The Importance of Branding in 2022 and Beyond

**This content has been updated to reflect 2022 trends in branding and marketing.

If you’re a business owner, my hope is you’re always forward-thinking.

Thinking about how you want to grow your online community.

How you want to increase your sales.

How you want to launch and sell a new product or offer.

Increasing your brand exposure through media and features.

Get clarity on your next income level and how to get there.

And this type of forward-thinking feels so powerful as we approach the end of a year, quarter, or month in business.

My hope is that these are the types of things that you're constantly thinking about as a way to improve and scale your business.

And each of those things I shared above, plus many more, depend on how solid your brand is.

Didn’t think I was going to say that did you? Or maybe you did?

But, the truth is so many entrepreneurs don’t see that their success is deeply dependent on how solid and defined their brand is. This blog will help you do just that!

If you prefer to consume the content via video, you can scroll down to watch the video below.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING

Having a solid brand impacts the success of your marketing.

It allows you to craft messaging that pulls in your audience.

Having a solid brand allows you to know what to use for SEO to rank on Google.

Having a solid brand tells you the type of copy and imagery to use on Facebook ads and Pinterest ads so that they convert into lower ad costs and higher conversions.

Having a solid brand tells you what type of product or service you're going to put out into the world that's in alignment with what you want to provide and what your audience needs. 

Having a solid brand is important, and it is the foundation of the things that you can achieve in your business.

Without a solid brand, your marketing will suffer.

But how do you know if your brand is truly solid?

SIGNS YOUR BRANDING ISN’T COMPLETE

Use the indicators below to help you determine if your current brand has some gaps. Make it a priority to fill those gaps so you can move forward with confidence in marketing your brand and business. 

👉 YOU’RE STRUGGLING TO MAKE SALES

Now, maybe it's your first sale, maybe you made a sale three months ago, but you're having trouble signing another client, or making another sale into your paid offers.

The thing to keep in mind is that selling doesn't happen at the moment that someone's like, "I want to buy your product." It's happening long before. 

It's happening the first time they come across your social media channel, your freebie, your Facebook ad, your website. That's when it's starting and that is branding.

That first feeling they get when they see your brand, the messaging that they're picking up on, that this is exactly what they need in their lives at this moment, how you're following up, your email campaign, the live streams you're doing, the podcasts, that's branding. And that's selling. 

The selling process has to start long before you actually send an email that says, "By the way, guys, selling this thing." Because if it doesn't, you're going to notice that you don't sell any of the things. Because nobody really knows what you're about, people might not trust you. If you don't email them ever or have clear, consistent content, they might not even know who the hell you are. 

These are important pieces of branding.

So if you're struggling to make a sale, or let's just even say consistent sales, even consistent money, it's possible that you have a branding problem. 

👉 YOUR MESSAGE IS ALL OVER THE PLACE

I often get messages from potential clients and community members saying, "Michelle, I'm looking for support. I want to work one-on-one with somebody. My biggest hurdle is that I feel like my message is all over the place."

If you feel like your message is all over the place, I can tell you with 100% certainty that that is a branding problem. 

How you show up, how you share what you do in a way that clearly communicates to your audience that it's for them and how it will benefit them is part of your brand. So if you feel like your message is all over the place, it could be two different things. 

One, it could be your social channels, and your website, and your emails all look very different. They all sound very different. There's not a clear linear message.

It could also be that anytime you're talking about your product or an offer, maybe you're in the middle of a launch, all your messaging is different. There's no clear, "This is the program. This is who it's for. And this is how it will benefit you," or, "This is the product. This is who it's for. This is how it will benefit you." 

That is a sign that your message is all over the place.

And maybe you've already felt it, you aren't successful with your selling, because people aren't really sure what it is that you're doing and how it's going to support them. And that's huge.

👉 YOUR WEBSITE ISN’T CONVERTING

Your website is the experience that you get to control, and there's no algorithm.

If your website isn't converting, it is a branding problem. 

Because if people don't understand who you are and what you can help them with, they will peace out and they will do it very quickly.

I very rarely talk about aesthetics as it relates to branding, but the reality is that with your website, those photos, those colors, those aesthetics, those fonts, that one-liner at the top, that can make or break someone staying on your website or bouncing right off.

Eight seconds, 10 seconds, 12 seconds. That's the timeframe of people saying, "Is this for me? Is this not for me? Okay. Bye." 

The photos and those pieces of your branding pull them in really, really quickly, and then it's all about your language and your messaging to keep them captivated and to convert them. So if you have a website, if you're getting traffic, and it's not converting, we have a branding problem. 

