When it comes to relaxing on the weekend, what is your beverage of choice:  

1. Coffee

2. Tea

3. Wine 

Go to our Facebook page, Your Life Abundant to weigh in. 

HAPPY FRIDAY! 

By Sandie Eggers

What does the auction house Christie’s and the shoe company Tom’s Shoes have in common? They are both “values-driven” or, more broadly, “purpose-driven” brands.

Companies like these have gone past the “Corporate Social Responsibility” mindset of past years, when it was enough for a company to contribute annually to a worthy cause. Instead, “purpose-driven” companies have baked "purpose-driven branding" into their very business models.

In her article, The Purpose-driven Brand for the website Target Marketing, Jeanette McMurtry discovered that Christie’s raised $58 million fo 300 charities in 2014 through its model of helping the seller of art contribute to a charitable cause, By being a “purpose-driven brand,” Tom’s Shoes grew from $9 million to $21 million in revenue in three years.

To better understand why this is so, we’ll dive more deeply into this...

Here's a unique approach to weightloss that, I bet, you didn't even realize you were doing:  

Banging your head against the wall burns 150 calories an hour.

BONUS TIP:  To double the calories burned, use a jackhammer.

 For many more fun facts, go to The Fun Fact Site. 

By Sandie Eggers

1-minute read

POINT #1: Having a “No-Brand Brand”

This happens when not enough time and thought goes into fully understanding and articulating your brand. For you as an entrepreneur, your brand is “you” and at the core of this “you” are your core values.

POINT #2: Why Having a “No-Brand Brand” is Deadly

When your branding process fails to include what makes “you” uniquely “you” – particularly expressing and living your core values -- you get a “No-Brand Brand”, a brand that is mushy at best, detrimental to your business’ survival at worst. It’s a poison.

POINT #3: The Antidote is a Values-driven Brand

If a “No-Brand Brand” is a poison, a values-driven brand is the antidote. By beginning your branding process with extracting your personal core values, you’re giving your brand a healthy start, one that will result in a brand that will help you...

Some wise words from French writer Anais Nin about the relationship between life and courage: 

Happy SATURDAY WHIMSY!  Add some whimsy to your weekend by doing one or all of the following: 

Gaze at the clouds and enjoy the shapes of objects, animals, people.  

Eat a breakfast food for supper  . . . .

or a supper food for breakfast.

Stop on a busy sidewalk and gaze at the sky. See how long it takes before other people are joining you in gazing, too. 

See how many pennies you can find on the ground. 

Do you have another way to add whimsy to your weekend? Then do it! And comment on the Your Life Abundant: Facebook page. 

Welcome to FRIDAY FUN! In the U.S., today, February 17 is "Random Acts of Kindness Day", a day to spread kindness "just because." 

This could be anything from opening the door for a stranger, to paying for his or her meal at the drive-through, to giving a larger than usual tip at a restaurant.

So what "random act of kindness" will you be doing today? Please go to our Facebook page Your Life: Abundant and comment. 

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 “Life is not a game of Solitaire; people depend on one another. When one does well, others are lifted. When one stumbles, others also are impacted. There are no one-man teams—either by definition or natural law. Success is a cooperative effort; it’s dependent upon those who stand beside you.”
― Jon M. Huntsman Sr., Essential Lessons on Leadership

Now, when it comes to values, we are each unique in what values we possess and how we present them to the world.

However, there are two values essential to all entrepreneurs who strive to create a values-driven brand. 

They are servant leadership and integrity.

Servant leadership

Servant leadership is essential primarily because the focus is on others, not on you. And, as entrepreneurs, we understand that the supreme “other human” focus is the customer or client. Without the customer or client there would be no business to run, leaving those potential customers/clients a little worse off for...