Hey there – and welcome to episode 124 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.

Thanks for leading me your ears today – I know you have lots of choices out there and I appreciate you making me one of them.

I’m Jenn, the host, marketing thought leader and digital strategist and coach for small businesses.  And just an all-around small business lover with one goal in business – to make every small business I come across to make marketing a priority in their business – because if you want to grow, you need to market!

It’s that’s simple – not easy, but simple for sure.

This week’s podcast is sponsored Noonan’s Showcase Jewellers in Cobram, Victoria.  Cath, the owners, with the pink hair – omgod you’ll love her – works alongside a master jeweller who can only custom make your special piece but can also take all that unworn jewellery, melt it down and make an unforgettable piece, which is designed by you, for you, with the help of Cath and her team.  Noonan’s has been part of the local landscape for 49 years and you can find them as Noonan’s Showcase Jewellers on Facebook, Instagram or at 91 Punt Road, Cobram.  PS – their Instagram feed, if you love jewellers, – Amazing – take a look!

This week had the pleasure of doing an interview with Shivani from the Remarkable Woman.  The Remarkable Woman is a mentoring movement for woman, and I am lucky enough to be one of their mentors.

The interview with Shivani and her members was around branding and personal branding.

I had such a wonderful conversation around branding with them that I thought it would have a conversation here with you too.

So, let’s start with what branding is NOT – your branding or your business branding IS NOT your logo.  Your logo is certainly a part of your branding – but it isn’t your branding.

And we have many graphic artists and creators to thank for that confusion over many years.

You want to get your branding “done” – you go to a graphic artist and talk colours, and fonts and logos – but that’s NOT your branding.

Again, it’s important and part of it, but that’s not all of it.

So, what is a brand?

It’s a little like marketing – everything!

It’s your likeability and your enthusiasm mixed in nicely with what people say about you and/or your business when you’re not in the room – also known as “what you want to be famous for”.

What you want to be famous for is exactly that – what do you want people to say about you to someone – e.g.,/ you should work with Jenn Donovan, she knows her marketing and works with small business, especially rural ones.

If someone said that about me – then YAY – that’s me!

If they said, “you should work with Jenn Donovan, she’s got so much free PR, she could help you get some” – that’s ok, love that someone is talking about me, but once they reach out, I’ll help them find some like Jemimah Ashleigh who’s whole business is around getting people PR – it’s not my niche – I could help, but I’m probably not what they are looking for.

So, we want our brand to be who we want it to be and attract the people who want and need our services.

So, what would someone say about you and your business when you’re not in the room – do you have your branding right that they know exactly what to say to recommend or refer you?

How do you get clear on your brand?

Here’s my 3 steps for doing just that:

1. Start with the end in mind – what’s the goal, what’s the BHAG, what do you want to be famous for?

Start here and work backwards – like designing a business around you and starting at the end, getting your branding exactly as it needs to be to help you reach your goals – you need to start at the end. 

2. Get clear on your brand values, mission and vision statements. Know Your Why

I know knowing your WHY is something we hear a lot – we can blame Simon Sinek for that – but knowing why you do what you do, is just as important of knowing what you want it to achieve for you.

If you’ve never worked on your Why or Vision or Mission statements – do some research, do some work on it.

Forget the corporate-speak – write from the heart.

Your Vision statement is focused on tomorrow – what the business or you want to become – what are our hopes and dreams, what problem are we solving, who and what are we inspiring to change.

Your Mission statement is focussed on today – what the business does – what do we do, who do we serve, how do we serve them?

My Mission: to ensure every small business owner makes marketing a priority in their business

My Vision: To have my clients go from invisible to invincible, to boost their profile, audience and profit, so they can earn what they’re worth and can make a bigger difference in the world.

Embody your business values into both. 

Your business values should be somewhere where people can see – e.g.,/ your website – as should your vision and mission.

They don’t have to be under those headings – but they should be somewhere.

3. Work on who your target audience is?

Understand the person you are wanting to buy from you – know them back to front, front to back and back again!

Because once you have an understanding of who your audience is, what you want to be famous for, what the end goal is for your business, then you can start to work on things like your

• Brand voice
• Brand tone
• Language of your brand
• Brand positioning – e.g.,/ Tiffany or Kmart

And once you have all that – and ONLY once you have all that, can you really start to look at colours, fonts, logos, etc that match all of that in a physical form.

One of the simplest ways to start cultivating your brand is to stop thinking of it like a BUSINESS – think of your brand as PERSON – actually – YOU.

Whether you are working in a business or own a business, you can still have a personal brand.

People don’t buy from brands; they buy from people who embody their own morals and values.

And if we do buy from someone or a brand that doesn’t have the same values as us, that’s possibly because they make themselves so likeable and are just so darn enthusiastic at what they do and how they treat us as customers.

Do some work on your branding.

Perhaps ask some trusted sources what your branding says to them, what they think you do, what they think your brand says about you.

Because like I said, your brand is often what people say about you when you’re not in the room!

So, how can I help?

Well, you can book in for a Discovery call with me and I can see how I might be able to help you with your branding or you could join my Facebook group – Like Minded Business Owners and ask for some feedback in that very safe space.

If you’d like to book a call – get in touch – send me a message on any of the social platforms or book a call at http://bit.ly/Discoverwithjenn

That’s it for episode 124 – I’ll be back for 125 next Thursday – look forward to chatting again then.

Have a fabulous week, whoever or whatever it brings.  Don’t forget to get social on social with me!

If you’re enjoying this podcast, which if you have listened to here – you hopefully are, don’t forget to subscribe, share this episode with another superstar business owner who’s doing the daily grind and would appreciate someone making their business simpler, and leave a rating or review to show how much you are loving this free weekly content and my fabulous guests!

See you next week

But whatever you do,

……..remember small business peeps, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!

 

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I record this podcast and conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.