These are three examples of a possible hole in your branding, but there are so many signs your branding might not be solid.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING IN 2022 AND BEYOND

There is a surge in demand for online businesses because of the shifts that happened in 2020. Not only did so many businesses need to move online in order to continue to make money, but consumers began to move their buying process entirely online. We’ve seen this shift continue to sustain for an entire year, with online shopping becoming one of the leading ways to buy goods and services.

And because of this demand for online businesses, there is also a surge in new businesses. We are currently in the middle of The Great Resignation, where we are seeing a large number of employees leaving the traditional workforce and starting online businesses.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

However, it brings up the reality that more and more people are starting online businesses which means the market is becoming more crowded, so how do you stand out?

YOUR BRAND.

It is more important than it has ever been, because of the demand, and because of more people wanting to meet the demand, for you to focus on your personal brand than it has ever been. 

I'm going to say that one more time. 

It is more important now than it has ever been for you to have a solid brand. 

Because if you want to stand out in your industry, if you want to make sure that when people are looking for your product or your service, that they find you, and then they buy from you, not just shop around, but actually convert, your brand needs to be solid.

MY 6-PART FRAMEWORK FOR BRANDING

NUMBER 1: DEFINE YOUR NICHE

Your niche will impact every direction you’ll take in your business.

Your niche will impact the language and the messaging. 

And this first level, allows you to clearly say to someone, "Hey, this is who I am, and this is what I do." 

But, a lot of entrepreneurs can't do that, and they can't do it with confidence because they feel all over the place.

Bonus Tip: Your niche has to be specific. I know you don't want it to be, I know you want to have 25 niches. I know because I've worked with hundreds and hundreds of women. You're not alone when you have this feeling. 

But if you are starting out, and you are wanting to grow, and you are going to want to consistently grow, you need to be specific.

Starting small and getting specific allows you to grow faster. 

NUMBER 2: KNOW THY IDEAL CUSTOMER

Who do you want to attract? 

Who do you want to work with? 

Because it can't be everyone. I know you want it to be everyone. I know you want to be able to help everyone. Me too. I want to help a lot of people. 

But by going too wide, just like with your niche, you aren't able to get specific with your messaging. Your ideal customer needs to be clear, and there's no way around skipping market research.

I don't care what anyone tells you. You can't skip market research. I've worked with plenty of people who have, and then they come to me, and they're like, "This isn't working." 

And I know why it's not working. You can't skip market research. 

Bonus Tip: Now, market research doesn't mean that you have to go post in a Facebook group or put a survey out there.

There are a lot of different ways to do market research that doesn't involve that, that just involve reading forums, and Amazon book reviews, and all kinds of stuff like that. But you need to know your ideal customer. And the reason for that is because you can think in your head what people want to hear, and you can make generalizations, but until you get their very specific language on what they're struggling with and what they want, your messaging won't convert.

You can write all the copy, you can write all the messaging in the world, but if you don't really, really know your ideal customer, and what they're going through, and what's standing in their way, and what they want, your messaging won't work. 

I teach this in great detail inside of my course You! Branded. This is your final chance to purchase this personal branding course before January 2, 2022.

NUMBER 3 & 4: YOUR MESSAGE AND VOICE

Your message is how you communicate who you are and what you do to your audience in a way that has them saying, "I need that. Oh, I get how this is going to help me. Oh, that's crystal clear. Yes, please. Sign me up." 

Your message is so, so important. 

Again if sales pages are not converting, email is not converting, webinars, live videos, challenges, that's all messaging. And so, one of the things that I teach in my framework are these core brand messages, really identifying the different things that you provide and how they benefit your audience. 

In conjunction with your messaging comes your voice. How will you present yourself to the world?

You need to think about who you are and the qualities that make you, you.

Then it’s about amplifying those online. How can you showcase that in your videos? How can you showcase that in your photography? How can you showcase that in your style and language?

Number three is where you pull together the first two building blocks.  Your messaging and your voice are really bringing together your niche, who you are, what you provide, who you want to serve, and communicating that with the world. 

NUMBER 5: YOUR OFFER

Number four is your offer. I believe that your offer is part of the branding process. So many people are like, "Let me brand myself, and then I'll figure out my offer." 

But I believe in figuring out your offer while you’re here. You already know your niche if you're in my process. You already know what you want to be known for in your industry. You already know who you want to serve. You already know how it's going to benefit them. 

Let's just put it together in an offer. Why would we wait?

So knowing your offer and knowing it BEFORE going in really heavy in your marketing is important. Because knowing your offer right out of the gate will help you reverse engineer your content, so you can hit the ground running and say, "Oh, this is my offer. This is what I'm selling. These are the pieces of content that I'm going to share over the next 90 days to sell that offer. 

This is the freebie that I'm going to create to bring people in, to buy my offer. This is how I'm going to show up so that people buy my offer."

