What is branding, anyway? So many entrepreneurs don’t fully understand the scope of a Business or a Personal Brand.
Why is that?
Maybe because Branding can be elusive? Hard to really see, except for the external part of the Brand; i.e, The colors, logo, website, social media look, etc.
The reality is the a relevant and engaging Brand needs to be 360 degrees in scope.
Here are just a few things your Brand impacts and why it’s so important to have a Brand 360 for optimal engagement, purpose, relevancy and financial success (this goes for products as well as services):
- Pricing – how much do I charge?
- Target Market(s) – who is your ideal clients/customers?
- Content Delivery – where are my people and how can I reach them best?
- Type of Content – what type of content do my ideal clients want to read, hear, learn, etc.?
- Level of Personalization – how much do I need to personalize my products/services?
- Online/Offline or Hybrid Combination – are my clients online, offline or a combination of both?
- Much, much more.
But, you have to start somewhere so I want to share three important steps in getting you started in creating a relevant, engaging and profitable Brand.
Step One: Identify it!
Step Two: See it!
Step Three: Own it!
Step One: Identify Your Brand
Identify your Brand by identifying who you are…what makes you tick and how are you/your service or product different or unique from what already exists?
- Ask clients what makes you and your business unique. This is excellent market research you can do on your own.
- Google businesses that do similar kinds of things.
- Check out your “competitor’s” social media to get an idea of how you’re different and/or better.
Step Two: Leverage Your Expertise and Experiences
It’s helpful to identify how your expertise and experiences highlight and reinforce what you do. This step also starts to open up different markets to you.
For example, I worked with a millennial who was starting a business and during my exploratory questions, realized one of his hobbies was WWII
This one differentiator opened up a whole new market for him to offer his online financial services.
- Think of hobbies you enjoy.
- How did a “pivotal experience” open you up to doing business a new and different way…think Zappos, etc.
- Look at your testimoni
- als for more information on how you’re different.
Step Three: You’re Got to Believe In Your Value and the Value of Your Services/Products.
You need to feel your value as a Personal Brand as well as your Business Brand from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. Honestly, this is the toughest step to do. Why?
The reason I believe this is so difficult is because we often feel lesser than others doing similar kinds of things. We often doubt our abilities, or easily feel overwhelmed and then we shut down.
And, at the end of the day, this is the step that determines your pricing of services or products.
- Great question to ask yourself: Would you pay for what you’re charging? And to make this an accurate answer, I suggest to my clients who want to raise their prices to go out and make a purchase for that amount from another service provider or product. This little exercise will help you be honest with your answer and also see the benefits of owning your value in the pricing you’ve set.
- You’re comfortable saying the price when someone asks you. You believe it’s worth every penny and there’s a certain level of confidence that comes with that.
- Your income will dramatically increase because you “own” your value as an entrepreneur and you “own” the value of how your services or products can help the consumer.
By Ruth Klein, Brand Strategist & Book Coach for CEOs, entrepreneurs & coaches, author of 7 bestselling books, and specializing in Everything Brands & Books.
To learn more about branding, check out Generation Why Not?®: 7 Principles to a Purposeful Business and Life, Driven by Attitude, Not Age.