Making Connections

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to connect with lots of different people in the digital space. And for me, the important part of connecting professionally is providing value. Recently I connected with the founder of DeafTone Digital over the idea of connecting your values to your messaging. He looked through some of the articles on this site about the subject and then wrote a piece for his blog on his process connecting his values to his messaging. I think this is a terrific example of why connecting your values to your messaging can be good for your business. I present to you that piece in its entirety:

Connecting My Values

By DeafTone Digital

Figuring This Out Was Enlightening And Fun. 

When Stand Out Professional Branding first approached me about doing some contributions for the website specifically on the subject of connecting my values to my brand, I wasn’t entirely sure of what my values were to begin with. The irony is that I have helped several businesses define this very question and create their own set of values and mission statements. I have even helped my local fraternity chapter with the same.

To be honest, I didn’t really know where to start when it came to my own brand. Even though I have done this for several other businesses, I have never done it for my own brand, and in a way I felt like I had come too far. Then I followed West Kramer’s guide on the Stand Out website and voila, a set of values and a mission statement. 

As West puts it, 

“to figure out your values, mission statement, and slogan, start with the question: why do I want to help people? Once you have an answer to that, the mission statement and slogan will flow from the values you decide on naturally.”

So I did that, and here is what I came up with.

Why? 

I love Hip Hop and music in general, but the more music I come across outside the mainstream, the more I am disappointed with the marketing efforts. I really think most artists need some kind of guidance. A lot of good talent goes to waste because it is not properly promoted. 

DeafTone Digital Marketing seeks to improve the quality of marketing in hip hop, music in general, sole proprietorships and small corporations. 

See, I’m a big fan of corporate marketing. I love coming across big, national ad campaigns or social media campaigns. It feels like “the pros” to me… kind of like the NFL of Marketing, in a way. So I want to bring that corporate feel to the smaller businesses. 

For some reason, it seems like the smaller the business, the worse the marketing quality is (except for some obvious marketing experts, and creative businesses). And I can totally understand since small business owners are usually swamped with enormous piles of workload and rarely have time to sit down and think of marketing strategies. 

The same is probably true for musicians and artists. They might be so busy with their own craft that they pay little to no attention to learning to promote. 

That’s Why Went Into Marketing. 

When I first started in marketing, I was just lucky to land a pretty cool, fun job. I graduated high school with the idea that I was going to be a writer and a rap artist. It’s a weird combination, I know, but it made sense in my head. 

A friend of mine suggested I became an expert in a subject an write about that instead of pursuing a degree in English to be a “writer.”

I had always had a knack for sales and working in an advertising agency immediately after high school introduced me to a world I would soon fall in love with. I decided to become an expert at sales and marketing and write about that. 

But My Passion For Hip Hop And Music In General Never Ceased. 

As I climbed through the ranks in marketing, I always kept well in touch with my artist friends, and when a really close friend of mine, Dcplina, released his own album and joined a small independent label, I wasted no time in helping him and giving him advice. 

That lead to Dc introducing me to Matt M (Junkroom Music), and I suddenly became an authority locally in South Texas Hip Hop Marketing. Since then I’ve worked with other artists including Jay Barr (noimnotwhite), and Midnight Militia. 

When COVID-19 hit, I was laid off from a director position I held at a dentist firm. Luckily I was prepared mentally for this. I quickly sprang into action and started my blog for covid entrepreneurs and hip hop artists. 

This pandemic was a silent blessing in disguise for me. It pushed me to go all-in and pursue what I’ve always thought I’d be great at… being a writer but like my friend suggested as an expert in a field. 

Slogan: 
“Seriously Fun Marketing.”

The slogan I came up with, I already had for quite a while actually. When I first started my rap career, I wanted to stand out and be different. I pushed every button I could just to get attention. I became more of a troll than a serious artist, and somehow that fueled me. 

So I went more, and more ridiculous every time just to see what I could get away with. Then I realized the more ridiculous, the better… so I went “8 Mile” and started making fun of myself, and that’s when things started to really pop. 

In the movie 8 Mile, Eminem’s character wins a rap battle by dissing himself leaving his opponent with nothing to say, and that is kind of what I was going for when I came up with my rap slogan, “I’m serious about being a joke”

It was a ridiculously fun coincidence when I worked at Vector Marketing for a couple years and THEIR slogan is “Work should be fun, seriously.” 

It seemed like a no-brainer to use “Seriously Fun Marketing” as my slogan.

In Conclusion.

I came up with my first set of values, mission statement, and slogan. This is a process I have helped many businesses do, but had never done for myself. Now that I have this, it will narrow down all my targets and I will be able to get more of that sniper action I’m focusing on lately.

Click the image below to listen to my podcast: