I’m a big advocate of saying no to everything that doesn’t amplify your brand, that doesn’t make your message stronger. Because the fewer times you say yes, the stronger those yes’es will be — the stronger your brand identity will be.

You probably already have an idea of what your yes’es are, and already have said no a lot. Yes we’re here with 24/7 customer service. No we won’t stock soda’s. Yes we offer fantastic biological teas. No we don’t redevelop anything but monumental buildings. Yes we’ll always talk straight with you — and no we won’t stop using the occasional profanities doing so.

That’s good. But… how are you going to stick to it on the daily? And everyone else in your company? Of course you spread your briefs and what-not, but here’s the thing: saying NO is not a one-time-thing. You need to do it over and over again.

It’s like taking a bath: essential, but it doesn’t last.

Saying yes & no is filtering; so create a usable filter

Saying no and sticking to your yes’es isn’t something you do once to form a definition of your brand; it’s something you need to do every day, in everything you do. It serves as a filter to purify everything your company puts out. It’s a filter with which you can stay true to your identity.

It’s easier for you and everyone else in your company to stay true to your identity if you have this filter on hand at all times. This filter is your compass. A compass that can tell you whether you’re on course or not, even with every single individual action.

Ok… but how?

Let’s steal an idea for setting up a filter like that from Percolate. I’ve never used their products, but Percolate’s software, with which you can plan your social media presence, seems to have a built-in compass — it forces you to make sure than in every post you create at least a set amount of guidelines apply:

Systems like this are perhaps the most obvious to implement in social media, but don’t forget that everything you put out is part of forming your brand identity. So alter those systems to how you would see them work in your company, and put them in place in all departments. Your customer service, your administration, your product development, and all other departments can use your compass to see if their email/solution/feature/etc represents the company well enough.

Being true to yourself, all-day err’day, is hard. As an individual and as a company. But finding your way is a lot easier with the right compass in your pocket. So why not start making yours today?

I like saying no —and so does my company — but I’ll say yes to you if you want to talk with me about your no’s. Hit me up!