Suz Chadwick [00:00:00]:

Welcome to the Brand Builders Lab Podcast. I'm your host, Sue Chadwick, certified business and mindset coach, author, and speaker. Each week, we'll be talking about simple but powerful business and mindset strategies that will help you build a lean, clean, and profitable business so you can learn to get out of your own way and pay yourself more. Forget average. It's time to level up. Hey, Lovely. Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we are talking all about owning and amplifying your brand.

Suz Chadwick [00:00:33]:

I think that as we start to head into the end of the year, which is crazy to say, I'm already planning for for 2024. A lot of the conversations I'm having with my 1 on 1 coaching clients and other clients in my programs is starting to look at what does 2024 look like. What is it that I'm wanting to do? How am I wanting to show up? What is it that I want my brand to be? And I do think that you know that I'm a big brand first person. Like, if you build a brand that people feel emotionally connected to, feel engaged with and attracted to, then the rest kind of takes care of itself if you set it up well. So Today, we're gonna be talking about how you can really own and amplify your brand and start to decide to be a leader in your industry. Start to decide that you are going to make it happen no matter what happens along the way as well. So that is the topic of today, and this is a live that I this morning that I wanted to share with you. Now if you've got any questions about how you can build a stronger brand for your business, How you can get out of your own way, become more profitable, then obviously, you can always DM me at Sue Chadwick, and happy to connect with you as well.

Suz Chadwick [00:01:50]:

And, obviously, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, then I would love you to subscribe and leave a review. You would be my favorite person if you did that. And while we're on the topic, I wanted to do a shout out to a couple of people that have left reviews Recently, donna_wallace says thank you. What a fantastic, inspiring, and practical podcast. Every episode that I've listened to has Something really useful for me both personally and professionally. So good. Vannie Nessie says a must listen for all business owners. I wait for Susan's podcast to come out every week and will often listen to them more than once.

Suz Chadwick [00:02:29]:

I find them to be very uplifting and informative. Thanks, Susan. And one of my beautiful clients at lesliecavito.photography on Instagram. Every episode is full of value. I was hooked from the 1st episode. In a few weeks, I had binged on almost all of them signed up to Susser's Bold Business Academy. Every episode Suss records is full of energy, intention, and so much knowledge on marketing, mindset strategy, and more. She's honest, a bit sassy, and incredibly motivating.

Suz Chadwick [00:02:59]:

This is a podcast I return to again and again because because I walk away with new insights and practical tips that help me in my business. Thanks, Suz. So So just a huge thank you to those who have left reviews. It obviously helps the podcast to rank as well. The more reviews, the more subscriptions, The more downloads, that's how podcasts ranks. So if you can help me in any of those areas, I am always grateful. So you can just go on to your particular podcast app, and you can leave a review. Anyway, listen.

Suz Chadwick [00:03:34]:

Let's dive into this week's So on today's episode today, I am diving in. We are talking all about Owning and amplifying your brand. So this is something that I love talking about. If you've been around for a while, you'll know that I am an ex brand I've worked with a lot of really different brands around building their brand, standing out, amplifying their message, all the rest of it. And so I wanted to Talk about that today, which is really how you can own and amplify your brand in a much bigger way. And I'm gonna be saying in 2024 because we are not far off, and I think that now is the time to start planning for planning for your branding. Does that rhyme? Not quite. But planning for How you really wanna show up in a bigger way for next year.

Suz Chadwick [00:04:26]:

So I think that we have to know what we're building. I think that a lot of times we We can start our businesses, and we can just be like, okay. I'm just gonna sell this thing or I'm going to offer these products and services. But I really want you to think about What is the brand that I'm building? What is it that I want my brand to do? What is the connection I want my brand to have? And this is something I love working with my clients on. It's something that we work on at a deep level within the Bold Business Academy as well. And I think getting really clear on that just helps you make so many other decisions in your business as well. Because once you know what you want your brand to stand for and what your message is and who you wanna work with. But every time a question comes up, you're like, Well, does that serve my customer? Is that aligned with who, where, we wanna be, and what we wanna do? And then doesn't actually, like, Serve to help us to grow and build this brand that we want.

