{"id":173,"date":"2016-03-23T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/?p=173"},"modified":"2021-10-25T19:41:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T23:41:14","slug":"branding-how-to-get-clear-on-what-youre-all-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/branding-how-to-get-clear-on-what-youre-all-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Branding: How to Get Clear on What You\u2019re All About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sure, you\u2019ve\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/network-advice-for-people-that-hate-networking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">made some moves networking<\/a>. But when your connections start reaching out, can you convey your brand and business to them in a snappy one-liner? How does one build a brand when you\u2019re just getting started?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a myth out there that if you\u2019re a small business owner, or a freelancer, you don\u2019t need branding. Or you can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t agree at all. As a freelancer it\u2019s even more important to brand yourself so that you\u2013and your business\u2013can have a visible, recognizable face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Get-Clear-684x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Get-Clear-684x1024.jpg 684w, https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Get-Clear-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Get-Clear.jpg 735w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 684px) 100vw, 684px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Working on your brand and designing it is a lot of work. It can be a long process. But ultimately it\u2019s a wise investment, because you will develop the clarity, the voice and the visuals that represent you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what is branding? Well, it isn\u2019t your logo. And it isn\u2019t your company colours or even the elements that will be going on your website. Branding is really about stepping back and thinking about \u201cthe big picture.\u201d &nbsp;You\u2019ll be doing some hard thinking, and some soul-searching, and mostly, you will be gaining clarity about your business and how you want to share it with your audience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Branding is really about defining your business, what you want to accomplish, what you see in the future for it, and developing that vision. So it may take a little while to get to that clarity exactly right.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To develop your brand it will help you to answer the questions below.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key is to specific, brief and clear. This exercise is for you\u2013no one else will see this. It\u2019s to help YOU gain clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>What is your business about? (a few words, 1 sentence maximum)<\/li><li>What have buyers come to expect from your product or service?<\/li><li>What is the problem you solve for your clients\/customers?<\/li><li>What is your promise to your customers\/clients?<\/li><li>What is the one SINGLE WORD or CONCEPT that you want to be known for?<\/li><li>Why should people to come to you and ONLY you?<\/li><li>What do you stand for?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people don\u2019t take the time to do this simple exercise. And that\u2019s what keeps them from getting clear.&nbsp;<br><br>Think of Victoria\u2019s Secret: their brand is sex appeal. Period. Simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now think about this company\u2019s branding statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cProfitable growth through superior customer service, innovation, quality, and commitment.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think about it, the statement above says nothing. It is so generic that it is unlikely to get any emotional response from an audience. And if you read carefully, they provide exactly what you would expect from any business. That\u2019s hardly a rock to build your house on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you work on the answers to the question above, ideally you should arrive at a statement that describes your brand in one or two words, or one sentence. If someone ask you what your brand is, and it takes you 30, 45, 60 seconds to explain\u2013then you are not clear on what your brand is. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting to that kind of brevity and clarity will make your marketing life much easier. Because once you know exactly what you stand for, it will be much easier for you to tell the whole world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don\u2019t need fancy words; you don\u2019t need a philosophical, drawn out vision statement that uses fancy, esoteric (and often vague) language.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What you need is a clear, strong, guiding message that lets everyone (including you) know exactly what you deliver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sure, you\u2019ve\u00a0made some moves networking. But when your connections start reaching out, can you convey your brand and business to them in a snappy one-liner? How does one build a brand when you\u2019re just getting started? There\u2019s a myth out there that if you\u2019re a small business owner, or a freelancer, you don\u2019t need branding. &#8230; <a title=\"Branding: How to Get Clear on What You\u2019re All About\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/branding-how-to-get-clear-on-what-youre-all-about\/\" aria-label=\"More on Branding: How to Get Clear on What You\u2019re All About\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freelancetofreedomproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}