“Too many companies want their brands to reflect some idealized, perfected image of themselves. As a consequence, their brands acquire no texture, no character and no public trust.” – Richard Branson

I’ve been doing a branding course recently and have been branding myself for a few years, so I thought I’d get some value out which you can implement it into your life and business. Here’s my top 5 tips for branding yourself and your business. But firstly, a little about myself and what I do.

I’ve been in the online business world just over 4 years now. During these last few years, I’ve learned a lot about branding, internet marketing and social marketing. The journey truly has been incredible. I went from an unfulfilling job to travelling the world with my family and making a great income in my online business.

Now, let me get to those 5 tips…

Tip 1 – Two levels to Branding

There are two levels to branding. The first level is the superficial part. Specifically, that’s the logos, tag lines and colour schemes for your brand, website, etc.

The second part is the deeper stuff. This is what’s below the surface and what matters more than the superficial side of your brand. This deeper part is what makes you as a person or business and what message you want to deliver to people. This is the part I’m going to talk about and it should be the part you focus on first when branding yourself or your business; because if you get this part right, the superficial part will fall into place.

Tip 2 – Find your voice

When you put yourself or your business out there, you should tell people what you stand for. You have to have something you can tell people that moves you. In other words, what is the message you want to get across to people? Let your message be something that really rings true to you; and be authentic with that message.

For me, in my business I want to empower 100 families per year to FREEDOM. And there’s a lot of ways I’m working toward doing this. For example, I train people in internet marketing, I coach business owners, and I have an online business opportunity where people can generate an income online. But ultimately, I want to help people so they can create the freedom they deserve (hence my blog's name: You Deserve Freedom).

So what’s your message? Share it with me in the comments section below 🙂

Tip 3 – Make it yours

This is about making your brand yours. It’s not about taking other people’s brand or vision. Instead, make up your own words about what you do and what you’re offering others. Also, come up with your own tagline and your own vision. It’s very easy to see other people’s visions and make it your own. Instead, you should cultivate your own vision that rings true to you; because when it’s yours, you own it, it empowers you, and it gives you so much energy to continue working on what you want to accomplish.

Tip 4 – Own your story

Everyone has a story. I spoke a bit about mine at the beginning – you can learn more about it by clicking here. But when it comes to your story, take ownership, work on it, and develop it because your story is your brand.

When people know your story, they’re going to connect with you. At the beginning they won’t care about what products you sell. For example, there’s a lot of network marketers on social media who add me and pitch their company, products and opportunity to me, and that shows that there’s no essence to that person. That might not be true, but that's how they come across.

The truth is that people want to know your story, whether you’ve created results or not, and they want to know where you’re going in your life. So work on your story because that’s what people connect to.

Just as important, tell your story over and over again because people will want to hear it. And the more you tell it, the better you’ll get and the more people will hear your story and want to connect with you. And when people connect to you through your story, they’ll want to know what you do. This works for any type of business, whether you’re a life coach, traditional business owner or even a network marketer.

Tip 5 – Be yourself

You would have read Richard Branson’s quote at the beginning of this post (if you haven’t, read it before you continue).

This quote (and tip) really comes down to just being yourself, whether you’re in business or in the real world. Personally, I’ve worked jobs and had a traditional business and often I’d see these corporate characters in suits come into the office. I’d observe them and the way they spoke – their tone was all fake. I could tell that if they were at home speaking to their spouse, there’s no way they’d be speaking in that “oh so professional” fake tone of voice. You see, when you go to your job or business and you change your tone of voice and act in a different way to who you really are, people can hear and see your fakeness from miles away.

As I’ve been saying through out this whole post; be authentic, be yourself, find you own voice and make up your own logo, tagline and vision. Even when it comes to your story, always be you. If you haven’t created any results in your business, don’t lie about it in your story. Instead, talk about where you’re going, what your vision is, because that’s how people will want to come on board with you. If people know that you’re going to an exciting place, they’ll want to come with you – as long as you’re authentic.

What Richard Branson is talking about in his quote is all these companies who are trying to create this fake “perfect” picture, and people don’t trust that. If you look at Richard Branson’s promotional work, you’ll see how quirky he is and how business doesn’t hold him back from expressing his true himself. See photos below.

Crazy cool huh?! And as you know, Richard Branson is one of the most successful business men in the world and everyone loves him. Richard has built eight billion dollar companies and no one else in the history of business has done that. And why is he so successful? Because he’s always himself!

If Richard Branson says to be yourself and not try to be some idealised, perfect picture of whatever, and you follow that, then you can succeed in business.

Did you get value? Is so, I would greatly appreciate it if you commented below and shared on Facebook.

Alex Ford
Digital Marketing Trainer
Email: [email protected]
Have Questions? – Ask me on Messenger

P.S. Do You Have A Proven Step-By-Step Blueprint For Your Online Home Business Success? If Not, Check This Out (Unless You’ve Already Got Too Many Leads) – Click Here For Instant Access

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