In the online services space, there is a very low barrier to entry. Which means, there will continually be more and more providers doing what you do. Focusing on the who, what, when, where and how drive competition. if you’re looking to stand out from the crowd, that leaves your WHY.

I work with a lot of people who would consider themselves “multi-dimensional”. I often hear things like, “I just have so many ways I want to contribute to people, I just can’t keep my messaging clear”. Here’s the thing. Being multi-dimensional isn’t confusing, unless you make it confusing. Let me explain.

In the first article in this series, I talked about using our emotions as traffic lights. Today, as the first blog post of 2021, I want to dive deeper into the next step in creating alignment - commitment.

I wrote this brief poem in honor of 2020, and how finding your personal brand can give you the space to be the REAL you. May 2021 allow you the space for a new direction towards your true purpose.

There’s definitely value to doing your research. So when the gurus all say to “do your market research”, we hop right on it. But are you doing those activities with your personal brand in mind?

I love films. Specifically, I’m a big Star Wars fan. My Christmas Tree has a variety of Star Wars ornaments including a Darth Vader a Storm Trooper. It got me to thinking about personal brands, and what the differences are among some of our favorite characters.

I was listening to a training session the other day, and this concept was shared. And it really resonated with me because I see this all the time in marketing efforts. People are overwhelmed by marketing, specifically because they have overcomplicated it to the point that their personal brand becomes lost.

To honor US Thanksgiving, and, since I’m a believer that you can’t be too thankful, I took the opportunity to share my gratitude today. And it became VERY clear to me how tied in our personal brand it to what we’re thankful for.

It’s one of the first things we think we need in our businesses, right? I mean, everyone tells you that you need to know who your ideal customer is. And conveniently, there are so many free resources to help us build one. Let me share with you some of the reasons that your ICA didn’t actually help you.

I Googled, “how to climb the corporate ladder” and found a Forbes article. And as trustworthy of a source as I consider Forbes to be, there’s just so many pieces of this that go directly AGAINST embracing our personal brands.

Merriam-Webster defines tenacity as, “the quality or state of being persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.” With that definition in mind, I’m sharing my thoughts about how complicated it might be to be tenacious without personal brand alignment.

I’ve heard a lot of misperceptions over the years about what a brand is. Since the cloudiness isn’t doing anyone any favors, today we’ll be looking at the top three things that a brand is NOT.

If you’re looking to outsource your marketing, you’re in essence telling someone else that it’s THEIR responsibility to take care of your brand. And there are a lot of marketing-service providers that will do a great job. BUT IT’S NOT A GIVEN.

Movies can do a great job of explaining complex concepts based on their storytelling principles. Today, we’re looking at what The Breakfast Club can teach us about personal branding.

Are you intrigued by the concept of personal branding, but also hesitant to share too many personal details in your “marketing”? If so, check out this outline of my personal branding trifecta; I hope it sheds some light on what exploring your personal brand truly means.

You might think that as you make more money in your business, you’ll get more time to have fun. But, what if the key to success is actually having fun, and we’re looking at it the wrong way around?

Ever had a time when you realized your personal brands wasn't aligned with your work activities? You're not alone. Check out how we can start to realize this misalignment and what to do about it.

We’re all looking for more YES’s in our business. But are we all taking the most direct path? That is an absolute NO. If it was true, there wouldn’t be people who feel like they waste time and money on marketing. There wouldn’t be any sales people who can’t close. There wouldn’t be sales cycles that take 2 years to get through. Read on to learn the most important things to consider if you want to get to a YES as fast as possible.

No matter if you are an entrepreneur owning your own brand, or an employee working for someone else, brand alignment is the thing that connects you to the company’s products or services. It’s the thing that makes you excited to talk about a solution. It’s the thing that allows you to feel good about what you’re doing every day. It’s the thing that makes marketing and sales as easy as possible ;)

When you look at your Ideal Customer Avatar, how many times are YOU mentioned? But wait, my ideal customer is about my customer, not me, right?

WRONG.

Read on to find out why you need to define what you want in your business before your clients have a chance of connecting with you.