Suz Chadwick [00:05:27]:

So when you get really clear on your brand and what it is you're here to do, your message, and How you wanna show up and what you're trying to build, it just makes decision making so much easier. And so I wanted to cover a couple of things this morning that I think are great to think about. So what do leading brands do that set them apart? Do you wanna know? What they do is that and I know for some people, you're like, oh, I don't know whether that fits for me or not, but they're quite polarizing. Yeah. They have an opinion. They're either for or against something. And so for me, my brand is about Building a bold bold and powerful voice, standing out, breaking the mold, doing things differently, claiming your space in your industry, I am against, like, you know, I'm against you feeling like you have to fit in. I'm against You feeling like you have to hide.

Suz Chadwick [00:06:24]:

I am against other people telling you how you should build your business and what your brand should be. And so I just really want you to think about what are you for and what are you against? What is that polarizing opinion that you have? What is it that you really wanna share with your audience? Because you've gotta remember, like, when we wanna be part of a brand and part of a community of a brand, It's because we feel really aligned with their values. We feel really aligned with what they're here to do, what they stand for. It's the whole thing of if you're an Apple person or not. Their whole thing is you wanna think differently. Their tech is, like, superior. That's their message. And so They have kind of built a whole community around that because their message is very specific and very clear.

Suz Chadwick [00:07:11]:

So I want you to think about If you feel like your brand or your message is vanilla, what could it be that you think could be polarizing or a lot stronger? Like, if you're not clear on what you think your brand stands for, then your audience isn't gonna be clear on it either. I think the other thing that leading brands do really well to set themselves Part is that they innovate. And I was sharing on my masterclass recently about being wallpaper, where we create the same things over and over again. And it just becomes something that people become a bit immune to, that they gloss over. They're like, I've seen it before. I'm not really interested. And so how are you doing things differently? How are you showing up in a different way? How are you creating different content? How are you You may be changing your message up so that you're continuing to connect with your audience because you might say something in one way, but if you said it in 2 or 3 other ways, Then you would get through to your audience a little bit more, and I think we've gotta test and try that. So I want you to think about, is what I'm doing just something that I've always done? It's the way that I've always done it, Or are you actually thinking about, okay.

Suz Chadwick [00:08:19]:

I'm gonna do something differently this month, or I'm gonna test this out and try something new? I'm gonna change up like, instead of doing text all the time, I'm gonna do video instead, or instead of doing video, I'm gonna do audio, or whatever it is that you wanna be doing. I just want you to think about what would different look like for you right now. And I actually think that in this market, we've just Gotta be innovating, and we've gotta be evolving on a regular basis. And if that's something and it doesn't have to feel exhausting. I just wanna kinda put that out there as well, is that this isn't about doing loads more. It's about taking what you have and getting creative with it. So for example, with the the podcast, You know, doing the lives with you, having the podcast, we're now you know, we put some of it on YouTube. We're writing new blogs about it, which we haven't done for a little while, getting more clips, putting it on TikTok, so playing around.

Suz Chadwick [00:09:16]:

So it's not about, like you constantly doing a lot more, but it's taking what you have and getting really innovative with it. So I want you to think about How you're getting innovative with what you've got and whether you're even thinking that way or not. Like, are you actually thinking about how do I get more creative? Are you actually thinking about what could I do differently that could attract a different audience or engage the audience that I already have? The other thing that I think Leading brands do that really set them apart is that they decide that they're gonna be a leader in their industry. So my question to you is, are you like, you know something I'm just happy just to be me and just to tick along? Or do you you're like, I actually wanna be the best in my industry. I wanna be one of the best. I wanna be when people think about my kind of business and what it is I do, I wanna be, like, the top 3 that they speak they think about. Are you wanting that, Or are you just kind of like, it doesn't really matter to me? Because I think that leading brands, when you're really looking to own and amplify your brand, And they make the decision that they're gonna be leaders. They make the decision that they wanna be known.