The cool part is if you’re following my process, your offer isn’t hard. At this point, you’re just deciding on the logistics of how to serve your ideal customer. The problem, struggle, and desire are already clear to you and you can craft an offer that supports your ideal customer at the highest level. 

NUMBER 6: EMOTIONAL BRANDING

And then the final piece, number five, is my signature baby, and its emotional branding. 

Emotional branding is how you connect deeply with your ideal customer. Because again, and especially heading into 2021 and beyond, if we not only want to stand out but also form a deep trusting bond with our audience, you need emotional branding.

People make decisions based on how they feel. 

They make purchase decisions based on how they feel. 

So inside of the emotional branding phase, you want to define HOW you want people to feel when they come in contact with your brand.

And once you identify that, that is when you can put the finishing touches on your colors, your fonts, and your visuals and overall aesthetics of your brand. 

CONCLUSION

As you went through those, did you notice an area where you need to take some time to build a more solid brand?

Is something missing from your existing brand that’s affecting the overall success and growth of your business?

I’m really challenging you to start looking at your business with a mirror. Hold a mirror to your business and discover what’s working and what's not and make changes.  

Self-evaluate your business. It's one of the best exercises you can do as a business owner.

If you haven't already now is the BEST time to join my signature branding program, You! Branded. This is your final chance to join to program before January 2, 2022. After that time it will no longer be available for purchase.

If you’re interested in customized support for your brand, I encourage you to explore my Brand Intensives. This VIP experience gives you the tools you need to build a solid brand and strategize the best way to increase brand exposure, awareness, and overall sales.

I have limited spots available monthly and you can learn more at brandmerry.com/intensive.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out You! Branded before your chance to join disappears. This course will give you a step-by-step guide to building your signature brand and solid business foundation in the first 21 days of the New Year!

Learn more at youbrandedcourse.com

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Facebook Group Marketing: Why I Don’t Recommend it and What to do Instead

Facebook Group marketing used to work, and for some people with endless amounts of time and serious patience, it could possibly work.

But, here’s the thing business and marketing shouldn’t be hard and it definitely shouldn’t be that time-consuming.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with the need to come up with fresh content daily and schedule 10-15 minutes to engage in Facebook Groups.

Struggle to find Facebook Groups where your ideal client is genuinely engaging and not just there to pitch their services as well.

Feel a bit defeated that the strategy that seems to work for so many ISN’T working for you.

Keep reading because I’m about to save you so much time and energy.

FACEBOOK GROUP MARKETING

Back in 2016, I started my first Facebook Group. I wanted it to be a place for my ideal customers to come together, share my content and expertise, build trust, and of course sign clients.

I freaking loved it, but in 2020 I closed my group due to changes in marketing and the new and more advanced platforms available to me.

Plus, even though I started my Facebook Group in 2016, as a way to build the community I didn’t neglect my email list. They grew together in size and as I started to pay more and more attention to conversions I saw that my email list converted better than the group AND didn’t take as much of my precious time.

Facebook Groups (i.e. having your own as a way to build and form a community) still works, but don’t neglect to build your email list as well.

But, having your own Facebook Group is not what this is about - it’s about plopping yourself in other Facebook Groups, owned typically by entrepreneurs or organizations, and pushing your content out.

CLIENT ATTRACTION MARKETING

The reason this marketing strategy doesn’t work comes down to two reasons.

Reason #1: Facebook Groups have changed. While you use to be able to engage, post your own content with links to your website, share your videos and your freebies, it’s typically not allowed anymore.

You find yourself creating content to build trust in a community that really isn’t there for you, posting your freebies and offers on a Share thread every week in the hopes someone might message you, click your profile, and land on your website.

Reason #2: Facebook Group marketing is a push strategy, rather than a pull strategy.

Push means blasting your information, your story, and your expertise onto people. People who may or may not be your ideal customer. It’s like casting a line into the ocean and hoping you catch the right fish that will pay you for your services - the odds aren’t great.

Pull strategy (or client attraction marketing) is about pulling in the people searching for your services, products, and expertise. Not only do you experience a higher conversion rate, but it’s easier on you!

4 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

So what do you do, if you’re not posting multiple times a week in a Facebook Group and carving out 10-15 minutes daily to engage, how do you grow your email list?

Here are 4 things to consider when choosing your marketing strategy:

1. FOCUS ON GETTING IN FRONT OF YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER

As with all marketing you want to make sure you’re putting your efforts (i.e. content) in front of your ideal customer. This is why ideal client work is so important and one of the key pillars I teach inside of Roadmap to Freedom.

Choosing your platforms for marketing is about where your audience is hanging out. And I don’t mean just where they are looking for your services, more on that later. I mean where do they spend their time? With the right strategies, you can reach them!This is why I love Pinterest. Pinterest has 416 million active monthly users on its platform and while most people are using it for fun, it’s one of my favorite ways to land content in front of my ideal customer.

