Dog Whistle Branding – Details, episodes & analysis

What happens when design is the bottleneck? 

You came up with a great business idea, maybe even raised some capital for it, and then decided to hire an outside design agency, like ours at The MisFits, to build your brand identity. You had good momentum at first, but you can’t agree on the right design yet. Now what. 

This is a frustrating challenge for the client and the design team. If I sound like I’m speaking from first-hand experience, it's because I am. Design can be a huge bottleneck when launching a venture from scratch, especially if you need it for your website, packaging, and other collateral before you can move forward. 

Today on the show, Drew and I discuss the challenges of getting clients through our design process and some words of advice for those of you working with an external design team. 

Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com

Order my book, “Black Veteran Entrepreneur” here: https://amzn.to/3gme7kg

When I first took the leap into entrepreneurship full-time, back in 2018, one of the first books I recommended was Allan Dib's, The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand Out From The Crowd. In the book, Allan gives a step by step process for creating a marketing plan that converts warm prospects into paying customers.  I use Allan’s framework from the book for podcasts, clients, and my own personal business ventures, including IRONBOUND Boxing and the MisFits.  

A few months ago, I signed up for the 1-Page Marketing Plan Online course, which sparked me to finally reach out to Allan and invite him on the show to talk through his framework, and also discuss his more recent book, "Lean Marketing: More Leads, More Profit, Less Marketing". I feel like there’s a lot of woohoo when it comes to marketing, but at the end of the day it needs to be sustainable, and put money in the bank, which is what Allan and I discussed on today’s show. 

Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com

Order my book, “Black Veteran Entrepreneur” here: https://amzn.to/3gme7kg

Check out Allan’s latest book here: https://leanmarketing.com/

In this episode of Dog Whistle Branding, I discuss the problem with focusing on marketing when you should be focusing on sales. Trust me, this problem is more common than you think. 

Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com

Order my book, “Black Veteran Entrepreneur” here: https://amzn.to/3gme7kg

On Today’s episode I’m joined by fellow Marines Scott Patterson and Kristopher Floyd from Tumble, a veteran-owned tech start-up that’s bringing laundry day into the 21st century. Together, they created a new category of laundry called Smart Laundry to provide residents with a #ModernLaundryExperience. On the show, Scott and Kris share insight into Tumble’s Go-To-Market Strategy, including their current marketing stack, along with the category design process for smart laundry. Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com Visit Scott and Kristopher’s website here: www.tumble.to Dog Whistle Branding is brought to you by the team at IRONBOUND Media, where we help veteran business leaders create, distribute, and grow branded podcasts, in order to engage with your ideal audience. We believe audio is the future of publishing, and we’re committed to leading the movement for the veteran entrepreneurial community. You can learn more by visiting www.IRONBOUNDMedia.com This series is powered by The Lions Pride, a professional training coaching company for Badass Founders, that serves mission-driven, high-performing, small business owners with at-the-ready resources, battle-tested tools, and full-service support. We're proud to support veteran- and other badass-owned businesses at every stage of growth. Learn—and get—more at TheLionsPride.com

In today’s episode I am joined by Scott Mackes, Founder of the Strength Mugs and The Service Academy Business Mastermind, a worldwide community of military veterans who share resources, information, insight and professional guidance to advance business ideas and opportunities through a trusted network. Scott is a pioneer in the veteran entrepreneurial community, for combining podcasting, community , and investing, into an E.L.F Business (which stands for easy, lucrative, and fun.) On the show he shares go-to market strategies for both ventures, and also how he's leveraged the SABM podcast to help build out his robust network. Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com Visit Scott’s websites here: www.sabmgroup.com, www.strengthsmugs.com Dog Whistle Branding is brought to you by the team at IRONBOUND Media, where we help veteran business leaders create, distribute, and grow branded podcasts, in order to engage with your ideal audience. We believe audio is the future of publishing, and we’re committed to leading the movement for the veteran entrepreneurial community. You can learn more by visiting www.IRONBOUNDMedia.com This series is powered by The Lions Pride, a professional training coaching company for Badass Founders, that serves mission-driven, high-performing, small business owners with at-the-ready resources, battle-tested tools, and full-service support. We're proud to support veteran- and other badass-owned businesses at every stage of growth. Learn—and get—more at TheLionsPride.com

