Are You Creating a Brand?
A business newsletter for professional healers, spiritual practitioners, and intuitives.
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“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” – Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox
Brand vs. Business
They’re not the same. A business is a commerce entity that sells a product or service. A brand is a business with a recognizable identity.
Why is a Brand Important?
I see so many of our students competing on price. Meaning, they are selling their services to a client who is looking for a reading, and will make their decision mainly on price.
When you have a brand, a client is deciding to come to you not based on price, but because of what your business stands for. They’re willing to wait and pay your prices because your business has managed to connect with them and build trust.
There’s a difference between a customer shopping for Reiki services, versus a customer shopping for Reiki service from a specific practitioner they feel drawn to. The latter is a brand.
When you enter a market that has other options, establishing a brand is what actually creates the security we all look for in our businesses. A strong brand makes loyal customers, which ultimately gives a business stability.
So How do you Create a Brand?
Honestly, creating a brand can be a little bit like magic. You can’t always predict when it’s going to happen, but there are some actions we took as a business that helped us establish a brand.
A Name
Yes, Nikki Novo is my birth name. Officially, it’s Nicole Mercedes Novo, but my mom always called me Nikki so it stuck. Thanks, mom!
Not all of us get the strange luck of a symmetrical name, but we all get to name our business. Naming your business, service or product something people can remember can be really helpful.
As Google has taught us, the word doesn’t even need to mean anything, it just needs to be somewhat simple and easy to remember.
Messaging
Perhaps the most important aspect of branding is messaging. And we have a lot of control over this. The first question to ask yourself is: “What’s your story?” Meaning, why did you get into this work? Why do you believe in it? What would you tell people if they asked?
When I first started selling readings, I did not believe in myself. But I believed in the power of a good reading. My messaging was all about why I thought readings were amazing and important.
Messaging can be done through your own platforms, like emails, social media, blog, podcast, etc. And it can also be done through other people’s platforms.
Don’t overthink this process, just commit to sharing your voice on one platform at least once a week. Strong messaging is built with consistency.
Visual Identity
I do believe visual identity is becoming less important than it was over the last 10 years. This being because consumers are tired of the picture-perfect look and are looking for more authenticity.
But still, putting a bit of thought into your colors and design will tell customers who you serve. Based on your colors and fonts, customers will know if you’re serving them or another demographic that they don’t belong to.
Customer Service
Customer service is overlooked when it comes to branding. When a business is consistent in the way they respond to customers, the customer feels safe. They know what to expect. This builds the company’s identity.
Who You Surround Yourself With
Word-of-mouth, of course, is always the best marketing, but we have less control over it. For this reason, when you do give your services or products out for free to tastemakers, you want to make sure they are people or brands who you feel represent your values and beliefs.
Also, when you surround yourself with other like-minded brands, people will associate you with those brands. For example, if you’re a luxury handbag, you’ll probably advertise in Vogue but not in a local community newspaper. Because who the brand “hangs out with” tells us a story of who they are.
Signature Offering or Product
Lastly, a signature product or service has the ability to create a brand. Your business might look like any other yoga business, but if you offer a signature service that customers really want, you are no longer in competition with the other yoga businesses.
You create a signature offer by thinking about how you can turn a basic service (like a reading, a reiki session, a yoga class) into something that feels custom for your niche market. For example, are most of your clients seeking a reiki session to help heal their heart from a breakup? Create the Heal Your Heart reiki session. Are many of your clients asking about money in your readings? Create the Money Reading.
The more you narrow in on your client, meaning you know who they are, and address them in all areas of your business from your content and messaging to customer service and your signature offering, before you know it you will have a brand. And you’ll never have to compete on price again.
Resource of the Week
The Mentor
This is a program Danika and I made together and it is awesome for those of you just starting out with your spiritual business. This is specifically great for people who are starting off as spiritual practitioners. Meaning, you’ll be seeing one-on-one clients. In the course, you’ll learn how to make money at this stage, what marketing strategies work, how to get over fears, and how to create the right mindset. Check it out by clicking here.
Looking Ahead
Next week, we’ll talk about whether or not creating an online course would be good for your business.