Define Your Brand Strategy

Speaker 1: [Music] I tend to figure out the visual layout before I figure out the messaging that's a huge benefit when you are creating a brand to have all of those things integrated you should be thinking strategically what are your goals what do you want to get out of this where are you going and why what's your positioning in the marketplace and then what do you have to say what do you want this to be about where is it coming from inside of you and what are the messages that you want to get out into the world World hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the Sheed experience with Melanie join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it the career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech Innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in thank you for joining us Susan you are the CEO of Susan Meer studio and a personal branding expert who helps women Define their brand strategy and create distinctive messaging what caused you to create your business and how do you Empower clients today first of all thank you for having me I'm really happy to be here I started my business 12 years ago I had worked in a number of branding agencies started my career in management consulting I'm a visual Artist as as well and so one of the reasons that I wanted to run my own shop was because in larger firms in agency World typically strategy and design words and visuals are done separately and that's not really how my brain works in fact I tend to figure out the visual layout before I figure out the messaging that's a huge benefit when you are creating a brand to have all of those things integrated you should be thinking strategically what are your goals what do you want to get out of this where are you going and why what's your positioning in the marketplace and then what do you have to say what do you want this to be about where is it coming from inside of you and what are the messages that you want to get out into the world and then the reality is that human beings take in information visually writing copy in the absence of thinking about how it's going to be delivered just doesn't work as well from a practical perspective at the time I had really young children and I wanted to have control over my time and I I think everybody's thinking in that way and there's a lot more flexibility in terms of working at home or working remotely but at that time there're really wasn't so I knew that working for myself would be a great way to have control over my schedule and be able to be the parent that I wanted to be and parent at the times I wanted to parent but still work full-time and do the work that I wanted to do it's interesting when you say visual artist and thinking about what it looks like visually before for the copy and what it is you want to say so interesting to think about it in that way yeah the classic Consulting model you would start with a strategic foundations phase traditionally you would then divide off into what's the story what's the messaging and then graphic designers would go over here in a different place and work on visuals and my process the way my brain works I think about how is the audience I'm trying to reach going to be taking in that information so I seek the blank canvas first and then it starts to populate with the feeling I want them to have the message I want them to receive and so I think that might pop up here in this bubble or this color might be the way to emphasize that and what kind of movement do I want to have across the screen or the page or whatever it is that we're designing and then how much room do we have for words that's determined by the field of design you're going to get your message across and by the way good messaging needs to be very simple you don't want to have too many words on that page people don't want to read paragraphs or do they have time yeah exactly thinking about it through that lens is a great way to think about something like branding and it's so smart to think how are people going to feel because we make decisions based on how we feel absolutely I do a lot of work with businessto business Brands I started my career with big consumer Brands they understand that it's a feeling they're going to vote you can drink any kind of coffee anywhere it's probably doing the same thing for you functionally why you're drinking one brand versus another has all to do with how you want to feel in that moment learning that from these very sophisticated marketers they want to understand how it's going to live in their lives how is it going to help me spend more time with the people that I love how is it going to make me feel more at peace in my home or whatever the benefit is that they're going to get out of that so I talk a lot about features versus benefits and taking that emotion is where we get benefit from something so true what is a zigzag path and why do you believe it is so valuable the same tools really apply when you're thinking about anything from I think I'd like to start a small business where do I start even to I'm looking for a new job and how do I introduce myself at an event I've done all sorts of things and maybe I'm looking to do something a little bit different the zigzag path is aimed at the individual user of brand strategy when you're thinking about your own path some people know what they want to do early on and they walk a straight path most of us and certainly the people that I work with tend to be creative curious intelligent deeply involved in life and they have lots of interests maybe they've taken actual professional roles that have been wildly different from each other maybe they have a side hustle or two and those stories are harder to tell right you can't say oh I am a tax attorney period because you were a music executive and then you started an app that I'm talking about one person in particular I'm thinking of who was a Performing Artist then she was a music executive then she started an app to help people buy real estate now there's a great story that threads all of those things together and she's really good at each of those things she does because she has these