In this episode we will be discussing the importance of identifying and engaging with your perfect customer, clients who pay a premium for your products and service, are a pleasure to work with, and send you a constant stream of warm referrals. Joining me for this episode is the wise man in Wyoming, Mr. Bill Watkins, Founder of The Lions Pride, and my business coach who taught me everything I know about how to find your perfect customer. If you want to drive revenue in your business, knowing who your perfect customer is, is a non-negotiable. Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com Visit Bill’s website here: https://www.thelionspride.com/ Dog Whistle Branding is brought to you by the team at IRONBOUND Media, where we help veteran business leaders create, distribute, and grow branded podcasts, in order to engage with your ideal audience. We believe audio is the future of publishing, and we’re committed to leading the movement for the veteran entrepreneurial community. You can learn more by visiting www.IRONBOUNDMedia.com This series is powered by The Lions Pride, a professional training coaching company for Badass Founders, that serves mission-driven, high-performing, small business owners with at-the-ready resources, battle-tested tools, and full-service support. We're proud to support veteran- and other badass-owned businesses at every stage of growth. Learn—and get—more at TheLionsPride.com

In this episode I discuss the importance of setting your commander's intent, your company's core purpose and core values, so that your team knows what winning looks like. Commander's Intent is the foundation of your brand's core, and without, you're going into every battle unarmed. This episode will help you reflect on your company's core, and how to leverage it both internally and externally, to maintain your tactical advantage. Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com Dog Whistle Branding is brought to you by the team at IRONBOUND Media, where we help veteran business leaders create, distribute, and grow branded podcasts, in order to engage with your ideal audience. We believe audio is the future of publishing, and we’re committed to leading the movement for the veteran entrepreneurial community. You can learn more by visiting www.IRONBOUNDMedia.com This series is powered by The Lions Pride, a professional training coaching company for Badass Founders, that serves mission-driven, high-performing, small business owners with at-the-ready resources, battle-tested tools, and full-service support. We're proud to support veteran- and other badass-owned businesses at every stage of growth. Learn—and get—more at TheLionsPride.com

In this inaugural episode of Dog Whistle Branding, I introduce you to what it means to build a Dog Whistle Brand, and lays out the road ahead for the series. I'm fired up to finally pull the trigger on DWB, and look forward to helping you build a Dog Whistle Brand. Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com Dog Whistle Branding is brought to you by the team at IRONBOUND Media, where we help veteran business leaders create, distribute, and grow branded podcasts, in order to engage with your ideal audience. We believe audio is the future of publishing, and we’re committed to leading the movement for the veteran entrepreneurial community. You can learn more by visiting www.IRONBOUNDMedia.com This series is powered by The Lions Pride, a professional training coaching company for Badass Founders, that serves mission-driven, high-performing, small business owners with at-the-ready resources, battle-tested tools, and full-service support. We're proud to support veteran- and other badass-owned businesses at every stage of growth. Learn—and get—more at TheLionsPride.com

Welcome to Dog Whistle Branding, where we provide weekly TAC Planning on marketing, brand strategy, and category design for early and growth stage veteran owned-businesses, to keep you in the fight and not face down in a rice patty. Subscribe to the show and newsletter here: https://bit.ly/3A4FHXS Be sure to hit the follow button on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast hosting platform.

In this episode of DWB, I reflect on my goal for the new year goal of acquiring 10,000 True Fans, as opposed to 1,000 as recommended by Kevin Kelly in his essay, “1000 True Fans.

Be sure to subscribe to the Dog Whistle Brand Newsletter on Substack here: www.dogwhistlebranding.com

Order my book, “Black Veteran Entrepreneur” here: https://amzn.to/3gme7kg