Going Solopreneur

There are many businesses out there screaming and shouting for your customer’s attention. Your brand needs to stand out in a sea of noise, but screaming louder is not the solution. Instead, you need to show the world that you have something unique to offer, something that only you can give them.

Give people a reason to care

To build a successful and sustainable brand, you have to be able to offer something new, exciting, unique, or different. You can’t expect to grow your business if what you’re offering is just like everyone else in your industry. You’re not setting yourself up for success by doing what all your competitors are doing. You need to give people a reason to care about you and a reason to pick you. You have to do something no one else is doing.

Pilates for Runners

For example, there are a lot of Pilates instructors out there. So when my wife wanted to open a Pilates studio, she looked around at what everyone else was doing and decided that to stand out, she had to do something radically different. She chose to be the only Pilates studio in Cincinnati for runners. She named her studio Pilates for Runners, and all of her classes were designed to help people become stronger and more efficient runners.

By offering something that no one else was doing, her brand stood out in the crowded Pilates space. She didn’t have to shout louder than everyone else; she just had to have this one thing that she could claim that no one else could. She was the only Pilates studio just for runners.

One easy way to stand out in a sea of noise

One easy way to make your brand stand out in a sea of noise is to create an onliness statement. Your onliness statement is a short but powerful brand asset. It is a statement of something that you do that no one else can claim. To create your onliness statement, fill in the blanks:

I am the only _______________ that _______________.

The first blank is your category (yoga instructor, pie shop, graphic artist). The second blank is your radical differentiator, the one thing that you do (or the way you do it) that no one else can claim.

If you can’t come up with one unique thing you do, it’s time to do a little research on your competitors. List everyone who can make the same claim and then start positioning yourself away from them.

Why this little statement is so powerful

* It forces you to differentiate. If you can’t think of something that only you can claim, then you might have to adjust your business strategy until you can.

* It sets you apart. It’s a simple statement, but it clearly defines how your brand isn’t like all the others. It makes you stand out amongst all the noise, without shouting louder.

* It shows people that they get something unique from you. It could be a particular product or service, or a different approach to the work. Your onliness statement makes it very clear that only you can give them this thing in this way.

* It gives people a reason to believe in you. People know when you’re doing things like everyone else, and frankly, they won’t care. Your onliness statement gives them something to care about. People go out of their way to choose the things they care about.

Once you’ve come up with your onliness statement, start using it everywhere. Put it on your website, share it on your social media posts. Start showing people that you’re not like everyone else, that your brand is unique, and they’ll start choosing you more often.

Your call to action today is to create your onliness statement. After you do, feel free share it in the comments below or in our Facebook Group. It would be fun to see what you come up with!

When your brand personality doesn’t match who you are as a person, it can create a disconnected, inauthentic experience for your customers. This is especially true if you are an entrepreneur since you are the heart and soul of your brand. Your goal is to create a more authentic brand personality.

During a recent talk I was giving on brand personality, I was asked a couple of good questions: “How much of my personality should be my brand’s personality? Should I try to come up with a different personality for my brand, or should I just be myself and let my own personality come through in my brand?”

First, let’s get on the same page about what your brand personality is. Your brand personality is the look, feel, and sound of your brand. It’s how you come across to your audience. Much like your own personality makes you more interesting as a person, your brand personality makes your business more interesting. A well-defined personality makes your brand feel more human and more authentic.

Your brand personality should not create dissonance

The problem is that most people choose a personality for their brand based on what they think people want, rather than using their own unique personality. For a solo entrepreneur, this can create dissonance. Because you, along with your amazing personality, are the heart and soul of your brand.

When you apply a personality to your brand that’s not your own, you lose your individuality and often end up looking and sounding like everyone else. Most importantly, your brand personality doesn’t feel authentic to you or to your customers.

Instead, you should try to incorporate your own personality into your brand as much as possible. Here are a few reasons why:

* It’s a great way for your brand to stand out. You already are a unique individual, when you use your own personality in your brand you are automatically different from everyone else.

* It’s easier to convey. It’s much easier to communicate your own personality because it’s YOU! You’ve been honing your personality your whole life!

* You’re more relatable. People relate to real people, so when your brand feels like a real person you create better connections and build stronger relationships.

