What’s the #1 way to connect with your absolute DREAM clients and call in your tribe straight to you?
Here’s a hint!
64% of people cite ____________ as the main reason they have a relationship with a brand.
Can you figure it out?
Two words: SHARED VALUES
Read MoreIt’s for you if:
You've been in business for awhile, and now you want to raise your prices and be more competitive, so you need to create a premium experience for a certain type of customer.
You’re just starting out and are unsure of what kind of business you really want to build
You’re launching a new product or service and want it to sell really well right away.
You want to pivot and start engaging a different type of customer.
We’re gonna cover how to make your brand more word-of-mouth-friendly, so you can generate referrals and turn your small audience into a big one!
Make your brand word-of-mouth-friendly:
Makes you more memorable. Telling a more word-of-mouth-friendly story about your brand makes it easier for your customer or prospective customer to remember you! If they can’t easily understand what you offer and why it matters to them, they’ll have a hard time storing it away in their memory for future use.
If you've ever experienced working on a piece of content and putting it out in the world, and getting almost no response, or just not really getting the response you wanted… that can be really frustrating!
You’re just missing a piece of the puzzle, and so the whole thing is just not working. It's like baking a cake, and you forget one critical ingredient, like flour, and you’re not really going to get a very good cake.
So what are the ingredients to a really active and engaged social media online presence?
Read MoreA lot of us first encounter the idea of what a brand is, through the visual side: really clever logos, really beautiful colors, attractive visual branding, and a visual aesthetic that draws us in. And that makes sense because that's kind of the part of a brand that you can see at the very first glance, but branding goes deeper than just the visual representations of a brand.
Here’s how I normally define a brand in super super simple terms: Your brand is what you mean to people. It’s how they feel and think about you or your business - and like I said before, it's about more than just the visuals. Those are kind of the symbols in the icons for your brand, what's underneath the surface, but what do the symbols represent?
Read MoreSo much of your brand strategy hinges on understanding your audience! In fact, branding is all about connecting with your audience, and building a strong emotional association in their minds.
When you speak the the language of your audience, they connect with you in a powerful way. Not only does it show your expertise. It also shows that you care, you listen, and you understand. It shows that you get it. You have invested time and energy, and even your career, into understanding and solving the problems they face.
So how do you learn the language of your audience? Let's break it down into a few easy steps!
Read MoreHey, wonderful you! If you run a business – especially a service-based one – you know your landing page is a critical piece of your marketing and sales system. Is it doing its job?
The key to a great landing page for a service-based business is not a long list of accomplishments, a splashy design, or slick copy. It’s not about SEO or beautiful photography. It’s not about being the smartest, most successful, or most in-demand person in your industry.
I mean, all these things are awesome to have. But they’re not the key!
The key is to a magnetic landing page is showing that you understand your audience and what they need. It’s about meeting people where they are.
This is truly the ticket to grabbing people’s attention and stoking their curiosity about what you can offer.
So whether you’re DIY-ing your website or hiring a designer, knowing these basic principles will help you create a landing page that leaves people wanting more.
Read MoreHey...where are you?
In bed? On a train? At the library? Your favorite café?
Whatever your answer is, that is your position. And if your position is where you want to be, woohoo! You’ve succeeded at deciding where you want to be and then going there. Well done!
But if where you are isn’t where you want to be, you need start by doing some positioning – that is, you need to figure out where you’d rather be.
Now let’s tweak this question – where is your business?
It’s still a simple question, but when it comes to your brand, the answer might not be so simple. If your business isn’t exactly where you want to be, you guessed it – it’s time for positioning!
Read MoreJust about every part of your brand strategy comes down to knowing your ideal customer and the experience you want to give them.
You may be thinking, “Why focus on just one customer? Everyone can benefit from my product or service.” I hear you, and I understand your hesitation! But when you’re super clear about who your ideal customer is, here is the good stuff that happens.
You create “This is for me” moments. The best brands are for someone, and that someone recognizes it as being for them – like an exclusive club where they belong. And if you want raving fans who LOVE and identify with what you’re doing, and what you stand for, you want to build a brand that not everyone loves – some people will say you’re just not for them. And that’s okay. Uglydolls may be not for you, but they are for someone, and that's why they've earned $100 million+ in revenue.
You spark curiosity. When I happen across a business that appeals to my aesthetic, personality, and current situation, I immediately want to see and hear more – give me more eye candy! It’s a dopamine rush. That's one thing we all have in common – we all really, really like dopamine. I want to know what the business owner has to say to me, because they clearly understand me and know what I’m going through.(If you want to kill curiosity, make your content as generic as possible. Womp-womp.)
I have a confession to make.
My husband Chris is way better at showing appreciation than I am. He does little things frequently and quietly behind the scenes, on a regular basis, to let me know he cares. When I have a crummy day, he comes home with takeout from my favorite Chinese food place. When I show interest in something in July, six months later it’s Christmas morning, and I’m unwrapping it in our living room.
What a guy, right? I think I’ll keep him.
How do I show affection and appreciation? Well...usually I wait for him to tell me about some problem he’s facing, and then I stampede in to tell him everything he needs to do to fix it. I fixate on big challenges – things I honestly don’t have much control over – and forget about the little things I can do today to make his life happier.
I blame it on my years as a project manager (I’ve been brainwashed to think I can solve every problem)! But I’m trying to retrain myself to take a more measured approach, and instead look for little opportunities to help and show I care.
In many ways, building a business is the same story!
Read MoreDoes the phrase “market research” make you feel a little nervous?
(If not, awesome! But hang tight – the rest of us need to have a chat.)
The word “research” alone may be enough to transport you back to late nights in the basement of your school library, desperately poring over old books and clicking through JSTOR and Lexus Nexus hours before a big report is due.
I get it! You didn’t decide to start your own business so you can write book reports.
"Market research” can also evoke the idea of digging up dirt on the competition and plotting to steal their customers. Some people do that, but I promise, it's not what I'm asking you to do.
Read More"Your brand and your ideal customer meet for coffee.
What happens? What do they talk about?"
Take two minutes and try to come up with a short list of 3-4 things your brand and your ideal customer would have to talk about over macchiatos and hazelnut lattes.
How did you do? If the conversation covers a variety of interesting topics and issues, you're on the right track!
But if all your answers revolve around your service or product, you may be missing an opportunity.
Don't worry! We're going to fix it.
Imagine this: You meet up with a friend, and she opens the conversation by trying to sell you something. You try to change the subject, but the conversation keeps coming back to what she can do for you. Erm.
If you're like me, you might gulp down your coffee and start planning your escape.
Read More
