HOW TO BUILD A BRAND: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION

So you have an idea that you think is pretty great?

Woah there cowboy! 

Let’s take is back one step.

Let’s start with something that sounds simple… but is actually where most brands fall over:

Why do you do what you do?

This is important because understanding the ‘Why’ behind your business will help you better articulate who you are as a business and what you stand for.

It will also help when you’re ready to scale because nothing unites a team like a well-articulated mission. 

It will give your team a common goal and a common purpose.

Simon Sinek is the guy we have to thank for this model, which is also known as the Golden Circle.

On the surface, it looks and sounds super simple (which is part of the beauty of it) but it can actually take a lot of time to complete.

So let’s try. Write a list of things you think might be your ‘Why’.

Done?

Great work!

Now go back and put a line through every statement that mentions your product or service.

For example;

• We are in business to sell high-quality children’s toys
• We started X-Company because we want to simplify Marketing for small businesses
• We sell products you can’t buy anywhere else

Nothing left on your list?

Great!

What we’re looking for here is ‘Why’ you do what you do, not ‘What’ you do or ‘How’ you do it…

...We can get to that later (that part is much easier to articulate).

Let’s try it again. 

This time - every time you find yourself mentioning your product or service ask yourself ‘Why is that important?’ and keep going until you’ve found a statement that resonates with you (and doesn’t mention ‘What’ you do).

For example;

🏁 START 🏁

We started Marketable because we want to simplify Marketing for small businesses and startups

• Why is that important?
• Because most small businesses and startups find Marketing overwhelming or can’t figure out how to attribute value to Marketing and justify spending time on it.
  
  Too often they’re led to believe they need to be on every platform, that it’s going to cost a lot of time and money that they just don’t have.

  ---

  • Why is that important?
  • Because with a little support and guidance, we think it’s actually quite easy to help small business owners approach marketing with a purpose and not get caught up in the trap of ‘needing to do everything’

    ---

    • Why is that important?
    • Because Marketing doesn’t need to be complicated

🏁 FINISH 🏁

Because Marketing Shouldn’t be Complicated.

Okay, so we’ve established your ‘Why’...so let's talk about ‘How’ are you going to do it?

Now, before you go and start writing your list, stop.

‘How’ is also often confused with ‘What’. For example; 

Why:

Because Marketing Shouldn’t be Complicated.

How:

By offering strategic Marketing packages to small business owners.

Okay, now we’re at the good stuff. 

What do you do?

It's the thing that's most commonly associated with making money, which means it's the thing that people usually have the best understanding of...

This might be super quick and easy for you to figure out.

But you also might have noticed that going this process, your ‘What’ may have changed slightly, or at least the way you talk about it has.

Remember at the start of this article we talked about knowing what you do well, and understanding how that intersects with what your customers want?

That’s the magic right there.

If you’ve reached this last chapter and you can say, with confidence, that ‘What’ you do sits in that sweet spot, then you’re ready to rock!

If you can’t - don’t stress. There are a few things you can do to quickly find out:

1. Ask your customers what they think you do (some of their answers might actually surprise you)
2. If you don’t have existing customers, use customer personas as a blueprint to find the right person to ask

Check out the video below to learn how to build meaningful buyer personas.