5 Key Areas to Building Your Brand

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Are a passionate entrepreneur with a vision for your work and making a difference? If you are like the women entrepreneurs who I know, you are determined, driven, enthusiastic and ready to show your brilliance to those people who you serve, but perhaps don’t know where to begin, what to say, or what next steps to take.

The fear of not making the right decisions, investing your time and money into the right training and resources can be overwhelming and cause feelings of frustration, fatigue, and even despair.

The good news is that the success that you desire is possible and attainable no matter where you are in your business–whether you are just starting out or you are a seasoned business owner. Let me share with you a very basic branding process that I go through with companies, large and small, as well as entrepreneurs in all stages of their business, so that you have a better understanding of how it may help you where you currently are in your business.

1. Internal assessment: It is important to first explore what you are all about in your business. Because You are the key selling point of your business–you are the face of your business–you want to take an internal assessment and understand and be able to articulate what you are all about. Start with getting in touch with your vision and then the purpose for your work and who you want to reach out to and the difference that you want to make. 
   
   
2. External assessment: Although it is essential that you understand who you are and what you stand for, you also need to know how others view you. You may think that you are helpful when you give advice, but others may feel that you are too direct and cold.
   
   Large companies often spend thousands of dollars on this type of assessment, which we both know that as an entrepreneur you simply can't do; the good news is that you don’t have to! One of the tools I use to get feedback when helping to develop personal brands for clients is the 360 Reach Personal Branding Assessment. Using this type of assessment allows you to see how others view you. It is an anonymous survey that invites participants to be candid about their perceptions of you and although this sounds very corporate and restrictive, it's actually really fun and insightful. It also plays a significant role in helping you market your business.
   
   
3. Statement of influence: As a passionate and powerful leader of your business, you have a distinct statement of influence—even if you're not clear on what it is yet. A statement of influence is essentially how you describe and express yourself when networking and marketing. It concisely tells what you are all about in your business and how you are distinct from others in your market.
   
   
   
4. Marketing and Communications Plan: Your plan includes how and what you communicate online and in print, as well as how often. I always like to help my clients create a clear plan of action for how they will market and communicate, so that they always have a guide for the next step to take to continually building their credibility, so they attract more potential clients and contacts on a continuous basis.
   
   
   
5. Visual Expression: This includes your logo, color palette, typography, images and graphics that you carry throughout all of your communications. The graphic design elements of your brand have a significant impact on how your audience makes purchasing decisions. Upon looking at your logo, website, and other graphics, your audience makes assumptions about your professionalism, credibility, and more, so it is important that you either consult with a professional in graphic design or hire a graphic designer to work with you personally on designing the visual foundation of your brand.

Knowing where you are in your business is essential to getting the best results without feeling overwhelmed. The overwhelm comes when you find yourself working on an area that is three steps ahead of where you're actually currently at—you can't be successfully working on your marketing plan, when you don't yet have a crystal clear vision of yourself and your business. Start with getting in touch with your vision and purpose for your work and who you want to reach out to and make the difference that you want to make.

Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved

If you would like to use this article on your blog or website, feel free as long as you include the following author information:

Known for her creativity, gentle disposition, enthusiasm, and passion, Lisa Hromada is a Personal Branding Strategist and Money, Marketing, & Soul Coach who specializes in empowering women entrepreneurs to manage their time and find the clarity and focus they need to create a thriving business while still having the time and energy to enjoy their life. Find Lisa's FREE gifts and more at: http://www.lisahromada.com

How to Dig Out of Information Overload and Focus On Getting Your Next Client

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Does this sound familiar?
“Help, my inbox is filled with unread newsletters, my desk filled with papers and to-do lists, my shelf filled with information products I haven't looked at, and I can't keep up with all these tele-seminars!”


Have you ever found yourself in this spot where you feel completely overwhelmed with everything that you are trying to learn and cram into your brain as quickly as possible so that you can start seeing the results in your business...and start living the life you truly want? I know I have.


