Episode 21: Creating Your Expert Brand: Part 3

Episode 21: Creating Your Expert Brand: Part 3

How important is a brand, really? If you think it’s just your name, logo, and colors… this will be very helpful! A brand is so much more, and having your brand even a little bit ‘off’ will hurt your success.

In the third part of this 3-part series, Pamela walks you through the steps you need to follow to create your expert brand.

You’ll discover:

• The simple exercise that makes finding a powerful name so much easier
• Why having a brand that is inconsistent in some ways can be good (and exactly how to do that)
• How to know whether you can name your brand, your method, and your system in the same way

Timecode Guide:

01:44: [‘100 Juicy Words’ Exercise] Let’s dive into one of Pamela’s favorite simple exercises she gives to clients when they’re trying to come up with a name for a brand, signature system, high-ticket offer, and more!
04:59: Pamela answers all your questions about her controversial theory that having a brand that is inconsistent in some ways a good thing.
12:51: Discover how to know whether or not you can name your brand, your method, and your signature system in the same way.

Podcast Transcription

Episode 21: Creating Your Expert Brand: Part 3

Intro

Intro (00:00):
You’re listening to ‘A Profitable Impact.’

Pamela (00:02):
We tend to think that brands need to be really consistent, but there’s a particular way in which having seeming inconsistencies in your brand can make it that much more attractive.

Gene (00:13):
Welcome to ‘A Profitable Impact,’ where every single week we help experts like coaches, healers, course creators, and other online professionals to expand their reach, to increase their impact in the world, and to be well-paid for their extraordinary skills and talents. My name is Gene Monterastelli, and I am the lead coach in Pamela Bruner’s Impact Accelerator coaching program. And now please welcome my friend, my colleague, and the CEO of Attract Clients Online, Pamela Bruner. How are you doing today, Pamela?

Pamela (00:43):
Doing great, Gene. And we get to wrap up our three-part series on expert brand. What we’re covering today is pretty exciting, I think. We’re diving a little deeper into brand. And so, we’re going to go over the simple exercise that makes finding a powerful name for your brand or your signature system within your brand so much easier. We’ll also talk about why having a brand that is inconsistent in some ways can actually be a good idea, and how to do that, and how to know whether you can name your brand, your method, and your system in the same way.

Gene (01:16):
And as we have this conversation today, if you’re in a circumstance where you have some more questions, you’re feeling unclear about how you can communicate your brand in a powerful way, we’d love for you to have an opportunity to talk to one of our coaches, which you can do absolutely free. All you need to do is go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, that’s BookMyBreakthroughCall.com, and get yourself on the calendar so one of our coaches can help you powerfully talk about the work that you provide to the world.

‘100 Juicy Words’ Exercise (Grab a pen and paper!)

Pamela (01:44):
Let’s dive into one of my favorite exercises that we give to our clients when they’re trying to come up with a name, whether it’s a name for their brand, or a name for their signature system, their high-ticket offer within their brand. Because often people will start stringing words together and in an effort to explain what they do, they will sometimes create a brand that has five, six, seven words in it, and it just becomes unwieldy and long and difficult.

Pamela (02:12):
So, my favorite simple exercise is what I call ‘100 Juicy Words.’ This takes a piece of paper, a writing implement, and just a little bit of time and creative thought. ‘100 Juicy Words’ refers to putting down a brain dump of all the words that have an emotional charge for your ideal client. This could be a positive or negative charge. So, for example, if you’re in weight loss: weight pounds, food meals, diet, all of those have charges of either positive or negative for your ideal client. They are words that either attract or repel.

Pamela (02:54):
And when you’re writing down 100 juicy words, you want to write both the positive and the negative down. Because it’s much easier to start pulling a name (a brand name or a signature system name) out of a palette of words, rather than trying to come up with something off the top of your head or out of the blue. The other thing that often happens when we do the ‘100 Juicy Words,’ is that we’ll come up with something very long, and that will end up being some kind of subtitle or tagline. So, you may say something like, “the loss system that blah, blah, blah,” or “the six-figure business building system for coaches,” and it’s like, “okay, that’s not a brand that might be a tagline, or it might be a one-liner.” And then you’re going to pull two or three words for your brand. But the ‘100 Juicy Words’ palette is the key.

Gene (03:42):
And I think it’s really important to really hone in and make sure you spend the time and come up with 100 words. As you’re doing a brainstorming process like this, it is very likely somewhere between the words 65 and 75, you’re going to feel like you’re starting to run out of steam. And it’s like, “Oh, I have enough.” And what I have learned from my own experience in brainstorming is, when I sit and force myself to get all the way to the end of a list like this, I will come up with words that are not immediately obvious to me that were at the front of my brain, as I’m doing this particular process. And oftentimes those words are the words that are the ones that are the most valuable for me because they’re words that resonate with my audience, but they’re not the words that everybody else is using because they’re not the most obvious ones. So, as you’re going through this process, don’t think, “Oh, I have enough,” really force yourself to sit there and come up with 100 words, because this is your toolbox. These are the Legos you’re going to be building things out of, and the more options you have, the more likely it is, you’re going to come up with something you really love.

