SOS! I started a business I need help with my brand
SOS! I started a business I need help with my brand. I need help with my brand because it's difficult getting, finding, or taking care of my customers and fans.
Someone once said that being an entrepreneur provides you with the biggest personal growth opportunity of your life. I find this to be true for myself and everyone who is willing to start a business.
If you start you have already entered the land of unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Can you get good at that being a commonplace you will find yourself - living in the in-between?
I have experienced massive personal growth in 18+ years working with people to build their businesses. The irony for me is that many people skip the deep dive into the key elements that make up your brand foundation.
They skip the process of discovering your core values, mission, position, and delivery of your product or message to the right audience. I think you skip it because it seems like self-help personal rah-rah and you don't have time for that let's get to making money attitude.
Everyone has their unique “singular perspective” or your unique point of view in life and business. This singular perspective makes business fun and every entrepreneur I meet interesting. YOUR perspective is key to building a brand that you love and that others love you back for. Don’t SKIP this step even if you think you have heard this before.
Can you answer these brand foundational questions?
Answering these questions allows you to brainstorm, think, go inward and reflect and then download the ideas that you're keeping in your head. Then when you look at all the scribbles and thoughts on paper you uncover decisions you haven't made yet, wins, connections to your customers. This process is where the journey begins. Sometimes you circle back to this information and do the process again when and if you are in 'rebranding' mode.
- Articulate why this is the most important idea for you. Why this product/service and not another idea?
- What will keep you going when the newness wears off?
- Write down the reason do you want to share _______ with the world?
- What is important to you in life and your business?
- How do you want to help people?
- What happens when you help them?
- Tell us what you care about in life or the world?
- Why do you think should others care about your service or thing?
The questions above are the critical first step in your brand journey. Branding will challenge you to remain true to your values and goals. It is an iterative process and calls you to stay in close alignment with your communications and message.
The ultimate goal is to achieve enough clarity so you know what to focus on, what is the priority, what your vision is, what your business believes in (values) and why you decided to be an entrepreneur in the first place.
If you find yourself struggling it might be because your brain might be telling you that you know enough, or that customers are like you. This is not true. There are a couple of additional reasons that you might intentionally or unintentionally not working through this process. Maybe you don't quite understand the value that is within the process.
One, maybe you just didn’t know better.
Two, something of importance has changed in your business and now you have a new problem to solve that you know is tied to your core message.
Three, you may have chosen to ignore the importance of the story, central message, and systems to improve the brand and influence customer perception.
There are some who know branding is important, but they go straight to designing logos and building websites missing the opportunity to achieve strategic, focused, clear communication with the people who buy.
Create or improve your brand foundation by taking the time to investigate, dig deep, survey potential buyers or current customers or clients. Be willing to journey your unique path to the uncovering of useful information. Begin the process of building or rebuilding the foundation - your brand values.
