5 Things That Soul Entrepreneurs Are Doing Wrong With Their Brand Marketing

Max. 5 minute read.

JOIN me in going through a few client examples of things that soul entrepreneurs are undertaking in their conventional marketing journey and how Soul Brand Marketing® can be applied.

#1 TRYING TO BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE. 

I know you’ve heard of this one before, so let’s delve a little into a client example and of course how we solved people-pleasing: 

RASHID is an amazing designer creating fabric prints that’ll mesmerize you. She’s been creating patterns for as long as she can remember, from doodling on paper to mastering it all in University. So, she figured she’d make a business out of it. You know, like actually selling her prints and making money from it. Maybe even becoming the leader in fabric printing? Four years on, Rashid’s still creating gorgeous prints, but she ain’t making no moolah (money)… And she’s pretty peeved off. All her savings (or almost all) have gone into her business. She KNOWS that she’s friggin’ good at what she does, but why ain’t the folks biting on the bait?

Some may recommend Rashid do the following:

>> Create more Brand Awareness i.e. with Branding (the pretty visual stuff with logos and typography and what not)

>> Advertise your products on Facebook and other social media platforms – it’s THE place to be!

>> Write blog posts or a book

>> Join Facebook groups or LinkedIn groups and get your Brand known

>> Attend exhibitions to get your name (Brand) out there.

Rashid would just roll her eyes at you because she’s been there, done that.

This is what I recommended:

>> To analyse Rashid and see if she’s an Empath, Introvert, Extrovert, Ambivert. Why in the world would I want to do that and not focus on the Brand stuff? Well, because this IS part of the SOUL Brand stuff that so many Entrepreneurs overlook. They move straight into their Branding and if they’re in luck, their marketing. But not this part. Let me explain:

What does an Empath or Ambivert, Intro-Extrovert have to do with Brand?

For the sake of time, I’m going to focus on one element, i.e., the Empath.

To give you an idea of why I focus on this. As an Empath, you tend to be a very good problem-solver who unconsciously attracts the energies of those around you. Good or bad. These energies affect your business energy believe it or not. As an Empath with all the energies you have attracted, you lose sight of your Soul Client and start attending to everyone’s needs as opposed to who you are MEANT to serve (Your CORE and BUSINESS MESSAGE).

As an example, Rashid loves to work with soft-spoken women who are absorbed in their world and talents and are arty and creative (that’s the short version). 70% of the clients she was attracting were needy men and women, who wanted cheap-cheap fabrics that look pretty to fill their shelves for the discerning customers who had more money to spend. The owners shared that they loved Rashid’s products though they couldn’t afford her prices now, but would be able to sell her luscious prints in store and then once things picked up, they’d be able to pay her the prices she’d been asking for.

Rashid picked up on their low self-worth/esteem energies and adopted them as her own, i.e., I’m not that big yet, so I guess I can let this slide as I really need the money. Four years later, she’s stuck in this rut of believing that she’s not good enough or big enough to say No to the needy clients (who are clearly using her) and sucking her energies dry.

Once she’s able to OWN her talents as an Empath and discern between her Soul and other clients, she will be able to take on those clients who will propel her business forward rather than drain it. And only THEN will her Branding and Marketing begin to work as she would have made space to serve her Soul Clients. And will then be able to create Branding and Marketing that is targeted at her Soul Clients.

#2 TOO (LITTLE) CREATIVE WITH NO MESSAGE.

RICHARD has a habit of posting his epiphanies on social media. They’re really inspirational and make you think. For example, the other day he posted a beautiful picture of this gorgeous, lush tree covered in autumn leaves all alone in this BIG field surrounded by other trees clumped together.

Pretty picture in your mind, right? The trouble is, Richard has been posting this on his business page and to different groups. And he is in no way a motivational speaker or coach. He owns a coffee shop. A really lovely one at that. But what do his epiphany posts have to do with his cute coffee shop? Absolutely nothing.

He’s posting pretty branded images (from his coffee shop) and of lone trees. Readers will automatically link lone trees with his coffee shop and ask themselves: Is it because he’s going out of business that he’s posting about lone trees? Is he trying to tell us that he feels like a loner and needs to move on?

I’m sure you can see that this could be very confusing. Which it is. And it is where most entrepreneurs go wrong in their Brand Marketing.

They’re not 100% clear on their Brand fundamentals; they mix their personal (desires) with those of their business (disconnect) where there is clearly no link.

The result is a confusing Brand Message. And no pretty Branding can improve the confusion. What you need to do is get clear on your fundamentals like your Brand Promise, Identity, Values and Beliefs, Tonality and more.

Also, it’s vital to be clear on your Brand Marketing POA (plan-of-action) and Communications Strategy

#3 BEING REACTIVE INSTEAD OF AN ACTIVE BRAND.

