• Are the ad campaigns redundant, or are they being deployed for a specific reason?

• If the features of all these software expenses are justified, can the stack be optimized?

• Are these payroll increases a result of excessive or poor hiring, operational redundancies, or increased demand?

And address these realities when they choose to look beyond the spreadsheets.

For the sake of this article, let's assume a CFO determines that the ad campaigns are not redundant, the software is justifiable, and the payroll increases are unavoidable if they want to attract and retain quality people who provide quality service.

A brand-savvy CFO will then be forced to ask the question, though they may not ask it this exact way, "Are we at the mercy of lazy branding?

Over the last two issues, we dug into identity psychology, specifically why championing Ego strength is the key to raising an anti-cult brand, and we debunked dangerous branding myths running rampant as a result of The Cult Of Authenticity.

We also promised you an alternative to the cold, dead-eyed corporate brand and the authenticity-driven personal brand, a strategic human-centered brand. A brand that does not harm to the people in it's orbit.

So let's get into it.

A deep dive into "anti-cult personal branding" for Founders who feel compelled to loop a personal brand into their larger brand strategy. So here we go…

“Be vulnerable with your audience."

"Do what scares you."

"Bring your whole self."

"Build in public."

This is the soundtrack of The Cult Of Authenticity, pouring from the mouths of gurus and influencers who are primed to profit from your pain.

We moved from rigid professionalism to bold “authenticity,” hoping it would reduce burnout and help us live more fulfilling lives. We were wrong. We are hustling harder now than ever before, still burning out, and turning to technology to fill the void and claw our way to the top. How did we get it so wrong? That’s the exact question we explore in this issue of On Raising Brands, Ego Strength: The Missing Piece In Raising Human-Centered Brands. Read it here now.

You started your business to serve your community. You know the people. You know the culture. You know the gaps. You’ve built something meaningful to meet them there. And it worked. Customers came. Sales happened. The thing grew. But now you’re hitting a wall. You have a core crew of loyalists who share on social, wear your merch, they are willing to pay premium prices, and they sing your praises. A bulk of your business comes from them, but you can’t rely on them exclusively if you’re going to grow to the next level. So you are wondering, trying to crack the code, how do I turn these “other customers” into loyalists?

You've done everything right. You built the thing. You got traction. You sold on instinct, tweaked messaging, played with funnels. And it worked for a while. But now, it's not enough. The growth you need requires more revenue. You need more sales, so you need more leads, right? Wrong.