In this episode, Peter Mohr and Mary Henderson discuss the importance of personal branding. There are countless brands to compete with in your industry: this episode will teach you how to build your brand as a reflection of your personal values. Once you do this, you can start to successfully position your business as the go-to brand in your category.
Here are a few things we cover:
Injecting your individuality into your entrepreneurship
Why personal branding is not about fame
Why a small business should not always niche down
Taking strategic advantage of your unique knowledge and skills
Lead generation, attracting your target audience, and increasing organic traffic
Notable passages:
What is personal branding and why is it important
Why niching down isn’t always the answer
Knowing your true “currency” as a business owner
Using a “pull” strategy instead of pushing your brand onto people
Are you looking to make some changes in your business and your life in 2024? Head over to speaktopete.com and book a chat with me to see if we're the right fit!
Want to know how aligned your business really is? Download the Business Alignment Scorecard to measure your Promise, Product, Process, People, Promotion, and Profit, and see where you need to focus next. Download here
Book a no charge Freedom Call with Pete, to see if you’re a good fit for his business coaching or talk to Pete about speaking at your next event head over to http://speaktopete.com to find a time that works for you!
I think that we've got to get out of this digital marketing mindset. You know, we've been fed for years that you've got to find your niche and find a hungry niche and go after that niche. That is actually not how you build a business. That's really think about it. Your audience are business owners, they're smart, they didn't build a business by finding a niche. First, they built a business because they had an idea or a story. They had a they could solve a problem with a product or a service. And then they went to market. So when we're looking at a just a niche, we're limiting ourselves because let's think about it. If I can solve a problem, based on my knowledge, wisdom and skill set, my target audience is a human being. Where is that human being that human being doesn't reside in a niche that human being resides, any country, any race, any gender, and any industry. So why am I focusing on a niche when really, I should be focused on the problem like console? And who needs that problem solved?
Pete Mohr:
Are you making every decision in your business may be feeling a little overworked and overwhelmed? Do you ever wish you had someone to go over the big decisions and entrepreneurial choices you had to make? Well, maybe this sounds familiar. Your partner at home doesn't want to hear about business anymore. And your friends don't know what the heck you're talking about. And maybe your team at work well, even though you have an open door policy, they're not always as open as you'd like them to be? Well, there's good news. I have room for two more one on one coaching clients next quarter. And, you know, here's how it works. We'll get together on Zoom either every week, or every second week to discuss the strategies and frameworks that will clarify your thinking and advance your business and entrepreneurial life. It's all about the five P's, your promise your product, your process, your people and your profit. Once they're better aligned, you'll enjoy a better life and business. Remember, you own your business, and it shouldn't own you, it's time to reduce the frustrations and increase the freedoms. So if this sounds interesting, go to simplifying entrepreneurship.com forward slash Call to book a freedom call with me and we'll see if we're right fit. Welcome to another edition of the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast helping you cut through the chaos of running a business. After all, you own your business, and it shouldn't own you. And today we're going to talk with brands specialist. She's personal branding, online business specialist, Mary Henderson, from Down Under in Melbourne, Australia. And she's got so many great tips, she's been at it for a while over 20 years doing this sort of thing, helping entrepreneurs grow seven and eight figure businesses. So really excited. And if you're interested in honing your personal brand, and even if you don't think of yourself as a personal brand, you're going to want to listen to this because you are you're the owner of your business, and there's a brand around that as well. So here we go with Mary Henderson. Mary Henderson, it is a pleasure to have you here on the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast with me this week,
Mary Henderson:
thank you paid, I'm really, really excited to be here as well.
Pete Mohr:
I'm really looking forward to the conversation around branding today. Such an important piece of every entrepreneurial journey really is the branding around the leader, and what are you doing, what aren't you doing? What do we need to do? How do we make it better? All those kinds of good things and interested to get into it today? Sort of how to be a go to brand in your niche or industry?
Mary Henderson:
Oh my god. Okay, so that's a really long answer, but I'm going to cut it down. I think that when we look at personal branding, we need to really understand what it is first. And I always love to start there. Because there is this notion that personal branding is all about being famous, and it couldn't be farther from the truth. When I look at a personal brand, I look at a human being. And it's YOU the human that is the business. But it's actually more than that. I'm looking at the human being. And I'm asking, I'm trying to find the internal inventory that is made up of their knowledge, wisdom and skill set. And when you can merge all of that together, then suddenly that something emerges and what emerges is a solution and a problem that that person can actually solve without a shadow of a doubt. So when I'm looking at personal branding, it's from that standpoint, it's not from the standpoint of I want to be Instagram famous. I want to chase vanity metrics. It's actually none of that. In fact, I couldn't think of anything worse. We have to look at personal branding from the standpoint of how does it actually benefit me, how can I benefit society for the betterment of society? And how can I pursue a mission so that I can leave a legacy? Yeah,
Pete Mohr:
it's such an important piece of all of that stuff, and how are we actually the problems that we're solving and using our brand in order to do that in order to help and serve? Right?
Mary Henderson:
Absolutely. And I think that, you know, the brand is a representation, if you will, of all of your attributes, it represents your persona, it represents your values, it represents your tone, your voice, the language that you use, there are certain words that I use in my vernacular, I, it's, they're my words, I'm not making them up. They're just natural to me. And it's funny, because people pick up on those words, and like, Hey, you use that word, currency, a lot, what's with that word, but you know, there's a whole story wrapped around that word, you know, it's not just the word that I've chosen. So it really is about a representation of who you truly are, in your natural state of being.
