Today’s episode is presented by Olga Plastino, Amy’s creative director and personal branding photographer. Olga has worked with Amy for the past 6 years and helped Amy navigate through the evolution of her brand.

Olga will answer the following questions:

– What is vision-based branding and why you should care about it

– 3 Simple steps you can take today to start establishing your brand NOW

– How to create a brand that attracts clients like a magnet?

Main thing to always keep in mind is that you always need to keep strategy behind building your brand.  If you can ask yourself a question “What should I do and how should I do it”, you got yourself a strategy. Approach your marketing efforts as a whole, versus building each marketing effort, be it your website, a direct mail card or an Instagram post or ad as a stand-alone piece. Reverse-engineer from your bigger goal map out what steps you need to take to get there and use visuals as your tools to serve your purpose.

There is a big difference between building a brand vs. business. A business is an organization that markets a product/service/opportunity. A brand, on the other hand is: the image and personality the business applies to its offers.

You have to build trust, build rapport, and create connection with your audience. If your feed is dominated by only business and marketing messages, you will only be targeting people who are ready to click “buy now” button RIGHT NOW, leaving a lot of people out and a lot of potential earnings on the table.

When people hear “brand” we immediately think of the visual components: logos, colors, fonts, and websites, but when you dig really deep into what a brand truly is, it’s more about the vision, the voice, the personality behind what your offer is. 

3 Simple steps you can take today to start establishing your brand NOW

Step 1: Know Yourself

Being true to your personality matters. Who are you? Sometimes a tough question to ask when looking in the mirror, but for our purposes, it should be fairly straightforward. The clearer you can be about that aspect of yourself, the clearer your message will be.

Feel worthy of putting yourself out there and being the face of your brand.  It is very important to put yourself out there and believe in yourself even though it can be hugely uncomfortable. Learn to get over the discomfort and freely express your essence, your personality in a very relatable way. Hire a professional photographer who specializes in personal branding and can really capture your true self and reflect how you want people to perceive you in your professional world.

Of course, It’s not only about photography, it’s about the consistency and alignment across all different platforms to create the ultimate message. Your branding is expressed in many different ways: in imagery, in videos, in written and spoken word and in interaction of your current and potential clients with your brand.

Step 2: Find Your People

Who are your people? Once you are clear about who you are, you want to define your avatar, or your ideal client and determine what type of messaging they will be most receptive to and what their expectations are on brand delivery.

From there, tweak perception, your messaging, making sure it connects visually.

Answer the question: Who do you want to attract in your business? Then drop the industry jargon and start selling to people what they want to buy. Speak (when I say “speak”, I mean write, communicate visually or via video)

Step 3: Develop Your Niche

 

Most small business make the same mistake. Offer too many services, becoming generalists vs specialists. The opposite approach will be better for establishing a magnetic brand. Once you know yourself and your avatar, or ideal client, become a highly specialized expert, become known for “your” thing and once you are well established expand your offers.

Think Coca Cola.  It is known for one drink, coca cola – a fizzy brown soda with a specific taste. The branding is very direct and clear. We all know that Coca Cola now sells a variety of other beverages, 3900 choices to be exact. Niche down, secure your position as an expert, then branch out if necessary.

How can you take that to the next level?

 

How to create a brand that attracts clients like a magnet?

When you have a brand, it’s multi-dimensional, your brand can make a bigger impact than just a business because it has a heart and personality behind it. When you have a vision that resonates with people, there is a deeper meaning behind your work and it will attract your ideal clients and created a following of fans that are eager for what you have to share.

When a true brand is built, you can absolutely sell without selling. Why? Because the content you are sharing and serving majority of the time gives you the right and opportunity to sell due to the fact that you’re speaking to the right audience without alienating those not currently ready or interested in your offer.

Remember what was said in the beginning, marketing only with ads and marketing messages will only be effective for those prospective clients who are ready to hit “buy” right now, and you are leaving a lot of business on the table.

If you’re a true brand, you’re building a relationship through serving, and delivering value every day so that when the time comes to SELL, your audience is prepared and eager accept your offer.

So, true brand goes beyond the visual elements, such as your logo, your colors, fonts, your banners and ads. It is all this combined with values, heart, and desire to make a difference.