Pinterest counts for 90% of my website traffic and last month that was $18k individuals.

2. GO WHERE THEY ARE SEEKING YOUR SUPPORT

Another thing to consider is where people are looking for tips and tools as it relates to your industry. This is why it’s so important to put your content on a search engine optimized platform (think Google/ Blogging, Pinterest, and even YouTube).

When people are searching for your information, it means they are further along in the buying process. They understand they have a problem and are in the process of exploring options to fix the problem.

This is why every entrepreneur needs to be showing up on a search engine optimized platform!

3. DON’T NEGLECT THOSE READY TO BUY

Speaking of the buying process, do you have marketing measures in place to get in front of people seeking our services specifically? 

If not you are missing out! This is where sitewide SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes into play and is necessary for every single business, no matter what you sell.

When you correctly optimize SEO you’re able to rank on page one for your industry and your products, therefore bringing in people who are ready to purchase.

Google ranking is the reason my 1:1 services have been booked for an entire year and why I teach my clients how to do it as well inside of Roadmap to Freedom.

4. BUILD STRONGER BRAND AWARENESS

Aside from the amazing tips above, most of which revolve around search engine platforms, it’s important to take into account brand awareness and longevity. 

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have content that expires too quickly. You’re lucky if your content shows up in the feed after 24 hours, and if we’re talking Facebook Groups it’s more like 15 minutes.

When you’re taking the time and energy to create content, don’t you want it to last?

When you focus on the platforms I’m sharing below, your content can last years! 

Seriously, I have blogs that are still getting consistent traffic from Pinterest and Google since 2017.

In order to create a sustainable business, you need to think about the longevity of content.

MY TOP 4 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST AND INCREASE REVENUE

Maybe you’ve already caught on to my absolute favorite marketing platforms, but let’s recap.

1. Google (SEO + Blogging): Your site needs to be set up and optimized for the Google search engine as a way to attract ideal customers who are further along in the buying process. The beautiful thing is with site-wide SEO you don’t need to keep updating it!
   
   

2. Pinterest (Blogging): This combination is my favorite, seriously I’m in love. Writing a weekly high-value blog post and sharing it on Pinterest is a great marketing strategy. Not to mention it takes less time and energy than posting daily in groups or on social media.
   
   

3. Youtube: As I mentioned before Youtube is a search engine platform featuring videos. If you’re a video person, using Youtube to get in front of your ideal customer can be huge for business. Don’t forget as with all these strategies optimizing for search is essential, you have to know what titles, keywords, descriptions, and more work to see a return.
   
   

4. Instagram Video: I couldn’t do a blog on marketing and not speak about the awesome changes to Instagram within the last year. Now, while I don’t recommend Instagram being your main platform, it’s an awesome way to build brand awareness, specifically with video. Video content (think IGTV, Stories, and Reels) has a longer lifespan with the algorithm, and with Instagram’s desire to increase watch time, more likely to end up on the Explore page or be discovered via hashtags.

CONCLUSION

If you’re not already using one of these platforms it’s time.

If you’re currently feeling overwhelmed with content creation, growing your list and marketing in general...it’s time.

And the good news is you don’t have to do it alone. You can learn all of these strategies, the tech and how-to’s inside of my signature program Roadmap to Freedom.

Learn more at brandmerry.com/freedom!

PS: Roadmap to Freedom doors are opening soon! This live group program will help you create an online business that allows you to create a life of abundant experiences and impact.

This high-touch program helps you simplify the process so you can make more money on your terms. And, the 2023 cohort is going to be better than ever with updated content, lifetime access, new bonus content, and more! Join the waitlist and be the first to join in January 2023.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Get Paying Clients in 2022 (without posting on Instagram or Facebook)

3 Ways to Get Paying Clients in 2022
(without posting on Instagram or Facebook)

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Since the start of my business, in 2016, I've been offering one on one services (aka private coaching). In fact, it was the very first thing that I did to make money. 

I started my business with the idea that I wanted to leave my nine to five to be home with my son, but I didn't come into being an online entrepreneur with any knowledge of being an online entrepreneur. 

I didn’t know all about courses and group programs at the time, but I could wrap my head around 1:1 services.

I also learned pretty quickly that the fastest way for me to grow, because I was starting from scratch with no email list and no following, was to start taking high-level one on one clients.

I used this method to not only gain experience and testimonials but to ultimately build my framework which I now teach inside all of my programs.

FILLING MY 1:1 IN 2017

You can probably relate to some of these old school ways of marketing your services. I did them all and while they might have worked in 2017, they don’t work the same way today.

