Suzanne Chadwick  00:00

Hey, hey, lovely, we are back for best of 2021 replay, we're on number two, which is why you need to build your personal brand. Now, I love that this was one of the top ranking episodes, I get asked all the time about personal branding, how you can build your personal brand, why it's important and how it actually helps you to position yourself in the market and charge more and have a bigger impact and all the things that we want. So that is what we're diving into today. Without further ado, let's do it. 

Okay, so let's dive into this week's podcast episode. Now I have to say that this is a topic that I'm so passionate about talking about. Because I don't think a lot of people put enough emphasis or realise how important it is to build your personal brand. So when it comes to personal brand, I think there's so many different definitions, your personal brand as well. But really, for me, it's about what you're known for. It's the fact that your name is mentioned, in rooms that you want to be mentioned in, because you're known for something specific, it is the experience that people get, when they work with you, when they engage with you, when they come across you when they are in your stratosphere, then people will have a perception of who you are, what you do, what you're about, and also the quality of the work that you do too. And that all becomes part of your personal brand. 

Now, let's be honest, if you're a service provider, which I know a lot of my audience are, then people aren't buying your products and services. They're buying you. Yeah, and I think a lot of times we don't think about that, and we don't realise that. And so if you're in a situation where you may not have the clients that you're really looking to have, then you need to start to take a look at how do I build my personal brand, so that I become known in my industry, so that people understand who I am, what I do and the quality of the work that I do as well. So that I can start to be mentioned in those rooms. When somebody asks the question, do you know a really great web designer, copywriter, photographer, whatever it is you do mock it out, coach, etc, then they're saying your name as the top three people that they might recommend? I think a lot of times business owners, especially service business owners think oh, well, my work will speak for itself. And people will recommend me. And I think that this is one of the things that that I definitely want to talk about more is that when I speak to my clients and people in my community, and I ask them the questions are the referrals that you're getting in your business, exactly the types of clients that you want to be working with. A lot of times when they're honest with themselves like well, they're good, but they're probably not exactly the types of clients that I'd want to be working with. And so when it comes to building your personal brand, what it does is that you can start to pick and choose who you work with, because you're not just picking from a base of referral clients who somebody else might be sending your way. But you've now got a plethora of clients who want to work with you. And so how you filter that is going to be up to you. But that initial step of actually stepping up and starting to showcase what you talk about, and your thought leadership. And I've talked about thought leadership a lot in the past, but really showcasing your thought leadership, what you're here to talk about, what your beliefs are, your lived experiences, the collective research, I've shared this before, and I'll have some of that in the show notes as well. But how you decide ‘what do I want to be known for?’. What's my thought leadership? And what are the content pillars that I talk about.

Suzanne Chadwick  04:29

And then also really continuing to talk about what your purpose is, what your vision mission and values are, but also who you want to work with. And so that whole piece around naming and claiming your audience and making the decision. This is who I want to work with. This is why I want to work with them. And this is the result that we'll get together I think is a message that is missed a lot of the time. And so some of the key things that I know the clients and community that I speak to what they struggle with. And what you might be struggling with is that clarity of message. So I don't know exactly how to articulate what it is the benefits of what I do for my customer, I can tell you what you get, which is the functional, I can tell you that, we'll take a look at your about page. All right, x number of words of copy, will go through this process together. But what I actually want you to talk more about is the transformation. So what is that transformation that your clients are going to get when they come and work with you because that transformation also becomes part of your personal brand? So really start to think about, am I communicating the transformation that my clients get? Am I communicating who I really want to work with? So even when people refer somebody to me, it is more of the person that I want to be working with, rather than just to happens to be getting referred to me? And are you communicating that across different platforms in different ways? I think that somebody who can communicate on different platforms in different ways, can build a much stronger personal brand as well. And once again, this is not about being an extrovert. It's not about being bright. It's not about being colourful. It's about being clever. It's about being strategic and smart about what your message is, and where you're putting it out there. And I'll give you an example of that, obviously I talk about how to build a magnetic brand, I talk about how to build a bold brand, I talk about building your confidence as a speaker. And it all comes back to my purpose of supporting women to become bold and powerful voices in their industry and claiming this space with confidence. But how I now distribute that message

