The Value of Your Brand...

Well, it's been a few weeks or like, a month, so I thought it might be time for a blog post...

This time I'm spinning this blog post a little differently.  Usually I write about a hobby or a topic of the day or something to that tune.  Something someone has picked for me.  Today I'm writing from the heart but my business heart...I don't even know what that is, so watch out...it might be completely opinionated, but here it goes, it's my blog, so it's my opinion.

Today I want to write about business.  Specifically I want to talk about small business and community and the impact relationships have on your business model and then some.

I own a small business, an insurance agency.  We're a local independent agency.  That means, when you insure with us, you get options and choices.  We write with a lot of different companies and our loyalty lies with our clients and not with a particular insurance company. 

We do the best thing for our clients each and every single time.  Without fail. We're honest, we provide excellent service and we tell the truth, each and every single time.  If we aren't the best option for someone, we tell them.  Each and Every Time!  Are y'all seeing a trend here?! It's my passion to help our clients and our referral partners at each and every opportunity we get.

I know a LOT of people who own businesses and I'm thrilled to be able to say that the people I associate with and connect with on a regular basis are the most upstanding business owners and community involved people that I know.  Our community is small and the people in our business community, for the most part, are the best of the best.  They do the right thing for their clients, they are involved in our community and they are upstanding people.  I'm honored to be associated with these people.  Now, let's keep it real...is every business in our community an upstanding, well run, community focused business...well, uh, no, we don't live in Fantasy Land.... and there are probably more businesses that don't do the right thing than I know if, but I like to give the benefit to there not being that many :) 

So in building business, I am of the feeling that the biggest thing a service business can have is their brand, their name and reputation.  Whether it's my business or your business, whether it's a family business or a large business, it doesn't matter.  WHO you are in your business matters (IMO) more than ANYTHING else.

I hear a lot of people talk about branding and living your brand, being your brand but I'm here tonight to add one more level to that branding thing.  Trademark.  Trademark your brand.  ESPECIALLY if your reputation is something your brand hangs on.  If you don't do it, someone unscrupulous could do it and you could find yourself sharing a name with a business you don't want to have your reputation tied to.

Trademark.Your.Brand.  Trademark.Your.Logo.  Trademark.Your.Tagline.  Get it?  Got it? Trademark it.  While you're at it, Buy it.  Buy your domain name, buy your first and last name.com, buy your kids name (someday they will thank you and at $10 a year, it's okay!), buy any deviation of your business name you can think of, buy your niche market if you have one, these are all things that in one day could become more valuable than you could ever imagine.  If you're an inventor, patent your invention.  Make the investment to PROTECT your business and brand from someone who is afraid of your success (why else would someone want to be you, I mean, flattery is nice and all but it's all about the money in the end).... You hear people say don't let something take up space in your head, well don't let anyone take up space in your wallet that is meant to be a reward for your own hard work! 

Don't make it easy to let someone else have control of your reputation. Here's one thing that I do know....when I put my head on my pillow at night, I can close my eyes and know I have done the right thing in my business, for my clients and that I hold near and dear to my heart.  I can't associate a cost with that; it's priceless.

My family, my friends and my business associates if you own a business, protect your brand before someone tries to snag it out from under you.  You work hard and you bust it every day to make a life you've dreamed of.  Keep on Keeping on and don't let anyone stand in the way of your dreams.  That being said, life isn't perfect and when something happens....remember this... ATTITUDE is everything!  Dealing with a blow allows you some time to be angry, it allows you to vent, especially to your circle, and if you don't have a circle, get one of those too!  You need one!  You have to have those people you trust, that mentor you, that you know you can vent to.  Without those people you'd throw in the towel and nobody's worth you making a decision like that!  So hold your head high, brand your business, protect your brand and kick ass in your industry.  That is all.

~M

Day 22 Advent Beer Calendar! Crabbies Alcoholic Lemonade!

We're coming to an end! :-(

Tonight left us with only two more beers after we were done!  It's been a fun journey, but there sure have been a lot of flavors in the last 22 days!!

Tonight, we have a grown up kids drink!  How's alcoholic lemonade sound to y'all?  It was pretty good!  Quite tart and very lemony I liked it but I'm not sure I could do more than one!  It's like a summer thirst-quenching drink, which works well since we're mid-80's for the first week of WINTER here in Florida!

Crabbie's began in Edinburgh, Scotland during the early 19th Century.  Their iconic elephant trademark is a symbol of its heritage.  Hundreds of years ago, elephants were traditionally used by importers to explore untrodden grounds to procure ingredients.

Crabbie's is also the leader in the US for Ginger Beer, something I have never had.  They also offer a Spiced Orange and a Scottish Raspberry (again, never had).  They have some great recipes on their website.

Want to win Crabbie's prizes?  They're doing a 12 Days of Christmas Twitter Contest, follow them, tweet and maybe you'll win!