Yet, so many coaches, mentors and course creators are still teaching them. Now, don’t get me wrong if you’re open to posting 15-30 minutes every day they might still work for you, but I’d reached a place in my life and business where I knew there had to be a better way than me living on social media.

In 2017, I would spend a few hours (typically three) at the beginning of the week planning out and writing my content. Then every day I would spend 15-30 minutes posting in Facebook Groups and engaging.

Some of these groups allowed me to post links and some didn’t, but the end goal was the same - try and find my ideal customer and provide enough value that they are intrigued enough to reach out.

And don’t get me started on friending people from groups and messaging them.

If you’re struggling with these strategies in 2021, or maybe just getting started and don’t want to spend your time in Facebook Groups or social media daily, I promise there is another way.

THE CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS

The consumer buying process is made up of six stages:

1. Problem Recognition

2. Information Search

3. Evaluation of Alternatives

4. Purchase Decision

5. Purchase

6. Post-Purchase Evaluation

The majority of strategies being taught online, in courses and programs focus on selling at the Program Recognition stage. While you absolutely can make a sale at this stage, it’s a lot of freaking work.

What entrepreneurs should be focused on is signing clients who are at the Information Search or Evaluation of Alternatives stage. I share more about this in this video here.

The strategies I’m sharing below focus on attracting people who are ready to invest and searching for the solution to the problem your products and services solve, typically on Google.

THREE STRATEGIES TO GET PAYING 1:1 CLIENTS

1. SITE-WIDE SEO AND GOOGLE RANKING

Now, I’m separating Blogging (SEO) from Site-Wide SEO because they attract people at different stages of the buying process.

Site-Wide SEO is for people searching for your products and services and possibly even your title. It’s the SEO you want to create for your website as a whole and your homepage.

This requires some research to find what people are looking for as it relates to your business and location if you are local.

Here’s another blog post on three ways to improve SEO on your website.

This simple change has brought in the most “ready-to-pay” clients to my business over the past two years and requires little to no energy on my part.

Remember, SEO for your site doesn’t need to be updated often, it’s an awesome set-it strategy and the results of your ideal customers, looking for your specific offer, ready to buy is amazing for business. SEO is so powerful it’s one of the strategies I teach inside my membership Brandmerry Academy.

2. BLOGGING AND SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Another strategy I love is serious blogging. Now, why do I say serious?

Because I’ve been blogging since 2016 when I started my business, but it wasn’t until I took the time to do my research on topics, titles and keywords that my blogs started working for me and my business.

Blogging is an awesome tool to bring in clients looking for tips, tricks and solutions to their problem and while they might now know they need your service right now, they are eager to learn more.

By creating high-quality blogs you’re able to showcase your expertise and build trust with your ideal customer.

Optimizing your blogs requires three things:

1. Optimizing for SEO (so you begin to show up in Google searches)

2. Optimizing it for Pinterest (more on that in a minute)

3. Optimizing it for email subscribers

Optimizing for SEO requires you to do research BEFORE you write your blog. Choosing a title and keywords that people are searching for is how you’ll rank higher on Google and drive more traffic. This research stage is crucial and many entrepreneurs go about it the wrong way. It’s just another training available inside Brandmerry Academy and clients love it!

Optimizing for email subscribers means that every single blog post has a way for someone to join your email list. This is typically a freebie or lead magnet and that they get in exchange for their name and email.

This is crucial because if someone is finding your content and they aren’t ready to buy, they at least get to hear more from you and you have an opportunity to build trust for when they are ready.

3. PINTEREST TO PAYING CLIENT

My favorite strategy by far and results in the most traffic to my website every single month. About 90% of my monthly traffic (average 20k visitors) comes from Pinterest.

I seriously think it’s the secret weapon for online entrepreneurs and one I teach inside of my program Brandmerry Academy because it is so powerful!

Pinterest pulls it all together, utilizing the power of SEO and giving your blogs some where to go and be seen.

If you’re blogging you need to be using Pinterest because this platform will allow you to extend the life of your content (I have blogs driving traffic to my site from 2016) and help with your Google ranking because of the consistent traffic.

I’m not going to lie, Pinterest can be tricky and more entrepreneurs don’t know what they are doing, but when you get the hang of it, it’s magic.

You’ll learn all you need inside of Brandmerry Academy, but if you’re wanting to get started on your own here are some tips:

1. Blog at least once a week

2. Make sure each blog post has at least one Pinterest Image

3. Optimize the image, title and description for Pinterest (this might be different than Google)

4. Create 5 additional pins and link them to your blog post through Pinterest. Schedule those posts using a tool like Tailwind.

CONCLUSION

I’m booked every month and in advance for my 1:1 services because I’ve fully embraced these three strategies above. 