Suzanne Chadwick  06:54

is in so many different ways. So for example, I can obviously put it on Instagram in the feed, I can talk about it in stories, I can talk about it here on the podcast, I can share it on LinkedIn, I can do a Facebook Live on it, I can now share it in clubhouse, which is where I'm being really intentional about how I build my personal brand. And what I want to become known for. And not only that, but the people I build my brand alongside as well. And so thinking about how can I communicate, what I'm here to do, who I work with, what my transformation is that I give to my clients in different ways, I think also creates really powerful layers that you can start to kind of put out there in the world that continues to grow and develop. Yeah, because now you're speaking to people on different platforms in different ways. Because some of us are visual, some of us are more kinesthetic, some of us enjoy audio more. And so we're able to connect with people and create the ecosystem that we want, that then creates that powerful reverberation as well. And so I want you to think about how you're starting to do that. And whether you've actually got a strategy around how you do that. Because if it's not something that you're crafting, then it's something that's just kind of happening on its own. And it may not have as powerful an outcome as what you want it to have, if you're not crafting it. And so I want you to start to think about if you were to develop that thought leadership that you become known for. And you know, I talk about Elizabeth Gilbert talking about creativity and Brene Brown, talking about vulnerability, and leadership and Gary Vee talking about the hustle. But also, you know, putting in the work and being where the attention is, we know them for those messages. And so what message are you known for? What message are people sharing when somebody says, Oh, have you heard of Sophie? Or Sarah or Mary or Chris, or whoever it is? Whatever people say, Yes, I know them, because I know that they talk about x. And so really start to think about how you are starting to build that personal brand, and how it's supporting your business as well. And so if we were to take a look at the ecosystem that you start to build, it's really deciding on what that thought leadership is and what those key messages are, is focusing on that transformation. It's also taking a look at how am I building out my brand? What's my mindset around it? Are you stepping into the leaders mindset? are you stepping into and making the decision to become a leader in your industry? Because that is the first step of magnetic personal branding is claiming your space, owning your space, stepping into that and knowing that This is where you want to be,

Suzanne Chadwick  10:03

and not shying away from it. Not saying others can take that spot. But actually deciding that this is what you want to do. And can I say, this is not going to be for everybody, not everybody is going to want to be a leader in their industry, not everybody is going to want to be a bold and powerful voice. And so if that's not something that you really want to do, then that's a choice as well. And that's totally okay. But if you are somebody that does want to step into that leaders position, if you are somebody that does want to claim your space, then I want to help you to be able to do that. And I want you to start to think about how you do that in a more strategic and crafted way. And I think so many times there are so many different things that stand in our way. Yeah, there's so much around. Am I worthy of this? Do I know enough? I'm not an expert. There are people that are better at this than me. And we constantly go to and I've talked about this before we constantly go to that negative what if? Or what if there's somebody better than me? What if this doesn't work? What if people don't listen to me? What if what if what if, and I really want you to make the decision, because at the end of the day, it's the people who step up and just say, you know, something, I'm going to share what I'm here to share. And if they can do that consistently, that is what builds a personal brand. If you can have a consistent thought leadership message, if you can take that message and distribute it across different types of platforms, in different mediums and in different ways, then that's going to create a more powerful message for you. And it's going to become something that's recognisable, so that when people hear it, they think of you. And so I want you to think about whether you're doing that and how you can do that more. The other problem is that if you choose not to build your personal brand, then that brand awareness, where you are connecting with a cold audience, a warm audience, your hot audience, your superfans becomes lessened. And so when you don't have a personal brand that's attracting new customers to you, what happens is that you exhaust your existing customer base, and you can burn them out because you're just constantly selling to them. And at the end of the day, they may not want to be sold to again and again. They may have already bought from you, they may have already spent their money with you. And so unless you've got graduation products and services, or ascension products and services, then sometimes that's it. Yeah. And so you've got to take a look at how do I build my personal brand, so that I'm continuing to magnify and attract the type of clients that I really want. So I don't exhaust my current audience.

