Branding Yourself: What is Branding and Why is It Important?

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I Am Butterfly Bound- Social Media Tips To Live By

12 min readJan 7, 2019

Branding has become a hot buzz word in the world of network marketing, direct sales and home-based business. But, it’s often talked about but never really explained. If you think branding is all about logos and color schemes you are mistaken. Branding yourself is about so much more than that.

I heard this saying at a training I did a few months back and it stuck with me. I thought about it for a while and decided to become very active in what people were saying when I wasn’t around. After this, I began to focus on the lasting impression I was leaving. Was it just about products or a company I represented? Or was it more about what I had given people. I decided early on I wanted my brand to be all about inspiration and giving value to others.

Hence, me choosing the word Inspire for 2019. Read about my Word of the Year and pick up my Free Positive Affirmations Guide for 2019 here.

Branding Yourself- What Exactly is Branding

So, if it’s not just a logo, or colors or your website what exactly is branding your online business all about and why is it important?

Branding yourself is about your overall presence. It’s who you are and how you are different than every other brand or marketer out there. It’s your mission statement, core values and most importantly your personality. Branding is all about what you bring to the table.

Branding Yourself- Why Your Network Marketing Company is Not The Answer

I know you are thinking but my network marketing company has a brand why can’t I just use that? Well, how many people are there in your company? Do you want to be just another rep in a sea of reps? Or do you want to stand out as an individual and be the rep that people know and trust?

I talked about your company replicated sites and using them in this post.

Without further ado let’s dive into what branding exactly is and why it’s so important.

Branding Yourself- What Exactly Is Branding? An Example

Branding is everything you want someone to think about when they here your name. It’s your mission statement, your core values, your image, your logo, your color scheme. It’s all of that and it’s all important. You can’t have a brand without ever one of those things.

Think of it like this:

I’m a Target girl. I absolutely abhor Wal-Mart. I know that basically they are the exact same store. They sell the exact same things and have roughly the same prices. But, I just get an anxiety like no other going into Wal-Mart. To me I feel like I’ve walked into the depths of hell. It sucks me in and strives to never release me when I go to Wal-Mart. But, when I hit Target I don’t feel the same. I feel like Target welcomes me and offers me what I need but it doesn’t overwhelm me.

Now I have a friend who’s favorite place is Wal-Mart. She likes the convenience of shopping for everything in one place. She can legit spend a whole day wandering Wal-Mart. I’d have a heart attack in there for more than an hour. Wal-Mart feels like a cheap, thrill ride to me. I mean you’ve seen People of Wal-Mart videos right? When was the last time you saw People of Target videos running a muck?

That is what branding is.

Is there anything wrong with Wal-Mart? Do they not provide me with things I need (even things Target provides)? No, there really isn’t but for me it’s a preference thing. I choose to drive across town to Target instead of going to the Wal-Mart near my home.

It’s a feeling you get about a certain place, product or business person. I go to Target because I like the feeling. People buy from who they like, know and trust. That’s why branding is so important.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of people out there offering the exact same things you are but what sets you apart? Why would I buy something from you and not the five other people on my Facebook news feed selling the same exact thing?

Branding Yourself- Why Is Branding So Important?

In a sea of network marketers and companies that roughly do the same thing why would someone choose you? People rarely buy things just because they want them anymore. They buy things because they have connected with someone or something and decided that it’s something they want or need.

Branding is what makes them choose you. They need to trust, like and know you. Your online presence needs to resonate with them. They need to feel like your a trusted friend showing them a cool new thing.

Branding Yourself- Longevity

Beyond resonating with your customers creating your own personal brand is important for your success in the long run. What if your company goes under? It’s happened before and it will happen again. What if they change policies and you don’t agree? If you have built your whole marketing plan around a product or company what would you do in these instances?

You’d have to start all over. You’d have to re-gain trust and following. But if you created a brand for your online business and ultimately yourself then people would naturally flock to your next thing. Because, instead of following the things you represent they’d be following you.

Branding Yourself- Things to Consider

Alright, so now that you know what branding is and why it’s important how do you brand yourself?

Remember it is your Logo and colors and website but it goes way beyond that.

Your brand is you! It’s your style and colors of the clothes you wear, your personality, and your tone of voice. Are you a fitness chick or a hot mess mama? Do people see you as loud and outspoken or are you quite and reserved? Are you fun, classy, energetic, feminine? You need to get real focused on who you are and what message you want to convey to others.

Your brand is how you make people feel when they see you or talk to you? And it’s not just on social media or pictures, it can be in your packaging, your samples, thank you cards, or business cards. It’s you and your online business as a whole. The total package.

So who are you and what’s your message?

Branding Yourself- Activity 1

I recently did a 5 day challenge with my Facebook page audience that was all about branding yourself. One of the first activities I had them do was make several lists of 5 things.

