Steps to a client-capturing and income-generating Signature Brand

A few week’s ago I had the privilege of being interviewed by Melinda Emerson (aka @SmallBizLady) on her #SmallBizChat tweet chat. It certainly was a jam-packed hour with lots of interaction.

We spoke about the very important topic of how to build a powerful Signature Brand – a vital step towards getting you noticed and hired by your ideal client!

You can read Part One on how you can attract your clients and increase your weekly, monthly and annual income through building a powerful Signature Brand by clicking here

Here’s part two.

I get pretty personal and reveal my Brand Archetypes (the heart and soul of my brand) as well as my Brand Story.

You’ll also want to look out for one of the biggest mistakes I see small businesses make, which weakens their brand so they never quite reach expert status. Be careful that you don’t fall into this common trap!

How to build a powerful client-capturing and income-generating Signature Brand – Part Two

[@SmallBizLady asks]:

1. What’s the third step in the branding process?

[@AnnemarieCoach responds]:

The next two steps are my favourites as you are really getting to the core of your brand.

The third step is all about your Brand Promise:

Your brand promise is what you guarantee people will receive when working with you.

While this may be something we do already think about, people don’t give it the attention it deserves. This is where we start tapping into the emotions – the experience that other people have when they think about your brand (your business).

Here are some things to think about when defining your brand promise:

• What are you committed to delivering time and time again to each and every client you work with?
• When dealing with people – what can they expect in terms of how you interact with them and make them feel throughout your relationship?
• If you were to ask several of your clients about their experience working with you – what would they say?

2. So what is the final step we need to do to define our brand?

The last step is really where I believe you breathe life into brand. It’s defining the heart and soul of your brand – your Brand Essence, your brand story.

I use the Branding with ArchetypesTM system in my Unearth Your Brilliance Branding program to uncover a person’s brand essence. This system has 12 different archetypes – each with their own set of gifts, purpose, characteristics and qualities. Once you know what your Primary and Influencing Archetypes are it’s quite incredible how this can allow you to breathe a life and soul into your brand and create a powerful brand story.

To give you a brief example, my brand story is all about a gem hunter who searches for precious gems. However when she first finds this gem it is in its natural form, so very much looks like a jagged dull rock. She then starts the process of carefully chipping and cutting away the rough edges of this rock, and uses a special cloth and other equipment to shine and polish this stone. After she has finished, what is left in her hand is a beautiful gem that sparkles brilliantly in the sun.

My Primary Archetype is the Explorer, which is all about discovery. They have a deep need for self-expression and individuality and are a positive role model for helping other people to discover their own unique brilliance, individuality and originality.

It’s no surprise then that my passion is to help other entrepreneurs in identifying and building their unique authentic brands – hence why I am a Brand Strategist. My clients are in effect the stones that the gem hunter uncovers on her journey. Through going through various steps, I help them to chip away at the rough edges and polish and shine until they are left with a beautiful sparkling gem – their unique brilliance – their brands.

By the way, my Influencing Archetype is Ruler – which fits in perfectly with my brand story of a gem hunter. After all a Queen loves her gems doesn’t she?

For people here today, they can start to ask themselves the following questions to identify very important elements that can start them on their way to defining the heart and soul of their brand.

• List 3-6 brand values?
• How does your brand make people feel?
• If your brand were a character, describe what that would look, sound and be like?

 3. Once people have identified these things, how can they start to put it all together?

After you have defined each of the above elements, you have your Brand Story; you now understand your core Brand Message; etc and all of these things should be incorporated into your branding elements.

Those were the things we spoke about earlier – your website, business cards, the fonts you use, the colours you choose, your equipment, your office, your clothing. In fact, everything!

Everything that you create continues to exude and portray your core brand elements.

4. Once we have defined our brands, what else can we do to continue building our brands?

Once you have defined your signature brand there are a few things you need to be mindful of when building your brand, credibility and reputation.

It’s important to on-brand in everything that you do. When I talk about being on-brand, I’m talking about being consistent in the information you are sharing to ensure it continues to build your profile in the industry/field you want to become known as an expert in. It’s also important to remain on-brand in how you deliver your message as well.

Some people weaken their brands and never reach expert status because they are involved in too many areas in their business and prospects become confused as to how they can help them. Remember the old saying “a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none”? You don’t want to become known as a master of none, especially if you want to have a thriving business with prospects coming to you for your support because they know the value you offer.

So, be consistent in the message you are portraying. Get focused and stay focused.

Secondly it’s important to be constantly taking action to promote and communicate your brand. This could involve writing, speaking, audio, video – a myriad of different ways you can get your message out there and continue to build your profile and reputation as someone who is knowledgeable in your field.

Writing one article and sitting back hoping that this will attract a steady flow of clients to your door is not effective. You need to be constantly communicating your brand.

Pick which method(s) of communication that best suits your style and strength and continue to leverage that medium to get your message out to your target market.

5. Are there any other things that people should be aware of when it comes to their brand?

Yes, absolutely.

It’s important to recognise that it can takes months – years even to build a strong brand, to become known as an expert in your field. However, this can all be tarnished (or weakened) by one inappropriate comment or action.

As I mentioned earlier, everything you do and say, the people you associate with, the pictures you upload and share, the groups you join – everything, can impact your brand. So, be mindful of everything you do and say – especially online.

Be on-brand in everything you do!

Was this helpful? If you’ve already got a basic idea of your brand – how can these questions allow you to strengthen what you are already doing so that you can really make an impression with your ideal client?

Share your comment below! And, if you think these tips were helpful, please Like, Tweet and Share with your network. As always, I’d really appreciate it.

Till next time, stay inspired!