Suzanne Chadwick  12:49

The other thing that we do when we don't have a personal brand that attracts the people that we want, is that we get into content burnout as well. So you know, you're creating content, and you're doing what you think you should be doing. But it's not attracting the clients that you want. And it's killing you in the process. And it's so interesting, because every time I run a webinar, especially when I run my BBA webinar around how to build a profitable business without the burnout, one of the key things that I always hear and 90% of the time people say, Yes, I'm creating content. And no, it's not doing what I need it to do. And so what happens is that we watch what everybody else does. And then we do that. And then it doesn't get us the traction that we want. And then we're like, well, that doesn't work. Or maybe if I keep doing it, it will somehow change and work. And obviously we know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing, same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. And so I really want you to start to think about those key things. If I don't build a magnetic personal brand, I get referrals of people who may be okay, but not exactly who I want. I exhaust my existing audience because I'm not continuing to build my brand and have that attraction of new customers. And I've talked about this before as well, that is really taking a look at those audiences that we want to start to build our brand around and start to attract them and so those cold audiences can be through things like Instagram clubhouse, collaboration, etc. Like the number of people that I am speaking to now on clubhouse that I never would have met before where it totally burst my Instagram bubble. And so now I've got this amazing global audience that I am building these relationships with, and starting to become known. And so really taking a look at where am I engaging with an attracting that new cold audience who have never heard of me before? But who are now starting to get to know me? And then how am I converting them to a warm audience through things like instant To gramme, and potentially the podcast, and then how am I converting them into a hot audience where they become clients of mine. And they come into that personal brand ecosystem where they're like, Okay, Suze, how do I work with you, and I love getting those messages from people, where they're like, I saw you on clubhouse. I've seen you on Instagram, I heard you speak in an event. I love it, that events are coming back. And I'm starting to get booked to emcee and speak at different events, which is amazing. And so they now start to come into my ecosystem and become warm, and then hot. audiences. Yeah. And so you've just got to really start to take a look at how you're doing that. And at the end of the day, if you don't have a strong personal brand, and a magnetic personal brand, you have to be really good at selling. And so if you're somebody who's like, oh, my gosh. So then that's something you need to think about, if you're not somebody who loves selling, and can I just say, I have to be honest with you, I come from a sales background, I actually really enjoy selling,

