EPISODE 87: The secret to building a stand-out brand

In this episode of the Digitally She Does It Show, I'm diving into a topic that's crucial for anyone navigating the competitive waters of the digital marketplace: building a standout brand.

I talk about how vital it is to carve out your own space, regardless of whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out. We'll be exploring the key elements of brand creation: from crafting your identity and values to delivering on your promises and ensuring a memorable experience for your audience.

Join me as I share the 4 pillars of brand creation and discover why they're essential for leaving a lasting impression in today's crowded market. I'll be sharing insights and practical tips to empower you to take control of your brand and lay down strong foundations for your business. So, if you're ready to elevate your brand game and attract the right clients, this episode is a must-listen!

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Transcript

Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. This is episode 87 and today's episode I'm going to be talking about building a brand so that you can stand out and get seen within a crowded space. So, let's jump right in and let's get started. Welcome to the Digitally she does it show.

I'm your host Karen and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing and expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energised, and ready to bring those big dreams to life. Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your businesses grow.

Karen Davies [00:00:58]:
So, let's dive in and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes which drop every Wednesday. Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I am your host Karen and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. So today I am going to be talking about one of my favourite subjects which is all about brand creation and how you can build a powerful brand that not only helps you to stand out online but a brand that your clients, your ideal clients are attracted to so that you become that person that they want to work with.

But before I do, I'd like to talk to you about the Digital Creators Hub. Your one stop shop for getting started online. Now this hub is your place to go and grab a treasure trove of resources, tools and templates that is going to help you to get started.

Karen Davies [00:02:06]:
I've included so much goodness within the hub that I will be answering questions, I will be giving you how to's, There are even workshops in there to help you get started because there's no better time than today to get your digital business up and running. Now why would you want to do this? Well firstly you need to think about how you can make money when you're not behind your desk. So we need to be thinking about ways in which we can build a robust business that can support us and the life that we want to create and moving your business online, creating digital offers, creating online courses is the smartest way to do this. And so in my digital creators hub, I'm giving you so many resources, tools and tips to help you get started. It's completely free to access. Just head on over to www. pink-lemondigital.com/hub to sign up.

Karen Davies [00:03:10]:
Go and grab these free resources and get started today with your digital business. Okay. So back to today's episode and today I am talking about building a powerful brand for your business whether you're in the online space or in the offline space, it really doesn't matter. If you are somebody that is selling a service, you're selling a product or an experience, an event or whatever that might be for you, this is something that you do need to focus on because it is vital to the overall success of your business. Now a common misconception that many entrepreneurs have is that because it may be that it's only them in their business they often think that they don't need to be focusing on creating a brand. Because after all if you're not a big business with 100 of employees then then it doesn't matter, it's just you, so it's not necessary. Now this couldn't be further from the truth. Your brand is so important it is paramount to the success that you're going to create for yourself and especially in your business.

Karen Davies [00:04:25]:
Because essentially what a brand is is an experience and it's how people perceive you, how they how you interact with them, so their experience of you, of your business and of course how you come across as well. So it's really important to take control of how this is so that you can create something powerful that not only attracts your ideal clients but also converts and retains them as well. Now one of the things that I enjoy doing in my business is I go networking. I love to go networking. I am a people person. I do enjoy being around people. I like to feel connected and so I attend networking groups because I get to be around like minded people who are equally vision focused, purpose driven and they are building something for their future whatever that might be. And what I really like about networking is that I get to have these really important connected conversations with other entrepreneurs, which is great because we cannot do what we do alone.

Karen Davies [00:05:45]:
We need people in our camp, We need people in our corners. We need those referrals, but also we are always building our brands. So it's another way of just getting our voice heard, getting our businesses out there, and building a reputation. Now, I often come across entrepreneurs who, for whatever reason, have not got the right foundations in place. And what then happens is when they are presenting themselves they come across disjointed. Now there's lots of little ways that this can be picked up on, but often it's about it's not just about their logo because at the end of the day you can have a badly designed logo, but if you are coming across really well and you have really nailed what your business is, how it can serve your audience, all of that and everything else is top notch then you can be forgiven for a poorly designed logo. So it isn't always about that. The thing that I come across a lot is the fact that when I talk about foundations I'm talking about sort of like the core pillars that need to be in place before you go out talking about your business.

Karen Davies [00:07:03]:
And this is something that I'm gonna talk about today because of how vital it is when it comes to building your brand. And as entrepreneurs as I said we are always building our brand. It doesn't matter if you're in the online space putting out a social media post or you are out doing public speaking or you're attending networking events, whatever you are doing in the capacity of your business you are constantly communicating what your brand is. And so it's so important that, as I said, we take control and we know exactly what it is we are representing so that we can do it in the best possible way and we can get across the right message to the right audience at the right time. Now in business we talk a lot about building the know, like and trust and the way we do that is by showing up consistently to our audience and being able to present ourselves in a way that instils trust in what we do. So focusing on your brand and what that stands for and how you're going to communicate that is going to go a long way to building trust and credibility within your space. When you become recognisable because people know your brand, they know what you're about, they know the level of quality that you are delivering then that's most likely going to lead to referrals and those referrals are equally what's then going to grow your business. So whether you're doing this offline by providing an in person experience to your services or you're in the online space where you're selling online courses and digital products.

