Lately I’ve been getting a lot of emails from people wondering whether they should consult, freelance, start a business, or if it even matters which road you take so it seemed like maybe a post on the subject might help.
I stayed a consultant for 2 years before I formed Real Bullets Branding because when you first go off on your own you’re going to have to think about a lot of things that you didn’t before.  Like, “what does my schedule look like?”, “how am I going to structure my …

I don’t often sit for a whole 6 minute video these days but I enjoyed every second of this one.  It features Michael Wolff, co-founder of Wolff Olins Agency and he is arguably one of the most accomplished thinkers about brand (one of my all time favorite topics).
Best Part: When Wolff makes the point that if you go to a store you don’t respect that much and they are out of your favorite product you think “what a crap store”. If you go to a store you really respect …

I wasn’t supposed to go to Coachella (which, if you are over 30 you might not know is a music festival of about 100,000 people in the desert outside of LA showcasing a huge lineup of bands, mostly indie) but ended up there because of some good luck (thanks Christina and Asos.com!), in 97 degree heat, with a lot of sweaty people.
So, the first thing I did was of course, look up the sponsors and see who was doing what.  100,000 music fans are a good group to be able …

I did it.  I launched a new company.   It’s called Real Bullets Branding – here’s the site.
I’d love to say it was because I was hit by a lightening bolt idea and had to make it real, but it didn’t happen that way.  What happened was, I was developing strategies for lots of different brands.  First small-ish ones, then bigger, and then eventually I was on calls with 10 people in New York and California telling them about how I help my parents on their farm over the weekend (people …

3 years ago I fell in love with a painting I saw in a gallery in Santa Fe.  I stood there for nearly 2 hours looking at it.  From every angle.  First one way and then walking by it, and then going into another room before coming back.  Then  trying to decide if I could justify spending more than 2 months rent on this.  I took the card of the gallery telling myself that I could always have it shipped.
Over the next 3 years, I thought about this painting often.  …