I keep a tight schedule. Mondays are my money and management days. Tuesdays through Thursdays are my client focus days. Fridays are my creative planning, visioning and building days. In between, I am cooking, cleaning and caring for my family.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of just getting the work done, without pausing to remember your why.
Why did you get into business?
Why are you pursuing this passion?
Why entrepreneurship? Why build over everything else?
The truth is at some point, before you chose this path, something was missing in your life. You needed to serve. You needed to solve a problem that you were called to serve like no one else.
There was a need, and you were the answer. Your business idea, your solution brings hope to so many others.
One of my business clients never fails to tell a small part of her story, every time I encounter her.
Those snippets, whether 30 seconds or 30 minutes, keep her going and inspire everyone around her.
Sometimes with tears in her eyes, she shares her truth, how one project that she’s working on is bringing hope and a future to another in need.
She remembers often, and as she shares these memories, her life’s work, her impact becomes contagious.
The Burden to Build Community
Are you looking to start a movement? Do you want more than sales? If you are an impact-driven entrepreneur, you know the power of community. When you tap into the right conversations, you build a warm target audience within your business.
Your marketing strategy goes beyond posting on social media every week. It goes beyond putting up banners and signs.
Your true marketing strategy should be built within the fabric of your business activities – your community, your ideal customer.
Your digital conversations should be centered around a) your why and b) your customer. Remember why you started in the first place, share that with your customer and continue to build solutions and conversations that help and serve the people you wish to serve.
Authenticity: The Cheat Code to Build Connection
Your story is unique. Your story will not sound like any one else’s. While you may find brands that you aspire to be like, the truth is there is only one you.
Your target market, your location, your aesthetic, your identity and values are all unique. They are a unique blend that create something exceptional that appeals to those you are called to serve.
The more you try to blend in with others, the less noticeable you become. However, the more true to your own identity, that you can be, the more you will attract the right customers who appreciate what only you can bring to the table.
A Trust Exercise: If I Fall, Will You Catch Me
As you develop your unique, authentic voice, I think consistency is where many of us fail. When your target customer comes to look for you, for the latest advice, tool, workout, strategy or trend, will they find you?
Some of us put out authentic content, but we aren’t creating consistently. Creating can look like – typing on a keyboard, designing in a notebook, having conversations at an event, cooking a meal, designing a production.
What does creating look like for you?
Get a camera and capture your creative process. Commit to one channel where you will show up consistently and get loud about it. Choose the frequency, choose the tribe and think about how you will let people know what you’re doing and when you’re doing it.
Put on your calendar. Then do it.
Practical Strategies
- Determine how you want your brand to show up. How do you want to be known? What are the core values that drive your business in all you do? How do you determine if you are being true to your brand values?
- Determine your brand identity. Put a few brand templates in place, that you can use every time you feel inspired to put out a quote or a reel.
- Determine your digital channels. Which channels do you need to show up on consistently? How can you grow those channels? What ways can you use that align with your brand authentically?
- Record the key elements in your story. Get a camera and begin to record your brand story. You can write it down or you can use your smartphone. Use ChatGPT, or listen back to the audio/video and write down any keywords that you can use to connect wit your target audience. Think about the words your target audience might use to find someone like you. Think about differentiators that make your brand unique.
- Now write out a plan, a brand strategy that consistently shares your brand story, or a portion of your story, that aligns with your goals, your audience that your values that uses those keywords.
What practical strategies or brand story components do you use to connect with your audience in a more authentic, passionate way?
