The Pursuit of Purpose with Amy Austin

If you do a quick search on the power of consistency, you'll find articles about business, habit building, recruitment, personal success, and customer services - just to name a few. I'm going to add marketing and branding to the list.

Clarity paired with consistency are two important elements of building a brand. Clarity of who you are as a business and a brand contribute to clarity in marketing and messaging. 

But clarity of brand...

Clarity is critical for success in so many aspects of life - ranging from personal to professional. Are you clear on the purpose of your business? Of your life? Do you have clarity on what your brand stands for? Does your audience know and understand what your business can do for them - or that it is for them?

As Brene Brown has said - Clear is kind, Unclear is unkind. A lack of clarity creates more work for your prospective client...

"Am I crazy to have all these different business ideas?" A friend and client asked me this question over coffee recently. No, she is not crazy. She is just full of ideas – and those ideas all happen to be business opportunities.

As you think about acting on all those business ideas swirling around in your head, think about what connects them to the vision of your business. That connection is what I mean by a through line.

If you ar...

How hard is it to engage your customers in a conversation? For some businesses, it is easy. And for far too many, it seems to be quite challenging. But why is that?

Is it the desire to be more efficient? Hit a growth target? Achieve arbitrary metrics that may or may not impact the quality of the work or service we provide?

Or is it that we've become too focused on all the internal workings of the business that we've lost sight of t...

It was a Speaking Your Brand episode that inspired the primary focus of this episode. In a recent keynote address, Carol Cox suggested resistance comes with living your purpose. Resistance or tension comes with anything worth having and that includes living the truth of our purpose. And if we are not feeling one of those maybe we need to dig deeper into our search for purpose.

Resistance can come in internal and external forms. Ext...

What if I told you there were three steps to get better feedback? Three steps that would lessen the stress you feel when faced with a performance evaluation. Carole Stizza has developed a formula that will do just that.

When we go into a performance evaluation or ask for feedback from a client, we often start with a prescribed form. And as a result, we listen to the responses but neglect to ask questions. Carole shares this is ofte...

What is return on relationship? The purpose of the relationships you have should be considered and reevaluated periodically. Especially after a year like 2020, when relationships of all kinds were pulled in various directions, aligning the value of the relationship with the purpose it serves is more important than ever.

How do you figure out where your relationships stand? Think about the purpose. Is the original purpose of the rel...

Branding. Marketing. What is the difference? Is there a difference? Everyone has an opinion. Including industry professionals - there isn't a standard definition of either branding or marketing. 

Branding is.... Marketing is...

There are so many different ideas, opinions, and nuances to these two words. Clients wanting a lo...

How do you respond when clients ask for services you don’t offer – but they think you do or should?

It is easy to let this question get under your skin or at the very least, start that little voice of self-doubt in your head chattering. Whether you start wondering if you SHOULD be offering the service or if you get anxious wondering how best to respond, a clear and concise understanding of WHY you are offering the services you do w...

Do you aspire to be a thought leader in your industry? My guest Carol Cox helps women create a signature talk to put them on the path to thought leadership.

Being a thought leader is about inspiring your audience to dream with you - helping them see your vision of the world and benefit from this newly imagined version of reality. Carol and her team at Speaking Your Brand help women turn their personal stories into inspirational tal...

A recent episode of Gary Vee's brought me to the idea of connecting self-awareness to purpose. His core message was that success comes from being self-aware. And I believe success comes from an understanding of our purpose.  As I listened more closely to this short episode, I realized the definition of being self-aware and purpose are intertwined. 

Also in this episode, I celebrate the 100th episode of The Pursuit of Purpose and sh...

Is your fear preventing business success? Does your business have a clearly defined niche? And, if not, are you hesitant to declare one?

If you are in this camp, I’m guessing your thoughts might include some or all these ideas:

• Is this niche too narrow? Will I be leaving an opportunity on the table?
• Will I be giving up potential income?
• My clients need more than wha...

As more and more businesses are moving to online courses and programs, experiential learning has become a hot topic. In this episode, I talk with Romy Alexandra about creating a learning experience to ensure our audiences learn and retain the content of our program.

What is experiential learning?

Experiential learning focus...

Are you a purpose-led business looking to define success metrics related to your purpose? Do you work with a shared vision and intention but struggle to articulate the role purpose plays in the success and growth of your company?

Many leaders intuitively know there is a benefit to knowing and embracing your brand purpose but have yet articulated the metrics to prove its value. This episode is meant to help you define those metrics....

Do your messages leave your audience empowered to take action? The call to action in a marketing message should give them a sense of empowerment, a feeling of confidence that the action they are about to take is the right one. 

In the final episode of the encore presentation of the Marketing to educate, engage, and empower, I talk about the value of a clear call to action and empowering your audience to take action. 

Download the c...

Are you engaging your audience in a conversation? Your marketing message should engage your audience in way that makes them want to know more and take the next step - working with you.

Social media has changed the definition of engagement in marketing circles. The number of likes, shares and comments is one aspect of engagement but I don't believe it is the most important aspect.

Be sure to download the complimentary worksheets to ...

In part two of this marketing strategy series, I talk about the importance of educating your audience. The foundation of any marketing strategy should be the who, what, where, when, why, and how of what you need your audience to know. But too often our desire to be creative gets in the way and we miss several of these key elements.

Be sure to download the complimentary worksheets to help you create marketing messages that educate, ...