How Personal Branding Can Boost Your Business

You ARE Your Shop Window?

“CLOTHES CHANGE OUR VIEW OF THE WORLD AND THE WORLD’S VIEW OF US” Virginia Woolf?

You know how when you put on an outfit that makes you feel a million dollars, you leave the house that day walking taller...?

You have an air of confidence about you. Things that might usually bother you seem trivial. You are in your power.?

Counter that with pulling on any old random things and looking as if you’re dressed fresh out of the PE lost property box. I expect your mood would possibly be quite different that day.?

I’m not suggesting that you need to be in your Sunday best every day, but I do genuinely believe that how you look on the outside can affect how you feel on the inside and vice versa.?

You Are a Walking Advert for YOUR Personal Brand?

So, let’s think about that in a business context. As a ‘solopreneur’ woman in business, you ARE a walking advert for your personal brand. How you present yourself across the board is relevant to how you are perceived by your ideal clients. This includes how you look and sound as well as your visual communication. Your headshots, social media graphics, website, etc. are your shop window. You can optimise these elements to magnetically attract your ideal clients.?

‘But I never judge a book by its cover Lisa.’ I hear you cry. ‘I like to get to know who people are on the inside.’?

Controversial statement warning - You might like to think that you’re not making judgements based on ‘external packaging’, but you are. Shock horror so are your potential clients.?

These judgements might be being made subconsciously, but you are taking in information and creating an opinion about whether you are attracted to something, based on your perception. First impressions are important in the decision-making process.?

Get your personal branding just right and it will also put off the ‘less than ideal’ clients in a kind of self-selecting way.?

For example, this is exactly what I’ve done with some of the terminology and acronyms I use in my business:?

• the FAB Network - female authentic ballsy?
• WTF - wardrobe that’s fabulous?
• FFS - figure flattering styling?
• BS - body shape?

They give off the impression that I might be a bit cheeky, possibly a bit sweary, which I am. Don’t get me wrong I’m not effing and jeffing every other word but if you’re going to clutch your pearls at the sound of an F bomb then we’re not going to be a good fit.?

Personal Branding is Win, Win?

When you are feeling 100% comfortable in your own skin, and this is backed up by personal branding that is truly aligned AND authentically tells the world who you are, it’s a win, win.?

Your potential clients ‘get you’, they feel connected to you. There are no surprises when they actually meet you for the discovery call on Zoom. You already have rapport because they feel like they know you. Converting them becomes easy, it’s just a matter of which package, they already trust you and know you’ll deliver.?

Everything falls into place with ease.?

To help my group coaching clients with their personal branding I have a new product launching January 2023.?

The Business Brand Booster is going to sit alongside the work on personal style and image. The focus being on helping clients establish both elements of personal and business branding, so that they are truly aligned and cohesively reflecting them as their personal brand. It’s about developing your brand ‘vibe’ so you stand out from the crowd and accelerate the know, like, trust factor which ultimately leads to more sales. This is because you’re representing YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS authentically AND in the best possible way.?

Here’s an overview of the 4 modules that will be added into the silver level of the FAB Network membership. It’s going to be self-study modules supported by fortnightly group coaching.?

1: POSITIONING – Defining/refining who you want to serve, how you want to do that and what your message is, so that your clients see the benefit of working with you. This module will help you get clarity on what you want to communicate.?

2: PERSONAL BRAND VIBE – Defining/refining the aesthetic elements of your branding. Pulling them together into concepts/mood boards that generate the feeling you want to evoke by the way you visually communicate. This module will help you get clarity on how you want to communicate.?

3: PHOTOS - Defining/refining what type of photos you need for your branding. Pictures paint a thousand words; they are a form of shorthand to communicate who you are and what you’re about. This module will help you get clarity on how you want to communicate?

4: PRESENTING- Defining/refining how to implement your on-brand messaging to showcase you, your skills and expertise with confidence. This module will help you get clarity on what and how you want to communicate.?

It’s the kind of work I’ve only really done with my 1:1 clients before, but knowing how much difference it can make, I want to be able to offer it more widely so have decided to guide you through the process.?

Personal Brand Guidelines?

Here’s a transcript of a client’s response when I asked them about the transformational benefits they’d seen since we worked together on their personal branding.?

“A huge chunk of the ‘will I be good enough’ has gone. I have some brain space back and that anxiety has been removed. I now have failsafe methods to use, and I know that by following my personal brand guidelines I’m saying the right things that are aligned with who I am, and how I work these days.?

The biggest difference is that when I’m approached by clients, they already get me. They’re attracted by my vibe. They comment on photos I’ve used on my website and behave as if they already know, like and trust me despite there being no conversation previously. They perceive they have connected with me already. My outgoing communication appears to the world. Before working this through, my communication was not aligned, or I was not communicating well. These days there are never any surprises. They get my quirky, creative, wacky personality, which is exactly why they want me.?

My brand has been amplified. It’s like loudspeakers over the tannoy! I’m no longer forever fiddling with my website trying to make it look better or thinking what I should do next on my business card. I’ve got hex codes, so I know exactly which colours to use. It's like a Be More You kit. I’m not building or creating from scratch, but I have a sense of ease, comfort and security with a rinse and repeat formula.?

It always feels right. My branding now is fundamentally about me and who I am. I am no longer flitting from flavour of the month with a relaunch all the time. The work is sustainable. Once the work is done it's who you are and how you should be. It's timeless. The biggest joy is that it's the essence of me. The final piece of the jigsaw. Before doing this work, I was forever remodelling and re launching with new logos and catchphrases, constantly reinventing.?

My personal branding is now the essence of me. I have trusted principles that I know work and fit. There are no surprises to existing customers and how businesses see me. It’s boosted money in the bank. People filter themselves. There are no awkward conversations to persuade people that I’m what their company needs as they’ve already opted out. The right people have already opted in, they’re up for it. They value me more, they pay me more, they treat me like a VIP when I turn up. The whole experience of getting my personal brand sorted has made gaining good relationships easier by creating friendly conversations. It’s given my business a head start when it comes to being booked.”?

Business Brand Booster Online Course?

If any of this resonates with you and you’d like to get your personal brand sorted so that you’re boosting your bottom line in 2023, message me and say, ‘BBB for 2023’. I’ll make sure you’re the first to hear about the launch.?

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