Your Recipe for Brand Success
By: LIZ PABON

As entrepreneurs, we are faced with wearing many hats. Some hats fit us beautifully while others are not quite as flattering. However, as the "stylist" of your business you must find a way to wear the cap of sales, marketers beret, promoter fedora and the list goes on and on. While you can outsource some of these functions, the one hat you MUST wear, and wear with flair, is that of Chef Boundary Officer.

Because your personal brand is the unique recipe of YOU it consists of many ingredients that make up ALL of the parts of your business, which translates into an experience that your clients and customers can grow to expect from you consistently. The boundaries you set for your business are a part of your brand mix of ingredients and leaving just one ingredient to chance compromises your success potential.

So slip on your chef hat and let's create a whole new set of boundary recipes for your business:

Define Your Role Not clearly defining your role can leave you open to an office line or cell phone that rings non-stop, clients that have unreasonable demands and expect you to jump through hoops (the hat of circus master works best under the big top not in your business!) making you feel like your business is running you instead of you running your business. Sound familiar?

An unclear role can also lead to some confusion about your brand and brand expectations. In many ways, the boundaries you set creates a standard in your business that makes up the overall experience your brand is intended to convey. The question is what standards do you wish to set about your brand.

Some questions to consider:

What days of the week do I choose to work directly with clients? Did you know that making yourself available 24/7 will actually keep you from attracting MORE clients? We're talking about the perception game. If you're accessible any day of the week, time of week, etc. what does that say about your brand? Always here to serve you or really need your business?

If you made yourself a little less accessible, identifying specific days of the month that you're available for consultations, coaching, etc. without compromising the integrity of your service, what message would you convey about you brand? In high-demand?

There is no right or wrong answer here. There is only the answer that best communicates what you want to say about your brand and that makes the most sense for the market you serve.

What days of the week are devoted strictly to marketing and promoting my brand? Once you've identified the answer to the question above, you'll then know the answer to this one. No matter what your product or service, your #1 role is that of Chief Marketing Officer for the brand called YOU. This means you must consistently build time to market and promote your brand each and every week. When you can automate some of this activity, it makes this hat that much easier to wear.

What subject(s) will I specialize in? Your specialty ties in directly with your self-brand strategy. Deviating from this specialty can cause confusion about your brand position. For example, are you a business consultant that also offers dating advice? This strategy only works if you can link your two passions (business consulting and dating) seamlessly in the eyes of the market you serve. For example, corporate sales expert shares rainmaker strategies to close the deal in dating.

To specialize in your field, you must choose your niche then market and promote yourself as an expert in that area.

Branding isn't just about your logo, tagline, moniker or website. It's also not what you do. Your brand is made up of a combination of ingredients that is prepared and served unlike any other. It is the unique way you do what you do.

If you're looking for more recipes to cook up your unique brand, then check out my award-winning ULTIMATE Brand by Design home study tool kit. It's a simple, step-by-step system to creating a brand that positions you uniquely in your market with ease, gets you a stampede of raving fans and gives you the freedom to create the business of your dreams.

© 2006-2007 Liz Pabon. All Rights Reserved

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