Over the weekend we visited two castle – Walkworth Castle – “one of the largest and most impressive fortresses in North East England” and Chillingham Castle which is very old and full of interesting things to look at.

So I was thinking about what we can learn from castles, and I came up with three points.

[video_player type=”youtube” youtube_remove_logo=”Y” youtube_force_hd=”hd1080″ width=”560″ height=”315″ align=”center” margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”20″]aHR0cDovL3lvdXR1LmJlL1JpRXdMRm5hTEtr[/video_player]

STORY

Each castle had a story. It’s the history of the castles that adds to their value. It’s all fascinating.

In your business, you have a story too. Not that long ago, I shared some of my story – how I got to where I am now – and it was one of my popular posts, which just goes to show how interested people are in other people. What’s your story and how can you use it effectively in your business?

PRESENCE

Castles are BIG structures. They don’t hide somewhere where they aren’t seen. They command attention.

Your business should do this too. It should stand out like a castle, demanding attention and ensuring that anyone going past doesn’t miss it.

How your business looks is really important to make sure that you do stand out – like a castle. You should feel proud of your castle, and working on your brand, building awareness of your business and developing strategies to get your business noticed will help you to feel proud AND stand out.

PURPOSE: BANQUETING AND BATTLES

There’s two different ways to think about a castle. Both Walkworth and Chillinghams history involves battles, fighting, treason, death, gore – horrible things! The castles are for protection and defence – for keeping people out.

Both castles are places to live and eat and invite guests into as well.

Is your castle – your business – prepared for battles or banquets?

Do you want to keep people out – or invite people in?

Castles built for battle are strong and powerful and built ready for anything that’s thrown at them. How can you make sure that your business is as strong as a castle built for battle, ready to face anything, prepared to get through even the toughest times – and yet still be a castle for banqueting? For fun? For welcoming clients and being a place where people want to hang out or be associated with?

You don’t want to shut people out but your business needs the strength of a castle to survive when things aren’t going so well. It also needs to be as welcoming as a banquet – so how can you make sure that your business has the wow factor that a castle does, that it welcomes people in and that it makes people want to come back?

Some ideas:

– develop strategies and processes to make your business stronger

– find people who can help you to improve your business

– ask for feedback that you can work with

– get a group of people around you who can build you up when you’re feeling down

– think about how you can improve your customer service

– develop your visual brand to ensure that you stand out

– write your story down – or talk to someone else about your story and get them to write it for you

– create some graphics which communicate your message effectively and attractively and get them in front of the right people

– plan some events, emails, direct mail or social media updates that will help your clients – or prospects – to feel welcome and excited about your business

I hope that’s given you some ideas for how you can make your business as strong and impressive as a castle.

This week, of course I’d love to know any actions that you’re going to take – but most of all I’d love to hear about your story – so please comment below with how and why you started your business and what it is that you do.

Discover the 12 Steps to Brand Bravery

Fill in your own brand map to see how Confidence + Clarity = Brand Bravery.

You'll also get other emails with helpful information relating to branding, offers, giveaways and useful stuff! You can unsubscribe anytime (of course).