disperate skill sets and also by the way multiple communities that she's part of but that's not a straightforward story don't you think we pull different skills that we learn along the way from the different careers we've had during that zigzag and then they all accumulate into one at the end but you're right how do we tell that story definitely yeah so in that example she talked about how she was one of the few people that was in her world in the music business that was amazing with a spreadsheet super good at project management and so she you know really added a lot of value from that kind of other side of her brain that not everybody in that world was bringing to the table and then when she jumped over into the other world where lots of people had those skills but she had these amazing social and interpersonal skills knew how to bring the party knew how to bring people together so it's those unique combinations of skills that that make us valuable how do you inspire others to think differently about their career paths when it comes to making decisions for the future a lot of the times where I start with people turns out to be a crisis of confidence so many of us the more accomplished we are the more likely we are to suffer from impostor syndrome I have these incredibly accomplished interesting capable people come to me and go between you and me I've done all this random stuff I don't know where to go next and or sometimes it's not about other people it's about themselves I just don't know where I want to go like I'm all over the place you'd got to help me so that's the place to start first of all I'm here to tell you you're GNA be great so the question is narrowing down what do you want to do what is aligned with who you are and your values not as much skill sets because the problem people often have is they have too many skills so it's really more about what kind of work is going to make you happy fulfilled passionate and draw on the skill sets that you have and the things that you enjoy doing so it's a narrowing process and it's so interesting because a lot of times it does come down to confidence because someone can have all the experience in the world but they just need that push to to get going in the right direction yeah exactly if someone wanted to clarify their Brand Story how do you suggest that they do that so the first step is turning inward and thinking about what you care most about what you want to set your sights on but then the other piece that we overlay with that is who's your audience who are you speaking to what do they care about and back to that features versus benefits conversation not just saying oh I check all these boxes and I can do all these things it's on a job description or my product does all these things that you need but what thinking really getting into their heads what is their world about what is it that they're missing feeling emotionally missing and that it can be a little bit strange when you're thinking about selling enterprise software but it's still there like the person that you're selling to is a human being maybe they want to feel Innovative maybe they want to be a hero with their family by getting a promotion those are emotional benefits that they're getting out of it and the better you can understand who you're talking to and what they're be caring about in hearing your story the better it is and so then interweaving those things helps you again narrow down the parts of the story that you want to tell because you can't tell your whole life story you can't tell your whole professional path story and no one has time and hopefully with all the tech in the world we're still human beings what is it that makes the cut for the feline bio for the 30 second 10-second intro and it's some combination of who you are and what you do but then also who it's for and who it's not for because neither of you want to waste your time talking to each other or writing to each other looking at each other on social media if this is not the right and then what is it they're going to get out of it why should they talk to you and why should you talk to them so those are the pieces why do you believe clarifying who you are and what you want is the key to creating a brand position that captures your ideal clients's attention nobody wants to be confused aligning to that one clear message is going to help people understand what you're talking about there's time later to have broader and deeper conversations we're just talking about your Brand Story it should engender questions it shouldn't answer all the questions it should make people want to ask you more questions and have a longer conversation it doesn't need to Encompass every single thing that you might say in those longer conversations really great advice especially for multi-passionate which I know a lot of our listeners and people listening are yeah and that's certainly the clients that I serve are are in that set what are some easy ways to be more creative and productive in Daily work life there's processes and then there's also just quick tips and tricks so the quick tips and tricks are and I I did a little project during the pandemic with a photographer friend of mine where we interviewed creative folks in their Studios or homes or workspaces and talk to them about what elements of their workspace were helpful in making them more creative and productive or creatively productive and there were some really clear themes that emerged one was nature so it could be as simple as having a vase of flowers at your desk and you're in an urban environment or in a room with no windows or as expansive as I work on my back porch in my place that has an incredible view of a river and a forest or that I take a walk that I take a break in my day and I move outdoors and I'm in fresh air and there's a grassy path this human need for nature that's also been very well documented by academics creativity researchers turns our brains on natural light does the same thing it transports us and brings our brain out of the mundane like checking my calendar and updating my client list and brings fresh way of thinking to your brain the more expansive answer is