3. Why personal branding is the foundation to everything

Personal Branding is the foundation to everything in your business. And I’m going to show you why and how On this episode, I really wanted to start with this, because I think we’re going to talk about so many things on the podcast, we’re going to talk about visibility, we’re going to talk about how to make more money, we’re going to talk about mindset. But the thing is, if we don’t understand what a personal brand is, and why is the foundation to everything, and it takes effort, it takes time is the long term game to actually grow in your business. And you’re not going to do anything, if you don’t believe that what you’re doing is actually worthwhile. So I want to, like start this by actually talking about why I believe that personal branding is the foundation to everything. So have you ever wonder why people buy from you as opposed to somebody else? Or vice versa? So for example, when there is two people that do the same thing, come on, guys, there is a million personal branding coaches out there, but you’re here, you’re listening to me, you’re watching to me on YouTube, maybe you’re on my Facebook group, why are you following me over somebody else? Right? And I think this is the question that a lot of people don’t ask about themselves. So the the answer comes down to your personal brand. And we’re gonna try to unpack all of that. And I’m going to try to give you some tools to today, so you can start doing that for yourself. 

Welcome to the Be You brand podcast.

I am your host, Ati Grinspun. And if you’re looking to build a million dollar personal brand, sell out your services, and do it all while living your best life and fulfilling your purpose. You come to the right place, we no fluff strategy, a tiny bit of a spice attitude, F bombs per days, mindset and energy work, we will grow a life and business that you absolutely love. One episode at a time. Welcome aboard my friend. My name is Ati Grinspun. I’m a personal branding coach and photographer and I’m here to help you build a brand that stands out that is doesn’t dilute yourself that you don’t get a scroll over. And that you actually love showing up for okay, I love helping my clients and my followers and my audience to really stand out, build a brand that you love, attract clients that you love working with, because come on you guys who likes to work with clients that we don’t like? None of us. Okay, so, um, to make more money, more of money and a bigger impact in the world. So let’s start talking about what a personal brand is, right? Because if we don’t know what our personal brand is, how are you even going to build one. 

So my belief is that every single one of us already has a personal brand, no matter where you’re at, if you’ve just started your business, you have some sort of reputation that is preceding you, right now, building your personal brand, or what is actually a personal brand, is actually being intentional about that personal brand. So let me get a little bit more into this. I think that all of us start our business, or we have this passion, and we pick what we want to do based on something that we are really passionate about. Maybe you saw not only the opportunity to make money, but you saw the opportunity to help other people doing what you’re doing. Right. So when you start your business, maybe you were a stay at home mom for a long time. Maybe you were incorporated for a long time. Maybe you were a bartender, I was a bartender for 20 years. 

So when I turned around and I became a photographer, people saw me as a bartender right now, there is so many things about my life before as a bartender that I brought into my brand that made me who I am. But the thing is, if I was an intentional about building my new brand at the time, this was like 1012 years ago, as a photographer, people would have kept seeing me as a bartender. So building your personal brand and having a personal brand is all about being intentional about putting information out in the world. And I don’t want to say sure social media, I want you to know that. I believe that you can build a brand on and off social media, and you should be using a combination of both. That’s how we teach it. 

That’s how I love teaching my clients how to do this. But you have to be in the driver’s seat when you’re putting information about who you are what you do, the clients that you serve, it’s your responsibility to actually build these information in the world. And that is how you build your personal brand. 

So what I want to bring with this, it’s like So why then your personal brand is the foundation to everything. So here’s a few questions that I want you to kind of go into when you buy a service. And just so you know, I specialize in service providers. So coaches, realtors, we have real estate, real estate investors, we have mostly service providers on our programs. Because this is where your personal brand becomes most important because people are buying you. So let’s go back to these reflection questions that I want you to have on the back of your mind as we’re going through these right. So number one is how do you buy? How do you buy? How do you actually make this decision that we talked about earlier? Right? Like, how do you decide to go with one person, one coach over another coach? Or how do you decide to maybe you go get a facial, and you keep going to that person or maybe you have seen been seen the same person over and over and over for a few years, I have a really cool story about actually my my hair person, like hair is super important to me, I have a tunnel hair. And for many, many, many years, I’ve seen the same person. But for some reason, when I went to see that person, I always had a headache. And I wasn’t really aligning with her like, and I was constantly in the lookout for another person. 