Pamela (04:46):
Yeah. I love that idea of pushing yourself for the words that are just a little bit off the beaten path, a little bit out of the norm, and it’s going to make whatever you come up with so much more powerful.

Character Diamond Formula

Pamela (04:59):
So, why is having a brand that is inconsistent in some ways a good thing? Because ordinarily, we want brand consistency. We want everything that you do, you say, the way that you show up on video, the website that people look at, landing pages with offers that you have – we want all of that to be branded very consistently. So, what do I mean about having a brand that is inconsistent? That’s when we go to a concept from screenwriting, called the Character Diamond.

Pamela (05:32):
Now, when writers are creating characters for movies and for TV shows and things like that, if you create a one-dimensional character, you will have a very boring show. If you create a one-dimensional character, you’re going to have somebody who feels either all good or all bad. There’s no gray, it’s all black or white, and it’s just not as accessible. It doesn’t feel as real. So, for example, Superman in the 1950s, there was kryptonite as a weakness, but otherwise, Superman was sort of the epitome of the superhero but had no real flaws. And then when Marvel started making superhero things in the 1990s-2000s, then the Marvel heroes tended to have flaws. They tended to have real weaknesses that they had to overcome. And those heroes were incredibly more successful than Superman.

Gene (06:34):
Inside of the Character Diamond, we’re talking about these things that are the interesting opposites. And so, in the example of superheroes that you were talking about, the bedrock for the Marvel cinematic universe is Iron Man. And for those of us who’ve seen all of the movies, he feels like a major character, but he actually wasn’t in the comic series. It was something that they were just trying, but he has this really interesting opposite. He is this world-class intellect who creates these absolutely amazing things, who happens to be really, really flawed in a broken human, who is hiding himself inside of the technology that he’s creating. And so, it makes that character so much more dynamic and engaging by looking at it on multiple sides.

Gene (07:18):
When we start to apply this to our business, I…, before we sat down to record today, I was looking through some feedback for a workshop that I did over the weekend, which was about transformation and tapping, which is, for a lot of people, still a pretty woo approach to creating transformation. And the feedback that I received over and over again for the folks who took part in the class is, they were talking about how systematic and organized the presentation was, which made it easily accessible.

Gene (07:49):
So, I am doing transformational work that is on the edge of what is conventional. But one of the ways that I stand out is I present things in an organized, systematic way so it becomes easy to apply and use. And so we’re going at two different sides of a thing that make it more interesting and easier for us to engage with what we’re teaching.

Pamela (08:09):
Exactly. And it’s one of the reasons that we work together. It’s one of the reasons that you are the lead coach in my program because we share that. And in fact, in the Character Diamond for my brand, we always talk about the North Star, which is, “What is the most obvious thing about the brand?” And in my case, it’s business strategy. That’s what I do as a human. And that’s what we do as a brand. That’s what Attract Clients Online does as a brand. We do business strategy, helping our clients to grow their businesses. The interesting opposite to that is you said, Gene, you know, you work with tapping, I work with tapping. We are both very spiritually savvy and energy-savvy. Most people don’t think of great business strategists who are organized and structured and systematic as also having this spiritual-energetic side, and yet we do. And that goes through the entire company, that’s not just me personally, that’s not just you (although it’s good that you’re in alignment with the brand), but it is the way that we’ve constructed the company.

Pamela (09:07):
So, we’ve got that as an opposite. And so, I would encourage you to think, as you’re looking at your brand, “What is the primary thing that people see about me?” And, “Is there a complete opposite in there that makes me and makes the brand more interesting?” “What is the opposite that I can pull out of the brand?” And then there’s another,… When we talk about a Character Diamond, we’re talking about a four-point diamond. And there are two other points of the diamond. What do we do with those two? How can we create an opposite there?

Pamela (09:41):
The opposite on, if you’re looking at a diamond on a piece of paper, what we look at is the West side or the left side, we call the Vulnerability. So, the vulnerability for a lot of people we work with is something like fear of failure, or it is perfectionism and something like that. And the East point, we’ll call your Bottom Line. It is the thing that you want your clients to know and believe at the core of your brand. So, for me, that is, “there is always a way to succeed.”

Pamela (10:12):
And often we’ll find that the Vulnerability and the Bottom Line have this relationship of being opposite. So, for example, my vulnerability, and the vulnerability of my brand, is “fear of failure.” And yet, my bottom line is, “there is always a way to succeed.” We can see that there’s an opposition in those two things. If your vulnerability is “perfectionism,” which is true of a number of our clients, then the bottom line might be, “you’re perfect just as you are.” Then there’s an opposition between those two things. So, as you look,… And the Character Diamond is something that is really fun to work on and it is something that continues to evolve over time. So, if you don’t know instantly what your Character Diamond is, that’s okay. It’s something though that can take your brand and make it that much more interesting, accessible, and dramatically appealing for your ideal clients.

