Today’s blog post is going to be short and sweet, as I’m really too broken-hearted to write much, but there is a valid point that will rise above all the gooshyness that I’m about to dump on you.

Davy Jones, the first boy I EVER had a crush on,
died this morning.

Getting that news, in a text that arrived from a friend in Ireland in the middle of a business meeting, crushed me. I immediately reverted back to being the tiny, blonde 4-year-old that fell in love with him at first sight, way back when. I got a bit drippy right there in the coffeehouse, and realized that I never had quite lost my “thing” for him.

Then of course, I came back to my office and spent the morning trying to work, while occasionally jumping onto the web to check out the tributes and watch a few videos of him in his prime cuteness.

Anyway.

It made me think about something that everyone’s parents always tell them when they go into job interviews, or start dating:

First impressions are EVERYTHING.

Yeah, it turns out that they are, and they stick around for years—in some cases, decades.

Davy Jones was in the public eye for all of his adult life, and those of us that loved him from the get-go never lost that love. No matter how many years passed, he always managed to be engaging, entertaining, and interesting to us. His personal brand was fiercely strong, and he protected and nurtured it. We love him today for the same reasons we loved him back then.

So my question today is, how will your customers view your brand in 20, 30, or 40 years? Will it have that same kind of loyalty? Are you choosing your path wisely, and making decisions that support and reinforce that first impression you made with them?

Thanks for indulging me today. I’m going to go pour my 4-year-old self a chocolate milk now.