"Whole Package" Branding

One frustration many small business owners have in common is that they would like to have a steady stream of ideal clients. They find it difficult to forecast income from month to month because they have no way of knowing what is around the corner for them. Some are just flat out not busy and are not sure why. Others go through spurts where they are happy with their business growth, but it seems cyclical and they are also suffering through periods of drought. I've also encountered many clients who have business but it's draining them because their clients don't seem to be a good fit.

In all of these cases, when I go back to examine the foundational steps of that client's business, I make several common discoveries. In most cases, they have failed to create "Whole Package" Branding, in other words, they have not really convinced the world that they are the "whole package," so to speak. When this happens to you, your potential clients haven't come to the conclusion that you can solve their most pressing problems, so they either don't hire you at all or they do hire you and then undervalue your work, haggle over price and generally make your work a chore rather than the pleasure it can be.

I work with clients on specific ways to communicate their brands in ways that bring them more and better-suited clients and by far the main component is that you must have some key foundational steps down tight before you will be seen as the "Whole Package" and get that influx of business coming your way. Here are a few to get you started:

1. Clear, consistent messaging

You have to be clear in your own mind first, and then be able to consistently communicate to prospects, what it is you do exactly. That means you have to learn how to use honest, down-to-earth language, not a bunch of puffery and marketing lingo.

2. Ability to move people to action

Here again, communication is imperative. Do you know how to use language that triggers your prospective clients' hot button issues, makes them see without a doubt that you are the answer to their problem and then will get them to hire you? Can you consistently and concisely explain what you have that others don't and why a potential client should work with you? Most small business owners that I have coached need help with this. Sometimes we get so close to our own messages that we can't see the forest for the trees. You have to take a step back, often with the help of a pro, and see yourself from a prospect's eyes. Easier said than done but 100% necessary to get more stellar clients!

3. Tightly defined target audience

This is a place where many small business owners spin their wheels or mistakenly try to muddle through without mastering. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but just like in that board game Monopoly, if you do not ace this one you do not pass go, you do not collect $200. When you are very sure what you have to offer and you learn how to deliver that message in a way that moves folks to action, you then need to be sure you are reaching the right people--or this is all a waste and all the marketing in the world will not translate to clients and income for you.

There is a fast, simple way to tell if you need work in any of these three areas. Take a hard look at your business's bottom line. Are you consistently happy with your income and the amount of clients you are serving? Are you enjoying your work because you get to work with people who genuinely benefit from what you have to offer? Can you honestly say that you are secure in the future of your business as a revenue source for your family?

If you don't have a resounding yes to all of those questions, you likely have a disruption in the foundational steps to building your business that can be traced back to these basics of branding. And as the "Communications Copilot" I find that failing is generally due to a lack of proper communicating in a few key areas: what you do, who you ideally work with, why they need you etc.

Good news is, with some guided help you can easily course-correct to create the business of your dreams, that attracts exactly the clients you have been hoping for, and will consistently grow over time.

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