Gene (11:07):
And so, Pamela, the thing I really love about the stuff that we look at on the East-West access of the Character Diamond is it gives us the ability to talk about our work and how we show up in the world. So, for example, when I look at my East-West and my Character Diamond, I am ADHD. I am distracted by shiny objects all of the time. And when I help small business owners to eliminate self-sabotage, which is the way that I described my personal work. I am someone who is super organized and super systematic because I recognize that when I have systems, I’m more likely to be successful. When I have systems, when things go wrong, they impact me less. When I have systems, it’s easier for me to evaluate. So, when I’m talking about my work, I’m able to say, I know exactly what it’s like not to have structure to your day because of the way I am built. I am constantly chasing shiny objects. And it’s really easy for me to fall down a YouTube rabbit hole of watching sloths swim in the river.

Pamela (12:03):
Hahaha!

Gene (12:04):
But because I recognize… It’s true, you’re laughing. Okay, all of you: if you’re looking for an amazing distraction, these creatures who are slow on land are the most graceful creatures in the world when they are in the water, and you will then understand why this distracts me all of the time. But then I’m able to say, I know what it’s like being this distracted person, and I have been able to overcome that to create systems and structures to ensure that I leave my office at the end of the day when I want to, and I have the success that I want to have, and I can help you to have the exact same thing. So, when I look at my East-West, it becomes my story as to say why I understand where my clients are coming from because I have overcome it and I can help you to do the exact same thing.

How to Name Everything in Your Business

Pamela (12:51):
Beautiful, great example. So, now let’s move into how to know whether you can name your brand, your method, and your system in the same way. Some people come to me with a method already established. Some people have trademarked it or even registered trademarked a particular method. And then they say, “I want a brand on a result. Can I actually do that?” Yes, you can. You can create a system name that doesn’t even necessarily name your method. The method is within it, but the system is based on the result name. Can you name your brand, your method, and your system in the same way? Yes, you can. But as we talked about earlier in this branding series, I wouldn’t brand around a method, I would brand around a result. So, I think that the key here is, we always want the minimum viable product or the minimum viable creation in order to take action. So, if you’ve created a signature system name and you’re saying, “Oh, but I have to create a brand name. And then I have to brand my method and organize…,” No, you don’t. Create your signature system, go out with that initially into the world, and then if you need or want a brand on top of it, great, you can do that. But for now, don’t worry about creating a whole bunch of different names for different things in your world. Get one that is good enough, and then go with that.

Gene (14:17):
The thing I think that’s always really important when we’re thinking about naming our signature system, or naming anything inside of our business, is oftentimes we feel as if our signature system name needs to convey every single little bit of our transformation and everything that we do. And the reality is the names that we create become a container to carry all of the information that we share with someone after we share the name with them. So, when I tell you, “this is the name of my system, and this is what it’s based in, and this is why I do it, and these are the results that I provide, and this is why my process is unique, and this is the results that my people get.” Then when they think of a signature system name, they’re going to take all of that information that we shared with them and put it in the container that is that name. So it’s great that we have really clear obvious names, but like Pamela said, having one that is good enough for us to start communicating with others is the most important thing to do because there are so many people I have seen who don’t go out and share their amazing work, because they don’t feel like they have the exact perfect name.

Pamela (15:23):
So, on that note, hopefully this brand information has been really useful to you, and you can use this to go out and make a bigger impact.

Gene (15:30):
And if you are still in a situation where you are in a place where you understand the concepts that we’re talking about, but you’re still having a really hard time coming up with the words and landing on a place that makes the most sense for you and the results that you provide. We would love for you to have an opportunity to have a conversation with one of our coaches. You can do that absolutely free. All you need to do is go to BookMyBreakthroughCall.com. That’s BookMyBreakthroughCall.com. And like I said, absolutely free. You can get on the calendar of one of our coaches, and they will help you to find some clarity in your branding so the people you’re talking to know exactly the powerful impact you can make in their lives.

Gene (16:11):
If you know someone else who is a transformational entrepreneur, a coach, a healer, a course creator, who could use the conversation that we’re having today, or this entire three-part series, I’d really encourage you to pass it along to them.

Gene (16:26):
If you have a question, a comment, or a topic that you would like Pamela and I to talk about at some point on a future episode, please let us know. All you need to do is go to AttractClientsOnline.com, click on that Contact link, shoot us an email saying you have a question for the podcast, and we will get to that in a future episode.

Gene (16:44):
If you haven’t done so already, make sure that you’re following and subscribed to the podcast. You can do that in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, or anywhere else you get audio. Just search for ‘A Profitable Impact,’ click on Follow, click on Subscribe, whatever the button is in that particular ecosystem, and make sure you turn on the Notifications so that when a new episode comes out, you are notified right away. For ‘A Profitable Impact,’ I am Gene Monterastelli. Until next time, I hope you have an impactful week.

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ABOUT THE PODCAST

Building a business as a coach or expert is challenging, especially if you’re trying to find your clients online.

Join business coach and online marketing expert Pamela Bruner as she uncovers the secrets of successful transformational businesses. If you want to make a difference in people’s lives, expand your reach, and attract high-paying clients, you’ll love this show!