Now she was amazing at what she did, the way she did my hair was incredible, okay, and I saw this person for a long time. But I was always looking for somebody else that could do that task, the same or even close, I didn’t even care. And then I found somebody that did the blondes and I went to this person. And I really liked her. And yeah, she wasn’t really amazing at what she did. But I stuck with her until I found the person that does my hair now. And this is what happened. This person that does my hair. Now not only she’s amazing at what she does, because I want to tell you this, your personal brand can only carry you so far right? You can have an amazing personal brand and marketing plan. But if you don’t deliver on your services, none of what I’m teaching you is going to work. So you have to be in integrity with the service that you offer. And you have to strive to be the fucking best. So that for me is a given I am assuming that every person in this podcast is really going towards being the best to their ability at the moment of building their personal brand. Now you’re going to grow, you’re going to evolve, you don’t let this stop you. However, you have to constantly be striving and be in integrity with the service that you offer. 

So going back to my hairdresser, when I found this person, not only we are aligning, I like her literally I sit on her chair and we can stop talking. Like we see business in a very similar way. We see life in a very similar way we are both really go getters and the way we’re growing our business is all of that. And for me, and I want to add this, she’s really expensive. Okay? However, for me, she’s worth every freaking Penny, because I am not there. Because she just have my hair. Every time I went to my original person that she was really good at doing hair. It hurt to pay her because I didn’t love her. I didn’t like her. Right? There was there was something that wasn’t there. There was not a connection. Now. When I say I don’t like her actually, I want to bring you back to how do you actually buy? Right? Who do you buy from? I want you to start actually thinking about this on the back of your mind. Because when I asked these to myself to my clients, the answer is always you buy from people you know you like and you trust, right? People that are in alignment with your values with who you are, you have things in common. Now what happens is if you are hiding behind shares your product or a service, what happens is you’re never given the opportunity to people to really get to know you and to actually differentiate yourself in the market and that is when you become unmemorable. 

You Nobody really remembers you like, because you’re just like everybody else, there is nothing to remember. So let me give you an example. If you are a hairdresser, or you are a realtor, and all you do is talk about being a realtor, the reality is that some million realtors out there, right, where people can go and have them show, show them houses, it doesn’t even matter. But the reason why people go to you over somebody else is because of who you are, and your expertise, we’re gonna get into these in a second. So what I see a lot in the market is brilliant, amazing women, amazing at what they do riding, right? Because they can bring themselves into talking about the things that are important to them into talking about what makes them be friends into talking about why they care about helping their clients. So I’m going to actually give you very specific things for you to actually do after this podcast and like to think about, so you can actually start putting these things together. So in order for you to put yourself out there and be the person that somebody will pay more for their products or that they will come back to you, no matter what there is no, like doubt in their mind that you are their their go to person every single time for what you do. You have to talk about the things you have to talk about the things that make you different, you have to talk about the things that are important to you, you have to talk about the things that actually are not your product and service. Maybe you talk about why you deliver your product or service in the way you do because that is a personal touch. Right? But that is how you actually build your personal brand. And why is the foundation because the problem is that if all you do is like, here’s my product, here’s where you can buy it, here’s how much it cost, why am I buying your product? Or why am I buying from you over somebody else. So these things that differentiate you do not need to be hard.

So for example, I always I like to describe like this, right and I’m actually I’m gonna move my chair,I want you to think of you putting your flag in the in the your stake in the ground. And this is your way. And this is the reason why you do it this way. And you are so convicted, you’re you have such a huge conviction on the way you do things and the service that you offer. And why your way is the way that people can subscribe to your vision, people can just subscribe to why you deliver what it is that you do the way you do. So for example, for me, that is be you, I know that when I started my business, the biggest thing was I kept looking outside. And I kept looking at what other people were doing. And I wasn’t really truly looking at who I was what I brought to the table, how I was different, how my own experiences, were shaping how I was helping others, not just how I was showing up, but how I was helping others and be you is at the forefront of everything I do that is why I’m actually going through a life coaching certification now, not because I’m going to become a life coach. Because I know that many of you the reason you’re not doing what I’m actually talking about, which is putting your personal touch, talking about your life, talking about the things that are important to you is because you do not believe at some point that your voice matters, or you don’t believe that there is something so special about you. And the truth is that that is the truth is every single one of us has something special or different. 

