Branding BFF®

Being a solopreneur can feel like you’re riding a rollercoaster. There are emotional highs and lows, peak income months and slower ones. Your business life impacts your personal life, and vice versa.

Along the may want feedback on your pricing, your business goals, expanding your services or target market, navigating client relationships, or insight on your branding, website and marketing.

Sometimes you need big picture and vision support, while at other times you need super detailed and specific feedback.

You can get caught in a decision making loop. And while you’d love to be able to bounce your ideas and problems you’re facing with people outside of your friends and family, you’re worried about people will think.

It can be very lonely and isolating being a solopreneur. I know because I’ve been there and done that.

As a brand new solopreneur in 2004, I started out clientless and clueless. I made countless mistakes. I definitely felt incredibly isolated and alone.

My ego prevented me from discussing what was really happening behind the scenes in my business. Ever heard of “fake it until you make it”? Turns out it’s surprisingly ineffectual.

I spent time and energy trying to make it look like I had it all together, while quietly behind the scenes I really needed feedback and guidance.

Today my experience is totally different.

No, I didn’t hire a team, find a business partner or go back to working in an agency. I started letting people in. Each of these has been super helpful.

• I worked with a coach
• I hired an operations team to look inside my business for what’s working and what can be improved
• I have a contractor I bring in to help me with business naming and taglines
• I’m a member of two business mastermind groups

Joining those masterminds has proven to be one of the most impactful and positive choices I’ve made as a solopreneur. I get the ongoing feedback and ideas I need to feel connected and supported. I also have peers I can have confidential conversations with when I need it.

No matter the situation, together is better.

Learn from my mistakes and let people in. Here are 3 tips:

1. Be willing to be vulnerable – it’s actually a sign of courage and strength
2. Identify what would be the most supportive – is it a one-off item you need help with or is it ongoing feedback and input?
3. Choose who to let in

• You could create a feedback exchange with a trusted peer.
• You could identify one item you want to tackle and hire a subject matter expert to help you solve it
• You could hire an entrepreneur coach for 1:1 for a specified length of time to work on several items
• Or you can join a group of like minded solopreneurs to gain ongoing support and feedback as you ride the rollercoaster together

If you’re not sure where to find a group like that, I’ve created The Solopreneur Mastermind. It’s perfect if you’re craving a place for connection and confidential conversations about your business. It will be limited to 5 people so everyone has ample time and attention over a 6 month period. Get the scoop at https://speerheadsolutions.com/mastermind/

No matter what you choose, I hope you’re letting people in so you can grow and flourish.

And remember, solopreneur doesn’t mean going it solo. Together is better.

We don’t often think of brands as healthy or sick. However, it’s a helpful way to look at it.

In this podcast episode we discuss:

• What it means for a brand to be sick
• Three key areas of your brand
• What it means to be a healthy brand
• How to diagnose and fix your brand

I also provide examples throughout.

If you get stuck working through any of this, I offer brand strategy services to help. You can also sign-up for my email newsletter to receive ongoing branding tips and support in email form. https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Get connected on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/speerheadsolutions/

Speerhead Solutions takes the mystery out of branding and brings insight to entrepreneurship. We offer branding and coaching services for the challenges and opportunities your small business faces.

Branding ties to the big picture of how a business operates and its profitability, so I brought in Natasha Davis of Impact Branding to talk about “Linking Brand Strategy to Business Operations.”

A few highlights we talk about are:

• How are strategic planning and branding are codependent on one another
• 5 simple principles to strategic planning
• The difference between revenue and profit
• The most effective approach for measuring daily operations and why it's critical
• The importance of your brand promise

You can learn more about Natasha Davis and her business at https://impactbrandingconsulting.org/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashadavisvisionary/.

You can follow Impact Branding at https://www.facebook.com/impactbrandingconsulting/, https://www.instagram.com/impactbrandingconsulting/ and https://twitter.com/IMPCTBranding.

Learn tips from Natasha on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP4PZfF4Vn7QgSX6mQXUPhw.

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business.

https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

Your brand is closely tied to your marketing so I brought in Kia Dolby of Kia Dolby Creative to talk about “Expanding Your Brand Through Email Marketing.”

A few highlights we talk about are:

• How your brand foundation is important in your email marketing – this gets woven throughout our conversation
• The necessity of a clear goal and the “why” behind your emails
• Some important differences between service business and product business emails
• Ratio of value driven emails versus selling emails
• The importance of authenticity and brand values in your email communication

You can learn more about Kia at http://kiadolby.com and follow her at https://www.instagram.com/kiadolby/ and https://www.facebook.com/kiadolbycreative.

