You are your brand. Your brand is you.
People buy from people. People connect with other people. People care about other people. People CRAVE connection.
Why do you buy from where you buy from? Or why do you aspire to buy from where you want to buy from?
Me? I love buying from smaller businesses like Pop & Flo, Under the Rowan Trees and Altruis Living – not just because these are smaller businesses, but also because these particular businesses have values similar to mine (and they happen to be lovely people too – which really helps!) There’s a connection.
I’m buying because I’ve made a connection with these brands. With the people who run them. I know the people because Hannah is a client and Danielle and Sara are members of a network I belong to. But I’m not buying just because of that. They’re selling things I want (obviously.) BUT I could go ANYWHERE and buy similar things. Accessories, stationery and candles are not exclusive to these three places. (Although I’d challenge you to find better!)
The people are.
Their values and personalities seep through everything they do.
They all have a story, belief, passion.. SOMEthing that makes me want to buy from THEM.
They are all lovely ladies who I can relate to on some level. They share what’s going on in their lives, they talk about topics which are important to me and these are all conveyed through their businesses to help build up an amazing picture of their brand. That “thing” that helps me connect with them through the messages that they are putting out there. When they post photographs and stories about their children, or about the climate or books or crafting, or about getting outside or self-care, or about baking or anything that grabs my interest because it relates to my life, then I’m connecting with them.
Your brand isn’t just about the beautiful visuals that you have for your business. You can absolutely use these to connect with your audience (and you should!) It’s about the way that you connect with your audience through your content – it’s about knowing your audience and drawing parallels between what they care about and what matters to you so that your brand resonates with them in different ways.
You are your brand.
This doesn’t mean that you have to share every detail of your life with your audience. I don’t. I will refer to funny things my children have said, mention that we’ve been camping, I might talk about the allotment or baking, I use stories as a basis for content. That’s really useful for generating connection with my audience.
A lot of these interests though, are not so much to do with what I’m doing, but with why these things matter. That’s the important part. Family is important to me. Adventure is important to me. Fun is important to me. Getting outdoors and living more sustainably is important to me. Cooking from scratch is important to me.
These are all things which I value and which seep quietly into my business.
What is it about YOU that matters? What’s important? What do you believe? What’s your story? What of you can you bring into your brand?
Anna McManus-Hughes is an awesome business coach, she also runs a lot and uses her runs to talk about business.
Mrs Hinch cleaned and cleaned and brought herself to Instagram every day – she is her brand.
Laura Peel Forsyth is a busy Mam working a business consultancy and Arbonne business around her children and she shows that so that people connect with her (and her kids!) and realise how she can help them with time management.
How can you put a bit more of what matters to you into your business?
If you’d like to have a chat about how we can work together to implement more of YOU into your business, then please check out Brand Coaching and we can explore this more thoroughly.
Amy Purdie is the founder of Whiteacres (where you are now) she can help your business become irresistible to your ideal clients so that they can’t wait to work with you.
Amy has been enjoying designing logos, brand identities, illustration, print work and websites – since 2007 fuelled mainly by tea and chocolate.