Imagine the first 15 seconds of any conversation in sales or marketing. Picture the homepage of a website, the initial beats of an advertisement, the opening lines of an email, or the introduction in a virtual Zoom room. These crucial moments are not just opportunities. They are the battlegrounds where a business either captivates or loses its audience. 

In this edition of the Knucklehead podcast, Stephen is joined by Kate DiLeo. Successful in building a winning brand pitch for outbound sales, Kate talks about how she transitioned from academia to sales and eventually became a bestselling author and founder of a brand strategy firm. She also explores the importance of building a strong brand strategy and how it can help businesses grow. 

Kate DiLeo is the Founder of The Brand Trifecta, an interactive brand-building program that has empowered thousands of organizations to build brands. An "accidental brand strategist" who originally intended to pursue a PhD in Anthropology, Kate discovered the power of branding during her first sales job. In the pursuit of making quota, Kate realized she needed to cut through the noise with a message that would compel prospects to want to have a conversation. It was that, or she was out of a job. The Brand Trifecta is rooted in her firm belief that brand is the path of least resistance to revenue. Kate is also a #1 International bestselling author who teaches at some of the world's premier marketing conferences and directly mentors startups through more than a dozen global accelerator programs.

Enjoy!

 

In This Episode

02:10 - Kate's story of how she accidentally became a brand strategist.

07:28 - The true meaning of a brand.

09:50 - What Kate learned in the early years of her career.

14:23 - The most common mistakes businesses make.

17:37 - How Kate thrived as a branding strategist.

19:01 - Kate's consulting, book, and tech product offerings.

 

Favorite Quotes

02:19 - "I don't think a lot of us, as entrepreneurs and leaders, have this perfectly straight line in our careers. We've had a lot of circumstantial, really interesting opportunities that lead us to where we are." - Kate DiLeo

05:51 - "Brand is the promise of who we say we are and the value we deliver. It's a language, and it's the power of language that ultimately leads to the path of least resistance to revenue."- Kate DiLeo

07:38 - "A brand is the first 15 seconds of any conversation, sales or marketing conversation. It's the homepage of your website, the first five seconds of an ad, the lead-in for your email, or what you say in the Zoom room. It's the first few things that somebody wants to know." - Kate DiLeo

10:26 - "The biggest downfall I used to make early on was that I would go write brand with marketing and marketing only. That is the dumbest thing ever because a brand is held by not only marketing but also the C-suite team or the founder and sales." - Kate DiLeo

11:01 - "A brand is the glue that holds sections of the organization together. It's the singular message that everybody is speaking in the organization — what we do, how we solve our customer's problems, and how we're different." - Kate DiLeo

 

Connect with Kate DiLeo:

LinkedIn

The Brand Trifecta

Website

 

Connect with Knucklehead Media Group:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

 

• Knucklehead Media Group is your "push button" for podcasts. We help companies and organizations tell their story using podcasts and best practices for content distribution. Home to some of the top podcasts across multiple categories, captivating coursework on gaining traction with your show, and consulting to those companies BOLD enough to get some wins. We believe your mistakes set the foundation for your success, those stories help customers beat a pathway to your doorstep, and the myths from bringing business online shouldn't hold you back from getting yours. 

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