brand

7 Ways to Establish Brand Authority 

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Establishing brand authority involves building trust and credibility with your target audience, demonstrating your expertise and leadership in your industry, and positioning your brand as the go-to source for information and solutions related to your niche. Here are some steps to help you establish brand authority:

  1. Define your target audience: Identify who your ideal customers are and what they need. This will help you tailor your messaging and content to their specific needs and interests.
  2. Build a strong brand identity: Develop a strong brand identity that communicates your values, mission, and unique selling proposition. This will help differentiate your brand from competitors and establish a consistent message across all channels.
  3. Create valuable content: Produce high-quality content that provides value to your audience. This can include blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, videos, webinars, and social media posts.
  4. Demonstrate expertise: Share your knowledge and expertise through thought leadership content, speaking engagements, and industry events. This will help position your brand as an authority in your niche.
  5. Leverage social proof: Use customer testimonials, case studies, and awards to showcase your brand’s success and credibility.
  6. Engage with your audience: Engage with your audience through social media, email marketing, and other channels. This will help build relationships and establish trust with your target audience.
  7. Monitor your reputation: Monitor your brand’s online reputation and respond to feedback and criticism in a timely and professional manner. This will help build trust and credibility with your audience.

By following these steps, you can establish your brand as a trusted authority in your industry, which can lead to increased brand awareness, customer loyalty, and revenue growth.

Learn Important Tips for Creating and Connecting with Your Ideal Audience

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Creating a target audience is foundational for your company and building your brand! This does NOT meant you cannot sell to those outside of your ideal audience, however when you are clear on your ideal client – you will know how to communicate with them and rise above the noise. You are clear, and clarity creates REVENUE. Reach out to me if you need assistance [email protected].

Keys to Clarity: Tips for Creating Clarity in Your Life

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Clarity is everything.  Unclear expectations, goals or communication produces unclear results.

Without clarity it is very difficult to move forward and grow your business.  Being clarity lee wattsstrategic becomes challenging without clarity.  You will communicate ineffectively to your audience and clients. Ideas may not flow freely and you are unable to determine the next steps.

Many leader talk about the importance of focus.  However, without clarity – you may not be sure what to focus on.  Clarity must come first before you can obtain true success.

Below are XX ways that you can gain more clarity in life and business:

1.) What do you want?  Sounds like such a simple question, however, so few people can answer this.  I will often start my branding sessions with this question.  Over 50% of the time, my client will stumble through their answer.  Get clear on what it is that you really want.

2.) Exercise.  Exercising is such a big stress reliever, releases endorphins and overall helps you to feel better.  There have been many, many times I’ve received a great idea or an answer to a problem while exercising.  This doesn’t mean that you have to have a strict exercise program or train for triathalon.  Exercise could simply mean walking in the morning or evening or doing yoga in your living room.  The key is to relax, clear your mind and allow your brain to receive.

3.) Write it Out.  Journaling or writing out your thoughts and ideas in an unsensored manner is extremely helpful.  In work, we are trained to sensor our thoughts and ideas.  However, clarity often comes during those times of letting unsensored thoughts flow. If you are not a writer, consider talking into a voice recorder or creating a private video.  The goal is to go back and review for thoughts and look for aha moments or common denominators.

4.) Immerse Yourself in Action.  Often we will sit and review our thoughts and ideas without trying anything.  Immersing yourself in action and taking chances will quickly show us if something will work or not.  Don’t be afraid to try and fail.  Failing is one of our best teachers and can quickly put on on the road to clarity.

5.) Ask Yourself Why. Knowing your WHY has become a little of a catchphrase.  However, if done correctly, it is powerful.  Don’t underestimate it. Knowing your WHY for doing anything helps to eliminate the things in your business or life that don’t serve your purpose.

6.) Watch Your Time. How do you use your free time?  Be careful and selective on how you use your mind when you are not working.  Are you numbing your mind with trash television, filling your body with junk food and sugar?  Create a clear and clean lifestyle, and your mind will follow.

7.) Build Your Tribe.  In addition to creating a clear and clean lifestyle, it is important to have a close network of colleagues, mentors and friends that have similar goals.  This will help provide you with clarity and vision for your business and organization.

Do you have clarity—about work, relationships, health, free time, friendship, or any other aspect of your life?

If you are looking for clarity with your personal brand or the your organization or business, feel free to contact me for a clarity session.  Signing up for a complimentary consultation session may also help with your direction.