the sort of definition of creativity is putting together drop posing unrelated things and coming up with something new so what can you do to get yourself into that mindset some of the things that have been proven to work and that I find work very well in in my experience are ironically clearing your brain so things like meditation or going for aimless walks with no intention other than just to move your body getting into your body with things like yoga or running or things that take you out of your brain actually help your brain and there's science behind this too the hippocampus activates only when the brain is at rest right and that's the part of the brain that Sparks new ideas so that is h a really great tip and also a nice lifestyle change right we can all be a little less hard on ourselves if in fact we're being productive by taking a walk that's good news I love this conversation because recently I just started doing the 10-minute pelaton meditations in the morning and at night it is so true how with technology today we're standing in line somewhere we don't always take that minute we always have something to take our attention and you're so right when we allow ourselves that time that is where the creativity and The Innovation and when we realize what we want comes into our minds I don't know when pellaton added meditation but I realized that they did and just in the last couple weeks it's just been I felt so much better that's great yeah the technology in our world is amazing for so many things but it has robbed us of those interval moments when we used to be bored yeah yeah we need that you're waiting for the bus you're waiting to go into a meeting and you were just alone with your thoughts we're never alone with we don't have to ever be alone with our thoughts anymore so we have to create that space it's so true and I have nine-year-old Twins and my son loves video games he's still into sports and other things but I've realized he has a harder time unwinding his mind at the end of the day because he is on more Tech than my daughter is so I've started to do the meditations with him and I can tell he just seems more calm and it's just very interesting to watch The Human Experience when you give your mind that time to unwind just let thoughts naturally flow in and then as you were talking about workspaces I have a home office but during Co when we weren't going anywhere all of a sudden I thought I don't have to be in my office it's so interesting to go sit in rooms that we don't always sit in and work in that room it does bring such a different feeling that's actually another one of the themes that emerged is that people move around from space to space and people use it slightly differently there are some people who are like if I'm writing I'm at the kitchen table and then when I have to do the books I'm going to be sitting in this other space and then other people are more it's not so much tied to the task but the act of moving itself regardless of where or for what task is helpful shakes up the snow globe a little bit it's so interesting because when I'm in my office I am more in a task mindset but when I go sit in another room I can be more CEO minded the more big picture and I'm not so focused on the Tas so you're right it's so interesting how our environments shift what we're thinking about and the creativity that can come in along with it which I think goes back in large part to the way we take in information visually some people are more or less aware of that but I think that your visual environment has a huge impact on what's happening in your brain you're right because I have lists around my desk and other things that I'm working on and when I don't have those in my you visually it frees my mind to think about other things yeah it's like all the tabs open and you're close all the TS just yesterday I thought okay how many of these can I close that's drive me crazy I hate all the open I know everyone listening can relate magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy what is one way that you make sure to find and live your joy and I love that phrase so much when I was getting to know podcast I was like wow do I relate to that I like to work with my hands I like to make things and that's slightly different from the work that I do that turns into a document or virtual document is visual but it's not the same as using my hands to do something I have a jewelry line and I continue to make art I also try to write I do try to take notes with a pencil because there's something again there's brain science behind this but there is something about that just lights me up activates all the neurons or something it just feels so good to be there's a physical object and when and the making part of it is I created an object that now lives in the world it's not an idea for my brain it was an idea in my brain and now it exists in the world that is a joyful thing for me and then some more mundane and just fun ones I love to take a bath that like my close the door the kids little epom salt yeah a little Epsom salt exactly I can close my eyes and do nothing I can watch a show on my computer I whatever I want an at home spa day we love that it takes 20 minutes right yes longer but it's not a big commitment and it's it feels like I've really treated myself yeah I love that and making things with your hands is so different from anything else that we do we're always on our computers and there's all the graphics but I'm sure making things with your hand is there's something really wonderful about that once you've completed something yeah it feels different thank you so much for joining us today it's been so fun to talk to you and thank you for sharing your wisdom with us tell us how and where we can find you my website is Susan Meyer studio and Meer is m e i e r and on there is all the information about my Consulting work and my coaching work and there's links to my creative projects on there as well thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello Sheil it.com on our Sheed website or at Sheed on social thank you to my editor Rich jeffo who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave