Take a moment to think about perceptions. Whether its your personal brand or business brand the perception that others have of you matters.A while back I was involved in a fairly heavy-duty branding exercise. We made moons and planets which stood for brand characteristics that were adjectives describing 1) who our customers thought we were, 2) what our associates thought we were; 3) what we wanted to be. We learned a lot, but most importantly we learned that what we looked like from the outside was not what we thought we looked like at all.Now, most of you know I recently joined Wirestone exiting my position with Weyerhaeuser. My perception of Wirestone, from the outside, was that the organization was an elitist, technology-centric multi-homed agency committed to bringing the high-touch back to high-tech.As I went through the interview process I realized that my perception was close, but they also had highly technical expertise in Java, C++ and .NET architecture and development. Application development is a core competency within Wirestone, but I never would have thought it. I mean, when I was out shopping for solutions providers, I never would have reached out to Wirestone for this type of solution delivery. My perceptions were that they were a web shop with agency style delivery.Ok, so they had some perceptions of me too; although I do my best to ensure that there are no surprises I am certain they have found some of my attributes both richer and shallower than initially thought.My PointMy point is that we have to become, for lack of a better word, intimately involved with the companies with which we interact. Just as we create personal friendships, the relationships we create with the businesses we choose to do work with are fostered or destroyed through perceptions – living, changing miniature overtures that collectively define the brand. I have written these words before, but as I continue my course I am constantly reminded of them: Marketing is about people and their impact on your brand and your impact on their lives.The moment one stops communicating and applying their brand attributes their brand begins to erode and become cluttered and disjointed.