Suzanne Chadwick  16:03

I enjoy the process of it, I enjoy the conversations, I love having goals, and I love meeting those goals. I love helping my clients get the transformation that they want. So for me, this is my jam. But you know, something, it's not for everybody. But the great thing is, is that if you can start to build a personal brand, that you become known for, where you've got powerful thought leadership, and you've got a powerful message, where you're attracting the clients that you want, then you don't have to sell your hair because they're already there waiting for you to say, here's my thing. Yeah, if you want to come along, come along for the journey. And so that is what having a really powerful personal brand. And building it now, because this is not going away, we are getting more and more into the space where having a logo and having a business name that is not you, especially when you're a solopreneur. So this is specifically more for solopreneurs. But even for SMEs, if you're a smaller business with a couple of employees, people still buy people. And so we want to know who's behind the brand, we want to know what you stand for. We want to know what your values are. Yet, we want to know that you're one of the best, why would I hand my money over to you if I don't know that you're the best? And so I think a lot of times we feel shy, or we feel like oh, well, I don't want to kind of build my personal brand. I don't want to put myself out there. Because I don't want people to think that I'm full of myself, which is a very Australian thing. Yeah, tall poppy syndrome is definitely an easy thing. But you know, something, if you can come at it from a place of service, and a place of sharing unique messages and thought leadership, and actually kind of feeling so passionate about what it is that you do that you're like, you know, something, I want to be part of this conversation, and I've got something really different to say, then that is the perfect angle to come from like if you're worried about looking like you're, you know, blowing your own trumpet, then that's a great place to come from, how can I serve more people? How can I share what I believe to be true in this industry? What are the myths, mistakes and misconceptions that I see? And how can I talk about that even more. And so if you can start to do that, then you'll start to attract people who have similar values in you, who have similar beliefs in you, or who want to be part of the conversation. And when people want to be part of the conversation with you, then they start to become part of your ecosystem. I have met some incredible people on clubhouse where they've got no Instagram presence. I've never heard of them before. But when I hear them speak, and I hear their thought leadership, what they believe the conversations they start, I am now in their ecosystem. I'm now looking at their website, I'm following them on different platforms. I'm checking them out on LinkedIn, I'm listening to their podcast. And so us sharing our beliefs. And our thought leadership is really the gateway to people who were like, that sounds super interesting. She sounds super interesting, or he sounds super interesting. And I want to know more about them. And so I just really want to encourage you to start to think about how you are igniting the conversation that attracts the people to you who want to sit around your campfire and have deeper dialogue with you who want to ask you questions and who want to know what you think about things. And when we get into that kind of relationship. It's just a different kind of relationship to be in. You're no longer somebody who's just pushing out content, but you're somebody who people want to be part of the conference. With. And so I really want you to think about how you're creating the space for those conversations as well. Because as I've said, before, your clients want to work with and follow someone, hopefully it's you who is stepping up in their industry, they want to know that you're a leader, they, they want to know that you can solve their problem, and that you can show them that you've done it before. Because at the end of the day, it's not enough to build programmes and share content, you have to decide to be seen as a leader in your industry, in order for people to trust you, and that you'll deliver on the outcome and the transformation that you're promising as well. And so I really want you to think about whether that's something that you're doing or not,

Suzanne Chadwick  20:50

is it something that you're willing to do, because as the market gets busier, you know, something, it's not about us actually finding more people. But it's about us building deeper relationships with the people who we trust, and who are saying and willing to say that they want to be a leader in this field. And so you're not stepping up into that is actually a missed opportunity. And at the end of the day, when we look at leaders that we admire, there is no difference between you and them, you have something unique to share that with the right structure, and build, you can reach the people that you really want. And at the end of the day, believing that your message is worthy invalid is so important. If you want to become a bold and powerful voice in the world, then you have to decide to step up and start to think and act like a leader in your industry as well. And you want to know the great thing is that if you decide to do that, I want you to think about what's possible for you, what's possible for your clients. And at the end of the day, what's the cost to you and your clients if you don't show up. And if you don't share your beliefs. And if you don't share your thought leadership. Because when you mentally claim your space, then you'll physically claim your space. What does that mean? When you make the decision to be a leader in your industry, then you'll start to show up in different ways on different platforms. And never shy away from taking the stage whatever stage that might be virtual or audio physical to actually say I am here to be part of the conversation. And I just want to go back to something I shared a little bit earlier was one of the biggest fears that people have is that they they're worried about, you know them saying I'm an expert. And I've shared it before and I love that Denise Duffield Thomas always says, ‘We're not here to be experts, we're here to be contributors’. And if you can come at it from a place of I want to be a contributor to this conversation, I want to be somebody who has something useful and unique to say, then I think that that's all that you need to do. You don't have to be Mother Teresa, you don't have to be Oprah. You don't have to be like Gandhi. All you have to do is decide to be a contributor of the conversation or to the conversation. And I think that is what will make the difference. I know that when it comes to having a leaders mindset and stepping up as a leader, I know that confidence is a really big issue that a lot of people have. Please go and listen to the Joan, Dr. Joan Rosenberg episode. Because I think that that is one of the best episodes on confidence. And obviously my girl Erica from America, I will have both of those episodes in the show notes that you can go and check out as well. And all the shownotes at suzchadwick.com forward slash pod and then the number of the episode so 148. But having that confidence and saying you know something once again, and I think we get the confidence from deciding that we're not going to be an expert, but we're going to be a contributor. So we kind of lessen the expectation on ourselves, that we have to know everything and be everything to everybody. I don't need to be everything and I don't need to know everything. In order to have this conversation with you. I'm just sharing with you what I believe this is my thought leadership, this is what I want to be talking about. So I know that one of the biggest issues is confidence. The other one is lack of clarity. And so really working on that message. And once again, you can only home the message when you share it, you will only find your voice when you use it. And so the more that you talk about what it is that you do, the more that your ideas, the more the language, the more the concepts will start to develop and form. I always am amazed when I'm in a conversation and something comes up that is just like wowza, like I don't know where that came from, but I'm going to use that and and you know when I was on a podcast a while ago. And we were talking about being a bold voice. And the podcast host asked a question and I just came out with what wouldn't you rather be a brand magnet than a marketing megaphone, never said that before in my life never heard that before. And I was like, that's amazing. So now that's helped me to title my second book. And I talk about magnetic branding. And it's become one of the key things that I share. And one of the key things that I talk about, I'm talking about it more today with you. And so it's only when we're in those conversations that we can start to form our messages, and start to have powerful voices as well.

