Hello, kindred spirit!
I hope you are having a beautiful day. I’m Tricia, your sensitive and creative business coach and I am so glad you’re here, thank you for joining me. If you’re doing the dishes, or going for a walk, or driving, or getting some busy work done, I see you and I’m so, so grateful that you decided to spend some of your precious time here with me today.
On Monday we released the interview episode of the season, I interviewed one of my absolute favorite people to talk to and learn from, Katie Miles, who’s a licensed therapist and who owns her own practice Katie Talks Therapy and is the co-founder of the app Habitbetter. I’ve heard so many amazing things about our conversation all about finding balance between your business and your life, so make sure to go back and check that out if you missed it.
Today we’re talking about finding your space in the business world. Also known as branding, which is my specialty. The reason I love doing branding SO MUCH is because it takes all of the ideas and thoughts you have about your business and focuses them.
I've learned over time that a lot of small business owners don't really know what branding is. It seems like something that you do when you hit a certain level, something that only huge companies do. You hit a certain sales goal and all of a sudden you call in a fancy-schmancy branding consultant who will tell you exactly what your business should look like and give you perfect design for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When most small business owners think about branding they think about a logo and design and the visuals of your business. But branding is so much more than that.
It’s your story
Your mission and values
What you stand for
Who you work with
The way you serve your customers
Branding is the way that you focus your business and make it specific.
One of my favorite ways to help you visualize this is with an exercise that I developed called the HEY YOU test: If you hear, “Hey you!” from across the street, what are the odds that you’ll turn around? Pretty slim, right? What if you hear, “Hey blonde lady struggling with that laptop bag and stroller!”? (Or you know, whatever describes you, not me.) You’re going to turn around this time- they’re talking right at you!
This is the same with your brand! If you're not talking to someone specific then no one will notice.
Would you be here today if I had titled this podcast some thing like hard-core business facts or hustle and grind? Maybe not. You're probably here because you identify with my overarching message that it's not business it's personal. That we shouldn't have to change who we are to be successful in business. That our businesses can work for us as sensitive and creative. Or maybe you're here because you know me and you've been following me and you resonate with my Contant or with who I am as a person. That's also branding!
A podcast called Hard Core Business Facts could still attract an audience, but it may be a very different audience. It may not be you.
Even Amazon got its start as a book website. Purely selling books to book lovers.
That’s branding.
So this may all sound well and good in theory, but part of that means that you’re going to leave people out. And that can be really hard for us as sensitives! The idea that we’re not for everyone can be a hard pill to swallow.
Which makes it really hard to make decisions for our business!
So to elaborate on this further, I’d like to read you a piece I wrote, aptly titled
Branding.
I used to think that
I had to be for everyone.
If something felt like me
but someone came along and
didn’t like it
I should change it.
Because everyone should like it.
Everyone should like me.
Don’t be subversive.
Don’t be too different.
Don’t rock the boat.
Don’t turn people off.
Living in likable purgatory.
Stuck in generic and plain and bland.
Constantly questioning myself.
Never knowing what to say.
Until one day I woke up and realized
That people still didn’t like me
no matter how hard I tried.
That I didn’t like most of them
and only wanted to spend time with a select few anyway.
That in my search for
general likability
I wasn’t making a single bit of
impact or difference.
Now I’m asking different questions.
Instead of
Do they like me?
Now it’s
Do they get me?
Instead of
Who will notice?
Now it’s
Who will connect?
Instead of
Who will like this?
Now it’s
Who will be transformed by this?
Not everyone should like it.
Not everyone should like me.
Be subversive.
Be too different.
Rock the boat.
Turn people off.
Those that stay are your people.
You don’t need all the people.
Just your people.
Going deeper with the few that get it
Is 1000x more fulfilling than
Staying general and hoping the many will notice.
Get out of likable purgatory.
Go for impact and specificity and connection.
No longer constantly questioning yourself.