I love them because not only do they save me a ton of time, but they also result in more growth of my email list (via organic traffic) and sales for my other courses and programs.

If you already have a brand and a foundation for your business, but ready to master your marketing, I invite you to check out Brandmerry Academy. Doors are opening soon.

If you’re just starting out, I see you! You want to focus your energy on setting a strong brand foundation all your marketing efforts work for you! You can learn more about building a better brand with my free pdf download 👇

Watch the Free Marketing Class

Watch the entire video training of this blog + some additional tips below.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

4-Part Framework for a Simplified Online Business

4-Part Framework for a Simplified Online Business

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

I learned pretty quickly that the mainstream way of starting and growing a business wasn’t going to work for me. 

I started my business with a one-month-old and a desire to leave my 9 to 5 within the year. As I grew my business while working full time I started to recognize the complexity of most business strategies. I made modifications as I went to scale my business to 6-figures.

Then, when my family sold everything to travel full time I made even more shifts to simplify my approach.

What I’ve learned along the way is that there is a simpler way to run your business and it comes down to implementing this 4-part framework.

And this framework isn’t just for people who travel, it’s designed for the woman who has a lot on her plate. You’re busy running a household, taking care of family, working your “other” jobs, you’re so ready for a simpler way to build a business.

Think of the framework as building blocks. Each one leads to another, if you skip one you’ll feel lost and overwhelmed, and that’s no way to grow a business.

By stripping away the access, just like in life, we can’t focus on the areas that yield the best results - this framework is all about that!

ENTREPRENEUR GROWTH PROBLEMS

Look, starting and running an online business can be hard. As we’ve mentioned previously things like a saturated market and imposter syndrome can really hold you back.

But, there’s another piece of the puzzle and that’s all the information online. It can be super easy to consume bits and pieces of information and try to piece it all together, but then you’re left with quite a few holes. 

You might find yourself doing all the things, working for hours in your business, but experiencing little to no results.

Or taking in all the hodgepodge of information and questioning yourself and what you should be focused on to see results or your ability to build your business.

And worse, what I like to call SOS or Shiny Object Syndrome. You go down a path and then see something or hear something and think, “Wait let’s do that instead!”

These things are holding you back because not only are you doubting your ability to do it, but you’re also all over the place (said with love)!

The fastest way to grow is to create a path and give it dedication for at least 30 days. Based on your data, numbers, and feedback you can then pivot (you’ll see this when we talk about marketing below).

By having a clear framework to follow and repeat you’re able to simplify the entire process, optimize your time, and see results.

Ok, let’s get into it!

**If you want to watch the full video and details of the 4-part framework you can watch the video below.

LEVEL 1: BRAND FOUNDATIONS

Every brand needs to start here. These are the foundational pieces of your brand and business and integral in the overall growth and success.

This level includes identifying your niche, ideal customers, messaging, core offer(s), and the emotional or connection side of your brand.

The great news is this stage doesn’t have to be revisited often, if you put in the work now, but it does require work so people skip it. If you skip it you’ll find yourself constantly spinning your wheels and wondering what’s missing.

This stage should take 4 to 6 weeks to complete. I say this very specific timeline because one of the pitfalls of this level is that so many entrepreneurs never leave it.

They stay here rethinking and reworking all the details until they realized their one year into their business and haven’t made any money. This is why guidance at the foundational level is so important!

Remember, this stage is less about creating your logo, picking your colors, and designing your website, and more about the market research, becoming better at messaging and gaining clarity on your niche and offer.

If you want to scale your business, then the foundational pieces are key.

LEVEL 2: COMMUNITY GROWTH

Once you know who you are, who you want to attract, and what you want to offer, it’s time to build that community.

You have nothing if you don’t have someone to sell too and so many entrepreneurs, especially that first year in business make the mistake of assuming they’ll sell to no one - we all know it doesn’t work like that.

Here’s where you gain clarity on and design the method in which you’ll grow your community - the lead magnet and funnel.

When it comes to the lead magnet you want to create something that solves a problem and is in alignment with your core offer. I see so many entrepreneurs go too wide at this stage in an attempt to grow their community quickly, but then they are left with a large list of random people and no ideal clients (paying clients).

Some common mistakes to avoid at this stage are:

• Being too general with your lead magnet/ freebie

• Not solving a problem for your audience (no one needs more stuff)

• Creating a resource that’s not wanted by your audience.

The goal is to attract and bring in your ideal customer, the one that is the best fit for your paid program.

From there, and during this level, you want to create your onboarding funnel or lead magnet funnel. Think of this as the conversation!

If you were at a party and met someone, who might be interested in your services, what would you want them to know about you, your work, and your offers?

