Experience, Innovation, Passion. That's what we mean by insprired_Marketing. StyleLabs is a Market Research Company that evolved into a Full Service Branding Boutique for any business with an entrepreneurial fire. We're a team of extremely motivated kids that want to take on the world. And we want you to join us. Whether your business needs a brand, web presence, focus groups or a bumper to bumper supercharge, we're the people to talk to. We believe that by developing a surgical marketing mix and leveraging the explosive 2.0 environments, Mom and Pop can succeed in the same environment as the big boys. Your journey begins now.
Posted by James on 08/20/2010
SEO is defined in Wikipedia as:
...the process of improving the visibility of a website or a webpage in search engines via the "natural: or un-paid search results.
An entire industry has been built around this concept. Organizations charge hundreds of dollars promising top spot on Google, Yahoo, etc. Interestingly, people like you, fork out hundreds of dollars, convinced by the mirage of “back-linking” and “tags”.
Our approach is a little different. There is definitely a science behind optimizing your site. However, the technical side accounts for 20, maybe 30 percent of what is required to be relevant online. We believe that there is an intricate formula that must be followed in order to attain sustainable, high ranking relevance online. This means:
Write/Podcast/Blog/Vlog Outstanding Content. Stuff that’s useful to people.
Comment on other people’s posts, forums, blogs with useful feedback and reference your site.
Update your website regularily.
Establish accounts on the Top 39 Social Media sites.
Social Bookmarking!!
Build an interactive community through newsletters, forums, contests and feedback mechanisms (comment/suggestion boxes). Community = Future Clients & Referrals. Bottom line.
Exchange links with other Google friendly sites.
Connect it all. The website, the social media accounts, the blogs, etc.
Ensure compliance with the sitemap protocol.
UNDERSTAND; fancy links, tags and code is not going to magically bring people to your site. Your ability to communicate your business and passion in useable format, applicable to your audience will.
When you ask us to optimize your site, we develop a cohesive roadmap of the aforementioned to get you to your customer and keep you on their radar.
Almin Kassamali is the Chief Imagination Officer of StyleLabs Marketing Group. StyleLabs offers full service business and marketing solutions for entrepreneurs, musicians, athletes and small/medium business. www.stylelabs.ca
Posted by Almin on 06/29/2010
I'm a big fan of Robin Sharma. In the last 10 years he's climbed the "leadership guru" ladder and positioned himself as very new age/old wisdom. Like most of his peers, Robin doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know (like a lot of undergrad marketing courses) What makes Robin (and yes SOME of these courses) special is his ability to communicate these points with practical application and in a cohesive framework that allows us to better rationalize and internalize what we "know" to be the right away to run our business, deal with our customers and grow as people.
I was pretty stoked that I'll be in Toronto when he's launching his new book at the Manulife Indigo. I think meeting him in person would be pretty kick ass! Like a lot of my clients, Robin lives the lifestyle. He talks about physical, mental and spiritual mastery. Ritualization, etc... It'll be a great experience.
What's great about Robin is that he doesn't give you the opportunity to zone out. His messages are quick, compressed and concise.
Recently, Robin posted a VLOG titled "The New Level of Treating Customers." Watching this post created an explosion of thoughts in my head. Here are some points that stood out for me:
1. If you deliver what you are expected to, give customers what they want, you're in a very vulnerable position.
(my initial reaction) What the hell? So we bust our a$# trying to give the customer what they want/need, some of them being SO high maintenance and picky and yet we're vulnerable? That's bullsh#$!!!
(deep breath) It's actually SO true. I moderated some focus groups a couple weeks ago for an ad agency. The design, recruiting, moderating all went off without a hitch. Fantastic feedback, full shows, a great night. As the second group came to a close, I noticed 6 happy faces and one lady huffing and puffing. I don't know where she placed on the totem pole, but she was hella pissed that the backroom had M&M's instead of Smarties. I mean she was livid!!! Really?? I think Robin's right. There are so many other companies that could do the same job we do that "unnecessary consultant abuse" is accepted and tolerated.
PS. The next day, she did apologize and we are running their next campaign.
2. Deliver GENIUS levels of value to your customers. Make the user experience so exceptional that people are breathless every time they do business with you.
