If you’re reading this, then you’re doing your research to make sure that you start your social selling business on the right path. (Look at you go!) Or, maybe you’ve already built a business that you once loved. But, as time went on, the burnout set in and you started to feel almost…unauthentic. I’m guessing it’s the latter. 

As a brand coach for social sellers almost daily I hear someone say: “It seems like everyone and their mother is selling my product. How can I stand out when the market is so oversaturated?”

I see you. I feel you. You are NOT alone. 

The truth is, every single industry is filled with entrepreneurs who are fighting the same battle. Photographers, designers, podcasters, coaches…they’re all looking for the secret sauce that makes their business stand out from all the rest. 

Wanna know the secret? 

A personal brand that connects with your ideal audience on an emotional level. That’s it. The answer literally lies within you – you just need to know how to unlock your story to build a compelling personal brand. I’m here to help you with that.  Are you ready? Here goes…

First of all, what exactly is branding?

Simply put, it’s the culture that defines your business and sets it apart. Its persona, identity, its character. When you hear branding, you might instantly think about a logo and color palette, which is definitely a part of the big picture. But branding also involves your values, the voice you convey, and the impact that you want to make on the world.

Don’t get intimidated here, ok? I’m walking you through this. You can craft your purpose-driven brand by working through these 3 steps:

Know Your Purpose

The first step in personal branding is essential: knowing your purpose.

Here’s the thing…you have to start with YOU first. What is YOUR life’s purpose? The one that led you to starting this business in the first place? What’s that one shining light that all of your other goals are centered around?

For example, let’s say you’re passionate about clean living because of how you’ve seen the impact through your own health and weight-loss journey. You’ve done tons of research to eliminate products from your diet and your home that could have negative effects on your family’s health. Your personal purpose would be achieving a life lived as naturally and organically as possible. 

Once you’re clear on your life’s mission, then you can begin to craft your brand’s mission to help you achieve that purpose. Why did you feel the need to begin this business? Yes, to make money, because that’s what business is about!

But why THIS business? What is it about natural lifestyles, clothing or hair care that fuels your fire? How are you hoping to change someone’s life? Looking back at our example, you could use the knowledge that you gained in working towards your personal purpose (organic living) to build a brand and business that would do the same for others. Brand purpose complete.

Providing a product is not enough. Even if it’s a great one. Because everybody has a product. And the product itself is not what motivates clients to buy from YOU. Your brand and your story does that.

Products exist to generate income. Brands exist to change the world.

Spend some time developing your purpose, and weave it into your brand. The sales will follow.

Know Your Story

Alright. Now that we’ve discussed your purpose, let’s move on to your story. This part is easy, because I’ll bet your story is very closely tied to your purpose. There’s a reason that you’re so passionate about what you provide. Your audience needs to know that reason. 

Somewhere along the way, you faced an obstacle, and you overcame it. And now you’ve built a business based on helping others who face that struggle (whether your product directly helps overcome that struggle or not). Telling your audience that story helps them connect to you, and it also sets you up to provide them with a solution. 

Humans crave connection, but it’s not the products that we connect to.

The product is the same no matter who sells it. But the brand behind the product…the one whose goals are right in line with ours, the one who understands our pain. That’s what we feel connected to. Products don’t build connections. Brands do. 

The best way you can connect with and serve your clients is to share with them the difficulty behind your purpose, and how you overcame it. We’re all looking for answers, and finding someone who has faced our battle and conquered it is incredibly powerful. Your story of overcoming odds is the intangible aspect that builds a connection with your audience. That connection can lead them to buy your tangible solution in the form of goods and services later. But they have to know the story first. 

Know your story, and share it with your audience. And then teach them how you can be the guide on their own journey.

Know Your Audience

If you’ve done any marketing research at all, one of the first activities you were challenged with is to define your ideal customer. I refer to this as your ICA – your ideal client avatar. Know who you want to sell to. Because when you know your ICA – what she’s looking for, what her internal struggles are – then you can better serve them. When you can picture your ICA, you can create powerful content that speaks directly to her!

This is important. We don’t want to be screaming at the top of our lungs trying to convince someone, anyone to buy, buy, buy! Because, yuck. 

We want to find that person who finds worth in what we offer. The one whose problems we can solve with the products and services that we sell. The one whose day is made when she makes the connection between what you offer (tangibly and intangibly) and how it can change her life. 

Knowing your audience allows you to target your efforts and keeps you from wasting precious time and effort on people who don’t value what you have to offer. And targeting the right audience fuels your passions. It fulfills that piece of your soul that needs affirmation. It provides that deep satisfaction that only comes when you are achieving your God-given purpose. 

The money alone can never do that. 

Here are a few things you want to know about your audience:

• What age or life season is your ICA in?
• What’s important to her? Is it building financial security? Embracing motherhood?
• What is the biggest struggle or frustration in her life right now? (what is she up late googling a solution to?) 
• Describe your ICA’s lifestyle: what are her hobbies? What fuels here the most?

Take some time to decide who she is, and spend the rest of your time focusing on her and her only when you create content for your business. Because that purpose that you’re so passionate about? She’s passionate about it too.

Here’s what’s so beautiful about building your personal brand. It’s you. Your beliefs, your passions, your sense of humor. It’s what you know best, and nobody can replicate that! You’ve got what it takes to stand out in the crowd, my friend! Go and shine!