Position Your Brand By Finding “Your Place”
When positioning your brand, you need to have a place. Crazy, right? All jest aside, this is the most overlooked part of brand development because it is not as frequently discussed —because why do you need to be anywhere when you can be everywhere?
With the rise of the internet, YOU can be anywhere and everywhere. But here’s the thing: your audience is not everywhere, and they are taking note of the people who “show up.”
The squeaky tire gets the oil.
I don’t know who said this, but it’s true, and it begs the question: how are you showing up for your audience if you don’t hang out where they do?
Today I want to look at three things: where we show up, where our audience shows up, and how we can bridge the gap. Are you ready to show up?
Where Do We Show Up?
Take stock.
What types of places is your brand present in? This can be anywhere from a social media account to your website.
Bonus for those of you who are part of any networking, chambers, or business cohorts.
List the outcomes you are getting from the places and who you plan to meet.
For example, I am part of a collection of networking cohorts that include authors and speakers. I spend a lot of time in other groups meeting the coaches of those groups to understand my audience's needs, and I am part of a community of small business owners to light a fire under my bum when I get complacent about my growth. I use LinkedIn and Substack to help me stay visible to the people I connect with in these rooms.
Once you take note, you realize you might just have the opposite design I laid out. Some people go from online to in-person. I like in-person, facilitated by the ease of online communication.
Where do THEY—The audience—Show up?
Take note:
Where does your audience hang out?
What social media platforms are there?
Where does your audience build trust best?
Full disclaimer, I am not using this to create a marketing strategy for you. I want you to think about these things because the whole point of positioning is to align your visuals and your messaging with your brand.
Where you place yourself says a lot about your values; make sure your placement aligns with everything else.
My biggest mistake when starting out as a solopreneur was not networking soon. Some of my best business relationships were not made by that rando I met on the internet—sorry if said rando is reading this—but with someone I connected with in person, and then furthermore connected with on the internet.
Figure out your flow.
How can WE meet THEM?
This section is simple… You have your audience, you have rooms, now go:
Shake some hands
Solve some problems
And for the love of all that is good, do not pitch, unless they ask, with everyone in the room.
Next Steps:
I hope you found this helpful!
Stay tuned for my next article on color theory—with a twist.
