Today, we’re going to ask ourselves three questions. These are powerful questions that are relevant to many areas of business, but we’re going to focus specifically on your personal or company brand. Maybe it’s time to relook at how you brand yourself in the marketplace as a company if you’re the owner. Or, if you just want to focus on your personal brand, that’s fine too. Either way, ask yourself these three questions and figure out a way to articulate the answers to the marketplace:
1. What are your guiding principles or core values? Some examples people often use are honesty, integrity, and single words like that. As you think through your guiding principles or core values, I want to encourage you to try to be as descriptive as possible with each one. Avoid using those very simple words. Instead, describe it with a phrase of say, 7-10 words.
So as opposed to listing integrity as one of your core values, you might say something like, “We do what we say we’re going to do.” Or, “We act the same way even if nobody’s looking.” Those would be better examples. Take some time to think about what the guiding principles or core values are for your company or you personally, whichever you’re working on.
2. Why did you choose to work in this business, field, or industry? The important word here is why. It’s imperative that you know why you began. Is there a story behind how you got into the industry? And if the story is kind of boring, or you just sort of fell into it, what is your reason for staying?
3. How do you want your clients to feel while using your products or services? What is the emotion that you want them to experience once they’re using (or have finished using) your products or services? Oftentimes, this could simply be the benefits.
As you think about those three questions, start figuring out a way to really capture and articulate them. Try to hone in on how to share them with the marketplace, and how to educate people on your brand. Obviously, there are other questions that go deeper into branding, but the three above are a good starting point.
So go out, have fun, take action, and be courageous this week. Have a better than amazing day.