Be the game changer! As management and business owners we get so caught up in administrative and operational CRAP, that we forget about how to do our jobs. From experience, I can tell you that spending time on innovation and marketing is what separates world class from mediocrity. The Malibu's from the M3's. But hey, we've built these companies from nothing. We're tight fisted and want to run the shop lean and mean. What if the economy takes another kick in the butt and we fall short on rent? We're CHEAP and we're frightened! Ugh... Dilemma. What we fail to understand, ESPECIALLY small businesses, ESPECIALLY YOU, is that by investing in competent resources, you empower yourself to grow the company's brand equity and bottom line. As the owner, what you will produce will differentiate you. AND you will have the resources to mobilize your vision into reality. BUT, my absolute favorite... Small business employees and suppliers are famous for holding their employers hostage. Remember Calgary's labour boom? I think that I used the term "self entitled little sh#^" at least two or three times daily. By arming yourself with the right people and treating them well, you'll discover that there are people out there who will treat your company like it's their own and give you the breathing room to mega size your business model.
Check out the video:
Great insight. But only can this fully be effective if you like what you do. If it drives you. If you're not looking at your watch ten times a day waiting to get the f&^k out of here!
I'm a big fan of Eli Stone. I've always wanted to be a lawyer, I wrote the exams, but gave up my dreams to be an entrepreneur. In the last year, the mundane things have really started getting to me. I thought about going back to law and giving that a crack. Watching Eli fired me up. A lawyer who made money helping people. Revolutionary! I flip flopped for a while. My biggest barrier to entry was the unfortunate reality of articling. Taking a 1000% pay cut, running around gophering to "pay my dues" was not my idea of deflecting monotony. Approvals, bosses, politics, egos,... Screw that. I am, and always will be an entrepreneur. Then I had my eureka moment! I call it StyleLabs.
I realized that with my market research company I was in the right industry, just too tightly niched. With StyleLabs, I could help other organizations brand and position themselves, build business models, revitalize and most importantly grow and succeed. 12 months in, my clients continue to remain "breathless" every time they do business with us. Our market research company, locked and loaded is growing at a breakneck speed and we're finally achieving a culture of growth, success and high octane performance.
The best part of it is that I got the validation I needed. Everything in my head, with passion and client focus, can be translated into win win scenarios for everyone we transact with. My shit works!!!! Stay tuned and I'll tell you all about it.
To your success!
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Your Take Away -
If you're not passionate about what you do, I mean butterflies in your stomach, spring out of bed passionate, ignore the next two points, they are not for you.Meeting client expectations is not enough. Surpassing them holds your position. To grow, differentiate and hold a advantageous position, you MUST take your client's breath away. Every time. Non Negotiable.
Invest in resources. There's a reason they call it a company and not a proprietorship. By splitting up the role, you empower yourself to focus on the big picture and still have peace of mind that the little details are being executed well.
Almin Kassamali is the Chief Imagination Officer of StyleLabs Marketing Group. StyleLabs offers full service business and marketing solutions for entrepreneurs, musicians, athletes and small/medium business. www.stylelabs.ca
Posted by Almin on 06/29/2010
2 years after I finished school, I remember sitting in my office at my 9-5 job thinking to myself, do I want to work for the man or do I want to be the man?? The next day, I resigned and became an entrepreneur.
The reason you're on this site, is because you've made that same decision. You want control over your destiny You've got BIG PLANS and you need to unleash ultimate creativity! We can help!
StyleLabs is dedicated to every organization small, medium or large with that entrepreneurial itch to establish, position or rebrand themselves in the new 2.0 Business Environment. Through the benefit of our experience, passion and our SWOT Team of Marketing Specialists, we deliver a toolbox of marketing and business strategy that will empower you to showcase your brand and talent with pride. Regardless of your advertising budget.
Since the first time I wrote this blog in January, so much has happened.
Our client roster has grown exponentially! Extraordinary people like Charly + Shaun Kelly of Energy Life Science, Life Coach Ken V Welch, Real Estate Expert Keith Crawford and Body/Mind/Spirit consultant Emma Lovino have signed with our agency.
We successfully launched the DreamBody Brand and Community www.paulanthony.ca
We acquired Innova Marketing Solutions and a breathtaking new partner, Monica Arora.
And so much more!
What an incredible year its been. Although our organization is new(er) our actionable insights and dynamic campaigns come from years of experience, hybrid models and aggregation of best practices.
The Journey Begins...