 

 

 

Marketing Challenges for Entrepreneurs

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As an entrepreneur, we can get pulled in so many different directions. There are challenges that will distract you on this entrepreneurial journey.  In this article, I will highlight just a few marketing challenges for entrepreneurs and new business owners.

  1. Not knowing your audience: So many people start businesses based on their watts marketing challengespassions and strengths.  This is excellent!  However, we often are so focused on starting the business that we forget to pay attention to who we are selling to, including their needs, desires and burdens.  We sometimes stop at just describing the demographics of our target audience.  However, there is more to knowing your audience than their age or demographics.  How do they purchase?  What keeps them up at night?  Where do they consume information? What do they follow and like on social media? It is critically important to know your audience.
  2. The wrong marketing platforms:  Many new businesses have the wrong marketing platforms.  They hear about so many social media platforms or new apps or programs and they want to start all of them.  There is not careful consideration of which platforms work for your business, target audience or which of them “speak” or sync with each other.  It is important to do an audit of your programs and make sure they work for your business and marketing strategy.
  3. Inconsistency & Lack of Clarity:  One of the keys to branding is creating a consistent story and selling that narrative to your audience.  This requires managing a lot of moving pieces and being able to stand back from your company and brand and decide on a consistent message.  This can be challenging. Often, this is the importance of having a marketing or branding consultant, to have an objective eye to look at your messaging and challenge you on your strategy.  Inconsistent messaging can cause distrust and ultimately hurt your brand and selling opportunities.
  4. Not Knowing Your USP:  Knowing your Unique Selling Proposition is key to marketing and branding.  You must know what value you bring to the table.  What is your differentiator?  Why should your clients and customers purchase from you? When businesses are unclear on this, they stumble through their messaging and how to sell and package their products and services for their clients.  Know your value.
  5. Underestimating Content Marketing:  Most small businesses don’t have the time or staff to work on content for their social media, blogs or website.  However, content marketing is key to establishing your brand and identity.  It is what will set you apart as a thought leader in your industry. No matter what you are selling, work on establishing yourself as an expert in your industry.

All these issues can be overwhelming, however, every business owner faces marketing challenges.  For assistance with any of these marketing challenges, feel free to contact me. 

 

 

Five Essentials for Building a Brand

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When speaking to someone interested in starting a business, writing a book or leading an organization, inevitably the aspect of branding is discussed. Branding is one of my favorite marketing topics because branding is truly about emotion and connection. The strategies we use to create a brand should focus on creating a strong connection and relationship between the product/person/company and the customer or guest. More importantly, this strong connection creates customer loyalty.


To grow a business, brand or create loyal customers – a robust brand strategy is needed. This takes time and patience, however, it is absolutely necessary.

Below are essential keys needed for building any brand:

1.) Know the Strengths. Are you aware of your individual strengths or the strengths of your organization? If it is your individual brand, spend valuable time examining your strengths. Ask those closest to you about your strengths. The same holds true for your company. What are the strengths of the company? This may become clearer through surveys and focus groups, asking key customers, clients or guests key questions about the company or brand. If you are starting a company, find your target audience and discover what they value.

2.) Be Authentic. Authenticity is key in branding. This is knowing your strengths, as well as your weaknesses – but being perfectly okay with both. For example, Chick-fil-A does not try to make burgers or tacos. It has identified its strength, and probably its weaknesses, and they continually build on their strengths. They make really great chicken sandwiches with exceptional customer service. They don’t focus on making new sandwiches or twists on chicken sandwiches. As a result, they avoid their weaknesses and focus on the brand.

3.) Add Value. Whether it is an individual brand or company, be clear on the value you bring. Does your brand solve a problem or meet a need? Not only should the brand add value, but it should also differentiate you or your company from others. So many brands, organizations, services and products are competing for our attention. What will differentiate your brand from the others? It could the smallest thing that makes the difference. Discover “the thing” that will set your brand apart from others.

4.) Create an Emotion. What is the feeling you would like to invoke in your audience or clients? What emotion do you want your brand to feel? Dale Carnegie states: “When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion.” Brand strategy should focus on building an emotion.

5.) Consistency is key. It is critical to reinforce the value, skills and expertise your brand brings. This should be communicated through your various marketing platforms. Consistency will help your prospective clients and customers, as well as your current clients, quickly know how to describe your business or your service. Consistency is also important for your visuals. Eventually you want customers to see your logo, your colors, as well as your fonts and formatting and know instinctively that it is your company.

If you are interested in creating a brand strategy for your company, organization or building your individual brand, please contact ashby & watts. We can help you connect the dots.