No info on this one in Beer Advocate, but we were able to check it in on Untappd.  I can't find it locally in a bar, but you can buy some to go and you know where!

Check this one out at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon, you won't be disappointed.  Sit out by the pool on Christmas afternoon, and crack open a Crabbie's Lemonade!

Day 19 ~ Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter

Well we're a couple of days behind!  This was from Saturday, 12/19....our Advent Beer Box.  We went out last night and ended up too full to open a beer when we got home late!  Making up for it tonight I believe.

Also I skipped Day 16, it was a hard root beer and I just plain don't like those.  This was the second one I've had and, to me, they have a cough syrup after taste, and I hate cough syrup!  That one was a Mission Brewery Hard Root beer....enough about that.


Anyway, let's talk about this one, because it's pretty darn good!  Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter.  This one is a dark color and toasted is a great description!  It comes from Iceland, but Beer Advocate says it's an American Porter?? Um...ok....

This one, though, is smooth, a little hoppy with some underlying hints of coffee.  It tasted lighter than I thought it would.  My assumption is that porters are heavy and thick but this one is not.

Food pairings for this beer are listed on the Einstok website, rich and roasty it pairs well with short ribs, roasts, prime rib, steaks, ice cream, dark chocolate and cigars.  They also have a white ale, a pale ale, a berry & a doppelbock that have food pairings as well.

The brewery, located 60 miles south of the Arctic circle in a fishing port with a mission of 'quenching the thirst of the modern Viking'....sounds very Icelandic to me... Here's what else I learned on their website...

The brewery name comes from the Icelandic word Unique and Olgero stands for Brewery. Their slogan is Drink.Conquer.Repeat.  I think that speaks for itself!  However, it's a cry for modern Vikings and it calls them to the great adventure that lies ahead.  Broken down however, it stands for this:

Drink, of course, the beer, savor and drink in moderation.  Respect the great skill in which it was made but being responsible citizens of this earth.

Conquer:  Conquer new lands and people, not to pillage them but to leave them better than they were found.

Repeat:  When the thrill of adventure is that good, you can't help but do it over and over, but doing so responsibly.

I love this! :)

Beer advocate score this one an 85....it's definitely worth the tasting!  You can, of course, find it at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon but not on tap anywhere that Untappd was able to find.  Give it a shot!

Advent Beer Blog Day 17 ~ The Duck Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA

Happy Thursday!!  Tonight we had a party and I'm already a night behind (day 16 not done yet) but I wanted to get this out there because it was pretty good!

Tonight, day 17....we only have a week left, What to do?!?!  We enjoyed tonight a Duck-Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA

This was a new and different one for us!  ABA-American Black Ale and was quite hoppy and very black in color.  It had great flavor with hints of chocolate.  Apparently there are 8 different hops in this beer giving i's aroma and flavor.

This is a beer available all year-round by Duck Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville, NC.  Duck Rabbit sold its first beer in 2004 and has been growing ever since.  They have a selection of core brews as well as a list of seasonal brews including Barleywine, Scotch Ale and Porters.

Let's chat for a moment about their logo.  Apparently there is a bit of folklore in their logo which is an adaptation of Ludwig Wittgenstein's illustration.  Depending on how you look at it, it could be a duck or you could see a rabbit.

This brewer, Paul Phillippon, enjoys brewing a dark beer.  Indicating that the secret to brewring a dark beer is knowing the ingredients you want to us.  Duck-Rabbit combines barley from North Dakota (where my brother-in-law lives) and Canada with hops from Washington state  Paul also suggests the serving temperature of dark beer to be 50 degrees, not ice cold.  This helps preserve the taste and aroma.

Beer Advocate scores this one an 87 and I would agree, it was enjoyable and packs a 7.3% alcohol content.

You can find this one on tap at The Brass Tap in Lakeland or at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon!

Check it out:

Advent Beer Day 15 Hofbrau Winter Spezial 2015

Well what an exciting day we had today!  We live in Florida, as many of you know and we had to have our air conditioner unit replaced today....it's 80+ degrees in Florida in the middle of December. I think it's pretty warm everywhere though!


Tonight we're back to a really great selection, 4.25 stars from me on the Hofbrau Winter Spezial beer. It was excellent!  This is listed as a Doppelbock beer and it had excellent taste.  It also packed 8.4% alcohol in its 11.2 oz bottle!

This particular beer goes unrated on Beer Advocate, I assume because it's specifically the 2015 version so it's very seasonal.  Based on the reviews that I read, it appears different from the Winter Spezial of 2014 and 2013....

This one is a coppery brown color, very pretty.  People also indicate the best Hofbrau ever had ...so try it!  There's not a lot of info on it though!

I can tell you this though...they just opened a brand new Hofbrauhaus in St. Pete and maybe you can find it there although their website doesn't list it?!  Even Untappd indicates it's not available anywhere (but we know Craft Beer Cellar at least started out the season with it!)

