6 Steps to Bring Your Brand to Life (Step 1)

My last post introduced my 6 steps. Today, we start with step 1.

What is step 1 to creating a great brand for your business? One that clearly shows what you do and why you do it, speaks to your ideal customer, and helps you bring in business?

I think branding is your most important asset. So, creating an effective brand should be your first priority.

In fact to create a great marketing system—one that grows your business—you must start with a focused brand message that truly reflects your business.

To start, I’ll describe a typical scenario.

I’ve been running a marketing business for 20 years and, almost always, the start of each project brings the following…

A client wants a new website but can’t articulate the main goals of the site. They want to start blogging but have no core reason for doing so. And they see no problem with using their current copy, which is often too wordy, too stale, and doesn’t speak to the right audience.

And, here’s the big one, about 99% of the time, they have never worked on the core elements that clearly define their brand.

I’ve bolded “clearly” for a reason, because step 1 is being 100% clear on what your brand is. Without this clarity, steps 2-6 are a waste of time.

So, what is step 1 to bringing your brand to life?

Step 1 is Clarifying your Brand’s Mission—What is your Focus?

Before I go any further, I want to let you know I’ve created a worksheet so you can easily follow along with this series:

For the worksheet, go to our 6 Steps to Bring Your Brand to Life Worksheets and click on “1–Brand Clarity Worksheet”.

Now, let’s get rolling, shall we?

Let’s get back to your brand…

Business owners often fail to build effective marketing because they lack one thing—brand clarity.

They either jump in before they are clear on what they want to build and/or they are soon overwhelmed with a variety of tips, tricks, and strategies.

To be 100% clear about your brand, you MUST have focus.

To develop marketing that grows your business you must have focus.

To develop a marketing system that continuously works you must have a strategy before tactics mindset.

Let’s assume you’ve decided to start a business and you go on this all-so-typical aspiring entrepreneurial journey…

You’ve made up your mind. You’re going to build a business. You’re now too excited to sleep. You know you need a new logo, website, and marketing to bring in customers.

It’s intoxicating at first. So many ways to grow a client list, make money, and scale the business.

But before you’ve clearly defined your brand, you’re soon distracted by an ocean of marketing tactics…

Launching a new website as quickly as possible, and learning all you can about things like social media, blogging, SEO, advertising, etc.

You’re soon overwhelmed, confused, and have zero idea of where to start with your marketing.

Your initial enthusiasm has turned into a hot mess. And worst of all, nothing is happening.

You, my friend, are not alone.

Remember, branding is your most important asset.

And, as your most important asset, there is one essential ingredient that is a must—Clarity.

To have Brand Clarity you need laser-like focus at the beginning.

If you’re anything like me, your goal is to create an online presence built to bring in ideal customers.

But your marketing efforts thus far have kind of stalled.

If this is the case, I’m thinking a lack of focus is the culprit.

So today, your exercise is simple:

Focus on exactly how you want people to see your brand.

Think about clarity, because—and I can’t emphasize this enough—it’s the most overlooked element of brand-building.

Look at your current brand and answer these questions…

Would someone viewing your website understand what you do and why you do it? Does it inspire action? Could they define what you provide in a few words?

Is it clear who you are talking to? What you will do for them? And what their next step should be?

If not, your brand needs clarity.

So, today’s exercise is simple. Using as few words as you can (25 words or less), define your brand.

Here are some examples:

For upscale American families, Volvo is the family automobile that offers maximum safety.

We’re a web design studio specializing in beautiful, results-getting websites built for Austin-area professional services firms.

I work directly with small business owners to help them acquire their ideal clients.

These could have been:

We build quality cars, have a long history, and safety is always our number one priority.

We’re a design firm creating logos, websites, and we provide every creative service under the sun for Austin-area companies.

I consult with aspiring entrepreneurs and help them design a business to get results.

You see what I’m saying? The first group has clarity. The second group doesn’t.

So today, focus on your brand and do this one thing. That is all.

Download my Brand Clarity Worksheet and focus on defining your brand, using as few words as you can (25 words or less).

For the worksheet, go to our 6 Steps to Bring Your Brand to Life Worksheets and click on “1–Brand Clarity Worksheet”.

Next week, we’ll get busy. But first, do this exercise and gain brand clarity.

Here is a link to my introduction of this series.

Do you want to bring your brand to life? Taking a few minutes to complete our brand audit will help you think about your current marketing efforts and what might need to change. It will also help me suggest several ways to improve your branding and marketing now: Brand audit. 

After you complete the form, we’ll contact you to schedule a time to go over the results and see how we can help.

If you are interested in learning more about our branding and marketing process, sign up for my email list below.