Your Brand is Human

Various perceptions exist about the definitions of branding, probably in the same way that various perceptions of your company can exist when you don’t take control of your brand purpose and messaging.

What do I mean?

Many companies default the power of their brand to consumers. Their brand strategy was pulled together as an afterthought, and last-minute efforts for marketing campaigns often result in an inconsistent, noncohesive story.

Think about writing a college paper. Would you have submitted the first draft to your professor without ever reviewing? Not if you wanted to succeed in the course! Constructing a strong, stable brand requires effort, brainstorming, review, consideration – specific creative time, what I refer to in my work as Lightbulb Time.

This all too common brand “afterthought” approach often has a ripple effect that many businesses don’t even realize is the root of their troubles. Does this sound familiar to any business leaders or entrepreneurs out there?

* My mission statement / purpose (if it exists) really center around a basic business idea that satisfies a specific need. Essentially, it describes your product or service, in a simple way.

* My To Do list is jam packed with things to do, but it still feels like I am going nowhere.

* I am keeping busy and active in running my business, sometimes in circles.

*I mostly rely on word of mouth marketing for my company, nothing else has seemed to make a difference anyway.

* When I think about increasing revenue, it seems I need to create a product that will sell while I sleep / recurring revenue & monthly subscriptions to generate consistent income / so forth. Build more, they will come (right?)

*Networking / word-of-mouth is the fuel my business, so I rely on this even if it’s inconsistent.

I’d like to propose an amazing shift in your approach to your brand, which will alter the ripple effect described above. As I already said, a stable brand requires effort, brainstorming, review, consideration. To create a stable brand, we must take a deep look at defining it’s core purpose.

The Shift: Create Purpose to Build a Plan to Achieve Predictable Revenue.

To create a strong brand, purpose starts with an individual. Many successful companies have leaders strongly tied to its identity. Creating a strong brand starts first with having a strong sense of self, understanding who you are as a business leader and your personal purpose and motivation. Think about it: if you are excited about waking up every day, then won’t you be just that much more excited about also building your business?

Then, approach your brand as if it were a human, too. Do some “self-examination” of your brand to understand what makes it excited about “waking up” every day.

When you do this, you can create a brand purpose that goes beyond just the singular product / service you provide and actually speaks to the core of your existence.

Here’s an example:

A furniture company who makes solid wood products and creates handmade work, focuses on heirloom quality and pays sincere attention to detail. The default brand approach – the afterthought, the last minute idea – would create a mission that says:

We make quality furniture that lasts.

In reality, they create a much stronger foundation with some self-reflection, some Lightbulb Time, to eventually create mission that might read:

We inspire community when people slow down and notice the difference in their surroundings.

This shift in your approach to branding your company creates a postive ripple effect: With your brand purpose guiding you as if it were a North Star, you focus on projects that matter, your To Do lists shrink to include priorities and your business changes in the direction you desire. This attracts customers so aligned with your purpose they love whatever you’re selling and you can consciously drive impact through your business because of this predictable success.

Purpose + Plan + Predictability = Strong Brand

If you would like to talk more about making this shift for your brand, you can grab a spot on my calendar. I’ll talk to you soon. Cheers! (Schedule a consult)