When it comes to branding and marketing your business, it’s often surprising just how low the bar is. And that’s a problem. If you’re just trying to do better than a lot of mediocre competition, you don’t have to do much to feel successful. But if you stop comparing yourself to your peers and reset the bar — if you rethink your marketing as if you were going head to head with the most savvy, well-funded company in the world — two things will be true. First, the quality of everything you do — and the perceptions of your brand — will be remarkably better. And second, your marketing ROI will take a quantum leap (assuming you can actually deliver terrific products or services). The good news is that, in most industries, the bar is very low. Push yourself to raise it.