This beer's a tough on to find but with spices and the taste of Christmas, it's one you should look for!

Here's tonight's picture, with a really boring blog....Although, let me tell you about this site I learned about tonight!

Have y'all ever seen www.seekabrew.com ?!  What a great website to find out what beer is available in your state, to compare what state you might be traveling to and what's available there and to find your favorite brewery and see where they have a presence with their beer.  Check them out!

I learned about this tonight on something new called Blab, and on Blab (think interactive Periscope) there was a Craft Beer Blab where they were discussing Saison's....apparently it's on every week (think Podcast with video) and it was pretty cool...another something to check out!

Sorry we were information-less tonight----maybe tomorrow we'll have excellent beer AND info!

Check it out at Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon!!

Day 14 Advent Beer Box ~ Lion Stout

Happy Monday!  For those of you following along who don't know me, here's a little bit about me.  I own an independent insurance agency in Florida.  We write all types of personal and commercial insurance, including health insurance.  We're coming to the end of open enrollment for health insurance for January 1, 2016 policies.  Today was complete and utter hell.  Busy and so many people with last minute questions.  The deadline is midnight tomorrow, so a full day still left.  This is the first time I felt like a CPA on 4/14!  I was so looking forward to coming home and breaking open bottle # 14 (and then having some wine, because truly I like that too!)

I did have a question and if you have an answer I'd love to know.... I went to the website for tonight's beer, like I do each website and for whatever reason I have to certify on EVERY beer website that I am "of age" (I'm 46, I qualify!) to enter their site.... Really, WHY?  I know, for a fact, there are all types of sites I can go on that I don't have to certify my 'adult' status....why would this matter?  I really want to know.  I Googled but found no answer.

Anywhoo.... tonight we had a really dark, really heavy alcohol tasting beer called Lion Stout.  I thought there were some chocolate notes in there but Todd tasted just alcohol.  It definitely had a strong alcohol smell.  I only had a couple of sips, I just couldn't do it.  Todd finished it off though, liking it much better than last night's sour.

Lion Stout is brewed by Lion Brewery in Sri Lanka and they also brew Carlsberg beer which was the only one I was familiar with on their page.  They have 5 brews, including the Stout and Carlsberg.

What is there to know about Lion Brewery?  Well their story starts in 1860 when the founder, British Planter Sir Samuel Baker established a home brewery.  It appears 1881 is when commercial brewing started.  Ownership changed in 1884 and again in 1911 to the Ceylon Brewery.

Their website says, about Lion Stout, "The dark caramel, large dense headed brew, with its 8.8% alcoholic content, is unique due to its sweet notes of chocolate and coffee interspersed into a foundation of dark roasted barley. Symbolic black to denote leadership, power, focus and strength, is dominant in the labeling as the lion journeys in the twilight unafraid, unbowed and unchallenged."

My opinion when first seeing the bottle was one of Strong and Powerful.  The dark bottle, dark beer color and the lion just resonated 'strong' to me.

Beer Advocate scores this 8.8% Alcohol content beer as a "very good" with a score of 88.  If you like a strong, dark beer, this one is for you!

Try it locally---stop by Craft Beer Cellar in Brandon to grab a bottle or on draft, check out Mr. Dunderbak's in Tampa or World of Beer in Sarasota for a sample!

By the way--have y'all ever really read any of the reviews on Beer Advocate?  I need to learn more about A-S-T-M-O!  If you're not sure what that is, check out Beer Advocate's community page on how to review a beer!

Here's tonight's photo!


ENJOY!

Day 13~ Advent Box ~ Rodenbach

Day 13, Catching up on the posts!

Tonight was unlucky 13 for us!  They can't all be great, right?  This one, unfortunately went down the drain.... but we're still blogging it because everyone has different tastes and I'm certain there are people who like it, but we weren't those people.

Tonight we tried the Rodenbach 'Flanders Red/Brown beer'.  This was a sweet and sour product, mixing 75% young beer and 25% 2 year old mature beer.  This beer's mixed fermentation is likely the reason I didn't like it.  It tasted cider-ish and sour --not a fan

But, alas, let's talk about it anyway!

This beer comes from Belgium and has won several awards, including a Silver & Bronze in the Brussels Beer Challenge in 2012 and 2013.  Palm Breweries has been brewing beer since 1686 wiht Rodenbach staring in 1836...that's a long darn time!

I wish I could find more to say about this, but I truly wasn't a fan, we dumped it out.... and I'm sure there's some good, but the website made it hard to find info for me to really blog about!

If you like sours then this one would be one to try.  Beer Advocate scores this one a 90, so check it out!

I bet you can find it at Craft Beer Cellar but a search on Untapped shows it not able to be found anywhere close by.

Here's to hoping tomorrow night is a better option!!