5 WAYS TO CREATE A POWERFUL AND IMPACTFUL BRAND

Branding is no longer a buzzword. It’s simply part of our everyday vocabulary. From company branding to personal branding, everyone is looking for that differentiating factor that will attract customers, build communities and turn clients into raving fans.

But what is branding?

According to the Business Dictionary, Branding is the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

If you go back in time, the term derives from the Old Norse word brandr or “to burn”. Branding was used to differentiate one person’s cattle from another’s by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal’s skin with a hot branding iron.

Truth is, in today’s world, you either take control of your brand or someone else does. If you don’t dictate the narrative, someone else will dictate it for you. It may not seem fair, but that’s how it is.

So you want to be in the driver seat on this one. This is not something you leave up to chance or to others to decide for you.

You need to come up with a crystal clear message and image.

But how do you create that powerful message, that symbol, in the minds of others – without having to burn anyone’s skin? That’s where the secret lies.

It’s not easy, I’ve failed many times myself, but with persistence, you can create a brand that is centered around you and will attract the right people to you.

It starts with you…

It may seem obvious but in my experience in working with business owners for the past twenty something years, it is worth repeating: your brand, and your business, starts with you.

There is no faking who you are, at least not for long.

So if you want to create a powerful and impactful brand, it needs to start with you:

your values,

what you believe in,

the vision you have for yourself and your company,

the impact you want to create,

the people who’s lives you want to improve,

the value you want to add…

To make it unique, it needs to start with you because there is no other you out there and there never will be. So use it to your advantage. Never try to be someone else or copy someone else’s message. It will come across as inauthentic and in today’s world, authenticity rules all.

5 ways to create a powerful and impactful brand

To help you get started on your brand, or to help you analyze your current brand, whether it’s your own personal brand or your company’s, here are 5 questions to ask yourself for you to create a powerful and impactful brand:

1. What values define you?

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: there is no substituting you! You are the foundation of your brand so you better get to know yourself if you want others to buy into you, your services and your products. Start by asking yourself these questions:

• what do I believe in?
• what are my values?
• what matters most to me?

Your values are what’s most important in the way you live and work.

They are the foundation of your priorities, and the measuring stick to all your decisions.

When the decisions you make and the services and products you offer match your values there is a sense of ease and flow. An alignment. But when you act out of alignment things will feel chaotic, unbalanced and flat out wrong. There is not substituting alignment, because there is no substituting your values.

If you’re having a hard time identifying your values, try these additional exercises:

• Think of 3 to 6 people you admire most and write down what it is you admire about them
• Think back of a time you did something you were very proud of and ask yourself what was it about that moment that made you proud
• Download a list of core values HERE and circle the top 10 that jump at you.

2. What vision do you have for yourself and/or your business?

A vision inspires you and gives your actions purpose.

It guides you and gives all of your efforts a deeper meaning. Coming to understand the why you do what you do connects you with your core values and aligns you with the deepest layer of who you are.

Your vision sets free your most profound desires, dreams and ambitions. Aligning your most sincere core values with the vision you have of your life and your business makes you unstoppable and allows you to overcome hurdles when the going gets tough.

Your vision is your compass. What guides you when you are tempted by too many options. It enables you to focus on what you should be doing to reach your short and long term goals be it in a year, five years or ten years from now.

To get a clear idea of what vision you have for yourself and your business, start by asking yourself these questions:

• what do I want to achieve?
• if I don’t achieve this, how will I feel?
• am I willing to take the necessary steps/actions to achieve this?
• what does success look like to you?
• what am I most passionate about/what brings me the most joy?
• am I willing to share my passion/joy with the world?

Clarifying your vision takes time and commitment. If you need help, reach out to me HERE.

3. What problem are you solving and why?

Understanding your mission is crucial to a powerful and impactful brand.

Your vision is about where you want to go, your mission is how you are taking the people you want to impact there. It’s what you do and how you do it.

In order to create a memorable brand, you have to stand for something that people want or crave and that something, most often then not, solves a problem your target audience has.

Solving an urgent problem by making something better or different gives people a reason to follow you, need you and buy from you.

Richard Branson didn’t create the first airline. But he created the first cool airline that gave people more leg room, offered better snacks, had friendlier staff. He created a brand that was based on a need in the market: people were craving a better airline experience and he delivered.

And people love him for it.

Your mission is about the problem you solve for the people you want to serve. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get your started on figuring out your mission:

• what are you really offering?
• why are you offering it?
• how do people feel when they buy from you or follow you?
• what worldview are you sharing with others?