Always knowing what to say.
What do you think of that piece? Is that a new way of looking at branding for you?
There’s a musical that I love called [title of show] and it’s a musical about the process of 2 guys writing a musical. They break down their writing process, the emotional ups and downs of creating, and finally put their very niche, small musical out there. The show culminates in a song that goes:
“I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing, than 100 people’s 9th favorite thing. Nine people’s favorite thing, than 100 people’s 9th favorite thing.”
The point of building a brand is to get really, really good at serving, connecting with, and attracting those 9 people. Building your superfans.
Everything you create for your business is part of your brand.
For every person you turn away, your making room for a super fan to find you.
They’re going to click on your content because they truly identify.
They’re going to listen to what you have to say, because you’re speaking right to them.
They’re going to purchase from you and work with you, because you’re an expert in what they’re going through.
In the way that you found this podcast with it’s message for sensitive and creative small business owners, others will find your business because they deeply connect with your message.
So this week I want to encourage you to start really thinking about your superfans. Those 9 people.
Your action item this week (remember I give you an action item with every episode so that it’s not just in theory, you’re actually putting this in practice, I’m a business coach first) is to
Take your journal or open a blank document on your computer and do a stream of consciousness of everything you know about your top customers, or the specific people you’d like to be your top customers. Who are they? What are they struggling with right now? What do they dream about? What do they do for work? What do they do for fun?
Now, every time you’re working on something for your business, whether your creating a new offer or planning out your marketing, read this paragraph first. Be reminded that that this is who you’re creating for. This is who you’re connect with. These are your people.
I hope this gives you something to think about for the next few days until the next episode! In episode 6 I’ll be doing my first real coaching exercise with you all about building a business you LOVE. Sometimes we get lost in the rigamarole and day to day of our businesses, and start responding to the needs of everyone else, that we start to lose the joy and impact. So next episode will be all about bringing that back for you.
I would love to know what you think about the show! If this episode spoke to you, it would mean so much to me if you subscribed to the podcast and wrote a review!
I wanted to feature another podcast review, there are a few now which is so exciting.
This is by Stephanie, and she titled her review: Already want to hear more!
Stephanie says…
Ahh thank you Stephanie! I can’t thank you enough for listening and for taking the time to write a review. I hope y’all know that when you take a minute to support the podcast, I absolutely notice and you, know, cry a little. It’s not business, it’s personal!
I’d love to connect with you even more, so please find me on Instagram. I’m @tricia.chinnici (you can get the spelling of my name from the podcast description.)
Thank you so much for joining me this week and listening through my story! I can’t even tell you how much it means to me that you’re here.
Have a beautiful week, my kindred spirit.
Stay sensitive.
Stay creative.
Stay you.
Talk to you soon.
ACTION ITEM
Your action item this week (remember I give you an action item with every episode so that it’s not just in theory, you’re actually putting this in practice, I’m a business coach first) is to:
Write a paragraph about what you do, from this new perspective of service.
Write about your business describing who you serve, how you serve them well, and how their life changes from working with you. Bonus points if you’re able to write it in *their* language instead of yours.
That’s it! One paragraph. Now you have a beautiful new description of your business that you can use anywhere you need it! Social media, sales calls, your website, the sky is the limit.
And remember: Selling will get easier and easier as you practice.
So I hope this gives you a lot to think about for the next few days until our next episode! Next week I’ll really be diving into my personal story and so I really hope you’ll listen in.
And if you missed episode 1, make sure and go back, I’ve gotten an amazing response about it so far and it is all about the concept of courage and making brave decisions and living a brave life.
I’d love to connect with you even more, so please find me on Instagram.
And if you loved this episode, it would mean so much to me if you wrote a review and shared about it! New podcasts get ranked higher with more listens and reviews, so if you are able to spare 3 minutes it would absolutely mean the world to me.
Have a beautiful week, my kindred spirit.