When I first started my business, I had no idea how important it was to have an established brand.
Naturally I started looking around at what everyone else was doing and tried to recreate something myself. I had no idea what I was really doing.
And this is why I have said over and over that I really understand the struggle of trying to create a brand for yourself.
I had to go through that experience before I was able to learn, implement and teach a no fluff branding process.
Luckily, I was receiving clients through referrals or else I’m not really sure how my business would have survived. It was that serious. I had no strategy, no plan, no brand and the biggest case of website shame ever.
Imagine that – a website designer who couldn’t manage to design their own site. Yikes.
When you don’t have a brand you can sit and stare at the blank screen for hours unsure what to write to share on social media, blog posts, services/products or even page copy.
Because you have no idea what to create, you just kind of aimlessly explore the internet looking for answers and someone who might actually hire you.
And then you can try to convince them that you are professional and you are worth the money that you are attempting to charge.
But let’s face it when you have website shame you undercharge every single time. The confidence is gone and you are just happy someone might be willing to pay you.
And when you do not market yourself or connect with other people, you cannot sell your services or your products.
And when you do not sell your services or products your business cannot sustain for too long.
This is not a hobby for you. I know that you are serious about this business. You’re trying to make it work even spending hours online doing everything that you can think of.
If only people could see how great you are.
If only you could show them that you are worth it and that you will give them the best service or product.
The problem is having website shame or no brand actually hurts you in so many ways.
Just think about it, when you visit someone’s website you are checking them out. Checking to see if their website looks as good as they sound.
And if their website is not as good as you expected you might not be convinced that they are the right person to help you even if they have all of the qualifications.
You need to be clear on who you’re speaking to, who you are serving, and what you are delivering. Combine that with a brand and website that you are proud of and you are going to get more clients.
This is why I say it is essential to your success.
Sometimes when we create a new business, we have a short or specific amount of time to make it happen.
So that is when the hustle kicks in and you’re working on your business like crazy, trying to prove that you can make it happen. Maybe you are spending all of your time on social media and going to different networking events.
Basically, you’re trying to do all of the things because you think that missing that one thing could mean a missed opportunity.
If you want to record videos everyday, record videos everyday.
If you want to write everyday, write something everyday.
If you want to create images everyday, create away.
Just do that thing, wherever you think your target audience is and do it every day.
You may have noticed that I have changed my emailing schedule. It helps me to stay accountable to you and to serve you in a way that I have never done before.
But what should you do?
The best approach for you to design a strong business is simple.
- Create a strong brand and website that you are proud of that truly serves your ideal clients.
- Figure out how to best connect with them doing the things that you love using an actual strategy mixed with marketing tactics.
- Develop a customer experience that keeps people coming back, sending referrals and asking for more.
But most of all – do what you love, do it consistently, and do it well.