Karen Davies [00:08:47]:
It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, if you are creating a brand it means that you are creating an experience that your audience are going to identify with and most likely want to be a part of. So building a brand, focusing on building a brand is going to build that trust and credibility for your business. It's also gonna develop an emotional connection with your audience as well because when we focus on what our brands are we can develop a more deeper connection with our customers and this is something that I think gets overlooked. I think when people come to creating their logos and coming up with a strapline and doing all the all the things like the colors and all all of that fun stuff, I think sometimes it gets forgotten exactly what the purpose of that is. And building those deep connections with your customers are so important because that's what they're again going to remember when they are thinking about investing in a service that you may provide. And then it's about sort of showing up with consistency as well. If people are seeing your brand out there online, offline on a consistent basis then you're most likely going to be the business that they remember when they need what it is you have to offer.

Karen Davies [00:10:15]:
The other thing to think about when you're thinking about your brand is perception. Now a well crafted brand can command premium pricing and it can position your products or your services as the most premium in the marketplace. So if you're if you have a program, if you have something that you wanna sell at a premium price then your brand is the thing that's going to help you to pull it all together. When your clients start to perceive your brand as being valuable then they're going to be willing to pay a higher price for the things that you're going to be offering. So the way that you present your brand to the world is essentially going to make or break the success of your business. Because if you're putting something out there that doesn't reflect you, your businesses, the level of service you provide and the value then you're going to struggle to not only get interest from your ideal clients but also to convert them as well. And so this is why focus needs to be placed on making sure that you're creating the right brand for your business that you can then showcase to your audience. So another misconception that again I come across a lot is the fact that people think that their brand is their logo.

Karen Davies [00:11:36]:
It's not. It's about shaping perceptions, building relationships and adding value to your clients' lives and a strong brand serves as a strategic asset that will ultimately drive your business to success and will achieve loyalty when it comes to repeat business with your clients. And that's so much more than what a logo is. Your logo is important. It's your identity stamp. It's the thing that your audience is going to recognize when they come into contact with your business and your logo is going to have characteristics about it that's going to communicate certain things but it's not gonna give the full picture. It's not going to tell your audience about the value of what you're delivering or the experience that they're going to receive. So logos are only ever going to be limited in what it can communicate which is why we have to look at everything else in our business and this can stem from things like the way you answer your phone, the way you answer emails, the way you show up at a networking event, the way people interact with you and how you speak about things.

Karen Davies [00:12:51]:
It can be your tone of voice, it can be your identity, it can be all of these things together that will ultimately communicate what it is you do and how you are as a business. So your logo is important but it doesn't give the whole picture and I think that if you are somebody that has thought that you know what I'll just get a logo designed, I'll choose some colors and I'm good to go, then the problem is that you're going to come across disjointed because you don't have all of the other things in place. Which is why today I want to talk about these 4 key pillars because I think with these pillars if you have them in place then you're setting the foundations that you can then build on for success. So the first pillar that I want to talk about is brand identity. Now your logo does come under this because your logo is part of your identity but your identity overall is your brand's DNA. This is what is going to set you apart from your competitors and it's going to shape how your audience perceives your business. It encompasses things like your values and your mission and your personality. And then of course it includes your visual elements like logos and your colours and your and the typography, the fonts that you use as well because every single thing that you use in your identity is going to communicate something to your audience.

Karen Davies [00:14:27]:
Something that I come across a lot in the work that I do is how people have their identity. So they've chosen their logo, they've had their logo designed, they've got their colours and they've got their fonts. But then on the website, the fonts and the colours that they're using are very different to the colours in their logo or the colours on the fitter of their email signature or the colors that they're using online. And so there's this disjointed look that doesn't carry the right perception about the business. So something that I do a lot in my business is I often carry out brand audits and this is really interesting because this isn't just entrepreneurs that struggle to get that consistency. Larger businesses struggle with it as well because often people are pulled in at different times to work on their brand identity. So they may have had their a designer come in and create their identity but then they may have a VA that is creating marketing collateral and is not being governed by the guidelines because they don't have guidelines within the business. So there's not one set of rules that that VA is having to work by.