Suzanna is a ball of energy and passion. It oozes out of her from all corners of the world. She’s a healer and coach and downloads from the Angels DAILY. In other words, she’s hearing and seeing her Guides everywhere. Pretty awesome stuff.

Suzanna is always REACTIVE in ALL her marketing. That means, she gets a brainwave and posts it online. There is no strategy behind her motives. In other words, she isn’t ACTIVE in her Marketing (very different from INSPIRED Marketing).

To her readers, she’s fluttering from one thing to another. There is no constant, which is very unnerving for prospective clients. You see, in their lives, there is already so much confusion and goings-on and having you — despite how talented you are — jumping from one challenge or offer to the next is going to cause prospective clients to switch off to whatever you’re offering because it’s too overwhelming.

And no amount of pretty Branding or Facebook ads or website technology is going to help you get more clients.

When I worked with Suzanna, the aim was to keep focused.
We created a triangle.
At the top of the triangle was her ULTIMATE want/desire/goal for her business (please note: that we had worked on her Life Purpose prior to this so the pinnacle was easier to narrow down on. You can do the same DIY by purchasing my book and workbook here).

At the base of the triangle, we listed all the marketing elements that she ENJOYED (very important) that would lead towards that ULTIMATE goal.
Then we worked our way up towards the pinnacle with other marketing and advertising tools that would give her immense joy in both the masculine and feminine energies.

Suzanna then was able to see her overall ‘plan-of-action’ and stay focused when communicating her Brand to her soul group (clients) around the world and she was also able to harness her energies to keep them focused rather than spread out all over the place leaving not only her scattered but her clients too.

By being ACTIVE in your marketing, you’re not being rigid and working by the rule book. But rather you’re taking time to focus on what’s important to you to achieve your ULTIMATE goals and at the same time what gives you PURE joy and pleasure.

#4 THE REPOSTER OF EVERYTHING.

BREE is a Life Coach (in simple terms) who gives a shit about rules and loves to break them. She’s that person who you can spark a conversation with and talk for AAAAGES and never tire.

She’s such a blast. When you ask her what she does for a living, she goes on this tangent about Life and all the things that can be better for the long-term and how her life has changed and how she had to cut a few people out of her life; but it’s all good now and she has learned all these great tools to counteract feeling like shit and now she’s just the BOMB!

Phew! Just writing that left me exasperated! Imagine what it’s like for the READER who gets to read Bree’s online posts? Which brings me to her Brand no-no’s… It’s very rare that Bree will create her own social media posts or brand them as her own. She’s constantly giving out the message that she’s a student of learning (which is really important); however, she’s in no way advertising that SHE’S the expert but rather promoting that all the others are. She’s just the mediator.

Hand on heart: Would you buy from the Mediator or the Creator?

Hmm, exactly, the Creator…

If you want to be an unforgettable Brand, create a brand that is undeniably YOU and that your prospective clients WANT to be led by, in other words be the Leader that you would want to follow.

In order to get things onto an original start, Bree and I worked on her Life Purpose using my Brand Your Soul® system. This not only assisted her in honing in on her Message but also on WHO she wanted to communicate with and HOW.

She no longer needed to use ‘other’s content to get her message across, instead she found her own voice and stepped into her Leadership role to make the impact SHE was born to make.

This gave her the confidence to create her signature systems and of course apply for speaking engagements around the world to spread her message as she now was clear on what it was that she was meant to do with her life.

#5 BEING A SMART ARSE AND NOT CREATING A BRAND.

Make money online without a logo or website…I made 5K per month just using the power of Facebook (or Instagram). Let me show you how.

As a Rebel and Free-Spirit Entrepreneur, you read this and think: How the hell do they do it?! I’m investing money in creating a Brand, which takes time and they are earning 5K per month without anything that I’m creating? WTF?!

Remember Milli Vanilli or the Cupid Shuffle? How about the Macarena? What about Nokia? Remember them? You know the saying: don’t build your house on sand if you want it washed away with the tide. Those who don’t create and develop a brand from the inside out are the businesses that have no interest in doing what they do out of love and purpose, but for the love of money. You’re not like that. You want to fulfil your purpose first and then reap the profits. A business without a Brand is asking to be a one-hit-wonder.

LESSON FOR TODAY…

There are many do’s and don’ts in Marketing | Advertising | Sales & Branding. And unless you work with or learn from a professional, it’s not as easy for you to spot what you’re not implementing, to get you to the level of credibility, visibility and financial freedom that you desire.

One thing I encourage entrepreneurs, is to never lose sight of why you’re doing this: Your Why? and to remember YOU in this whole process.

Because fact is this: Consumers buy and trust brands from people not factories.

So always strive to be YOU rather than be someone else.