* It feels authentic. When your brand personality is a reflection of who you are as a person, it feels more natural, more comfortable, and more authentic.

When you are the face of your brand

Using your own personality is pretty obvious when you’re the face and voice of your brand. If you are a wellness consultant, Pilates instructor, or gym owner your entire business is based around you. People aren’t buying a widget, they are buying you. You are the brand.

A good example of this is a gym owner I came across recently on Instagram:

I saw @abbott.the.red flip the camera off mid sled push, so I flipped the camera off mid sled push. #ShesTheCoolest #NoFucks ????: @ericalivoti

A post shared by Krissy Mae Cagney (@krissymaecagney) on Jul 22, 2017 at 8:12am PDT

Krissy Mae Cagney owns Black Iron Gym. She is the brand. Without a doubt, her personality is the personality of her brand. She is rebellious, wild, and free-spirited, and so is her brand. Her personality is her brand’s personality.

Understanding your customer’s problems and how you help solve them is one of the most important factors in building a successful brand. You have to be able to show your customers that you get where they’re coming from, that you understand their pain, and that you have something to offer that will help them.

You may be selling a great product, but if people don’t understand that it helps them solve a real problem, they won’t feel a compelling need for it. They might just buy from your competitor, who more clearly lays out the problems.

Here’s the deal: The more precisely you can articulate your customer’s problems, the more likely they are to see you as the solution. When they see you as the solution, they’ll choose you over the competition every time.

What we mean by “problems”

Your customers most likely have different kinds of problems. Some are pretty obvious, while others might require a little digging to uncover. To get a feel for the different types of problems to look for, have a look at some examples of problems and solutions from a few different industries:

Basement Waterproofing

Problem: You have a wet basement. Every time it rains, water pours into your basement, and it floods. You desperately need a dry basement.

Solution: You hire a basement waterproofing company. They do one thing, and they do it extremely well – they guarantee a dry basement.

Online Retail

Problem: Buying shoes online is a stressful, time-consuming process. You love the convenience of shopping for shoes online, but returns are such a hassle. You need to be able to try on a few pairs before you purchase.

Solution: Zappos.com. They offer fast, free shipping both ways, a no-questions-asked return policy, and outstanding customer service.

Niche Food Products

Problem: You crave a big juicy burger, but you know how bad they are for your health. You also know how the big meat industry is destroying the environment.

Solution: Beyond Meat makes a plant-based burger that looks and tastes just like a meat burger, but with zero cholesterol and half the saturated fat. Your craving is satisfied, and you feel good about doing your part to help the environment.

How to find your customer’s problems

The easiest way to figure out your customer’s problems is to ask them. You can ask them individually, or create a short survey and send it out. Whether you have a casual one-on-one conversation, a formal interview, or create a survey, the key to getting your customers to open up is to ask the right kinds of questions.

There are two types of questions you can ask your customers that will get them to reveal their deeper, more meaningful problems, and give you insight into how you can help them:

* Open-ended questions

* The 5 Whys

Open-ended questions vs. leading questions

Leading questions are those types of questions that you already know the answer to; you are just looking for validation. Leading questions often only require a simple “yes” or “no” response. These types of questions will not provide many insights into your customer’s underlying problems.

Examples of leading questions:

* “How frustrating is it to have a flooded basement?”

* “Is finishing your basement important to you?”

* “Wouldn’t it be great to have a dry basement?”

All three of these questions will only generate surface-level answers. The customer feels forced into a specific response, and no new insights are learned.

When asking your customers about problems, always ask open-ended questions. Open-ended questions give your customers the opportunity to share whatever is on thei...

The ultimate goal of all marketing is to get people to know, like, and trust you. Once you’ve gained your audience’s trust, they can become customers for life. The problem is, it takes time to build trust, it doesn’t happen overnight. Use a brand champion to help you build trust and credibility more quickly.

How brand champions help you build trust and credibility

If you want to start building trust and credibility a little faster, a great way to do that is to partner up with a brand champion. A brand champion is someone who has a well-established following; they are already known, liked, and trusted by a large audience.

Think of a brand champion like a celebrity who endorses a product or a political candidate. Your brand champion can use their influence to help you build trust and credibility more quickly and on a much larger scale.