5 Things You Love
5 Strengths You Have
Things You Know More About Than Others (Yep you guessed it 5)
5 Things You Are Passionate About
5 Things You Want to Help People With

There are several other parts to this exercise and I’m giving away my Branding You Worksheet as my free resource today.

But why 5 things? Why not 10 or 20?

I chose 5 because I want you to get really focused on what you want to be about. What message you want to send. What person you want to show people you are. Who exactly you are talking to and why they should be listening to you.

Branding Yourself- Consistency

If you’ve listened to me talk on brand or business at all then you have heard me say the word consistency over and over. This exercise is to get you going with that. For people like, know and trust you, you have to be consistent. Your message needs to stay the same in all things you do or talk about. You need to show up on a consistent basis and consistently talk about the same things. Being consistent helps you to connect with your target audience. And it helps them recognize you.

Branding Yourself- What Do You Want To Be Known For?

I want you to really put a lot of time into thinking about what you want to be known for. This needs to go beyond companies or products. I personally represent a few companies but they are all in the health and wellness realm. People don’t know what companies I represent. I only share that when I feel I have something they need. But they do know what I stand for.

I am known for 2 different things.

Health and Wellness- Clean products that are toxin free. This goes beyond just weight loss or skin care. I talk about all kinds of things and each Wednesday I do a healthy lifestyle blog post.
Online Marketing Strategy & Branding- I give tips, tricks and teach all about these subjects. Each week I provide free resources weekly and I have paid courses and guides.

I thought long and hard about these 2 things and how I wanted to present them to the audience I had.

I choose the first as a journey into a healthier life for myself. This started because I wanted to help inspire others into a healthier lifestyle thru following what I was doing. I talk about my weight loss issues, my PCOS struggle, my depression and how clean living and removing toxins have helped me.

The second thing came out of my frustration with my first network marketing company. I knew if I was frustrated so many other people had to be as well and I decided to help them.

My Brand Statement

This all is part of my brand statement: “I help women create their best lives thru healthier lifestyles and financial freedom. I help network marketers and online business owners grow their business fast by creating a brand and an online marketing strategy.”

I say that often and I use it on my marketing materials. When I start my live videos I announce it along with my name and company name. It’s everywhere and it’s everything I want to convey to others.

Branding Yourself- Connecting with Your Audience

You now know what mission you have and your personal message. It’s time to see how to use that to connect with your audience. Because that truly is what it’s all about.

Example:

So it’s the new year and I bet one of your resolutions was to start a new diet and get healthier. Your facing trying to do all of this while juggling your four kids and working full time. You scroll your Facebook page and you have 2 friends, Kate & Kelly, who are both working moms and they share about losing weight all the time.

So you decide one of them can surely help you get fit and healthy in the new year.

Katie: you click on her link and it takes you straight to her MLM company’s website but it just information about the products and buying products. You have no idea what any of the products are or how to use them. You don’t know what they do or if they align with your ideas for getting healthy. All you basically know is yep Katie sells weight loss products.
Kelly: you click on the website and it takes you to this beautiful clean web page called “Kelly’s Kool Kool World” she has this awesome logo with all her contact info. There is a blog with information about living healthy as a working mom. She has tips for fighting the workday grind and still eat healthy, she shares about her life as a busy mom and her own personal weight loss journey. In fact, she even has a free 7 Day Meal Guide for Busy Moms. Then over to the left, she also has a shop tab where you can find different products that you can purchase to help you live a healthier lifestyle. In her blog posts, she has links embedded so that when you are reading you can find the exact product that she is talking about like this.

I don’t know about you…. but I’m probably going to ask Kelly to help me get started! I see Kelly as more professional and she’s helpful and consistent. When she suggests products to me I’m going to buy them because I am sure she knows what she’s talking about. She is SO much more than a network marketer.

(which right now is typically the goal because people are so afraid of network marketers)

Bad network marketers have ruined the industry with spammy posts and cold messaging people that Network Marketing has a bad taste in people’s mouths. But Network Marketing and Direct Sales is so much beyond what these bad network marketers are doing.

Branding Yourself- In Conclusion

I hope you have a clearer picture of what branding yourself is and why it’s important. You now know it goes beyond your products, your logo and your website. You know it’s all about you and what you offer your audience.

This month on my blog and lives over on Facebook it’s going to be all about helping you brand yourself. I’ll be addressing a new topic on branding each week on the blog. Each Tuesday live will expand on the tips and tools I discuss here.

Starting the 14th I will be doing a FREE 5-day Branding You Challenge over on Facebook. Register here and I’ll include a FREE E-Book to get you started.

Free Resource: Branding You Work Sheet

https://forms.aweber.com/form/81/916196981.htm

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