That doesn’t need to be that complicated. Doesn’t need to be that story of like life and death situation, however, is relatable to the people that we want to help is relatable to the people that we are working with. It’s relatable because we are two steps ahead. Okay. So how do you get started right so now you know your personal brand is your reputation is what do you want to be known for? Right? Your personal brand is what do you want to be known for? And it takes a little bit of commitment. Because there is a ton of people out there talking about being multi passionate. I’m going to tell you guys, I am super multi passionate, right? I love sports. I got started on the health and wellness side of coaching. I was on network marketing, like but the thing is that our mission and it’s always at the top right why Do you want to be known for? When you can describe that first, then you can say, Okay, from here, I can get started. If you don’t know what you want to be known for, how do you expect people to remember you? Because I want to tell you this, this is a phrase that I use all the time is, repetition is the mother of reputation. Repetition is the mother of reputation. If you want people to remember you for something in particular, the only way for you to do that is to repeat yourself over and over and over. And I don’t mean this by you having a product I’m have this DVR here money is this and being Wow, look at my stevia, buy my stevia that is not what repetition is about. It’s about talking, why things are important to you why you do what you do. And I’m gonna give you a framework, okay? So the way you get started, is you take the time to get clear on what your personal brand is, okay? You take the time to actually do these things. I don’t want to get too technical here on the podcast, because he’s not truly a training, right. 

But I this is what I see a ton of the times, when it comes to building your personal brand. I teach it as you have your personal brand strategy that is three phases, personal brand, strategy, your visuals, which are your photos, your logo, your colors, your fonts, and then you have your brand marketing, and in your marketing, you are going to is where your social media is your blog is you’re speaking maybe you have in a book, maybe you put together an event, maybe you don’t know you create a networking group, those are all our marketing strategies. Okay. Now, what are you even marketing, if you haven’t sat down to figure out what your brand actually is. And this is where most women get stuck. Now you start your social media, which is a marketing strategy. And now you’re like, Okay, I gotta post, well, I don’t know what to post, I don’t know what to say. But the problem is no, you and the problem is not your marketing, the problem is that you never sat down to actually truly get clear on what your personal brand is. Okay? So that is two reasons why you want to get absolutely clear about your personal brand. And is number one is going to give you clarity is going to give you a path for you to follow. And to get less in your head. Because you’re gonna have a guideline, you’re gonna literally literally is a piece of paper or a document where your whole brand leaves that you can use that in order to create content in order to make decisions in order to maybe you get offer something to do on you’re like, Okay, that’s this truly fit my brand and what I stand for, and what I want to do, right, on the other side of the brand, clarity is your ideal client is your audience is your people is the people that are receiving you on the other end, either reading you listening, whatever it is that your medium is, if is not clear what you do, and how you’re different. And you’re putting all the things out in the open, people are not going to buy it from you. 

Because we already established that people buy from people that know, like, and trust people buy from people they feel aligned with people buy from people they understand people buy from people that when they listen to them, they’re like, this person gets me this person is speaking to my heart. So I asked you how many of you are on this confusion path where like, you don’t know what to post, your business is not growing, you have an offer. And you you’re confused. You’re constantly in this confusion and you’re putting content out there. Maybe you’re posting. But the truth is that that’s your only plan. You don’t have a true brand identity that people can fall in love with. Okay, which by the way, that is how you create raving fans. That is how people follow you no matter what that is how when you put anything on the market people want to buy from you because they trust that what you’re putting out there is what they need, right? So, without getting so frigging technical, I want to give you four things for you to think about that are going to help you to get this clarity. 