Here are three powerful ways brand champions quickly help you build trust and credibility:

1. They create brand awareness

Brand champions can quickly help build awareness of your brand by exposing you to their extensive networks. These days it’s tough to reach large audiences without coming across a little spammy. So having a brand champion creating content and sharing it with their followers is a powerful way to build brand awareness.

They could write blog posts, create videos, interview you for a podcast, write product reviews, provide testimonials, and regularly post about your brand on social media. This kind of high-quality brand awareness is usually very hard to come by.

2. They are expert communicators

An influential brand champion has already figured out how to communicate effectively to their target market. They can use those same communication skills as they advocate for your brand. Their audience should be able to understand your brand’s vision and your core message pretty effortlessly.

Once their target market is on board with your who you are as a brand, it will be easier for you to engage and connect with them.

3. They drive sales

Brand champions can also use their influence to sell your products or services for you. Since they already have a large and engaged audience, they can quickly create some buzz around a new product or service. Their endorsement will turn browsers into buyers quicker and easier than you could do on your own.

Affiliate programs are a great example of this. You pay a commission for every sale they make for you. Since they are making money too, they are highly motivated to sell more. It’s a win-win relationship.

Keys to successful brand champion relationships

* Look for people with large numbers of followers on social media, well-established blogs, or large personal networks.

* Be sure your brand champion’s target market is similar to yours. Your message will be more effective if it’s in front of a similar audience.

* Make sure roles are clearly defined. Be open and honest about what you expect from them. If you’re exchanging money, be sure to get everything in writing.

* Reciprocate! You may not have as much influence, but you can act as their brand champion as well.

Partnering up with a brand champion is a quick and powerful way to get people to know, like, and trust your brand.

Have you ever used a brand champion? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

Sometimes you think you don’t have what it takes to accomplish your goals. But armed with the right attitude and the right approach, you can do big things, things that are WAY outside your comfort zone. Like running 100 miles.

In September of 2017, I ran my first 100-mile trail race. Let’s just let that sink in for a minute.

100 miles. Running.

You might be thinking I’m crazy, and I might be, but know that I didn’t just start running two weeks ago and think “Hey, now that I’ve run my first 5k maybe now I should try a 100-miler?” Nope. I’ve been an endurance runner for over a decade. I’ve completed a dozen marathons, several triathlons including an IRONMAN, numerous 50ks (31 miles) and a 50-miler.

I got hooked on trail running after completing my first 50k. I love running through the woods, especially when I’m alone. It’s a very “present moment” activity for me; my brain can’t think about a whole lot other than breathing and where I’m putting my feet, so I don’t wipe out. It’s like my meditation time.

How Can I Possibly Run 100 Miles?

As much as I love trail running and long distances, I had no idea what running 100 miles would feel like. My farthest run before this was 50 miles, which was pretty hard. How could I possibly run twice that distance? I wasn’t sure if I had what it takes to do something this big. I mean, what if I fail? What does that say about me? I had a lot of doubt and fear.

I feel the same way about my business sometimes. How can I possibly succeed at this? It all seems so big! And what if I fail? What does that say about me and my character?

In early 2017 I had to make a big decision about my business. I was a solo entrepreneur running a creative agency. I was doing design work and building websites for clients. I came to realize that I didn’t love the design work and I actually hated building websites for clients. So now what? Something had to change.

I decided I would only do work that I loved and only do things I was really good at. So I started building an online course teaching brand-building to entrepreneurs. I love doing this work! But for me, this new project felt like the business equivalent of running 100 miles. It’s BIG. It’s way outside my comfort zone. There are times when I’m not sure I can make it work, and again I get bogged down with doubt and fear.

In Business & in Running Things Oft Go Awry

They give you 30 hours to complete the 100-mile race. You can run all day and all night, but if you don’t finish in the allotted 30 hours, it doesn’t count. This particular race was a looped course. You had to run six loops, and each loop was around 17 miles.

I started running at 4:00 pm Friday and kept running as the sun went down. I ran all through the night, in the dark and the cold, and then finally saw the sun come up Saturday morning. I ran all day Saturday. I was still running when the sun went down again Saturday evening around 8:00 pm.

