A brand is an image or name that is used to identify a specific product or business, or your niche.
Your brand is one of the most valuable components of your business, because it demonstrates what you are able to offer your potential customers that no one else can offer in the same way.
As a home business owner, whether providing products or services, you are in sales. And you are selling yourself more than your wares. By developing and marketing your brand first, people will get to know who you are and you can begin building relationships of trust with them.
Building trust is critical. No trust = no sale.
Everything you do or say sends a message. What you say to your clients, what you write, and how you interact with them all sends a message.
YOU are the brand for your business.
Emotionally, people are buying YOU as well as your services or products.
Before you can effectively market to your clients, you need to be very clear about who you are and what you stand for.
Over the next few posts, we’ll cover how to build a strong personal brand that helps you stand out from your competition.
Let’s start with the first two ways:
- Determine your core values. What are the core values or principles that drive each of your business decisions? What are those ideas, beliefs, principles that you would never compromise? Which of these would you say are non-negotiable – ones you would not compromise even if it meant enduring negative consequences.
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To give you an example, here are my top 3 core values:- My Faith
- My Family
- Integrity in business dealings
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Action Step: On a blank sheet of paper, write down your top 3-5 values, ones that truly describe how you approach your business. By definition, your actions and decisions should align with your core values.
.. - Identify your true strengths. Do you have a good sense of your talents and strengths? Have you built your career, your life around them? In order to excel in what you do, you need to understand what makes you unique – what strengths you possess. If you find work that allows you to do what you do best every day, you’ll find that it frees you. You’ll find that you’ll do your work like no one else and you’ll naturally stand out from your competition.
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Action Step: Think through the following questions to help you identify your top strengths. Using this information, you can then determine how you can play to your strengths each and every day.- ‘What do you do best?
- What could you do for hours and not notice the time passing?
- As a child, what were you drawn to?
- What type of work gives you the most satisfaction and enjoyment?
- Think about those activities you engaged in that made you feel strong and excited. What were those things that got you up early in the morning or kept you up late into the night?
- What types of work makes you feel strong?
- What gets you up early or keeps you up late?
Also take inventory of your current skills. What are those learned skills you possess? What training have you received? What are those things you are naturally good at doing? Write down your answers and be open and honest in your responses.
Once you have assessed your strengths and skills, you are better able to identify which work-from-home business best aligns with your talents and interest.
Seek out mentors in the market areas that best match your assessed skills and areas of passion. Develop your network by joining associations and attending events within your desired niche. Working with a business coach is also a great way to hone in on your ideal career path.
In the next post, we’ll cover the next steps to building your brand.
Photo credit: IMR Corp
