Build Your Brand - 5 Day Challenge
BIG NEWS: Bridget Marie Images is hosted a 5-Day Challenge for business owners last week!!! It’s all broken down here in one cohesive blog for you to use as a tool and be able to easily come back to later.
It's time to get clear on your brand so you can be marketing with INTENTION...even on days you don't feel like it.
ARE YOU IN? There are three things to do each day that will build your brand and teach you how to market to your target audience. Three things. That’s it. You’ve got this shiznitt on lock!
Build Your Brand Challenge Day 1:
Find Your Why
1. Ask yourself, what made you start your business? What problem do you solve? Why do you want to do what you’re doing? (Ex: “I want to help moms feel confident homeschooling their kids.”)
2. Now that you have that answer… ask yourself WHY is that your why? Then once you have that answer, ask yourself WHY again. Really try to dig into an answer that resonates with you emotionally. Getting past ‘surface’ whys matter because it’s what’s going to keep you motivated when things in your business get hard. Take time on this – IT MATTERS. (Ex: “I want to help moms feel confident homeschooling their kids so they can feel like they have credible resources throughout their child’s schooling.” >>AGAIN>> “I want to help moms feel confident homeschooling their kids so they can feel like they have credible resources throughout their child’s schooling. Because I believe every child deserves a hands on education that is curated purposefully for them to achieve their highest potential.”)
3. Imagine the “big picture”. What is your ultimate goal in life? What is your purpose? Once you’ve written those down – ask yourself – does that align with WHY I’m starting my business? If so – you’ve just found out the WHY behind what you do.
BOOM BABY! You just took the first step to building your brand!
Let’s move on to step number 2… finding your ideal client. Cause – real talk – how will you sell anything if you don’t know who you’re selling to? Let’s get down to businass…
Build Your Brand Challenge Day 2:
Ideal Client
1. What problems do you solve for your customers? Once you know what problems you solve, you’ll have a better idea of who’s looking for solutions. Let’s say you sell hiking boots. You provide comfortable boots for people who are hiking in extreme conditions. This means you’re probably not looking to sell to someone who’s just strolling around their neighborhood. You want to sell to someone who’s a true outdoor lover.
2. Let’s dig deeper. What does your ideal client value in their life? How old are they? What kind of lifestyle do they have? What are their favorite things? Where do they hang out on a Saturday afternoon? What is their name? These kinds of questions start to build a clear picture of who your ideal client is. THIS is the person you should be connecting with.
3. Once you have a clear vision of who your ideal client is, you know what matters to them (Ex: Loyalty? Humor? Fun?) so you know how to talk to them. What people really want is to CONNECT. When you create a brand that is speaking to one very specific person – that person feels seen and will be loyal to your brand forever. If people feel like you’re talking to the masses – you won’t actually connect to anyone. There’s riches in niches, my friend. Find your niche. Find your ideal client. Then sit down, and have a conversation with them.
I know this piece of building a brand can feel weird to work through, but it’s really important to be SUPER clear about who you want to work with. Attracting the right clients will make ALL the difference in your business because you will have a true connection with them – rather than throwing anything against the wall and hoping it sticks… let’s do business with INTENTION. Get to know your made-up-but-totally-real ideal client! You can do this – it’ll be fun!
OOH baby! We’re cookin’ now! Day 3 is all about your brand color, font, and logo!
Build Your Brand Challenge Day 3:
Color. Font. Logo
1. Your brand colors, fonts and logo should be cohesive with your brand vibe. Find out what colors MEAN, how do they make you FEEL? What fonts speak to your brand personality? Strong, rigid, and bold. Or script, loose, and fun? Keep it simple. Only have 2-3 brand colors, and 2-3 fonts to use consistently in your marketing materials. I suggest making Pinterest boards for inspiration to find what you like. Your logo should be easy to recognize and also congruent with your brand vibe. Here’s a good resource to learn about color psychology. https://thelogocompany.net/blog/infographics/psychology-color-logo-design/
2. Now that you’ve chosen your colors, fonts, and logo - do they excite YOU? You want to be sure all of these aspects are in alignment with each other. Your energy around your brand will resonate with your clients and make their experience with you feel more genuine.
3. Now – put them ALL together! Use your brand colors, fonts, and logo on your website, social media, marketing materials, and photos! They should be throughout all of your marketing and imagery. It’s so important to have a congruent, visual presence so that you start to create brand recognition with your audience. Your business will begin to have a “style” and “vibe” that people will instantly recognize visually.
When you create these things to be congruent you start to build a brand personality. You’re now taking your WHY and your ideal client and putting a strong visual component with it. You’re giving yourself a unique look, so you can better stand out in our overly-saturated visual world.
I’m so proud of you! You’re half way done with the challenge! Now it’s time to focus on your client experience - a HUGE part of your brand!
Build Your Brand Challenge Day 4:
Client Experience
1. Have you experienced your process from the view of your client? If not I HIGHLY suggest you go through beginning to end of your sales process. Whether that be online or in-person. See where there’s hiccups, vague messaging, or questions. Have a close friend or colleague go through it as well so you have a pair of fresh eyes on it. This will help work out a lot of the kinks that can arise in a customer experience.
2. Once you have your process smooth and ready to go – be CONSISTENT. Give GREAT customer service for every single client. Don’t get so focused on booking your next client that you forget to treat your current clients awesome.
3. But most of all… SHOW UP. It doesn’t help to have a wonderful customer experience if your clients don’t know you exists. Keep giving 100% to every lead, every social media post, every webinar, every email, every day and you will see results. Show up, Glow up baby.
“89% of consumers have switched to doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience.” - Harris Interactive. If that statistic doesn’t motivate you to create an INCREDIBLE customer experience – I don’t know what will. Take time on this, and test it out. See what can be improved and what you’re doing RIGHT so you can keep doing it!
HELL YEAH BABY!!!! You made it to day 5!!!! Everything is finally coming together! The last piece is how to communicate your brand with visuals and copy.
Build Your Brand Challenge Day 5:
Visuals & Copy
1. Now that you have built your brand – it’s time to give it a visual presence. Your photographs can really help enhance all of the underlying work you’ve done the last 4 days. Your images should tell stories about who you are as a business. They should provoke emotion and appeal to your ideal customer. I would highly recommend booking a branding photography session to map out a full photo shoot dedicated to visually bringing your brand to life.
2. Your “copy” – aka your text – is what will go along with your imagery to communicate your brand. Work on your messaging. How will you speak to your ideal client in your blogs, social media posts, or marketing materials? Go back to your ideal client profile and really try to craft messaging that resonates with them.
3. Your WHY, your ideal client, your colors, fonts and logo, your photographs and your messaging all make up your brand. All of those things together are what make you unique. They’re what make your brand like no one else’s.
I’m so proud of you for making it through all 5 days of this challenge! Now that you’re clear on ALL aspects of your brand I can’t wait to see your business grow! You know you’re on the right path – now just keep walking towards your big, dreamy goals! Throw your fist in the air like Judd Nelson and walk off the field with PRIDE!