For most of the race, I did pretty well. I ran smart. I kept a slow and steady pace. I didn’t push myself too hard, but I also wasn’t slacking. I had to keep moving. That 30-hour cutoff was always on my mind. Then I hit mile 83. I had one more 17-mile loop to go. My feet were killing me; they were super swollen, and I had developed some pretty awful blisters. My insides were wrecked. All I could eat were Saltines and pretzels. I was beyond tired; I had been running non-stop for more than 24 hours. And to top it off, I knew the sun would go down before I finished, so I’d have to run in the dark again. I was pretty beaten down at this point. Doubt and fear came screaming back to me.

I can kind of feel like this in my business sometimes too. I can work hard for days and months trying to build my email list, trying to gain more podcast listeners, trying to create lessons for my online course, and I just can’t seem to gain any traction.

There is a lot of competition out there these days. Whatever line of business you’re in, someone else is most likely doing it too, and (gasp!) maybe even better than you. To stand out and compete in this crowded marketplace, you have to be different. And one of the best ways you can differentiate is to focus on three critical areas of your branding. Read on to learn the three things you need to know to build a more competitive brand.

One of the biggest reason big companies spend so much time on branding is that being intentional about building their brand gives them a competitive edge. Branding shows their customers how they are different from everyone else. It positions their brand in their customer’s minds in a way that allows their business to stand out. It’s not magic. It happens because those companies spend a great deal of time and money working to get it right.

You can get it right too, and you don’t have to spend a great deal of time and money to do it. Here are three things you need to know if you want to build a more competitive brand:

1. Know Yourself

Connect with your passions. One of the best things about being an entrepreneur is that you get to decide what you do for work. And when you choose to do something you love, it shows.

Your passion and energy are contagious. When you’re excited about the work you do, your customers will be too. Your excitement alone can be a deciding factor for potential customers. Think about it. Who would you prefer to work with, someone who’s fired up and passionate about the work, or someone who could honestly care less?

If you’re not fired up about your work, you may want to find something else to do.

Make a list of your core values and beliefs. If you know me at all you know I’m a big fan of creating a manifesto for your brand. Your brand manifesto is a public declaration of your core values and beliefs. It shows the world that you stand for something. It’s a way for people to connect with you emotionally.

When you connect with people who believe what you believe, your brand begins to stand out in their minds. They start to see you as the different and better choice.

Have a clear and compelling vision. Do you have a big bold vision for your business? Have you thought about where you’d like to be in the next year? How about the next five years? What are the ultimate goals for your business?

When you have a well-thought-out vision for where you want to be as a brand, and you communicate that to your audience, they will want to help you get there. If you want to build a more competitive brand, get your customers on board with your vision. This is a great way for them to become emotionally invested in you and your brand.

2. Know Your Customer

Know your ideal client. How well do you know your ideal client or customer? Do you understand their struggles and their fears? Have you created your ideal customer profile? This is the first step in gaining a profound understanding of your customer.

When you gain deep insights into your customer, you uncover all the ways you and your products make their lives better.

Know your target market. Once you’ve created your ideal customer profile, it’s time to find more people just like them. What larger groups does your ideal client belong to?

Once you’ve identified your target market, your customers will start to feel like they’re part of a tribe,

What’s the story people are telling their friends about your brand? It may not be what you think it is. What can you do to make sure the best brand story is being told and retold?

I was having coffee with a friend recently. We were discussing the entrepreneurial resurgence currently going on here in Cincinnati. New businesses are sprouting up every day, and people are talking about them.

She mentioned this fantastic new bakery in her neighborhood. She talked about the atmosphere of the place. When you walk in, you’re greeted with warmth and coziness and the smell of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. She raved about the customer service, like how eager they are to answer questions and how they treat you like a human being. She told me I have to try the scones; they are to-die-for! And the cinnamon rolls, probably the most amazing thing she’s ever tasted!

She was gushing. She couldn’t wait for me to try this place. In fact, she urged me to go right then (it was just a few blocks away) and get a scone. “You won’t regret it,” she said with enthusiasm.

Her eyes lit up as she talked about the place. She loves sharing the story about this place, which she does, over and over again, with everyone she knows.

I asked her about other hip places she knows of, and she told me about this new pizza place down the street. They do great things for the community. They’re a second chance employer – they hire people with criminal records and train them to be good employees. They teach responsibility and good work ethics. They are making a difference in people’s lives.