In fact, in the last year I decided to get multiple certifications, travel to the East Coast to meet people and create my first professional video, attend as many tele-classes, seminars, and events as possible to meet people and learn, in hopes that it would help me find clarity on moving my business to the next level.


And while I would not change anything that I did or any decisions that I made because of the blessings that came with them, I found myself almost just as confused and overwhelmed as I was before. 


Can you take a guess why? Yep, I was on information overload.


If you're on information overload in your business right now, I'm happy to have you here so that I can share my experience, provide you with support, and help shed some light on how you can take steps to move forward. 


Many of my clients are at the beginning stages of their business. Whether they are just starting their entrepreneurial adventure or changing the direction of their business, they are often feeling stuck, confused, and overwhelmed with not only all that they are doing each day (both at work and at home), but also with learning, implementing, and figuring things out along the way. 


It's a pretty miserable place to be in, right? Not only is it frustrating, but it's also tiring and you don't feel like your happy, energetic and enthusiastic, loving self that you are. Your relationships suffer, your exercise and health takes a backseat to your work, and your finances are always on your mind.


Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if it was not important to you to HAVE to know everything that you are trying to learn; imagine what it would be like if everything that you need is already available to you and you easily see what it is and are able to focus fully on it; imagine that with this clarity and ease, you are able to confidently get your next client.


Now, take the first step. When I found myself in a place of extreme overwhelm from information overload, here are some steps that I took and that you can take to begin to free yourself of this mental, physical, and emotional prison:


1. Reconnect with your passion. Consider for a moment that all of the reading books, listening to tele-classes, and networking like mad was no longer important to you. 


If you took a moment to sit quietly and ask yourself from the place in your heart what you are truly passionate about doing, what answer would come? I know that as a heart-centered entrepreneur, you want to make a difference. 


So, what difference is it that you want to make that makes your soul sing from the inside out? For me, it's empowering women to step into their power and fully embrace the excellence of who they are and what they do, so that they can have the life and business they desire.


2. Clear 'a path.' If your primary cause of overwhelm is too much information at once, ask yourself if it is REALLY necessary to know all these things right now. 


You're likely making your life much more difficult by telling yourself that you need to do this or that before going out and meeting people and inviting your next client to work with you and benefit from the gifts that you give through your work. 


Clear away the papers, books and information products that you're not using right now. Organize them in a closet or another easily accessible spot for now. Start with a clean slate again. This will help clear your mind and the energy of your environment, helping you to concentrate on allowing in that next and best step for you.


3. Discover 'that thing' that is holding you back. As this heart-centered, passionate leader in your business, what would have to be true for you to go out and get your next client? 


What do you believe that you need that you don't already have that is hindering you from getting your next client? My clients often say that they don't know where to find their potential clients. 


If this is true for you, then I would invite you to explore and describe what this ideal potential client looks like for you. Once you have a clear vision of that, you'll be able to move to the next step of finding a place where this person hangs out.


4. Forget everything else that you feel that you should be doing and focus on what that next step is to get your first or next client. I'm all about making things as simple as possible. 


If I can find a way to simplify a situation or streamline a process, I will, because the alternative is always unnecessary stress that affects my health, finances and relationships. 


It can be easy to find yourself overloaded as an entrepreneur and the leader of your business, but I can guarantee you that if you are feeling overwhelmed, you're not seeing all of the options and opportunities that you have, because there's always a way out of overwhelm.


So, what is your next and simplest step you can take today to make a connect that will lead you to your next client? Give yourself a break from all that you 'should' be doing and find a way to share the gift of your work with people—whether that's through in-person connection or online.


If you have questions or comments, share them below. I'd love to hear from you—where you're feeling stuck or how you got out of your information overload.

Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved

If you would like to use this article on your blog or website, feel free as long as you include the following author information:

Known for her creativity, gentle disposition, enthusiasm, and passion, Lisa Hromada is a Personal Branding Strategist and Money, Marketing, & Soul Coach who specializes in empowering women entrepreneurs to manage their time and find the clarity and focus they need to create a thriving business while still having the time and energy to enjoy their life. Find Lisa's FREE gifts and more at: http://www.lisahromada.com