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I find that a brand is all of the touchpoints that you have with the people that you interact with,
whether that is from a business standpoint and they're your audiences, or whether that is a
standpoint of a one-on-one interaction. You always have those touchpoints, and they make
a big difference. So if you think about a company that you might be familiar with or

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a company that you love, their brand is everything from how the receptionist
answers the phone at the front desk up to the high-level business strategy that their CEO is
doing or trying to execute on a day-to-day basis, right? It's everything from the 300
ft to the 300,000 ft and everything in between. So even when you have a small business or even
when you are building just a personal brand, you want to think about that in those ways.

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You're going to have your big, overarching strategic goals and
things that you're trying to accomplish, but you also have some of those very small,
little details that make a big difference to people, especially when they are interacting
with you one-on-one. So much about what we do is not just the work that we create,
but it's also how we present ourselves to the world and who people understand us to be,
both as people and as professionals. And that's really where a brand comes from.
I like this quote because I think it's so true. When you think about your brand,

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whether it's a freelance brand, a personal brand, or you're building a business and you
have a brand, that's the thing that really protects you against some of those business
factors that you can't control. And when I say that, I mean, like if the recession is hitting,
sometimes being able to have a very specific story to tell and a very specific client allows you to
sort of bypass some of that. Or if everyone around you is dropping their prices and you

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don't want to do that, you have some of that protection because people know who you are,
they know what story you have, and they are connected to that—not just what it is that
you do. So sometimes that allows you to be sort of insulated because you have a stronger foundation.
So why do you need it? I get this question all the time, and these are some of the
things that I feel are important in terms of why building a brand really makes an impact. One,

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you have very clear vision, and that clear vision is not only evident to you,
but it's also evident to people that are looking at you from the outside. So when I think about
even small companies—let's say you've got three employees, right?—it's important for everyone
to be on the same page. If you're the founder of that business, then it may be in your head.
You may have a very clear idea in your head of what the business is, but if you've never fully

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fleshed that out on paper, you've never shared it with the other people that work for you,
they are not operating from the same vision that you are—they're just not as clear as you are. So
it helps to be able to put that out there so that not only your audiences understand who you are,
but that anybody that's affiliated with your brand has as clear a vision as you do.
That keeps you on track. It keeps you from sort of throwing money at things. I don't know how

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many of you are just getting started in terms of being a freelancer or building a business,
but it's hard to know what to spend your money on. And I think being able to prioritize your actions
and the things that you're going to focus on makes a huge difference. So when you have a clear vision
about who you are, what it is that you're trying to do, and who it is that you're trying to serve,
it makes a lot of decisions for you. It really helps you to do everything from deciding what
your color palette is going to be to deciding how you're going to advertise to deciding who

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you're going to network with. That clear vision is the foundation for everything.
I know that often I have clients who come to me, and they're flailing around a little bit. They've
probably spent so much money, and they're just like, "I didn't think that I needed a brand, so
I just kind of launched out there, and now I feel like I'm just throwing stuff at the wall to see
what sticks." So sometimes we have to backtrack a little bit and get them to a place of a good,

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strategic foundation in terms of knowing what their brand is before they can move forward.
Respect is another one. When you put that stake in the ground and let people know who you are,
it makes it easy for them to see what your role is in the industry, to understand what your expertise
provides, and the value that you provide. Your reputation; connections as well, because, again,
when people know exactly who you are, it makes it really easy for them to say, "Hey, I think that's

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somebody I should be connected to," right? And so they'll come and make that connection happen.
And then opportunities—you know, it makes it easy for people to help you find business,
for you to help make the right connections, and to get into the right rooms if they know
exactly who you are, how you fit, and what you're looking for. All of that makes a big difference.
So that's the benefit of having a good foundation for your personal brand or your business brand.