Suz Chadwick [00:10:24]:

And so by just Making that decision, everything else that they're doing around getting creative and being visible and all the rest of it then kind of follows that because they've really set the intention. The next thing around owning your brand and amplifying it is building your community because that is what brands have. Yes? So your audience base, your community, your followers, like, all of your followers will be part of your community as well. And how are you nurturing them? I think that really understanding, like, how am I gonna nurture my audience? How am I going to serve them in different ways? How am I listening to them and what they want so that I can respond to that too? I think it's so important. Because if you had a community of amazing people around you, what would, like, be working really well? What would you all be working towards? Can you think bigger about your Community. I know that's something that I'm kind of working on at the moment is that, you know, I've got a community. It's like, what what new stuff could we do with them? How could we engage them more? How can we meet them where they are and be able to serve serve them in new and different ways? What are things that they really need that we could potentially supply, support them in, etcetera? So I think that If you can start to really think about your community in a very strategic way, I think it makes a really big difference. Because if you sit down and go, right, Who is our community? Where are they? What do they want? What have we given them in the past? What do we think that we wanna start testing and trying with our community in the next 3 months.

Suz Chadwick [00:12:04]:

Should we be having conversations with them to find out what else they might need and want from us. And it's not about trying to be everything to everybody, but it's about really, it's the whole thing of valuing your customer, surprising and delighting them, continuing to keep them, you know, within your community as well because, obviously, it's easier to keep a client than it is to go and get a new one as well. So I really want you to think about, for 2024 or even for the rest of this year, can you create a strategic community strategy? Can you start thinking about that as its, like, own thing? Yeah. Where you're like, okay. We sat down, and we have worked out What we're gonna supply, what we're gonna give, what we're gonna do for our community, how we're building our community as well. So even people who are on the peripherals, like People who are on your email list that may have signed up for something, but they're not active in your community, is there a way to convert people who know you, but they don't yet, like, love, and trust you. Yeah. How can we convert those into community members who are active and wanting to be part of what you're creating as well.

Suz Chadwick [00:13:09]:

Because we don't always wanna be top of funnel. We don't always wanna be going out and, like, getting new people in all the time. Obviously, we wanna be doing that, but we wanna be, like, nurturing whom we've got as well. And I think that if you're really wanting to amplify your brand and you're wanting to own it, then this is something to focus on within your business as well. And I think that If you're looking to build your brand so the first thing that we were talking about is making the decision, like understanding what's polarizing, how can I be innovative, Are are we deciding to be a leader in our industry? Have we made that decision, and what does that look like? How do we build our community and get more engagement? Yeah. How do we get more out of that? And if you wanna build a brand, I just think you've gotta be more vocal. You've gotta be more targeted, more visible, Be more creative. Be more collaborative as well.

Suz Chadwick [00:14:03]:

And I think that at the core of it, it's just about being more caring, Like, actually knowing who your audience and your community is, caring about them, listening to them, understanding them. Nadimani Neumeier, who is the godfather of branding, always says, and I love it, that, you know, your brand is the emotional connection that you make with your audience. If you don't feel like you have that, then that's definitely something to spend time on thinking about And building as well, like, what is the emotional connection that I have with my audience? What is it that I want them to feel? How do I wanna communicate with them? How do I wanna try and, like, create a stronger bond with them as well? So you might be thinking about Somebody who you might know, but there are certain people in the industry that I feel like I've had a very long online relationship with. I get their emails. I might be a paid member of their community. I've listened to them for years. I've deepened my relationship with them because they've been somebody who has cared. They have been somebody who has been consistently visible.

