I’d run out of screen wash.
It didn’t matter how much the wipers went back and forth, they weren’t clearing the windscreen, they were just making the problem worse.
You know how they just keep spreading the mess about so you can’t see properly.
I had to pull over. Open the bonnet. Find the screen wash and my water bottle and fill it up.
Then when I pressed for screen wash it squirted up the screen and I was able to see.
Clarity.
Super helpful.
If you don’t have clarity on your brand then it doesn’t matter how regularly you post, how often those wipers swish backwards and forwards, you’re not going to make it any easier for other people to see what you’re all about, to know what you’re selling or to feel a connection with you and your business.
You need to stop the car, find your screen wash, and clean up your act.
Clarity means you get your brand. You know what matters. You know what you want to share. You aren’t being confusing or messy.
A confused mind never buys, so provide clarity so your audience can see what you do. Then you can spray it everywhere and make sure your message is clear.
There are various different questions you can ask yourself to gain clarity. Just this week I decided to ask only three questions of my brand coaching client so that I could help them move forward with their brand.
The questions were:
- What are your brand values
- What is you big business dream?
- Who is your customer?
These are super important questions. Questions that matter and questions that give you clarity.
They show you what you really care about in your business. Where you want to go. And who you want to travel with.
Your brand values are the stuff you really really care about, non-negotiables in your business. NOT the obvious stuff, the things people expect from you anyway – the stuff that makes you different. You would expect me to be creative – so that’s not a value. It would be a wasted word. What makes me different? Adventure. I am all about taking you on an adventure, getting you to the top, reaching your goals, pushing yourself, having fun along the way – lots of tea breaks of course. Exploring, thinking about stuff you’ve not thought about before. Trying new things. Getting muddy boots, finding a new perspective – because when you go on the adventure you start to look at things differently. You can google business values and find words and phrases and paragraphs from businesses you know and love – try Facebook and Ikea. And choose no more than 3 short words or phrases. Yes you can use paragraphs and you might want to just to give your words context – but keep it simple. The less you have to remember, the easier it is to implement!
Your big dream is all about what you want to achieve. This can be big and scary – that’s FINE – it just needs to be something(s) you’d love to happen. So for me this is to educate, empower and support business owners to discover that branding can be easy and help them fall back in love with their business. For another client it could be to have a building to benefit the community. Or to employ X number of people. Or to be known as THE go-to in the UK for X. Or to help X number of people take more time for them. Or simply to earn £X py. This is simply about knowing where you’re headed. What the top of your mountain or the X on your treasure map looks like. Then you can work out what your business needs to look like to help you get there – and position your brand to support that goal. You can’t get there if you don’t know where “there” is.
Knowing as much about your customer as you can is really helpful. You can’t connect with someone when you don’t know who they are. It’s great to know the obvious stuff – their age, location and profession – but the stuff that really makes that connection work is knowing what do they do in their spare time, where they shop, what they care about, where they visit, what do they read/ watch, where do they hang out for their business/ networking? Who are they NOT? What are they worrying about – how are they feeling – before they find you? What makes them tick? What grabs their attention? The more you ask questions of your existing customers – get to know a bit about them through conversation, create a group and get them chatting in there, ask them questions directly – the easier it will be to connect with those people.
I know, after 12 years of conversation with the most amazing clients, that many of my clients used to be teachers and left because they didn’t enjoy the changes or they wanted to make a change. Most of them love being outside. Picking flowers, going for a run, camping, climbing hills. They probably have children. And of course they run a business they are REALLY excited about which is either selling beautiful things that make them smile or helps people without paperwork getting in the way. Their businesses light them up, give them purpose and escape and they are SO excited for the future. They want to look the business to give themselves the highest possible chance of success, because they know that people do judge a book my it’s cover, even though we are all told not to. And they don’t feel they have the skills to create their visuals themselves – though they are probably really creative in other ways. Knowing this sort of thing (I could go on!) helps you to connect with your customers ahead of time and speak to them directly.
See the clarity you get with three questions?
On Friday 18th February I’m running an Office Hour to celebrate 12 years of my business. Come along to hear the 12 Steps to Brand Success and ask any questions about branding that you have.
Amy Purdie, The Brand Explorer takes you on an Adventure to discover what your brand is all about, helping you with your brand strategy, brand visuals and content ideas. You can join Amy’s Brand Success Club or join her in your very own Private Brand Adventure.
Amy has been enjoying designing logos, brand identities, illustration, print work and websites – since 2007 fuelled mainly by tea and chocolate.