Okay. Number one is your expertise, your expertise when you we said okay, what do you want to be known for? work that is a little broader, right? That is not just your expertise or your product, like for me, I know, I want to be known as the personal branding Coach and Personal Branding photographer. Number one, I want to to be known as the best in order to be known as the best, I have to become the best, I have to constantly be educating myself, I have to constantly be ahead of the trends, I have to understand my client, I have to there is so many layers, right? To be in the best. But what do you want to be known for is not your expertise. Now for me, my expertise is personal branding, social media, personal branding, photography, and mindset. Because I know that many of you are going to listen to these four steps I’m going to tell you right now, and you’re gonna say, well, I already knew that, well, you’re still not doing it. The reason why you’re not doing it is because there is some limiting beliefs, that is something that is stopping you, that is doubt there is fear, there is all the things. So for me, it’s very important to be known as the person that can help women overcome those obstacles. So then they can actually put these strategies in place, right, because a lot of people that come to me, they already work with other coaches, they’ve already done courses on social media, all the thing, and they’re still not doing anything, right, or they’re still not seeing the results. So number one is your expertise. And your expertise is like, I’m gonna keep using the realtor example. Because it’s so it’s so easy, and everybody can understanding.

 So your expertise, you can be a realtor, and you can be all things to all people with, it’s pretty much impossible to be all things to all people. Or you can pick a niche. Now, I don’t want to necessarily talk about niching down, I’m gonna do a whole episode on niching down and one my point of view is on that you can also pick a mission, you can, it’s something to anchor you on. And I always tell people pick something and that all the other little things can fall into place underneath. So for example, under personal branding, personal personal branding, photography is how I started coaching on personal branding, right? So I mixed them up all the time. So for you What is that expertise? What are you an expert, and you don’t No need to be an expert at a ton of things. You can pick one to anchor yourself in, okay. And then all the other things can feed into there. So for example, I talked my mindset I talk about discipline. I talk about journaling, I talk about video, I talk about speaking, I talk about books, I talk about podcasting, all of those are under building a personal brand. I talk about visibility, I teach visibility, right. But that is not what I’m telling people. I’m an expert. I chose something at the top that personal branding umbrella. 

What is your expertise now for you, if you’re a realtor, this could be the senior market, right? These could be first time buyers, these could be people that are selling and buying at the same time. Because they are downsizing because they are empty nesters. So this could be let me give you another example. So because I don’t want it to be just about realtors, for example. I have actually this one client, she is a real estate investor, right? And her whole thing. It’s about private mortgage lending. And she educates people around these why? Because even though her business is all about flipping, right, and she does all some will die family, she is raising private capital. So don’t quote me on in on the private mortgage lending. I might have butcher the name of that. But what I’m saying is now she could have say, Oh, I flip homes, but what she’s looking for is people that want to invest with her. Right like she wants people that can actually help her close more deals. She’s looking for partners, right? So do you see how like she took one thing and she’s going with that one anchor? One more example. So you can actually envision these for yourself is for my hairdresser. For example for my hairstylist, even though I go to court for color, her thing and extensions. She is known as the indisputable best in my town for extensions. And she has she talks about color because you have to put color on the slide Insurance. 

But she talks especially about that. That is her specialty. That is what she is growing in. She even did other people how to do the same. So I hope this helps one way for you to right now, like as you’re listening, have this idea of what your expertise is, I would ask yourself, what are three things that you can talk about right now? What are the three things that you could pitch yourself to go do a training in from our own front of other people? What can you turn on your camera on your phone right now and talk about that is your expertise, and then you start building around that expertise. So that’s number one. Number two is your story. This is the guys this is like a complete episode that I’m going to do because your brand’s story, is the reason you do what you do. So I am sure that you heard before. And if not, you can go and get Simon Synnex What is your why I believe that’s the name of the book. People don’t buy what you do. This goes back to the example of if you are a hairdresser, people are not buying shares, you’re doing their hair, they’re buying the whole thing they’re buying you people are not buying shares me being their personal branding, because they’re buying me they’re buying me helping them through it. 