“So, how’s the pizza,” I asked? She said, “It kind of tastes like cardboard.”

She didn’t light up when she talked about the pizza place. She won’t be sending her friends over there to get a slice.

As a business, they might be making a difference, but what kind of impact could they be making if their pizza was delicious. What if a better story was spreading?

The problem isn’t that a story isn’t spreading. The problem is that it’s the wrong story.

People are talking about the inferior pizza, not about all the good they’re doing for the community. That’s a problem. If their goal is to have a bigger social impact, to promote real change for the neighborhood, they need to shift the narrative.

Wrap Your Product or Service in a Good Story

The bakery gets it. Their products are the best in town. Their cinnamon rolls might be the best in the world. They’ve also created an atmosphere that’s welcoming, warm, and friendly. They’ve wrapped their product in the story of a remarkable customer experience.

It’s great if you provide excellent customer service. It’s even better if your business directly benefits the people in your community. But none of this matters much if you’re selling a lackluster product.

To ensure the right message is being spread, you need to wrap a great story around your product or service.

For the bakery, it’s the experience of going into the shop, the smell of fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, the people who treat you like you matter. It’s more than just baked goods. But their product happens to be amazing. That’s a story worth sharing.

The pizza place? They have a strong sense of purpose – they’re giving people a second chance, they’re helping people get their lives back. They have a great story to tell; but they have to get the pizza right. Once they do, they’re poised to have a more meaningful impact in the community. Right now, not so much. No one wants to share bad pizza.

How to Ensure People Share the Best Brand Story about You

So what can you do? How can you be sure your story is good enough to share? I’ll offer two questions for you to consider:

1.

If you’re a small business owner, updating your brand identity might feel like a daunting task. But giving your brand a makeover doesn’t have to be a complicated process, and you don’t have to blow your entire marketing budget to do it.

Keeping your brand fresh

One of the most exciting things about starting a business is creating your brand identity. You hold brainstorming sessions and scribble things on whiteboards. Then you hire a professional to design your logo, website, and business cards. When it’s all done you pat yourself on the back for a job well done and go back to working your business.

Then you get busy. Time goes by, the excitement wears off, and your brand identity gets a bit dated. Before you know it your whole brand starts to look and feel a little stale.

If this sounds familiar to you, then it might be time for a brand refresh.

As an entrepreneur, it’s up to you to keep your brand’s personality fresh and relevant. But you don’t need to go through an extensive (and expensive) rebranding process to do it. Every so often you need to make sure your brand identity still feels fresh and is still in alignment with who you are today.

You must evolve

Think back to five or ten years ago. What was your personality like back then? What clothes were you wearing? What music or movies were you into? How did you look at the world?

I’m guessing you’ve changed a lot over the years. You’ve learned lessons. You see the world differently. You use different words. You’ve matured and evolved.

Just like your personality has evolved and matured over the years, so must your brand’s personality. If you want to stay relevant and competitive, your brand must continually evolve.

So how do you know if you’ve evolved? Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to see if you’re ready for a brand refresh:

* Have your core values changed?

* Do you have a better understanding of your customer?

* Are you still serving the right target market?

* Does your logo seem outdated?

* Does your copy still convey the right message?

* Are your photos a bit worn out by now?

You don’t need a branding agency

When you do a brand refresh, it doesn’t mean you have to start all over and change everything. It means you need to revisit a few pieces of your initial branding work and see if anything’s changed.

And you don’t have to hire a branding agency to do this work for you. You can do this yourself at little to no cost. You may outsource some design work, but even there you can use 99designs or Fiverr and get some great work done for a few hundred bucks.

Why you should revitalize your brand

Right now you might feel like your brand is a bit stale or outdated. You may not be reaching the right people or speaking their language. You may not be emotionally connecting with them. You might feel like your business is in a funk. Growth may be stalled.

When you breathe fresh new life into your brand, it starts to feel new and exciting again. You’ll start reaching the right people and communicating more clearly. You’ll get more repeat business and you’ll build brand loyalty. When you revitalize your brand things start moving and your business grows.

Ready to get started? Here are five budget-friendly ideas to revitalize your brand.

