If you’ve been following this series since February, you’ve already put a ton of work into getting clear about your brand. If you’re new, don’t worry. You can get caught up on Journey to Brand Clarity at the blog.
Even when you’ve invested a lot of time into figuring out what your brand is all about, it won’t always be easy to remember all the specifics. And how can you build an intentional brand if you can’t remember what your brand is about?
There are a lot of pieces to keep track of: your story, goals, challenges, ideal client, and peers. That’s why this week, I’m going to show you how to translate all your notes and ideas into branding statements you can look to when you need a little reminder.
Writing these summaries of your business, ideal client, and peers will take you to the next level of brand clarity and help you stay on brand as you grow your business.
Before you start, go gather all the notes you’ve taken and worksheets you’ve filled out along this journey. You’re gonna have to spend some time reviewing! Go over everything in order, visiting your story first and ending withwhat makes your business unique. You should be able to start seeing how everything fits together to create your awesome brand.
You’ll probably come across a few things here and there that don’t really seem to fit anymore. That’s totally ok! It just means you now have a clearer understanding of your brand than you did when you wrote those particular things down. It’s actually a really good thing to be able to point out the details that don’t fit anymore. It means you’ve made progress!
As you review, highlight the details that are most important to your brand.Change or take out the things that don’t seem to fit anymore. Your goal is todistill all this work down into the simplest purest version of your brandthat you can. It can be challenging and even a bit daunting, but you’ve totally got this! Take your time.
The best way I know to show you how to write your branding statements is with real life examples. So I’m going to let you in behind the scenes of my own brand and share the branding statements I wrote for Wild Olive, along with commentary in italics to help you see how I put everything together. Use these examples as a guide to writing your own branding statements.
My Business
I help natural-minded entrepreneurs get clear about their brand and craft a visual identity that aligns with what they’re about and resonates with their ideal client so that they’re empowered to reach more people and make their businesses more successful.
This is the result of combining my answer to “What do you do and why does it matter?” with the benefits that matter to my ideal client. How can you frame your product to highlight the benefits your ideal client is looking for?
Wild Olive Branding Studio is about changing the world by empowering entrepreneurs who are dedicated to using their businesses for positive change.
I keep this in here as a reminder of what my bigger goal is. It’s here to keep me moving forward when I feel like giving up. Tap into your story to find the foundational motivation behind your business.
Brand Values: natural living, clarity, entrepreneurship
You can elaborate on each value if you feel like you need to. I like to keep this short and simple for super easy reference, though.
This year’s goals: Grow an audience, gain new clients, move toward creating passive income
Again, just a short and simple version to keep me on track. I have really specific goals I keep written in my planner. These are only the bigger-picture overarching ones that I want to make sure are behind everything I do.
My Ideal Client
My ideal client is an optimistic, self-motivated, free-spirited woman who whole-heartedly believes in doing her part to make the world a better place. Her personal journey led her to a more natural lifestyle, which she wants to share with the world through her business.
I find the personality traits way more helpful than dry demographic information, so I jump right into that for this profile. The motivation behind her business is super important to me, so it’s right in the first paragraph. What are the most important things you need to remember about your ideal client?
She loves learning and actively looks for opportunities to grow. She feels a need to be connected with nature, so she keeps a garden, hikes on the weekends, and makes time for little adventures. She loves her family more than anything, but also understands that she needs to take care of herself in order to take care of them.
This part is about what she values and how she spends her time. It hints at where I might find her, how I might reach her, and what kind of content is likely to resonate with her.
She loves being a business owner and is passionate about her work, but she sometimes feels overwhelmed and a little lost. She’s looking for someone who can help her figure out what to do to make her business more successful and is ready to let go of some control when she finds the right person.
This is all about her biggest challenge and how I can help her overcome it. What is your ideal client looking for and how can you be the answer to that need?
My Peers
Wild Olive Branding Studio fits in with natural-minded boutiques because they’re small and personable, educate you on their products, and create an energizing atmosphere.
You don’t need to get into specific brand names now that you know the reasons why you fit in with your tribe.
What I admire most about my peers is their drive and determination to change the world. I love that they share their knowledge freely to build others up and form community around their business. They work hard without sacrificing their sanity, health, or life.
What principles have you found that you can apply to your own business? How do you want to emulate the people who you look up to?
Wild Olive Branding Studio is not like advertising agencies, print shops, do-it-yourself branding solutions, or freelance graphic designers. What makes my business different is the Brand Clarity process, which allows me to create designs that resonate with the right people and get results. I understand the needs of natural-minded businesses because they are part of my lifestyle.
Again, no need for specifics if you’ve pinpointed exactly what you’re not like. I find it more helpful to put a positive spin on this section by focusing on the things that make me different, rather than what I don’t like about the brands I’m not like.
Writing branding statements is the culmination of all the hard work you’ve put into defining your brand. It’s not supposed to be easy, so don’t get discouraged if you find it difficult to work through all the information you’ve gathered. Work at a comfortable pace and remind yourself that these branding statements are going to be super valuable to your business. You’ve got this!
Your action steps for the week:
- Gather all the notes and worksheets you have from this series
- Review, highlight, and edit as much as you need to
- Use my examples to write your branding statements
- Celebrate! Treat yourself to a beer, a cookie, or whatever your guilty pleasure may be. You deserve it after so much hard work!