Karen Davies [00:15:43]:
So consistency is really important once you've established what your brand identity is. But it's one of the key pillars that needs to be in place and I also see so many entrepreneurs when they first start out in business sort of bootstrapping strapping this, going cheap and doing it themselves or jumping onto Canva, coming up with a logo and some colours and then putting it out in the world to represent their business. But the thing is it kind of sends them on a bit of a downward spiral because if people are perceiving your business to be cheap because what you're sending out is not professionally done, then that's gonna very much reflect on how they perceive the services that you offer or the products that you're selling and it's going to most likely create the wrong impression. And so it's really important to invest in your identity because this is what people are going to be buying into and this is the thing that they're going to see ahead of anything else. So when they see your logo and they see and they go onto your website and they see how everything's pulled together that in itself is going to communicate a lot about your business and the intention behind it. So brand identity is a really core pillar and it needs to be invested in in order to set the right intentions. Now, the second key pillar are brand values. This is really important.

Karen Davies [00:17:11]:
You need to understand your values and what you believe in because this is the business's belief system. What principles are you operating by? Because this is going to govern your behaviour, your decisions and then the actions that you take within your business. And this is also going to reflect what ultimately your brand stands for and what it aspires to achieve. Now this isn't just for big businesses this is for individuals as well. We need to be clear on what our values are so that we can attract the right clients. We can sell our products to the right people that have the same values, that believe in the same things as us and I think by clearly defining and articulating this in your through your brand is going to align your brand more so with the right audience. It's going to build authenticity and it's going to develop a much deeper connection with your audience as well. The 3rd pillar is about the promise that you are making.

Karen Davies [00:18:24]:
Even if you don't have your brand promise written out you are delivering a promise to potential clients every time you put something out into the marketplace. It doesn't matter if it's not written down just through social posts or showing up at networking and talking about what you do you are delivering a brand promise because this is ultimately a commitment that you're making to your clients. It's a declaration of what they can expect from you when they start working with you and it's going to set the precedence on the quality of service that they're going to receive. And so even if you haven't got this written down it's really important that you have some guidance around what your brand promise is so that you know exactly the words that you need to use to describe it in the most effective effective way. Because this is what's going to build loyalty and it's also what's going to keep your clients coming back for more. So you're building on that experience. And the 4th pillar is brand experience because brand experience is what encompasses every interaction that you have with potential clients and with your audience. Now this means that from the very first point of contact to after they've bought your products it means that the experience they receive is going to form an opinion about what your brand is.

Karen Davies [00:20:01]:
So it's really vital that we are taking control of what that experience looks like and we're putting things in place to make sure that we're providing a seamless experience that works for the clients that we're wanting to support. It doesn't matter whether you're offline or online, every single touchpoint matters. So that's your website, your social media, your customer service, any packaging that you may have in your business. If you are selling physical products, making sure that everything is aligned. If you have an online store, making sure that everything is set up so again it's aligned with how you wanna be perceived so that you're creating a positive and a memorable brand experience at every single touch point because this is what is going to help you to differentiate your brand. It's going to help you build loyalty with your clients that you want to work with and it's going to foster those long term relationships because you're building that know, like and trust at every single point. So when we're talking about creating a brand, as I said earlier, it doesn't matter whether you are a one man band, 1 woman band, or you have employees, or you are running a big business it really doesn't matter. What's important is that you are creating an experience that your ideal client is gonna want to experience because that's ultimately how you're going to stand out and get seen above all of the crazy noise that is out there.

Karen Davies [00:21:41]:
And I think by focusing on these 4 key brand pillars your brand identity, your brand values, your brand promise and your brand experience you can establish a really strong and cohesive brand that resonates with your audience, that builds trust and drives loyalty. So let me ask you, what can you do today to improve the quality of your brand? Do you know what your brand stands for? Do you know what niche it serves? Does your identity reflect your business and how you want to be perceived? Does it reflect the value that you offer in your business? Does your website position you as the expert? Does it do the job? Your website is a marketing tool. It needs to market you in the best possible way and if it's not doing that then you may be missing out on leads that could become potential clients. So I would encourage you to do an audit of your brand, Go through the key pillars that I have shared with you today and ask yourself have I got the right foundations in place? And am I communicating my business in the best possible way? And am I attracting the right clients that I want to work with? Because only by asking the right questions are you going to come up with the answers And I think when it comes to standing out in a crowded space we need to make sure that we're in control of what we're communicating so that we are connecting with the right people. You don't want to connect with everyone, you want to connect with the right people that you can serve, that you can grow your business with and that you can enjoy working with as well. It takes time to get it right and it's a process that is constantly evolving because as you evolve as a business your brand will evolve as well. But it's always worth to take the time and really get those foundations in place so that you can build a business that truly aligns with who you are so that you can serve the people that you want to serve. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:24:12]:
I really hope you found this of value and of course please feel free to share it with anyone who you think will benefit from listening to today's episode. If you are feeling inspired and would like to know more about getting started with an online course or even just getting started online then go and join the Digital Creators Hub at www. pink-lemondigital.com/hub.. I will be back next week with another episode but until then have a great week. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the digitally she does it show. 

Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday. So, why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Thank you for tuning in today, and I will see you next time.