Have you Ever pondered to yourself "How do I design a brand identity that is true to who I am and still make a change?"

Neither did I starting out, and ended up sounding like a mini Oprah.

Trying to be all inspirational and drop tweetable's, without the fancy couch or shoes.

My friend called me out! She was on my business mailing list at the start of my entrepreneurial journey and she saw right through my Maybelline.

"You don't sound like you --when you write. Is that intentional?"

It was not, I just didn't know wtf I was doing and I was totally winging it. I needed a format to follow because I didn't have one of my own and to be honest, I didn't know anything about building a brand.

Or that it was a thing!

I just had a message and a mission. How I was going to turn that into something I could live off of was not strategized properly.

I learned really fast how essential a brand identity was and what it can do for a new business. How important it is to have your voice and your distinct touch in every aspect of your sales process.

But we’re so caught up in standing out and being different, we forget we’re already eccentric, weird, the oddball, magical...awe-inspiring! (I like the last one the most)

We just need to be seen --how we see ourselves and/or for who we truly are.

I hear all the time, “How do I stand out?”, “Be different than my competition?” and I just want to wrap my arms around them like a sweet great aunt, who has the best baking this side of amazing and say: ”Baby, you already are...”

But instead, I say: “Be yourself”.

And even this answer is not enough because there is still a struggle of not wanting to be too much or too little of oneself.

“I don’t want to be too sarcastic because I might scare my ideal client away, or I love silly cat video’s but my ideal client may think it’s immature, or I feel comfortable cursing but they’ll think I have a low grasp of the English language.”

In the infamous words of The Rock:“It doesn’t matter!”

 

Your ideal client...loves that sh!t. And wishes you did more of it because secretly, they wish they could be as brave --to own their awesomeness, as you do.

Do you remember why you started your business again? It was purely for selfish reasons (that’s right!).

You needed something and it didn’t exist, or what was available wasn’t exactly what you needed --so you improved on it or you simply wasn’t feeling fulfilled. You know, the "create the things you wished existed" vibe…?

Well, you did that --doing that. And now you’re a bit off track.

Let me help, re-align you.

When you started this thing (your biz) it was the opportunity to live a life more freely, creatively and on your own terms.

At what point, did you get off track? When did it become so important to follow what the next gal or guy is doing? When did you give any fcuks about, how your competition may be doing?? Do I know how my competition is doing? No, I don’t. I’m too busy building a business I love from the ground up...don’t have time for that!

And neither should you.

Want to know how to stand out? And devise a brand identity that rings true to YOU? I’ll clarify this time and NOT leave you with the just be yourself line...I really put some thought into this, you ready?

• When you promote your next offer, don’t ask how you can be different: ask “How can I add myself to this?”
• When you go to post in an entrepreneur Facebook group: “What can I share of myself?”
• When you write your next blog post: “Where can I add a personal touch?”
• When you’re writing your About page on your website: “What do I value, that my ideal client will value too?”

You will have to shift your perspective on being different to become legendary.

Being legendary, doesn’t ever, question their uniqueness but speeds forward with tarnished armor on and a dagger for a sword towards their bloody victory.

Your words can bleed legendary, but you must be yourself first.

*Too many tweetables up in this post*