Building Your Brand

What the heck is Brand anyway? Most people mistake Brand to mean what a company says about itself to potential customers. This is only half-right and NOT the most important aspect of Brand. The most important aspect is….

What Target Customers Say Who You Are. What do Apple’s Target Customers say about Apple? – Cool, Trendy, Stylish, Innovative, Easy-to-use…. What Apple’s Target Customers say about Apple is much more important than anything Apple says about itself. What do Apple’s NON Target Customers say about Apple? – Over-priced, too expensive…. – Does Apple care what they think, and can this actually play to Apple’s advantage toward their Target Customers?

Who are You? Who, who, who, who? People “Really want to know” Words MATTER big time – Compare the words “crafter” versus “designer” – How about the word “fashion” – How about “store” versus “boutique” – How about “WalMart” versus “Saks Fifth Avenue” Do Not Forget: Words shape people’s VALUE EXPECTATIONS, and Value Expectations impact PRICE. So are you a crafter or a designer?

Is it that Simple? Just label yourself a Jewelry Designer and away you go right?? Unfortunately, not exactly. What you DO has to match with what you say you ARE for it to Stick in your Target Customer’s mind. To achieve that in your Target Customer’s mind, you must have laser-like focus, and that means….

Niche, Niche, Niche You cannot look like everyone else…. – “I’m a jewelry designer creating one-of-a-kind beautiful handmade jewelry that you will love….” – Search on Twitter and see how many handmade jewelry businesses describe themselves in a way similar to this. You’ve got to find a way to Stand Out, and establish a Foothold in your Target Customer’s mind.

MicroScoping Example Think about drilling down to the smallest niche you can think of. Example….. – I am a Health Expert – I am a Weight Loss Expert – I am a Fat Loss Expert – I am a Belly Fat Loss Expert – I am a “Love Handles” Fat Loss Expert

Do Your Homework Start writing down potential niches Use your own experience/imagination Use the Internet for Research – Google, Pinterest, Twitter – Model, don’t copy – Tools you can use to capture ideas – WRITE DOWN what you perceive is the Jewelry Designer’s target niche Materials?, Color Combinations?, Techniques?, Shapes?, Themes?, Other?, Combinations of all these? Model, don’t copy

You Must Make This Transformation It’s easy, and frankly, lazy, to make your Brand general and un-focused, a shot-gun approach that targets everyone. It may be uncomfortable for you to transform yourself personally to match a Brand Image that attracts Premium customers. You may fail several times trying different niches…. But you must keep going until you find it.