Idea #1: Revisit your core values and beliefs

Start by taking a look at yourself. Revisit your core values and beliefs. Have your values changed? Do you feel strongly about anything these days? You might need to update your brand manifesto.

I think we can all agree that these are divisive times we’re living in. And when you, as a brand, take a stand on a political or moral issue you run the risk of losing customers. Sharing your views on contentious issues will no doubt turn some people off. But it can actually boost your brand loyalty—if you know what you’re getting into.

When Brands Take a Stand

A friend of mine owns a brick-and-mortar business here in downtown Cincinnati. He’s done an amazing job of building his brand over the years. He has a successful niche with a large following of devoted fans. He doesn’t post on social media about politics or religion, or any other controversial subjects because he knows he is the face and voice of his brand. And his brand isn’t about taking sides.

But when he recently shared his opinion on a hot political topic on Facebook, some of those devoted fans turned angry. One of the comments in particular caught my attention. One of his friends said, “Half the population doesn’t agree with you. You still want those people as customers correct?”

I thought about that for a minute. What happens when you make your deep-seeded values and beliefs public? How does this affect your business? Does it ultimately hurt your brand or help it? What if you don’t want those people as customers?

Taking a Stand Will Cost You Customers

Donald Miller built his reputation as an acclaimed author of books about Christianity. He grew a following of devoted Christian readers who looked at life, and Christianity, the way he did. A few years ago he ventured into the marketing business and started StoryBrand. The StoryBrand Workshops aren’t about religion, they’re about communicating your brand. He wasn’t marketing his brand as “Communication Workshops for Christians.”

But he still has this tribe of devoted Christian fans who tend to look at the world through a more conservative lens.

So when he recently Tweeted his thoughts about the Trump administration he caused a bit of a kerfuffle among his Christian followers.

One of his recent tweets:

The closer Mueller gets to Trump, the more the president will ramp up war with North Korea. He will cause a deadly distraction. Congress should impose temporary boundaries given this presidents temperment and mounting evidence.

— Donald Miller (@donaldmiller) December 4, 2017

Conservative Christians lashed out:

Please no @donaldmiller I know you're about story, but don't stick your nose where it hasn't been asked to go…

— RA Ahnen (@R_Ahnen) December 6, 2017

Why do you alienate your followers?

— Kevin Haun (@TheHaunestTruth) December 5, 2017

Mr. Miller. I think you should stick to helping businesses and stay out of politics. Last time I check the President isn’t launching missiles, NK is. Stick to what you know. Or be ready to lose followers

— Derek Gruell (@derekgg1) December 5, 2017

There was a common theme to the replies—that Donald Miller should keep his opinions to himself or risk losing customers.

Another example is Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.

Welcome to day 21! If you’ve been taking one small action each day you should now have a solid foundation on which to build your brand. But your work is not done. In fact, it’s just beginning! Read on to see how you can continue building your remarkable brand.

Series Summary

I know how it is when you complete a series like this—all your hard work gets tossed into a drawer and forgotten about. I don’t want that to happen to you. My hope for you is that you continue to grow and nurture your brand. Today is all about how to do just that—how to continue building your remarkable brand.

First, here’s a quick rundown of all the posts in the series.

(You may want to bookmark this page so it’s easier to find what you’re looking for later.)

Day 1: Welcome

Day 2: Create a Vision for Your Brand

Day 3: Create Your Brand Manifesto

Day 4: Define Your Ideal Client

Day 5: Identify Your Target Market

Day 6: Choose Your Niche

Day 7: Identify Your Competition

Day 8: Write Your Unique Selling Proposition

Day 9: Create a WOW Customer Experience

Day 10: Choose Your Brand Archetype

Day 11: Find Your Brand Voice

Day 12: Choose Your Brand Images

Day 13: Create Your Value Proposition

Day 14: Create Your Brand Tagline

Day 15: Create an Awesome Logo for Your Brand

Day 16: Tell Your Brand’s Story

Day 17: Create a Compelling Homepage

Day 18: Write a Better ‘About Us’ Page

Day 19: Choose the Best Marketing Channels for Your Brand

Day 20: Create an Effective Marketing Strategy for Your Brand

Next Steps

Here are a few ideas to help keep you motivated and moving your brand forward:

*