing on necessarily justlike these big coupon offers, or
maybe you want to get off thelead aggregator, uh, the Yelp
NGE local vibe, and you want tomove on from that.
Well, here's the good news.
(07:01):
Number one, those leadaggregators are a great part of
any marketing strategy, but youknow, when your brand gets
stronger, your lead cost goesdown because more people are
directly just looking for you.
You want people to go directlylook for you, not hey, Google,
show me everybody that canservice my AC.
That's not what we want,friends.
We don't want people that arelike, hey, who all can come over
(07:22):
here and fix my plumbing?
We want be we want people goingand saying, I want to call spot
on pest control.
I want to call McWilliam Cityand Cooling Plumbing or
whatever.
Not not wild and free.
Right?
Not wild and free.
Um, and then brand consistency.
Let me tell you, when you arewhen you are investing in decent
(07:44):
and healthy marketing budgets umthat have lots of advertising
tactics, right?
So marketing is the overarchingumbrella of all of our
advertising.
That's why they're two differentthings to me.
Okay, so your advertising,you're gonna be spending money
there because what got you herewon't get you there.
So every time you need to bumpup to hit those bigger
milestones, a lot of times youhave to do things that you've
(08:04):
never done to hit revenue you'venever hit.
Okay, so to do that, we've gotto spend more money.
Well, some of you are it'sgetting a little hefty, right?
We're spending a good amount ofmoney.
Well, to do that, we have tohave brand consistency and we
have to have tracking.
So if you want that to beoptimized and working
efficiently and effectively, geta good brand.
(08:25):
So some of y'all out herespending buckwild money with a
terrible brand and a terriblestrategy or not, a non-existent
strategy and no tracking, butyou're like, I don't know why I
can't get over a million and ahalf dollars.
I can't get over three milliondollars revenue, Crystal.
I don't know what's wrong.
I'm spending 10% in marketing.
And I go look and I'm like, no,no.
We have no tracking.
We don't know what's working, wehave no idea.
(08:45):
So we've got to get some of thatcleaned up, right?
So there's there's three giftsthat every strong brand can
deliver that that makes you betactical and memorable.
Okay.
So gift number one, another gifthere is recognition.
So being remembered is muchbetter than getting noticed.
Oh Lord, I I feel like I couldbe doing a Baptist preacher
(09:08):
right now.
Um, but being remembered isworth more than being noticed
because in our line of work,ladies and gentlemen, we people
only give two flips about youwhen they need your service.
So no one wakes up every daywanting to get a new water
(09:28):
heater, wanting to deal withbroken pipes, wanting to deal
with roaches, wanting to dealwith an AC unit that's not
working, wanting to deal with aleaky roof or shingles been
blown off of it or damaged byhell.
It's not what happens, right?
So we want to be remembered sothat when things show up, or
those problems prop their uglyhead up in your market, you are
(09:49):
who they think of.
So, yes, you love to get notice,but that notice that you're
getting needs to be part ofbeing remembered.
It is vital.
It is vital.
They think of you first when theneed hits.
That's why mascots kill it.
Love it or hate it, that's whymascots work because mascots
make you more memorable versusWilliams heating and air.
(10:10):
Whoop do you freaking do?
That's not memorable unless, butif I'm like, hey, here's a
picture of this littlecurly-headed little boy that
plays the guitar, looks like myson, and we're Williams heating
and air, always strumming theright comfort for your home.
And I tie it all together and Italk about why we did that, and
I do all these things and Isponsor music.
People start getting to know whoI am and they remember me
(10:33):
because I built a brand, notjust a logo, not just a name,
right?
So, you know, you want to makesure that you've got good
colors, good color palette, goodtaglines, good tone, good
editorial branding, goodconsistency, that your wraps
match everything.
That's why Lemon Seed, we havefull focus branding packages.
It ain't just a logo, and thenwe're like, well, if you want
anything else, it's all theseadditional dollars.
(10:54):
No, our packages are inclusiveof everything you need to be
successful.
So that was gift number one isrecognition.
Gift number two,differentiation.
Differentiation, friends, youneed to stand out.
When we do our audits for ourclients, I look through there
all the time.
You know what I'm looking for isa hole.
I'm looking for a hole in theindustry, in the market that I'm
(11:15):
in that I can plug myself rightinto and I can own it.
You stop looking like everyother contractor, you stop
looking like you don't have astory, and people, you know,
you're just fly by nightchucking a truck.
You start looking legit, andyour message becomes repeatable,
it becomes ownable, like it'svery, it's very authentic to
you, like no one else can takethat.
(11:36):
Um, but that is a truereflection, though, of your
messaging being on brand.
And that's how you getdifferentiation, right?
Is is you start telling the samestory over and over and over and
over again.
I'm gonna do it again and overagain and over again because I
want to drive home on point.
You're gonna get sick of lookingat your own stuff.
(11:56):
You get sick of hearing your owntaglines, sick of hearing your
own jingle.
You're like, gosh, we do thisover and over and over again.
You know why?
Because we need to do it overand over and over again.
We need to do it over and overand over again.
That's how branding works.
And number three, the gift alsothat branding can give us is
demand.
True branding creates its owndemand with not just fighting at
(12:17):
the bottom of a barrel, right?
