Fifteen years ago, down in a small, coastal town in South Carolina, we dipped our…
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Why Extraordinary Rare Breed Leaders Can Come From Anywhere or Any Age
Unless you’ve been down in your basement binge-watching The Social Dilemma, you’re familiar with Greta…
Is Your Brand the Rebel, Hero or Lover?
There is an indescribable, alluring quality to the world’s most beloved brands. We’re enamored with…
What Kendrick Lamar Teaches Leaders
Hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar rocked the world of high culture to its foundations when he…
How Netflix Stays Nimble
From the success of its original sci-fi thriller Stranger Things to the allure of a…
5 Personality Traits That Could Make Your Company a Unicorn
Difficult personalities are nothing new among high-flying entrepreneurs and executives. But if managed wisely, even wildly intense people…
Why Being Defiant, Dangerous, and Different Will Make You a Rare Breed in the 2020’s
All we had to do was change a little, we were told, and we would…
How to Become One of the Hottest Brands in America
“I want to be the next Apple or Nike.” Everyone thinks they can be a Jobs or Knight-like disruptor, but there’s often a disconnect between what leaders think they want for their brands…
5 Questions Every Startup Should Answer
The biggest challenge for startups and early stage businesses is overcoming the mindset that you…
The Audacious Secret That Every Top CEO (and Gambler) Uses to Win
Audacity gets a bad name in corporate circles, but not among the folks behind The…
11 Red Flags That Signal You’re a Careless Leader
I came across this quote today: “People come for great vision and leave for poor…
Why the Best Business Ideas Are Weird
Google. GoDaddy. Zynga. Hulu. Zillow. It would be really easy to make a list of…
Why Hire a Branding Agency?
Why do some business-owners have reservations about hiring a branding agency? The biggest one is…
How to Win at Business by Following Your Instincts
Think nobody but Malcolm Gladwell respects following your instincts? Think again. A surprising number of…
How to Avoid the 5 Branding Mistakes That Can Cost You Customers
Branding mistakes and pitfalls can plague even the most respected and established brands. Anything from…
The Power of a Branding Workshop
Aching to tell a more compelling story about your company, product or service? Struggling to…
Optimistic Leadership is Required
There’s no magic dust for overcoming difficult business challenges. But there’s one thing that makes…
What Madonna Teaches Leaders About Blazing a Path
All our lives, we’re taught to fall in line — to conform to a set…
Leadership Lessons from Chef Daniel Boulud
A few weeks ago, I stepped into a historic building-turned-playhouse in Charleston, South Carolina to…
40 Immediate Ways to Be an (Even) Better Leader
You’re a good leader. You run a good organization. You have a good product and…
A Designer’s Guide to Communicating with Clients
It’s no secret that designers and clients can struggle with communication, much the same way…
The Slam Dunk Hiring Question WD-40 Asks
Every company should strive to have a tribe of stellar people whose skills and personal…
The Planet’s Funniest Video Store Proves Weirdness is Branding Gold
The Last Blockbuster brand might be more popular than the Blockbuster brand ever was. Why? Because it’s dry. Twisted. Weird. In brand building, weird is God.
Is Your Frantic Behavior Sinking Your Startup?
Frantic (adj.): Wild or distraught with fear, anxiety, or other emotion. Conducted in a hurried,…
4 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Entrepreneurial Father
Leadership. It’s a word so far flung across the internet, its significance and meaning gets…
How to Strategically Name Your Business and Get People’s Attention
A friend in the Midwest clued me into a new food delivery service launching in Indianapolis, Columbus, and Kansas City. It sounded good…
8 Simple Rules to Building a Winning Culture
Whether you are launching a new startup or the captain of a century-old business, culture…
How Netflix Went from Commodity to Category Leader
Netflix continues to collect the scalps of some of the top creative talents in TV and…
Is It Time To Rebrand?
