In this second installment of the Brand Clarity Series, we’re talking about WHAT you’re baking in your business.
In the first installment we got into why clarity is SUCH an important part of starting your business off right. So many people are not clear on their businesses and sometimes, they don’t even know it.
This lack of clarity is responsible for many problems they encounter later on when it comes to branding, messaging, and marketing among other areas. This is the reason why, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I talk about clarity so often.
In the first article in this series we discussed WHO you’re baking for, in this installment, we’re going to discuss WHAT you’re baking. So if you haven’t read the first installment, go ahead and read that here.
We’ve already established that a lack of clarity around your business can lead to problems. In reality, most of us just fumble our way through when we’re starting out and that’s ok. We know there are things we need to learn, things we will address as time goes on, but it’s easier to just put them on a shelf and say we’re gonna deal with them later.
Unfortunately, not answering these questions early on eventually catches up to you and you see the effects in the form of confusion, frustration, and a lack of direction. These problems are usually reflected when you’re trying to do things like define your niche, nail down your message, and establishing your unique selling proposition. In short, all things you need to be clear on in order to make sales!
Luckily, there’s a better way to create a good foundation for your business and we can do that with, what else—clarity!
In our first installment, we established that:
Clarity is the prep work that allows you to “bake your business”.
We know that we have to decide WHO we’re baking for and now we need to make sure we know WHAT we’re baking. In other words, you need to make sure you know what you’re making for your audience.
You might be thinking, that’s easy, I know what I do for my audience but before you even think about that, think about these questions that will jog your thoughts about what you REALLY provide for your audience.
- What are you good at?
- What is your expertise?
- How do you help people?
- What transformation do they experience when working with you?
It’s not enough that you know what product you sell or what service you provide. You’re going to need to be able to tell someone why they need it. Knowing this will help when you’re crafting messaging that convinces your audience that they NEED what you have to offer. Before you can convince them, YOU need to know that information yourself.
If you don’t know why they need what you offer, you’re certainly not going to be able to convince them that they need it.
So it’s important to think about what help you’re going to provide through your services or what changes your products are going to help them make. Then you’ll be ready to talk about WHAT you do (what you’re baking) and how that transformation is going to help them with the goals they want to achieve.
If you’re following this Clarity Series, you’ll learn that each of installments builds on the other. So for example, if you know WHO you’re baking for now and you want to know WHAT to bake, all you need to do is ask those people directly.
You can create a survey, craft an email, post in a group and ask, “what is it that you need?” It’s as simple as that. People want solutions and if you ask them what their problems are, you can create offers that provide those solutions.
It’s so much more helpful to decide WHO you want to help and then simply ask them WHAT they need than to try to create something and then find someone who wants it.
The exception to this is when you’ve identified a gap in the market. If you’ve done that and your product/service is good, then all you need to do is tell people that you’ve filled that gap. For the most part however, it’s usually easier to think about the people you want to help, and ask THEM what they need so you can make it for them.
So make sure you think about WHO you’re baking for and WHAT you’re making for them so that you’re able to tailor your products AND your messaging specifically to them.
If you don’t want to wait for the next installment and you’re ready to dive deeper into Baking your Business with Clarity, then grab this workshop where we discuss clarity in more detail.
You’ll also get access to a recipe workbook where you’ll be able to come up with your own Brand Recipe that you can refer back to any time you need more clarity.