Suzanne Chadwick  25:41

So I know that confidence is an issue, I know that lack of clarity can be an issue. But you have to commit, you have to commit to failing every day, you have to commit to getting it wrong, sometimes you have to commit to being uncomfortable and not knowing what that end message is in all its polished amazingness. Sometimes you have to kind of fumble through in order to work out what that message is going to be. And so I would really encourage you to take that imperfect action to decide to be a contributor, rather than an expert. And to be okay in that as well. Because it's only when we sit in the discomfort and the imperfection, that we can actually start to see what can grow in a unique way for us. And so that's what I wanted to share with you today. I've been thinking about it so much. And I've been talking about it so much. And I am so passionate about helping women to step into that confidence and into that imperfection, to build a message, to build thought leadership, to build that magnetic attraction to the clients that they really want to work with, because they've got something to say. And if you've got something to say, if you've got something that you want to share, and you want to step up as a leader, but you're like Suz, I don't know how to do it, then just DM me, send me a message. Because I know that that's what I'm here to do. And even this morning, I was on clubhouse in an international women's day room. And we were talking about our why. And we were talking about, you know why we do what we do. And it's been a while like it took me years for me to really land where I am now. And I think sometimes we expect that to come so much faster than it's going to come. But I just want you to know that the more you move forward, the more you take action, the more you stop waiting, the more you invest in yourself, you will that will happen for you. That is why that purpose will become stronger, that desire to be a leader will become stronger. Being okay with being a contributor and not an expert sitting in the discomfort and not knowing the full message. You'll be okay with that. I'm okay with that every day I fail all the time, guys. I just have to say that to you. I fail all the time. Things do not go my way. I have mindset blocks sometimes. But you know, something, I just see in the discomfort of it. And I continue to move forward. And it might be imperfect action, but it's action. And it's only when we take action that we can move ourselves forward and out of being stuck. Constantly being in our heads that we're not confident enough. We don't know enough. We don't, you know, we don't have enough experience, all of the things that we think get out of your own way, and start to step up as a leader. Get out of your own way, and start to connect and make a difference to the people that you want to get out of your own way and start to step into and live your purpose of why you're here. I just can't say any plainer than that. But you know something, you don't have to do it alone. You have an incredible community of women around you. I am here to support you. And I will do everything that I can to help you to step into that in such a big way. Let's take a deep breath. Thank you so much for being here this week. I absolutely love you. I love the messages that I get. I love the community I have this week was International Women's Day. I went to an incredible event last Friday, where we danced and McGill Erica from America spoke and there were 150 women in the room. And you could just feel the energy and it was amazing and whether I'm online with my incredible clubhouse crew of Fatima and Katie and Erica and Donna and Megan I just love them. And I think that the type of women that you decide to show up and be, will attract other women of similar quality and passion, who also want to make a difference in the world. And so there's so many incredible reasons why I really want you to step into your purpose and into your power and do incredible things and become that leader in your industry.