"Elizaveta Iurievna Kuzmina-Karavaeva Skobtsova, later known as Mother Maria, was a Russian Orthodox religious thinker, poet and artist. Her multi-faceted legacy includes articles, poems, art, and drama. In the 1910s she was part of the literary milieu of St. Petersburg and was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. She fled Russia soon after the Bolsheviks' takeover and lived in Paris, where she became a nun. In 1935, she participated in organizing the so-called Orthodox Action, which was designed to help Russian immigrants in France. She and her fellow-workers from Orthodox Action opened a house for homeless and sick immigrants in Paris. During the Nazi occupation of the city, the house was transformed into a refuge for Jews and displaced persons. Mother Maria and her son were arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and died in the Ravensbruck camp in Germany. Mother Maria's selfless devotion to people and her death as a martyr will never be forgotten. In 2004, the Holy Synod confirmed the glorification of Mother Maria." - from Columbia University Libraries Special Collection link

Talkable is Readable

In the past I have not reviewed business books at this blog, but, because the author is a brother in Christ, and because his passion for branding has so much to offer churches and ministries as well as businesses, I find it a valuable read for anyone searching to align the core of their heart and passion with a fervor about getting the word out (is this not truly what evangelism is all about)!

Talkable is Readable

"Talkable" is a book on branding written by the progressive young founder and CEO of Abiah - an innovative brand development firm - Guy Richards.  The book not only reveals Richard's  broad sensibilities and deep reaching intuitions on matters of driving businesses and ministries into the future on the momentum of clearly aligned business structures and products, it does it in a down to earth and readable way.

Guy gives over information that only a strategist and guru would offer, but he does it in a humble and non-threatening landscape of pragmatic and actionable wording.  He is the "pundit of the pragmatic".  His self effacing humor does not set up any barriers to your building confidence in the task at hand.  These laconic words bolster hope that people can brand and brand well on little or no money down.

Most people will never learn these simple truths about positioning yourself in the market based on the things you do that are talkable because most of the people that disseminate this info hide behind cryptic towers of profuse diversions - using language that would render branding as a science or a dead language.  That is not Guy's approach.  He makes it clear that anyone can get down and do the work if they will get down and do the work.

What he offers are 60 potent life lessons from the master.  60 times you get to sit at his feet and hear the words he has to offer.  He'll reframe things that you already know with just enough newness and freshness so as to draw you in and stimulate your innovator within.

It becomes pretty clear that Guy is all about helping people find out what it is they are passionate about.  Without this part of the oracle's message, there can be no push into success.  He challenges us to begin to learn about what it is we do best and then make sure that we let people know that that is what sets us apart from all the other widget makers.  If you don't know what it is that you do best then you need to take the time to review that.

So begins your dance with your brand promise.  If you don't have that then you don't have a brand.  You are just widget maker number six thousand.  So get started.

There is info that you will want to add to your strategic planning analyses and to your over site narratives.  There is material you will want to carry to deeper levels so you can orient and educate your staff.  There are whole lists of actionable stuff  in each chapter that you will want to jot down to help deepen and strengthen your constituents - adding value.  So be sure to bring a legal pad to the reading.

Guy sort of reminds me of Tim Sanders (Love is a Killer App).  He makes it clear that he is a Jesus lover and it informs all his work.  This means that he is not only upholding a commitment to an ethical stance because he is hooked up to God, it means that he is learning to let love be the measure of how he does what he does. He has not burst out into saying "love-cats", like Sanders, but you get the sense that Guy is clearly revealing a glimpse into his own brand which is all about sharing the love.  He is inviting us in to create a community.  Community is a brand of brands.

I buzzed through the book pretty quickly - it is a quick read - and I would encourage you to do the same, making notes where you would like to make some particular adjustments in the way you are positioned in the market and how you do business.  Then, I would go back through it with a more reflective and far reaching rumination.  Take your time and make more detailed notes that involve specific interactions your heart and mind have with the material.  It would be a great series of opening readings at staff and board meetings that could enable alignment throughout an agency.

Guy goes a step further and helps hook you up with Abiah's proprietary brand testing methodology BrandReturn.  It is another way that he is sharing the love.

Anyone who wants to learn about the components of what Jim Collins (Good to Great) calls the hedgehog principle will find a readable roadmap in Richards book.  Your business needs this book.   Don't drop off the charts becaus you settled for the chaos of the ordinary - excel, innovate, and develop a core that people just can't stop talking about - for all of the best reasons!

Check out his link http://www.abiah.com/

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