Launch with Velocity

You are building *your* brand. Or for some of you, your *next* brand. 😉 Either way, you’re launching something new to a new audience.

Maybe you’ve been throwing around the idea of launching for a few weeks… but more likely…

It’s been months…or years.

And now you’re here. You’re ready to take action.

You are an entrepreneur. What a crazy, beautiful life.

Oh, the memories… the rollercoaster of emotions!

Excitement… fear… you’re ready… you’re not… you’re ready again.

Well I’m here for you! To make sure you do this right. To ensure you put your best foot forward.

Because you are not just launching a business… or offering a new service. You are building your *brand*. Getting started the right way is crucial.

Why is it so important?

When I first jumped into online entrepreneurship, I made a mistake that cost me six months of brand-building. I limited my potential before I even got started.

Here’s what happened…

I decided to build a business around what I knew. Namely: being a military spouse with ambitious career goals. I built my entire brand around the brand name and website, the “Successful Military Wife.”

(Ha, groan.)

The problem with that misstep was that my value extends way beyond helping military spouses. It’s part of my identity, yes, but it unnecessarily limited my impact.

This kind of naming and brand faux pas can be avoided by establishing your branding the right way. As soon as I transitioned to my own name as my brand, things started falling into place. I started attracting more clients, making more money, and feeling aligned with my brand.

And that’s just one example of all of the decisions you make when you’re building a new brand. There are so many decisions you’ll be making in these early days:

… the brand name

… your first offer

… how you’ll explain your value

… if you’ll DIY everything, or hire help

… what your website will look & feel like

… and on & on.

Getting direction and help in your early brand-building stages is an awesome shortcut to getting the results you want, faster. This isn’t to say that you won’t make any mistakes. However, by finding brand-building mentors early on, you get to skip a lot of the mistakes *they* made.

#BrandingAbroad Words of Wisdom

Are you more of an audio/visual learner? Here’s some advice for launching… delivered via locations around the world in my #BrandingAbroad video series. Psstt… want to see the latest videos as they are released? Join the In Demand Brand FB group:

Join the Private Group

You have your own unique genius to share with the world! But we can’t read your mind. If you don’t put yourself out there, we’ll never understand your unique genius.

You have *all* the ideas, but it’s hard to stay on task sometimes. Here are 3 hints I personally use to stick to my plans.

Give a little something extra to your clients to surprise and delight them.

And finally, here’s some advice on how to *FOCUS*. Focus your message, your design, your vision.

Launch with Velocity Advice

Time for some unsolicited advice. Because I believe in you and I believe in your brand. And I want you to rock this launch 😉

Focus on doing what you can, with what you have right now.

In the beginning, the chicken and the egg scenario happens a lot. You want to have a website, but you don’t have your products photographed yet. You want to create a bunch of new inventory, but you need capital you don’t have. Or with a service business, you need a portfolio but haven’t had clients yet. This is totally normal.

If you can’t put a site up yet, use social media for now. Or a simple landing page. If you need clients, work with some (carefully chosen) beta clients in return for feedback. If you can’t afford a designer (common!) use Canva.com or templates in the beginning. Get and stay in motion.

Take time to decide what need within your niche you solve.

If you’ve already decided to launch a business, this may seem like a simple question. You’ll be selling copywriting services, motivational speaking, fitness coaching… underwater basket-weaving classes. (?!) Now, dig a little deeper. Take time to decide what need within your niche that you are solving for people. Let’s use copywriting as an example. A potential client may be looking for someone to write a sales page for their website. What if they don’t realize that you, as a copywriter, provide this service? You need to define your offer so that this potential client actually understands that they are your ideal client and they need you.

Work and talk with real, live, human beings.

Whether you decide to start selling to strangers, or to test out on friends and family, remember to show you care about their feedback. Try beta testing some of your ideas before you sell them full price. If you’re beta testing, see if you can get a few fellow entrepreneurs to participate. Rather than depending on you, yourself, and, well… you (this doesn’t work as well as “me, myself, and I”), call in reinforcements! Use the beta tests, interviews, and surveys to make the decisions I spoke of above. You’ll prove to prospective clients how much you care. Added bonus, you’ll be networking with other like minded entrepreneurs. All while finalizing major decisions about your brand. This will be a great first step towards building credibility with your audience.

Be ready to change, evolve, and adapt.