So many entrepreneurs make this crazy complex in the beginning, but it’s really just about making sure every person that joins your community knows who you are and can determine in those first few automated emails if you’re the right fit for them!

At this level, once you have these two pieces in place you begin to move into the goal of daily community growth. That’s why this stage is so important because it gives you the tools you need to do just that.

LEVEL 3: CLIENT ATTRACTION

Continuing with our building blocks we enter into level three. Now, level three is where marketing or client attraction starts to happen in full force.

With the simplified business model, every day you’re focused on three things:

1. Growing your community

2. Nurturing your community

3. Making a sale

So, you never fully move through this level, you are just constantly testing, tweaking, and scaling.

This level can look like utilizing social media, blogging, Pinterest, SEO, Youtube, podcasting and so much more.

Personally, I love evergreen types of content as a way to build my community and nurture my existing one. Evergreen content means content that keeps performing, it doesn’t disappear after a few hours, but rather continues to drive traffic and bring in leads.

In my business, this is blogging + Pinterest, which also gives me a major boost with my SEO. So my leads are coming in from Pinterest and Google Searches mostly.

No matter what you choose, all though I HIGHLY recommend evergreen content, you need traffic. Consistent traffic and leads entering your funnel and into your community is key to growing a business. 

It ensures you always have someone to sell too!

The key here is consistently creating content, whatever that means for you. And remember, consistency doesn’t mean posting daily (that’s not simple), it means finding a schedule that works for you at this stage and sticking to it.

If your current approach to level three feels exhausting because you're posting daily on Instagram or engaging for 30-minutes every day in Facebook Groups it’s time to rethink your strategy. Consider one of the evergreen platforms above and the art of repurposing to optimize your time and content strategy.

Remember, this level is going to expand and grow as your business grows!

LEVEL 4: AUTHENTIC SELLING

At this stage, you have people coming into your community and inquiring about your services which is amazing! Now, it’s time to improve your conversions.

Think of it like this; if you have a landing page for your lead magnet and it’s converting at 20% would you choose to scrap the entire thing and start over or make some small adjustments and improve the conversion to 50%?

Hopefully, you picked adjustments because it’s the simpler and less time-consuming approach. Well, sales are the same.

You have to start somewhere and so many entrepreneurs start worrying about how they are going to sell, the conversation or script, etc.. rather than focusing their energy on Levels 1-3.

You need these levels to get people on the phone with you or in your DM’s and then you can fine-tune it from there.

Authentic selling looks like improving your sales conversations, your client onboarding and client retention - because we all know it’s easier and cheaper to keep an existing client than to find a new one.

CONCLUSION

I hope you’ve picked up on the theme here, it’s not about doing more or working harder it’s about making smarter decisions.

I witness so many entrepreneurs get too ahead of themselves. They're worried about the sales call and how they’ll do before they even have someone interested in chatting.

They’re obsessed with their website and making it perfect, but don’t have a marketing strategy to then drive traffic to the website. 

The reality is driving traffic to a lead magnet landing page, in the beginning, is a better use of your time!

As you’re thinking of your own business and some of the holes that might have been exposed while working through this framework, I want to invite you to check out Roadmap to Freedom.

This exact 4-part framework is what makes up my signature group program designed to support you in making money on your terms and create a life of abundant experiences and impact.

Learn more at brandmerry.com/freedom.

Watch the full video training + some insider tips below.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

How to Handle Imposter Syndrome as a Small Business Owner

How to Handle Imposter Syndrome as a Small Business Owner

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

You're here for a reason.
You saw the title and you're like, this is something I need support with. 

Now one of the things I want to share with you is I’m not promising to rid you of your feeling of imposter syndrome because I don’t think it ever fully goes away.

What I do believe, as with anything mindset related, you have to actively be flexing your muscle to move through something difficult. It’s not that things stop happening to you.

It's not that the feelings stop coming. It's not that you ever stop, comparing yourself to somebody else. It's not that you ever don't feel like there's not a space for you or the market never feels saturated, or your money mindset doesn't come into play and is like, “You can't do that!” 

It's not that those things stop happening. 

It's that you become stronger, and your mind becomes stronger and as a result, you can move through those things quickly and with confidence, and they don't affect you for long periods of time.

Remember as an entrepreneur your goal is to constantly be growing as you work towards new things, so you’re probably going to feel a bit at some time, but what I want you to have are ways to process and move through it quickly so you can continue taking action in your business.

If you want to skip reading the post and watch the video below, I’m sharing the same tips, plus a little inspiration around handling competition.

IMPOSTER SYNDROME

Imposter Syndrome was first discovered in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes and stems from the idea that you’ve only succeeded due to luck, and not because of your talent or qualifications.