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business.

https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

With everything going on globally, I decided to dedicate a podcast episode to “Brand Communication During a Crisis”. I had some initial thoughts and decided to bring in PR and crisis communications expert, Nicole Peternel of Rein Communications, to have a candid conversation about ways to connect and communicate with our clients and prospective clients.

A few highlights we talk about are:

• How our business values can help guide our communication during this time
• The importance of a “help first” mindset
• 4 things people are looking for in communication right now
• How the actions in your business during a crisis can impact your reputation and brand

Nicole Peternel is currently offering free crisis communication phone calls right now. You can reach her at www.reincommunications.com

Recent article about crisis communication by Nicole: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/covid-19-when-health-crisis-becomes-communications-nicole-peternel/

You can follow Nicole at https://www.facebook.com/reincommunications/ and https://www.instagram.com/reincommunications/.

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business. https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

In this episode we focus on a “Branding Quickie”. It’s one quick insight to help you better understand an aspect of branding.

Our branding quickie today is: Time for a Brand Check-Up

In this episode we talk about:

• The health of your brand
• What a brand checkup is
• Key things to consider when you’re scheduling time for your brand check-up

If you want some help, Speerhead Solutions created a new service called Brand Check-Up. speerheadsolutions.com/strategy

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

In this episode we talk with attorney Karen Boardman about “Legally Protecting Your Brand”.

A few highlights we talk about are:

• What intellectual property is
• Understanding what trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets are –with examples
• Which items have built in protections and when you should take legal steps for additional protection
• Which type of business names are easiest to get a trademark registration all the way to the hardest types
• Benefits of legally protecting your brand

Disclaimer from Karen Boardman: All of my statements here are for informational purposes only and they do not constitute legal advice, nor does this podcast create any attorney/client privilege between myself and anyone listening to it.

Karen Boardman works as an attorney at Sellers, Ayers, Dortch, Lyons http://sellersayers.com/ and you can also find her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karensboardman/

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business.

https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Is your brand working as hard as you are to get clients? Are your prospects and clients having an immersive experience with your brand? If you’re not sure, you’ll want to download the 4 Critical Elements of Brand Attraction at https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

Today's Branding Quickie is all about how words matter in branding. We'll cover three key examples, plus communication through the key stages of client engagement.

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business.

Are you working too hard to get clients? Ready to have your brand start doing some work for you? Get your free guide now. Download 4 Key Ingredients of Brand Attraction at https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

In this episode we talk with Brittany Canaski of Hello Velocity. She helps ambitious people get unstuck through coaching and consulting. Our topic is “Experience of Branding for First Time Business Owner”.

A few highlights we talk about are:

• The thoughts and feelings she had as a first time busines owner going through the branding process
• The thinking and approach we used to name her business
• The battle between her mind and her gut
• The points where fear came into play and how she dealt with it

You can follow Hello Velocity and connect at https://www.instagram.com/HelloVelocityCo/ and https://www.facebook.com/HelloVelocityCo

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business.

https://speerheadsolutions.com/

Is your brand working as hard as you are to get clients? Are your prospects and clients having an immersive experience with your brand? If you’re not sure, you’ll want to download the 4 Critical Elements of Brand Attraction at SpeerheadSolutions.com

Subscribe to the Branding BFF podcast to stay connected to more behind-the-scenes conversations about branding and business. We also welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so we know what you enjoyed and more people can find us!

In this episode we talk with Latesha Byrd of Byrd Career Consulting & her personal brand Latesha Byrd. Our topic is “Raising Your Brand Visibility”.

A few highlights we talk about are:

• The many ways Lastesha creates brand visibility
• How these opportunities have happened and which ones have been most effective
• The breakdown of time spent on the visibility work vs client work
• How she does it all
• Ways Latesha manages her time and energy
• Whether she considers herself an introvert or extrovert

You can learn more about Latesha Byrd and her work at http://byrdcareerconsulting.com/ and https://www.lateshabyrd.com/

You can connect with her on social for Byrd Career Consulting at https://twitter.com/byrdconsults, https://www.instagram.com/byrdconsults_/ and for Latesha Byrd at https://twitter.com/Latesha_Byrd, https://www.instagram.com/latesha_byrd/

If you enjoyed this and want more, learn the 4 Critical Elements of Brand Attraction in a free download at https://speerheadsolutions.com/

We welcome your rating and review on iTunes – so more people can find us!

This podcast is brought to you by Speerhead Solutions, a strategic branding business.

https://speerheadsolutions.com/