It’s often said that the most important question to ask a startup founder, and for founders to ask themselves, is: Why now? It’s also the most important question to answer in your marketing. Why now?

This story is about that moment. That moment when you hear {or read} someone saying what you’ve been ‘thinking and feeling and experiencing.’ That moment is where real marketing happens. Because it’s not marketing.

The secret to making marketing that works for you is…it’s not about you.

Your brand promise is a promise to your customers. Would you promise your best friend something and never tell her you promised it? Then how would it make sense for you to not tell your customers the promise you’ve made them?

A brand promise is in fact a promise. It’s the promise that you make to your customers or clients. And it isn’t just some arcane b-school marketing jargon. And everyone needs one.

There's a tendency to believe that being in business, launching a nonprofit, or otherwise turning your ideas into something real, has to be hard. Of course there are things about it that are hard. But that doesn't mean we should ignore, eliminate, or underestimate the things that come naturally.

Developing a brand can feel pretty overwhelming to anyone who's launching or trying to grow a business, especially if you don't have marketing in your blood. Where do you start? You start with a brand platform. So...what's a brand platform?

Looking for some entrepreneurial inspiration? Look no further than marketer, mogul, fashionista, original #gilrboss, Sofia Amoruso.

Naming a business, building a brand...Naming my practice is one of the hardest things I've ever done...at least as a marketer, anyway. The name has to fit me, my purpose, my practice. Just as the names we use for our political leaders shouldn't be too casual or flippant, a brand name can't be too this or that.