As your business evolves and grows, situations will inevitably arise that will necessitate a rebrand.…
5 Essential Qualities of a Great Logo
Whether you are starting a new business or rebranding an existing one, creating a great…
Boost Your Brand With 7 Easy Hacks
Building a trusted brand should be a prime ambition for any business. A good reputation…
Your Values Are Your Commandments
An organization that exists without knowing and practicing its values is like a ship sailing…
8 Killer Tips for Female Entrepreneurs
Female entrepreneurs are growing in number, proving they can hold their own in virtually every…
6 Virtues That Make Great Leaders a Rare Breed
Six months ago, my co-founder Ashleigh Hansberger and I gave a lecture to a full…
The Most Valuable Email Every Leader Should Write
After the most surprising presidential election in American history, millions of people worry what the…
7 Must-Watch Inspiring Documentaries
If you’re anything like us, you love a great documentary film. These 7 must-watch masterpieces…
5 Podcasts to Help You Crush It With Your Startup
Entrepreneurs and podcasts go hand in hand. Entrepreneurs are hungry for knowledge and curious to…
5 Must Read Books for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are in a league of their own. They are the breed of warriors that…
3 Secrets Every Great Leader Knows
Typically characterized by their contagious charisma and awe-inspiring presence, great leaders are easy to spot.…
Why Entrepreneurs Need a Side Hustle
Whether you’re uninspired, underpaid, or just downright unhappy, having a job you don’t love is incredibly…
5 Leadership Traits Every Entrepreneur Can Learn from Elon Musk
There are a lot of ordinary companies run by average leaders. And then there are…
How to Create Awesome Headshots
One of the most essential elements to a great company website are awesome company headshots. When…
Entrepreneur on Fire Interview With Sunny Bonnell
A few months ago John Lee Dumas, host of the inspiring podcast Entrepreneur on Fire, interviewed…
Motto’s Brand Crush — Lush Cosmetics
Crushing on Lush Cosmetics Lush Cosmetics has a colorful history thanks to a group of founders that…
The Coach Who Never Punts
The Pulaski Academy Bruins of Little Rock, Arkansas have an unorthodox approach to playing the…
Unlocking The Secrets of Brand Personality
Whether you’re a small startup, a well-seasoned enterprise, or a personal brand, having a distinguished…
Brand Crush with Hiut Denim
When you hear “cardigan” you think of those modest little sweaters that button down the…
How to Create Branded Content Your Audience Loves
Today’s consumers are enthralled with storytelling and simultaneously annoyed by advertising. As a result, brands…
8 Branding Mistakes You’re Making Right Now
If you’re running a business right now, then you understand the importance of building a…
10 Best Apps for Entrepreneurs: Our Favorites
We often get asked what apps and tools we use at Motto. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we…
How to Choose the Right Branding Agency
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve invested your heart and soul into your venture. Your business is often the catalyst for a larger purpose; an extension of who you are and what you believe in, and there’s so much on the line.
How to Write an Awesome Manifesto
MANIFESTO /ˌmanəˈfestō/ (noun): A written statement to publicly declare the intentions, motivations, or beliefs of a person or…
6 Best Branding Books for Entrepreneurs
As an entrepreneur, your business is a direct result of your passion, drive and initiative.…
10 Books To Inspire Your Creativity
In a day and age where information comes at you like a fire hydrant, it…
Five Tips for Branding Your Culture
Do you have a startup? We share five tips for branding your culture and how to implement each tip into the foundation of your business and adopt them throughout your organization.
To Thine Ownself Be True – A Lesson in Authenticity
There is a great example of authenticity in Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet” Polonios says to Laertes, “This…
Motto’s Brand Crush – Rise
RISE, a private flight sharing company based out of Dallas, is no slave to the…
4 Strategies for Telling a Stronger Brand Story
The new year has officially arrived, and most of us are deep in the midst…
Motto’s Brand Crush — Pirch
The moment your foot crosses the threshold into Pirch, you feel it. If someone told…
Fireside Chat with Motto: Great Ideas on Brand Building
Join Motto’s co-founders Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger on Wed, January 27, 2016 from 6 to…
10 Last Minute Gifts for Creatives and Entrepreneurs
Tis’ the season to be busy. No judgement here, we know you haven’t bought all…
Brand Crush with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Our affinity for Jeni’s Ice Cream makes it our December Brand Crush on the blog.…
12 Tips to Leading an Extraordinary Company
How do you lead an extraordinary company? An inspiring brand? Here are 12 tips for leading an extraordinary company that will change the way you do business.
Why Fortune Favors The Bold
Sunny and I have frequent conversations about Motto regarding our vision, purpose, values and culture.…
Cultivating Courage
The force that is Maya Angelou has long been an inspiration in my life. Despite…
How to Embrace Who You Are
In her incredibly wise, moving and very public TED talk, Morgana Bailey uttered these four words,…
5 Ways Dale Carnegie Can Make You a Successful Leader
I’ve always been inspired by the teachings of Dale Carnegie. For more than 60 years,…
Small Giants: Choosing Great Instead of Big
When we embarked on our entrepreneurial journey, we began with a clear purpose, articulated vision and…
How to Find Purpose in Your Career
Having a deeper sense of purpose is the greatest of all human needs. We all…
Nusii — An Interview with Sunny Bonnell
Nathan: Today on the Nusii interviews, I’m joined by Sunny Bonnell of Motto. Sunny is…
10 Branding Hacks to Grow Your Brand Without Losing Soul
Branding is a process of self-discovery — to uncover the one meaningful idea at the…
Want to Build Brand Character? Look to Benjamin Franklin
By the time Ben Franklin was 20 years old, he created a system of virtues…
Best Advice I Ever Got — Inc. Magazine
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been an insatiable overachiever. I was…
Why Your Company Needs a War Cry
In 1519, Hernán Cortés and a small army of unarmored men set sail to conquer…
If I Were 22 : 12 Tips for Young Talent
As part of the Inc. GrowCo event, we went to the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. It also happened to be the week before graduation. As I walked the halls of the center, I thought about all the things I’ve learned over the years as an entrepreneur and realized I had a good bit of knowledge to share.
The Difference Between a Boss and a Leader
Over the years, I’ve met various types of leaders in my consulting work with Motto…
Why You Should Take Your Business on the Road
I’ve always deeply held the belief that the best ideas come from exploration and experience.…