The People tell me all the time, it’s your energy is your energy, and that you cannot pinpoint the same is going to happen to you when you start putting these four steps in place. So your story, your brand story is the reason you do what you do over something else. You could have done anything for a business, however, you’re doing what you’re doing, I invite you to start thinking, Okay, what is the reason I started this over something else? What happened in my life that actually inspired inspire me to do this over something else. This is so important. Usually, this story is so much deeper than you think it is. However, I also invite you to not get too much on your head. And think that this story needs to be life of that situation. I love it. If you heard Episode One, I think or the trailer. For the podcast, I told the story of the first year that I went full time in business was so dark. And these things that I’m teaching you were the things that I need it like I didn’t have any direction, I keep literally putting just like photos up there and waiting for people to hire me. I wasn’t putting value, I wasn’t talking about how I was different. 

On the mindset side, it was very dark, because when you start a business, there is an identity shift. And my identity shift from being a world champion, flair bartender, to being a personal branding photographer at the time was so vast and different, right? So I want you to start thinking, what are the things that made me do what I do that are actually my ideal client, possibly is going through the same thing. That is how you put your brand story together. Okay. And literally, when you think about it, every product that I offer everything that I’m doing my my event coming up, right like the brand, like it’s all about community, I felt so lonely when I first started my business. So everything falls, under my values under the things that I know, that is other women going through the same thing. So I want you to think what are these things for you your brand story? And are you actually telling this story? Are you going on social media and maybe doing a post about this? And saying, Hey, this is the reason I love doing what I do. And you repeat it all the time. 

And it’s part of when you introduce yourself at a speaking event, or you introduce yourself at a podcast or you go to a networking event, right? You talk to somebody in your life when they ask you why do you do what you do? Oh my god, this is my story. Right? So without this story, that is nothing you’re selling something that has no soul, your brand, your personal brand. Is your soul. Okay? Number three is your conviction. This is like you heard me a few minutes ago say is your flag in the floor. And you’re like, This is the way I know you guys than many of you are going to listen to these podcasts and you’ll be like, Oh, that was so inspiring. And you’re never going to do this work. You’re going to continue to be confused, you’re going to continue to have products that don’t make sense that they sell a little bit, right, but not the success that you truly want to have the difference that you want to make in the world, like impacting more people impacting with at different depths, that happens on your conviction. I hear from women all the time that they feel like they are chasing, or that they have to kind of like hunt for clients.

When you start getting really clear about what your conviction is, that it starts changing, and it starts turning around, and I’m gonna tell you why. Because people buy from people they know, okay, so you’re talking about yourself, you’re talking about your expertise, you’re talking about your story. Now they get to know you. They like you, they either like you or not. And this is where many of you, you think that you need to be likeable to everybody. You don’t. That is people that no matter what you do, you’re not they’re not going to like you. That’s okay. 

They’re not your audience. They’re not there to buy from you. But the people that do like you, which this is a hint for the next step is people like you, like you. Okay, I’m gonna repeat that. People like you, like you. That is why you telling your story is so freakin important. That is why you talking about yourself and who you are and how you got here. And why you’re doing what you do over something else is so freakin important. Okay, so your conviction is what is going to separate you. So when we talked about your expertise, there is many people that are going to have the same expertise than you. Nobody can have your same story, and live it the way you live in. And most likely, nobody’s going to have the same conviction that you so you have to start writing down. What are the things that you see in your industry that are bullshit? What are the things in your industry that you’re like, you know what, this is fucking bullshit. For me, for the longest time is like social media is the only way to grow your personal brand. 

Guys, social media is the glue for another episode. But I want you to know, social media is only just one tool, right is not the only tool, you can be on social media all over the place, and not have these things as being part of your content strategy. And you will never work because you’re just spamming people, we like buy this, buy that save 10% Call me for a quote, I can be whatever, right? Because if you’re selling on price, you’re not selling yourself. Okay? So your conviction, the way you’re going to do that, I want you to ask yourself, what are things that you see in your industry that you do different that you think about them, the friend that maybe you have experience with and now you have an opinion, and start talking about your opinions, go forward with those and attract the people that are all ready, feel align with those values and those opinions, and you will never be chasing a day in your life? Okay. And the last one but not least, is you who are you what things are important to you? While What are like the things that you do on the every day, right? That for me, my business is like 80% of my life, right? And I’m always in business, but I also do things for fun. I also have a kid, like I volunteer with a given circle. Those are all things that are important to me. Now my business for me, it’s not just the products that I offer.

