Gospel Industry Tip Of The Week 8/8/11
Welcome to Branding Part 4
Hopefully by now you’ve had time to do some real thinking, reflection, and even journaling about the four key questions I posed a few weeks ago as a foundation for building your brand. You’ll recall the questions were as follows:
• What are my core values (as a person, as an artist, as a minister)?
• What is my distinct message?
• What are the elements of my unique sound?
• Who is my target audience?
Now I’d like to challenge you just a bit further. Please take your answers to those four questions and reduce them to 1-2 sentence statements. For example, “My core values as a person are ___________________”. (Feel free to fill in the blank with your answer to that question.) Don’t worry about being fancy or using big words. Just use the notes you’ve jotted to form a few brief, clear statements.
When you’ve finished, write or type the sentences all together. You’ll want to keep this, so please make sure you’re using a clean sheet of paper, a new computer document, or a fresh notebook page.
Now, read all of those sentences together aloud and really listen to yourself. Is this an accurate statement of who you believe you’re called to be and what you believe your core goals are in pursuing music ministry? If not, try to identify the holes and the things that don’t ring true for you. Highlight those weak elements and spend a few more days reflecting and praying.
If you’re tempted to see this exercise as a waste of time, I’d like to whisper this bit of encouragement: You’ve just created a mission statement.
In his ground-breaking bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey, stresses the importance of having mission statements—-for ourselves as individuals, for our families, and for our businesses. He introduces that powerful concept as “Habit #2: Begin with the end in mind.”
Sure, it’s impressive that Mr. Covey’s book was named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century, has sold upwards of 10 million units, and served as the foundation for countless leadership programs over the past 3 decades. But I’m choosing to mention it here for another, more significant reason. Mr. Covey’s book was built upon biblical principles.
We don’t have to look far to see traces of God’s character and methodology in Habit #2. In Isaiah 46:10 God describes Himself as “declaring the end from the beginning”. Habit #2 is part of God’s self-description. No wonder it leads to success!
But what does that have to do with branding?
A phenomenon of this information age is the speed at which profoundly insightful, practical concepts are reduced to mere buzz words. Because the word “brand” and the notion of “branding” have become so frequently uttered in today’s music industry, it is easy for us to rush toward the concept, looking for a quick fix, a breakthrough trick to put us ahead of all of the other artists who are trying to make their mark in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
I’m asking you to dig deeper.
Throughout this series I’ve cautioned us against seeing our marketplace as part of that competition. We’ve got to grow beyond simply measuring sales and chart position and begin to embrace the concept of calling.
To be convinced of our individual calling is to live with the notion that at this moment in history an eternal God has uniquely equipped us as individuals to reach specific groups of people with a special set of talents and anointed messages. To be convinced of our calling is to chase after new knowledge, not for how smart it makes us look, but for how effective it allows us to become in an alarmingly noisy world.
So take a long, hard look at your mission statement. Do you see who you are? Do you understand what you’re called to say and who you’re called to reach? That foundation should set the tone for every move you make from here on in your career and ministry.
In today’s world where more than 24 million individual products are sold on Amazon alone, there must be a compelling reason for a consumer to turn his attention toward you. There must be a powerful incentive for people to listen to what you have to say.
Having a mission statement adds substance to your goals, purpose to your pursuit, and credibility to your brand. Now that you’ve looked deeper, welcome to the world of branding.
Published: August 08, 2011 | 0 Comments
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