As you begin to either build your business or revisit your foundation, something that entrepreneurs always ask is, why does branding matter? How can I build a meaningful connection with my clients? In our latest Entrepods episode with Kami Guildner, she gives us new and interesting solutions to these questions.
Instead of asking ourselves how to make our connection meaningful, dig deeper into what the client considers a meaningful connection. By looking to our clients for the questions we ask ourselves, we will find (more often than not) that they hold the key to building a successful business and brand.
How To Have A Connection With Your Clients
As we begin to grow our business, it’s important to remember that when speaking with your clients, you’re not just building a short-term relationship. Instead, you’re building something that will last a lifetime and grow a community of support. We should begin by changing the way we support one another.
Instead of using “fear-based” marketing tactics, it may be an easier approach to see what the client or target audience truly desires. This “fear-based” marketing can not only emotionally drain us, but those we want to do business with. It builds your connection with that client on fear, rather than trust and a mutual understanding.
In our episode with Kami Guildner, she suggested something that she often does with her clients. Start with a piece of paper or spreadsheet and create three columns. In column one, you’ll have the question at the top, “what keeps our clients up at night?” By understanding that as marketing professionals and business owners, we can easily build trust and strengthen our relationship. In column two, you’ll write, “what are the emotions associated with that?” And finally, in column three, you’ll put down “what are your client's desires?”
Think about how you as a business owner or marketer can help them accomplish their desires and minimize or diminish their thoughts that “keep them up at night.” As you do this, you’re starting to speak the client’s “love language” in a sense and now you’re not just having a conversation, you’re building a connection. This is the importance of building a connection with those you are helping. Use open-ended questions so that they can open that conversation up and tell you what they want.
Making Your Brand Authentic
Your brand is an extension of you and who you are, not who you’re trying to be. False brands that don’t match your personality or want in life will never resonate well with you or your clients. Do the inner work of who you are and build your branding and marketing strategies from the inside out. Find the fire that keeps your entrepreneurial spirit burning and use that to create something you can be proud of. Branding your business is everything, and if done correctly can skyrocket your sales.
“If you build your brand from the inside out, you’re building a brand that only you can own.” - Kami Guildner
When you begin to either build or rebuild your marketing, ask yourself how you consume information. Think to yourself, when does branding begin to go wrong? Have this regular check-in with your business and yourself to make sure you create the best version of your brand that you want. Kami brought up an excellent point, which was, “the way we show up for our clients and our brand will continuously change.”
Don’t look at what the competitors are doing. What? That’s right! It may seem counterintuitive and most marketing professionals will tell you the exact opposite. What we mean by this is to find your lane and the rest will fall into place. Show up in a way that is authentically you and you’ll find the flow you want to incorporate into your world. When you build your life without the comparison and “hustle,” the things that come your way will feel natural, and soon enough, you’ll be branding like a pro and have something you can be proud of.
“Throw out the formulas, there is no such thing as the 5 steps to success or 7 steps to success, this is a journey you’re on as an entrepreneur.” - Kami Guildner