4. Who are you talking to?

Wanting to talk to everyone is like talking to no-one. Because no one recognizes themselves in the masses. Everybody wants to feel unique and wants to be treated as such.

As marketing guru Seth Godin says in his book This is Marketing: As soon as you ask yourself about the change you seek to make, it becomes quite clear that you have no chance of changing everyone.[…] So you need to change someone.

Who you are, what you stand for, what you value and what you have to offer is not for everyone. You will never please everyone.

So start by pleasing the people you are called to please. The people whose lives and businesses you want to impact and make better.

Who are those people? Ask yourself:

• who do I want to serve and why?
• what worldviews does this group have?
• what are the likes and dislikes of this group?
• what are my competitors doing that I can do differently/better?

5. What’s your story?

It’s no secret that powerful brands are built on emotions. The emotions they make us feel when we interact or buy from a specific personal or company brand.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of Under Armour. Not because they make the best running shoes or the most fitting garment.

I’m a huge fan because I identify with their story. The emotions I feel when I wear UA.

Every morning I wake up at 4:30am to workout, a little part of me feels a connection to The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Misty Copeland: the discipline, drive and ambition they have and breathe into that brand.

It’s not about the apparel. It’s about how I feel when I wear the apparel.

THAT’S why I’m a loyal fan. It’s selfish. It’s all about how I feel.

And your brand needs to be about how you make others feel.

How do you get that emotional connection? With your values, your vision and… your story.

To get started on your story, ask yourself these questions:

• why do I feel a connection with the service/product I’m offering?
• what experiences, trials and turning points have shaped you?
• what transformation have I undergone that the people that follow me/buy from me will undergo as well?

When it’s all said and done…

Branding is an art and there are many branding experts out there but it all starts with you.

You need to have a good understanding of who you are, what you stand for, what vision you have for yourself and your business and what problem you solve.

That’s the foundation of a powerful and impactful brand.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and if it helped you in any way, consider signing up to our NEWSLETTER where we share business strategies, clarity insights, mindset hacks and personal development tools.

To your success,

Eloïse

P.S. I know what it feels like to want so much out of life and to run a business that has a positive and powerful impact on the world. I know what it’s like to read endless self-help sand business mastery books, looking for that edge that is going to calm the overwhelm and give direction to your life and your business.

I know how all of it feels like because I was stuck there for years. And so have all my clients.

Now don’t get me wrong. I LOVE self-help and business mastery books and still read them to this day. But now I know what I was missing that none of these books could give me and that is A CLEAR MISSION OF WHAT I WANT IN MY LIFE AND FOR MY LIFE.

It took me years and thousands of dollars spent on coaches, mentors, workshops and online courses to get to this point. And let’s not forget the two decades I spent travelling the world and working as an international corporate lawyer alongside top business leaders.

All of that got me to here. And HERE is to help you. Because my own mission is:

To inspire and lead others to find clarity and define their vision and purpose.

No matter what stage you are at in your life, finding your purpose and getting clear on your mission is the greatest gifts you can give yourself. It is what will bring you the greatest fulfilment. Not to mention, the greatest abundance.

Abundance, yes. When you are clear on what you want, you can focus all of your energy and your willpower on making it happen. Things start flowing, new opportunities are presented to you, ideal clients and partners and adventures are directed your way.

You may not understand how this is all happening and this is far from being “magic” or some woo woo concept. This is simply you getting clear on what you want and channeling your energy accordingly.

If you are looking for that transformation, if you have reached that point where you know there is more to get from your life and your business but you just don’t know how to get there, then I can help you.

I can guide you through the step by step process of getting clear on your mission and claiming your purpose.

This mentoring is tailored to you, your needs, your experiences and your desired outcomes. This is not some cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all kind of coaching. This is for those that are willing to put in the work to get more out life and their business: more money, more abundance, more joy, more freedom, more fulfilment.

If this sounds like you, if you are like all of my other succesful clients that came to me searching for something more and getting even more out of their life and business, then I urge you to CLICK HERE and get in touch with me directly. I will directly respond to your email. Not my assistant or another coach. I will personally assist you.

But let me make this clear for you, before you click that link. You are going to have to work for what you want. I am not the “cheerleader” type of coach. Yes I will support you 1000% but I will also call you out when you need it most.

Remember, this is about YOU. THIS IS ABOUT YOU GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR LIFE. In order to get you there, you will need to work through the process.

If you are ready then I can’t wait to work with you. CLICK HERE.