The Cult Leader's Guide To Brand Identity

Welcome to the?How To Start A Cult?newsletter for current and future Cult Leaders.

Subscribe to this newsletter and every week I deliver lessons to build on the 7 Cult Commandments to help you be bold, stand out and grow a cult following around your brand.

In this issue, I focus on the importance of saying "no" and how starting to say "no" can kickstart the change in your company. You think you may have heard this all before, but answer the final questions honestly. It's an eye-opener.

I also focus on the Cult Leader's Guide To Brand Identity and a quick checklist to run through to test whether your business or brand does genuinely stand out from the crowd. The question is how different from the rest of the market are you really?

I've had lots of interest in our future events, including the launch of the next Cult Builder Programme on 16 June 2022 and the one-of-a-kind event, Cult Live! 2022 in Autumn 2022. The full details for both are about a week away, so look out in the next issue.

And, as always, if you've not read the book and want to buy on Kindle or paperback, go to?www.howtostartacult.co.uk/book

Laters,

Jody

The Power of No

“No” is one of the most powerful words in the English language.

When you’re building a cult, “no” is going to become your best friend.

Because the flip side is that we say "yes" to everything.

We say yes to customers and clients whom we know we don’t really want to work with. We say yes because we think we need to. We think we need to say yes to every client or customer because we need the money. Or it seems counterintuitive to not say "yes" when we're looking to grow our business.

We say yes to projects even if they’re not 100% without our sphere of happiness for the same reason.

We say yes, yes, yes.

And every little yes takes a little further away from where we want to be.

We say yes until we end up with a business that is so far away from what we originally wanted that we barely recognise it.

Go back to the moment you set up your business or started your career or began doing what you do now.

Why did you do it?

What pushed you to do it?

What did you want?

More freedom?

More fulfilment?

More impact?

And – let’s not be too British about it here – was it more money?

Then what happened?

As your business grew and you expanded, new opportunities and possibilities arose. More people starting to lean on you. Asking you to do this or move a little way towards what they needed.

You were happy to oblige as the energy was moving in an upwards trajectory and everything was good.

But when the momentum slips and growth grinds to a halt and you look back down the mountain at where you’ve come and where you are now, you may not be in quite the position you hoped for.

Your clients and customers aren't quite as loyal as you hoped - in fact, they've always got one eye over your shoulder at alternatives or chipping away at price.

Your competition is still nipping at your heels or just as far in front of you - and they're still getting more attention, more visibility and proving a constant thorn in your side.

Your still not 100% on what you now stand for and your core message - and it shows in your ability to attract and retain talent, your ability to spread your message and gain attention.

That's why now is the time to revisit what you stand for, what you want and where you actually want to be.

It's never too late to start stopping say "yes" and start saying "no". It's not too late to get back to growth, kickstart your momentum and start something new.

Here are three questions for you to get started (answer these with brutal honesty):

• When was the last time you said no to a client or customer?
• When was the last time you chose not to work with someone?
• Or do you ALWAYS say 'yes'?

If everyone is your audience, it may be the thing that's holding you back from building the brand you really want. Let me know what you answered.

Want to know more? Get?the book here .

The Cult Leader’s Guide To Brand Identity

One of the core 7 Cult Commandments is not just being different, and celebrating your difference. But being different is often easier said than done.

In just a few minutes, I want to demonstrate that showing up in a different way doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, it can be incredibly simple and that should always be the place to start.

Being different and standing out isn’t just about one aspect of your cult, brand or whatever it is you’re looking to differentiate in a crowded environment. It's multi-faceted.

To really get this, you need to focus on engaging all the senses, in a rounded way of:

• Look different - how are you showing up visually?
• Sound different - what makes your voice distinctive?
• Act different - how do you interact with your audience and behave compared with other businesses/brands?
• Be different - what is the perceptible, genuine difference between what you’re saying and what everyone else is saying?

This is all about perception and how your audience perceives you. This is a common mistake made by businesses and brands. They boast a genuine, objective difference yet the market perceives them to be no different.

If you use the above list as a form of checklist, then you won’t fall into the same trap.

It works because that’s exactly what we did when we launched the Bad Boy Running podcast. And it’s exactly the same process I successfully use to help brands set themselves apart.

So let's look at what we did when we launched Bad Boy Running - you'll be shocked by how simple it was.

There was no long-winded process of selecting images, colours and tone. No workshops with lattes and beanbags (primarily because we didn't have the time and needed to get it done!). We just looked at what was there and ran through this checklist.

When it came to the look, this is the comparison we made.

We looked at what everyone else looked like. And make our look different. Not a pair of trainers to be seen on our logo!

As you can see, in a less crowded market this is a simpler exercise. As the market gets more competitive and saturated, you need to work on this in a deeper way.

It wasn't just about our logo. It was also about every piece of content we put out.

How we showed up was a very different vibe from other podcasts and running media...

This is not what running podcast hosts looked like back then.

And when it comes to sounding different, well, you just need to listen to a typical podcast to realise that there's a pretty big gap between what we offer and what other podcasts offer.

Since we started in 2015, a lot has changed. If we started again, the name, look and brand would be different, I'm sure. Fortunately, we've built sufficient brand awareness among our audiences to avoid shifting the brand too much - and hilariously, it's now a registered trademark.

However, being different is an ever-evolving, non-stop process that always needs to be on display to your audience. If you're not genuinely different, it's hard to maintain. Which is why you have to seriously consider whether building a cult and growing your following is the right path for you.

For most, it's not. Not really, when it comes down to it. Sometimes it feels a bit too bold, it feels like you're pushing too far. It's uncomfortable at the start... but when you push past that point, there's a whole world of belonging to discover. And that's how you set your cult up in the right way.

Be different. And celebrate it.

Want support growing your cult? Join the Cult Leaders Facebook group today and benefit from support, training and getting on the 'inside' when it comes to the latest programmes and events.

Join the?Cult Leader Facebook group right here .

Cult Builder Programme - starts 16 June 2022

Let us show you how to start and grow your own cult following in 2022 with the launch of the Cult Builder programme. Kicking off with a full day cult workshop on 16 June 2022 at a secret London location (a Holiday Inn, it will not be...), the programme offers nine months of fully supported coaching and resources to help establish and transform your brand to enjoy a cult following. Limited to only 12 businesses - 2 places already taken, 10 remaining.

Cult Live! Autumn 2022

Join me and a whole host of other cultists as we lead our enemies into a giant Wicker Man.. ahem, I mean gather to celebrate all things cult-building. Guest speakers, inspirational talks and the most fun you can have without feeling you've been indoctrinated and have given up any semblance of free will. You'll be there, I'm sure.

Click?here to join the early notification list.