Some years ago, I had an amazing experience with a small group of 7 other high-level, practice-building, heart-centered coaches committed to serving humanity in extraordinary ways.
During a breakout session, I asked a gentleman in our group whether he also did Personal Branding with his clients. What he said surprised me. He mentioned the term branding wasn’t something he resonated with partly because of the word’s origins.
It was then I realized that the act of branding has a negative connotation for many folks. It goes back to its origin as a way to tell the difference between one person’s cattle and another’s.
As the term evolved, it was adopted to also mean the act of creating a logo or the visual representation of a product, service, or company. With the advent of Personal Branding, the definition then expanded to refer to the process where people and their careers become “marked” as Brands (Wikipedia’s definition of Personal Brand).
Hmm … How about we reclaim branding in a way that feels good to us as heart-centered, conscious Entrepreneurs? I see your Brand as much more than your company’s logo or the look and feel of your business’ website.
At its most foundational level, your Brand communicates the essence of who you ARE, your BE-ingness, and the innate value you offer others. This message is then consistently and authentically expressed through your online as well as your offline communications and interactions.
This essence can even be narrowed down further and known as your Core Value Offer or CVO. Your CVO can be just one word. For me, at its simplest, my CVO is Joy! It’s how I show up in my marketing, with my messaging, when delivering services to my clients, and even in enrollment conversations with potential clients.
You may now have a sense of how your Core Essence is critical to informing and crafting your Personal Brand. The next the question is: How do I stand out from the pack in a way that’s 100% authentic yet still expresses the transformational results I provide my ideal clients?
Enter the same gentleman I mentioned above. After telling me he refrains from doing Personal Branding with clients, he mentioned what he does help them with is their Positioning Stories.
I didn’t make the connection right away; however, the more I thought about it, I realized that Positioning Stories are actually distinct ways of communicating about oneself that are very much about Personal Branding.
Your Positioning Statement is something you tell others with such clarity, excitement, and trust in your value that those who are listening either a) hire you personally, b) know exactly who to refer you to, or c) would refer you to someone who fits your description if they did indeed know someone like that.
I am still evolving my Positioning Statement in my own business and want to note that I first learned the concept from Max Simon and have continued to fine-tune it with Brian Whetten—both amazing coaches I’ve worked with.
Here’s a basic formula for crafting your own Positioning Story:
I am a _____________________________________ (name the industry you represent)
who helps _________________________ (ideal client)
to ________________________________________ (address the pain this person is experiencing)
so that they may _______________________________ (transformation/results they receive).
Here’s my Positioning Story in its simplest form that I share with you as an example:
I’m a conscious business coach who helps Creative, Conscious, and Spiritual Entrepreneurs to let go of feeling overwhelmed, stop playing small, clarify their Personal Brand, gain more visibility, and have greater impact with their message, mission, and sales.
I invite you to share yours here for us to witness so we get a sense of who you serve and whether we might be able to refer someone to you. Additionally, please share your Core Value Offer and any insight you may have on your unique Essence or Personal Brand.
Living from your Core Essence, embodying the unique way you express your gifts, telling the story of whom you’re best suited to serve, along with the transformation clients receive is a power-packed combo that I support you in exploring and embodying going forward.