As you can imagine this impact two groups of people a great deal:

+ Perfectionist. Perfectionist’s set ridiculously high expectations, and this is coming from a recovering perfectionist herself. Perfectionists often feel like they’re never good enough or measure up to their own expectations.

On the flip side perfectionist also do everything they can to avoid shame or embarrassment so putting themselves out there in a situation, where they could possibly look like they don’t belong is the worse (again speaking from experience here).

+ Experts and Leaders. Those that are considered an expert or leader, think influencers, coaches, mentors, teachers, might feel as if they need to know everything before moving on. 

They spend their time-consuming information, rather than taking action because they never feel ready or good enough to move forward.

As you can probably see, these feelings don’t work well with being an online entrepreneur. As entrepreneurs 90% of the things you will do have to come from experience. It’s one of the golden rules of marketing...test, test, test and then evaluate your results to move forward.

You can’t possibly test if you’re not taking action.

If you let your inner feelings of being an imposter run the show, you're not putting yourself out into the world. 

You're not testing things, you're not marketing, you're not fine-tuning your voice.

You're not finding your authenticity, you're not growing a community. 

And as I've shared time and time again, those things are absolutely necessary when you are launching, running and wanting to scale an online business, there's no way around it.

4 WAYS TO MOVE THROUGH IMPOSTER SYNDROME

1. REFRAME YOUR THOUGHTS

When you find yourself having these feelings of imposter syndrome - feeling like you can’t do it, or you need to overdeliver to be worthy, or that you don’t fit in - I want you to stop and think about how you are acting?

As a result of the thoughts that are going through your head or the feelings that you have, what are your responses and then how do they manifest themselves in action or inaction? 

Remember, it's not just what action you're taking, but it can also be what action you are avoiding. You might find yourself constantly postponing, postponing and postponing until it’s ready, but we know that being ready is totally up to you.

When you recognize these thoughts and recognize the things that are happening you can build up your awareness and that muscle to move through it quickly so that when that happens again, you can be like, “Oh, wait, wait, I know what's going on here. And I'm going to take a couple of minutes to work through this!”

2. ASSIGN YOUR VOICE

This is a little trick, one I’ve used while working through my recovery of perfectionism, and that’s separating my inner perfectionist or in this case the feeling of being an imposter, from my true identity.

I suggest giving your inner critic a name. 

And the next time you hear that little voice that says, “You don't belong here,” you can separate her from you. 

Give her a name. Talk to her and tell her, “Not today, Sally, I don't have time for you to show up today. I've got things to do!”

So this can be one of the things that you do to recognize that this isn't you, this voice isn't who you are, this is a small little voice in your head that does not control the outcome or does not control your success.

3. RECOGNIZE YOU ARE WORTHY

You don't need to justify anything. 
You don't need to justify why you charge what you charge. 
You don't need to justify why you do what you do. 
You don't need to justify anything because you are worthy as you are. 

And you can show up as you are at this moment. If you are changing who you are, and you are changing your voice, then you're missing the point of building a personal brand, you're missing the whole entire mark.

The whole point of a personal brand is to show up as your true self and build community around what you have to offer.

But people don't just buy the products and services, they're paying attention to you. They're here for you. 

If someone sells something similar to what you sell, why did they choose you? Because of the personal brand. 

And one of the best things that you can do for your business is to own your voice. Practice putting your voice out there. 

In order to do this, you have got to start to recognize that you are worthy. 

If you don’t feel it, spend your time working on your mindset around your worthiness. One of my favorite tricks is to put reminders everywhere around you, post it in your bathroom, your office, your can and remind yourself every single day that you are worthy of all of the success.

4. GET SUPPORT

Having someone in your corner who understands when you’re feeling like an imposter can be one of the best strategies for an online entrepreneur. Find yourself a community, a business bestie or a coach that can support you when you’re feeling as if you’re not good enough.

These feelings can keep you from having a successful business, so it’s important that you don’t ignore them or you’ll find yourself feeling stuck in your business for an extended period of time.

CONCLUSION

Imposter syndrome is just one of the many feelings that might come up for you as you build your online business. It’s important that with every strategy you implement you also take the time to build up your resilient mindset.

I recognized this need very early on when I also felt intense feelings of imposter syndrome, comparisonitis and perfectionism, so I got support.

It’s one of the many reasons we have a Mindset Coach inside of my signature program Roadmap to Freedom.

Roadmap to Freedom is a live 90-day program for the new and aspiring female entrepreneur ready to simplify the process of building an online business that allows her to make money on her terms and create a life of abundant experiences and impact.

Doors open October 2020. 

If you’re looking for not only the mindset support to grow your business, but the step by step strategies I’ve taught over one hundred women, through this program, I invite you to learn more about Roadmap to Freedom at brandmerry.com/freedom.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO AND SOME BONUS TIPS BELOW.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.