Suz Chadwick [00:15:08]:

They have been somebody who has been consistently vocal. Their values deeply align with mine. What they talk about is things that I love. So I just think I love it. Arise Digital Films is too true. Can't engage an audience you don't understand. Yeah. Absolutely.

Suz Chadwick [00:15:27]:

And So I think that when you think about people who you feel highly connected to, it's almost like reverse engineering it. It's like Hacking it as well and saying, okay. What are all the things that they do, and what makes me feel the way that I do about them? What makes me feel so connected to them, what makes me want to keep buying from them? You know, what makes me wanna go back and listen again? And for me, when I'm and I'm thinking about somebody at the moment, but it's like they're always trying something new. They're innovating. They're sharing their learnings. They're sharing their lessons. They're sharing their fails. And so that builds a lot of trust as well because they're not out there going, everything's amazing all the time.

Suz Chadwick [00:16:07]:

But they're we're seeing their success, but they're also going, you know something? I tried these things and it didn't work. And I think that we have to think about How we are showing up in that way as well for our audience and for our community. I think that we can't just we're just in a time Where we're done with the, you know, we're done with the showreels. We're done with that. We want real, and we want people who are honest and open with us as well. And then the last thing that I think is really important when it comes to really owning and Find your brand is something, and I feel like I came up with this, but I may not have. Maybe I heard it somewhere, but it's what I'm calling economies of fail. So instead of economies of scale, we're talking about economies of fail.

Suz Chadwick [00:16:52]:

And I was listening to a story that Steven Bartlett from Diary of a CEO, if you don't listen to that podcast, it's amazing, was talking about, where he was helping a business. And the father had 1 business and the son had another. And Steven would go to Steven would go to these 2 companies, and he would tell them about, like, what they needed to be doing or the latest thing that he thought would really help their business to grow. And the father would take ages to make decisions and kind of scoff at some of the ideas. And just, like, eventually, if he decided he was gonna go with the idea, it was too late, and It had passed. The opportunity had passed. Whereas the Sun would basically go and implement a lot of the ideas that Steven was giving them. And he was just sort of saying, you know, there were so many fails from it.

Suz Chadwick [00:17:39]:

But when they struck gold, when it worked, then The wins were massive. And I think this is really about mindset when you're building your brand as well. The question is, what are your economies of fail? What are you willing just to go and got get through? And When it doesn't work, it doesn't, like, floor you. It doesn't knock you down. Yeah. It's annoying. Yeah. It's frustrating.

Suz Chadwick [00:18:07]:

But you just keep going. You're like, alright. Well, that didn't work. Like, what are we gonna do next? And so what are your economies of fail? Are you willing to Test and try a lot more and fail, but keep moving forward and just learn the lesson from it so that when you actually Do try something and it works really well. You strike gold because you were willing to have the fails. You were willing to test things out and not expect everything to go to plan and not expect everything to be successful. And I think that when you're building a brand, when you wanna build a brand that's got longevity and it's got meaning, and it's got community. I just don't think you can have one without the other.

Suz Chadwick [00:18:46]:

I don't think that you can have all of that success without having a lot of fails along the way. And I think this is where mindset comes in when you're building And amplifying a brand is that you've gotta start to build up your own resilience to be somebody who's like, Bring on the fails. Yep. Bring on the lessons. Bring on the fails. Let me learn from it, and then watch me go. It's like, watch me have these fails, but when I have these lessons, I'm now gonna, like, skyrocket because I've learned so much along the way. And so I I think that's one of the things that I really try and instill in my clients is that a fail is just a lesson that you've learned.

Suz Chadwick [00:19:31]:

It's just you know? What was oh, I think Pat Flynn was saying, fail is the first attempt in learning, which which I love as well. And so I just think that that is something that is such a great way of thinking about it is to think about, if I'm failing, then I will still learn from that too. And so that is just something that I have been thinking about is that when you are really wanting to own and amplify your brand, those are some key things to think about.