So people kind of want to be,they want to be associated with
you.
This is why auxiliary products,I think, really come into play
here is when you launch a newservice or a new location or a
new, you know, vertical thatyou're jumping into, um, it's it
it just has so much more clout,so much more authority.
But a strong brand lets youspend smarter, not louder.
(12:40):
So listen, I'm just gonna giveyou a little secret.
Some of y'all need to be loud.
Some of us need to be loud atthe beginning so that we can get
softer as the years go on.
Unfortunately, for some of you,you've sat on your hands for so
long and been scared of your ownshadow for so long, scared to
spend a dollar for so long, thatnow you've been in business 15
years and now we got to getrowdy.
We got to get loud, we got toget boisterous, we've got to get
(13:01):
out there into the market andwe've got to get going, right?
Some of you can start fresh thatway, some of you need to revamp
it that way.
And it's a little bit moreuncomfortable when we have to go
from being the shy kid in theclass to the ringleader.
Okay, the, you know, we're we'reup there being loud and proud.
But when we can increaseinbound, it gives us more
customer acquisition, it givesus better LTV on those clients
(13:24):
because they love the brand LTV,lifetime value.
They trust the brand more andmore and more, and so they don't
look for other people.
So let all the people come inand out of your market left and
right, left new licenses leftand right.
But you do your job creating abrand in a culture that is
inclusive of all home level, allthose things, you're gonna win
the game.
(13:44):
You're gonna win the game.
So here's a couple of thingsthat I want you to do some
action items.
Number one, will you audit yourmessage for me?
Will you just take a listen andtell me?
Is it clear?
Is it unique?
Can your team repeat it?
Do they have their elevatorpitch?
Number one, audit, audit and golook at it.
This is what Lemon C literallydoes an audit before you can get
on board with us.
It's a non-negotiable right now.
(14:06):
I have to be able to do an auditbecause I can't give you a
prescription for an ailment thatI don't know that you have.
But one of the biggest thingsthat we do is this big audit of
the brand itself.
Look at yourself and then lookat others.
Number two, I want you to pick abrand pillar and commit to it.
Is it integrity?
Now, listen, I'm just gonna tellyou we treat everybody like
family, not unique, not uniqueanymore.
(14:26):
Okay.
We're trustworthy, not unique.
We're honest, I hope so.
So there's some things that youneed to think through there, but
a brand pillar could be like,you know, we are servant-minded
advocates.
That's one of Lemon Seed's corevalues, or we are good stewards
of your money.
We are pillars in the community,whatever you want that to be,
and stick to it.
(14:47):
But guys, it is time to clean upyour logos, your truck wraps,
your uniforms, your social mediaplatforms, your email
newsletters.
Clean it up, freshen it up,reinvigorate it into 2026.
Review your customer experience.
I want you to go through theentire customer journey with
your client from what they seewhen you're driving, what do
they hear on the radio, what dothey hear on the phones, what
(15:08):
are your team members lookinglike?
And listen, don't get yourfeelings hurt because it's
probably rowdy.
And then stop just buying everynew marketing tactic, every new
advertising tactic that jumpsout in front of you, buying it,
throw some money at the wall,quit it.
Quit it right now.
Start building a memory, right?
So a good brand is something youhand down to your team, your
leaders, and your futureconsumers.
You hand it down, you keep itgoing, you um, you continue to
(15:33):
mature it and let it marinateand get better and better and
better and better, right?
It outlives, you know, themarket when it's up and down.
It outlives the algorithms,right?
It outlives your shoulderseasons.
And honestly, your brand willoutlive you and a lot of your
team.
If built correctly, it willoutlive you and a lot of your
team.
But it certainly will outlive,you know, a down market, a
(15:56):
refrigerant shortage, a laborshortage, shoulder season, an
unusually hot summer, uh, well,shoot, I wish, an unusually cold
summer, an unusually warmwinter.
It'll survive all of thatbecause a brand is built to
last, it's built to build alegacy.
And if you're looking for theperfect thing to give yourself
this Christmas or this new year,it is probably gonna be a brand
(16:18):
refresh.
And we would love to visit withyou about it.
And you know what?
As a special tip, if you mentionthat you heard this episode in
your intake form with lemon seedat lemonseedmarketing.com, I'm
gonna take a thousand dollarsoff a brand package.
We can't combine it with anyother discounts for those of you
that come from other things.
But if not, and you're like, Ijust want to talk to you, but I
heard you on the podcast, and Ithink I want to get a new brand
(16:40):
in 2026, put that in the in thecomments section.
I'm gonna give you a thousanddollars off.
Don't say that's on nobody.
Um, but you know what, guys, Iwant to encourage you to
evaluate your brand going into2026.
Follow along for all the freecontent that Emily and I put out
about branding, social medialives, email newsletters,
webinars, everything.
Um, and then let me tell you, Iappreciate you guys, each one of
(17:03):
you that listen to the show.
We love talking about marketingand branding.
We could talk about it all daylong, every day.
Um, again, I wish you all aMerry Christmas.
Hope you have a happy new year.
And here is to a great 2026where your brand starts building
your business, a great legacyfor you and your family.
Merry Christmas.
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