Curating & marketing a brand with the intention of connecting to people’s heartstrings so that they’ll hopefully buy from you can often feel forced, fake & even icky. What’s ickier is not seeing the results you desire from your branding + marketing and then wondering if it’s because people can feel your inauthenticity and it’s turning them off. It feels awful to put yourself out there despite your uncomfortability with selling, put SO much effort into trying all the things you’ve been taught about sales & marketing, and then feel like you’ve just embarrassed yourself for no reason because it didn’t even bring results.
If you find yourself in this cycle, it can feel a lot easier to go back to hiding and not selling and allowing your business to stay stagnant… but that doesn’t feel good either! You so genuinely want to be out there making a positive impact in the world and be financially supported in doing so, but branding + marketing feels inherently against your values of being authentic & pure-intended and you just don’t know how to do both.
What if I told you there’s a better way? Imagine waking up in the morning, going for a walk outside, breathing in the fresh morning air and thinking to yourself with wholehearted seriousness: “My only job today is to show up and be myself.” You go for an extra long walk, smell many pretty flowers and eat some fresh apricots off a tree for breakfast because you know that getting into a positive & calm energy for the day is truly an imperative part of your job. On your lovely morning stroll, you naturally get an inspired idea for your social media content for the day and you record it on the spot. Now it’s ready to go! You walk back home, loving life, feeling so blessed to run a business that makes an impact and feels easy to show up for because you get paid to be you.
This is what my typical morning & my content creation process looks like, and it works well for me & brings results! In fact, my business & online presence started really getting traction when I finally let it be easy & started doing things differently. Read on to learn why & how – and be guided through the 5 steps to build the foundations for a brand that makes a genuine positive impact AND pays you to be yourself.
Step 1 – Lead From The Heart
Your intentions & energy BEHIND everything you do are where your positive impact begins. Before even thinking about what you’re going to to say or do to show up as your brand, consider who you’re going to BE.
When we’re in survival mode, our brains are wired to solely focus on one thing: ourselves. This is because it thinks it’s trying to keep us alive! When in this state, we can’t truly be of service to others nor come from a genuine place of wanting to help them. Our motives become unintentionally & subconsciously impure – and others can feel it. This is when sales feel icky.
On the other hand, when we’re able to take great care of ourselves & help our bodies feel safe to relax, we’re then able to see beyond ourselves and come from a place of truly being able to serve others. When we feel safe & well cared for, it’s much easier to drop into our hearts and go on to helps others from a genuine state of care. This is when we’re able to make the most genuine & positive impact!
Remember that self-care is an ongoing practice & requires upkeep in order to stay in integrity. Life happens and we all have our moods – what’s most important is that we return to our hearts & a feeling of safety regularly, and especially get back to that state before showing up as a brand & for our clients + community.
Suggestion: Start every day with a walk outside, or something else that puts you in a calm & centered mood. When we take care of ourselves first, we’re then able to lead from a heart-centered, service-driven place as we begin our work for the day.
Step 2 – Get Clear On Who You Serve & What You Help Them With
Once you’ve gotten your energy + intentions in integrity with being truly service & impact-driven, you can now build the foundation for your brand. To create a brand that’s set up for success, it’s very important to first get clear on who you serve & what you help them with (AKA the solution you provide). And to make the most positive impact, it’s imperative to make sure that these selections align with your values.
Do you deeply, truly believe that the solution you’re providing is the best option for the greater good – your clientele, humanity as a whole, our planet & ecosystems?
Aligning your offerings with your truth & your values is a win-win for both you AND the whole because not only will it make a more genuine impact, but it’ll also make your business so much easier to show up for and your offers so much easier to market & sell, because you truly believe in them to your core.
Step 3 – Create A Brand + Marketing Strategy
Before designing your visual brand or creating your social media marketing content, it’s really important to first come up with strategies to create from in order to see results. A brand strategy is a plan for how you’ll show up as a brand in a way that connects with the audience you’re trying to reach & quickly catches their interest by showing them that you’re relevant to them & their world. A marketing strategy is a plan for how you’ll clearly communicate the value you provide with your ideal audience, in a way that really speaks to them & helps them see that you understand their unique set of challenges and that you have a resonant solution for them.
When creating both of these plans, it truly is possible (& necessary, if you ask me!) to combine proven brand + marketing strategy with who you genuinely are, what you truly care about and what you naturally love to talk about. While the mainstream message in the branding world is that you need to curate your brand + marketing for your clientele, not you… I only agree with half of that. I find it so important to curate them for both your clientele and YOU – otherwise, is it really authentic for you?
For example, part of brand strategy entails choosing a brand archetype. There are 12 brand archetypes that are know to sell well. Instead of just picking one your ideal clientele will resonate with… I highly recommend leaning in to one that’s already a big part of your personality! This way you get to stay completely authentic… which of course makes the most positive impact in both your life and those of your clients.
Step 4 – Design Your Brand & Social Media Content
Next, use the brand + marketing strategies you came up with to go forth and design your brand + social media content. As I mentioned, curate them to feel like you AND to attract your dream clientele. To incorporate both, you can ask yourself where your vibe, values, personality & interests overlap with those of your dream clients.
And the thing is… your dream clientele ARE going to be similar to you in some ways. Like attracts like, and similarities breed connection. So it works out well!
Step 5 – Show Up With Consistency & Authenticity
In order to gain traction as a brand and therefore make a bigger impact + get your message to the masses, it’s so important to show up with consistency. Consistency builds trust and shows people you’re committed to your mission, which will help them feel more safe & interested to get on board with what you’re offering.
It’s so much easier to show up consistently as a brand when you have a clear plan (brand + marketing strategy), guidelines to follow (brand + content designs & brand guidelines), and everything has been set up to align with who you really are & what you really value.
What a relief it can be to realize that you don’t have to try so hard – being authentic is what connects with people the most. Combine your authenticity, the mission + message on your heart, and proven brand & marketing strategies, and you’ll be able to grow a thriving brand that pays you to be yourself AND make a genuine positive impact. A win-win for all!
If you found this post helpful & would like to go deeper with these steps, you’re invited to download the free 5 step guide at indigomarigold.com/free.
Indigo Marigold is a brand + marketing coach and illustrator who’s on a mission to help others set themselves free from having to be anything other than themselves, spending their days doing what fulfills them & lights them up. She believes that what the world really needs is everyone to allow themselves to be the most fully expressed, vibrant version of who they really are – sharing their gifts and contributing to the world a solution they deeply care about. Indigo lives in Colorado, USA and spends her days skipping through the woods, dancing around campfires, paddleboarding on mountain lakes and connecting deeply with her local community.
If you have any questions or would like support with growing a heart-led & impactful brand, you can reach out to her via Instagram or her website at indigomarigold.com.
