@Matthew Bowe, I liked your point about being “a company of one.” If you think of corporations, their brand reputation has as much to do with all the activities (customer service, marketing) that aren’t directly related to the things they sell. We all have to do all of those things. (Somebody should pay us more!) And thanks for the link to Chris Brogan’s post. Hadn’t thought of that angle, but he has something there!

@Nikhil You’re right, it’s not new at all. But it used to be easier when there wasn’t a record of everything you ever said written in “stone!” Nowadays you just have to take more care.

@Nancy Grossbart You’re right, and I think the fact that it hasn’t become second nature yet is in part why the topic is so popular at the moment.

@Uh Well, maybe he’s an acquired taste! But I chose him because he’s a — striking – example! And you’re right, some of what people do to market themselves is no good. But I imagine if everybody was good at design and marketing, they wouldn’t be multi-kazillion-dollar industries. Unfortunately, those of us with a one-man-show or small shop are often stuck having to do all these things ourselves and hoping for the best. But it’s true, I’ve seen some stuff (websites, logos) that probably do more harm than good to a professional’s image.

@BCoelho Not sure I buy that Coca-Cola is bringing beauty to the world; I read somewhere it takes 9 liters of water to make a liter of Coke. Then there is R&D that produces this kind of nonsense: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2007/09/13/drink-with-chill-factor-115875-19783048/ And then there are the two million plastic beverage bottles used every five minutes in the US: http://www.theglobalintelligencer.com/december07/chrisjordan.php

But there are some interesting points in your post and there is probably plenty to learn from the big corporations, they’ve certainly spent the bucks to get it “right.” Thanks for the link.

Recently, I’ve wrote an article that shows you how you can benefit from Coca-Cola’s history, go from being great to be seen as great and change the World.

It’s called: Be like Coca-Cola.

I hope that you find it usefull!

Best regards,
Bruno Coelho