 My business my brand, which is me is how I show up in the world. How am I like showing up to inspire others to go after their own dreams, how I support others to feel like they’re worthy to achieving all those dreams. So for me, sometimes I show up on a weekend. I’m not working. I’m literally speaking from my heart like today’s Labor Day weekend as I record this podcast, and I woke up and I’m like, I can’t wait to record this, right? Because I know that somebody needs to hear this message. So what parts of you can you bring? But also if you want to make it even more strategic. Maybe there is things that you’re doing in your life right example. Let’s always lead with a story. I have a client again, she’s a real I don’t work just to read reauthorizations happens. I have a lot of realtor stories, because I feel like everybody understands them. But this is the thing. For the longest time she was looking for her niche her niche She carnation now, she loves helping first time buyers and she also loves helping people, investors and she loves. However, the one thing in her life that she absolutely loves doing is running. Okay. So what we did is we branded her around that, and she does a lot of videos in different areas of the city. And she reviews how that you where you can run, is it safe? Is it noisy? Is the pavement is it trail, all these different things right around running? And a lot of the relationships that she develops around running groups. Why? Because that’s hard. That’s what she loves doing. She wants to be around people she likes. 

Do you think these people will trust her when they’re like, Hey, I am looking for a house. But I guess I do run every single day. And I don’t want to be driving in order to be able to run in a safe neighborhood or having a trail or having whatever it is. So do you think that people aren’t like her, they like her because they are like her, okay, so I want you to start thinking about all the things and I want you to start writing them down and weave them into your content with them. When you go to a networking event. And you talk to people with them. When you’re telling a story with them. When you maybe you’re doing a training, right? Start telling stories around these four things, your expertise, your story, your conviction, why you’re doing what you’re doing, the way you’re doing it, and who you truly are, at your core, and how you became that person. So I hope that this episode really inspire you. 

And this is a thing, we started the episode talking about why your personal brand is the foundation to everything. And yes, people buy from people they know they like and they trust. And that is probably how you’re making decisions without realizing like, now you have reflection, time to actually think about it. But this is the thing, we all evolve. And maybe at some point, you want to pivot or maybe at some point, you want to go really big. And when you are growing your personal brand, with who you are with your values with your conviction, you give yourself also a space to pivot in space to where it’s not just about your product, right is not just about the one thing that you’re selling, then with time you can add other products, you can add other lines, you cannot let me let me give you an example. So for me, I have the view brand Academy, and I have a photography membership. 

And now we’re looking at adding video courses because a lot of our people are asking for it right? And I do videos all the time. They’re like, hey, how do you do that so easy. And I’m like, Ah, okay, this is a need in my market. Because I’m doing it. I haven’t even positioned myself like that, like a video coach, right? So I want you to think of your brand as the mark that you’re going to leave behind in the world. Okay, as the as the mark that you’re leaving behind in the world, and your products, and your services all fall under that I gave you a ton of stuff to think about. I hope you’re inspired. And I want to leave you with one more thing. Because I think that it’s we have to say we all want to make more money, right? We all want to grow. We all want to have abundance in our life. When you truly grow a personal brand and you become this person that people know like and trust. People truly are open to paying premium prices to work with the go to person to work with a person that is speaking to their heart. Okay, so not only you get to demand higher prices, you also get to do it in a way that is fulfilling, that is in alignment. And that truly changes the world. I hope you enjoy this episode, and I’ll see you next time.

Thank you for tuning in to the Be You brand podcast. When it comes to building a personal brand. No one size fits all, or mindset is key. And there is a million things to learn from social media making videos and tech to storytelling and writing. So if you found this episode valuable, we would love for you to leave a review and share it share on your socials, your stories and send the link to your friends. So more women can build million dollar brands by being more of who they all ready are not sure where to start on your personal brand journey. Take our profitable personal brand quiz. This quiz was created with a service base and entrepreneur in mind. It will tell you where you are at and even give you a next step for massive action. Go take the quiz and power charts your personal brand and atigrinspun.com/quiz. That is www.atigrinspun.com/quiz.