Remember that you may need to tweak your plans once you’re applying them to real life clients. You may realize you don’t enjoy working with the clients you’re attracting. Or you may realize you need to charge more for your signature service. So start working with clients as early as possible. Validate decisions you’ve made. Embrace the fact that while you’ve had tons of good ideas, only a few will turn into the golden ones that’ll stand the test of time.

Start before you’re ready.

Get the ball rolling. The great thing about launching your own brand is that it’s easy to go back and make edits down the road, if you choose to. Maybe after you’ve been at it for a year or two, you’ll decide you want a professionally designed logo. Or maybe you’ll decide you only want to use certain types of photos in your published content. Great news – this is all editable – brought to you by the gods of WordPress (or whatever platform you’re using).

Decide: How will your brand make people feel?

Do you know which archetype you identify with most? Many people don’t – even when they have been running their business for years. To get started defining your brand archetype – take my Brand Personality Quiz. Once you know your brand archetype, your options are limitless. And don’t forget to check out my information pages and blogs dedicated to each archetype.

Pull inspiration from everywhere.

Do you have a favorite restaurant? Clothing brand? What makes them so special to you? How can you incorporate those themes or ideas into your own industry? Also, look at your seemingly unrelated interests. Could you incorporate your love of hiking into your business in an interesting way? Pay attention to what are you drawn to visually in every area of life (art, interior design, vehicles, travel.) Consider how you can use those to inform visual brand decisions.

Bootstrap with self-education, courses, and group programs.

There are TONS of amazing resources out there to help you successfully launch your brand. A simple Google search will provide you with the tools you need to teach yourself. Take e-courses on sites like Skillshare or from your favorite entrepreneurs. Read books and articles. Or best yet, find group programs. Many experts (myself included) offer courses to teach material offered to 1-1 clients in a live group environment. These days, there’s SO much life-saving material out there on the web. Whether it’s free or a small investment, it’ll be worth your time researching to find the best fit for you.

Be YOU to find your people.

As you’re beginning to establish your business, it’s *especially* important to focus on building trust. People don’t know you yet. You haven’t built a reputation. It’s crucial that you share with your audience who you are, what you do, why you’re exceptional, and how you can help them. You business will thrive on your ability to create strong, emotional connections with your audience.

Collect proof points & credibility clues.

Challenge yourself to write a list of 100 reasons why someone should hire you. Think about your past jobs, education, and people you’ve helped. Also, think about all of the benefits and life changes your future client gets from working with you. Consider all the ways they save time and money. Think about all the pain/frustration you alleviate for them. When you’re done with this exercise, you’ll have a master list of all the reasons someone would be crazy not to hire you! You can use this list to help write your website and as a shot of confidence whenever you need it.

Find a cohort of entrepreneurs.

Focus on finding your people! Find inspirational stories of those who are farther ahead of you. Be intentional about the messages you consume. Be intentional about the people you surround yourself with. If your goal is to create a 7-figure business, find others that have. If you want to build a media empire through a blog, find successful bloggers and others with the same dream. Don’t limit your success by refusing to invest in relationships.

Get in and stay in motion.

When you’re launching a new brand, constantly find yourself in action. Figure out where you fit, test your theories, interview potential ideal clients, network, learn and above all….work with clients! You’ve got this.

Launch with Velocity Articles

Still craving more knowledge? Here are a few can’t miss articles I’ve published on building your dream brand from the start.

Want step-by-step mentorship as you grow?

The Brand New Brand course is your answer.

Check out 4 *AMAZING* brands that were built through my brand incubation program. It runs live twice a year, or you can work through the material on your own time.

Or, if you’re not ready to purchase JUST yet…

Have you checked out our FREE 5 day taining? The Define Your Brand Mini Class is the perfect first step to defining the CORE of your brand. This mini class will introduce you to our psychology-driven methods of brand building and kick start defining the basics of your brand with true personality.

Enroll in the Define Your Brand Mini Class

More Free Resources – Curated Especially for YOU

“Official” Bio

3rd Person Style

Kaye Putnam is a psychology-driven brand strategist for entrepreneurs. Through work with 100+ clients from Fortune 50’s to entrepreneurs, she developed the In Demand Brand method. She believes in pursuing big audacious dreams and that entrepreneurship is the key to freedom.

She works with students in her Brand New Brand incubation program and with clients 1-on-1. When she’s not transforming brand strategy and websites, she’s exploring the world with her husband and two little ones. They love eating their way across their home of Naples, Italy.

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