Pete Mohr:
Mary, I want to talk a little bit about niche. And I know, that's one of the words that you use a lot, too. And why are you so passionately against people looking for a niche,
Mary Henderson:
I think that we've got to get out of this digital marketing mindset. You know, we've been fed for years that you've got to find your niche. And then you know, you find a hungry niche and go after that niche. That is actually not how you build a business. That's really think about it. Your audience are business owners, they're smart, they didn't build a business by finding a niche. First, they built a business because they had an idea or a story they had, they could solve a problem with a product or a service. And then they went to market. So when we're looking at a just a niche, we're limiting ourselves, because let's think about it. If I can solve a problem, based on my knowledge, wisdom and skill set, my target audience is a human being. Where is that human being that human being doesn't reside in a niche that human being resides, any country, any race, any gender, and any industry. So why am I focusing on a niche when really, I should be focused on the problem I can solve? And who needs that problem solved?
Pete Mohr:
Yeah, I love that. And one of my key models is I call it the five P model. And I'm writing a book on it right now. And it starts with that whole idea of what's your promise to solve the problem, right. And I agree with you that idea around niching I mean, that problem can represent and cross over a lot of different area, it's amazing and how we, how we can touch different people and how they assimilate that problem is such an important piece of what we can do and help them out and, and deliver to them a better life, right? Because everybody buys a better life.
Mary Henderson:
When we're looking at a niche. Usually, you can see that there's a massive disconnect between the person who's delivering the so called solution and focusing on a niche. When I started my coaching business, you know, back in 2015, I had a business coach, and he said, your niche will be mompreneurs. That's your niche, they will love you. And I'm like, hang on a minute, I don't even relate to that audience. I have no idea what it's like to be a mompreneurs slash, you know, mom, blogger. That's not me, you know, and, you know, I come from a corporate background, I'm pretty hardcore. I'm very systems orientated. I'm like, I don't know that needs. And so we did a whole Facebook ad campaign to that niche. And there was such a disconnect. When I was on the phone to these people. I just couldn't relate to them at all. So okay, I went after a niche. I had this product, but there was a massive disconnect. So if there's a disconnect, you're not going to be believable and trustable
Pete Mohr:
Yeah, you know, getting back to one of your key words currency. Why should every entrepreneur know their true currency? This episode of the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast is brought to you by zootopia.ca. We're always helping our clients look great and feel fantastic with the heat you can free your feet with some of the awesome sandals from names you know and love like Birkenstock keen and Mephisto Of course, we have you covered for the casual athletic needs to guests like you are at the very heart of shoe topia, stop in for a visit or drop in on shoe topia.ca. We're currently only shipping to Canadian addresses.
Mary Henderson:
I absolutely love answering this question because I don't think a lot of people see themselves as a currency. We've been told that dollars gold, silver, that's all a currency, stocks all that currency. But let's just take a step back. And let's really think about this. A human being is made up of lots of experiences, and those experiences are made up of knowledge, wisdom. and skills. So when we look at knowledge, wisdom and skills as a currency, let's just say that you're specialized, that you've been an accountant for 20 years, okay? And your specialization is in tax, for example, you've accumulated a lot of knowledge and a lot of wisdom around that specialization. Let's take it one step further and break it down. Let's just say that you have accumulated 30,000 hours of knowledge, wisdom and skills in that one specialization. Let's multiply that 30,000 hours by an hourly rate, let's call it $100 an hour just to be conservative. There's a lot of currency in that knowledge, wisdom and skill set. So what do we do Pete? Do we just retire at 60? And look back and say, Oh, that was a sheer memory, all of that knowledge, wisdom and skills? Wow, isn't that a, that was a great memory? Or do we take that inventory and do something with it,
Pete Mohr:
I am of that platform for sure. I mean, I have no intention on hanging up, hanging up. I mean, I'm 51. But I don't want I don't want to retire. And I love having conversations with clients, I love helping them get through their issues, their problems, and entrepreneurships. And talking to people like you and, and learning around all these different cool things. I mean, it's such an important piece for me as an entrepreneur, because what it does for me, is it gives me strength, not takes it away. And I think that's the beauty of doing what you love to do and promoting that sort of stuff. It's, it's like, hey, you know, if you really love it, it's going to give you energy, why would you ever retire from that?
Mary Henderson:
Absolutely. And I think that, you know, it's exactly that it's, let's take all of that inventory, and let's do something with it. And, you know, it's not a surprise, why when people see the internal inventory as a currency, and they turn that into a solution, like a coaching or consulting business, there's a six or seven figure business right there. So we have to see ourselves completely differently. In fact, I always use that word currency and internal inventory in this and I use the analogy of cryptocurrency, because with your currency, it never depreciate, you own it, you control it, it gets better with time. And it's the same with our internal inventory gets better with time, never depreciate, no one can take it away from us, you know, and that's currency. That's why I'm so passionate about that word, because it really is, it has a different meaning than meets the eye.
Pete Mohr:
I love that whole take on currency, I'm gonna steal that, I think, and use that a little bit Mary. I don't use that word in that framework as much, but I really like it. And I think our clients or our listeners will, too. You know, let's dig into the idea of why a pull strategy is so critical for a personal brand.
Mary Henderson:
When I talk about a post strategy, I specifically talk about how we put ourselves out there in the actual public world. And typically, you know, we look at things like social media, we're looking at our content, strategy, lead generation, strategy, etc. What a lot of people tend to do, and this still happens till this day, doesn't matter who you are. We're pushing our products and services. There's almost a desperation on the in the marketplace. And you know, Pete on social media, everyone's chasing vanity metrics. It's all about look at me Look at me, we actually don't need to be like that. It's actually a it's such an old way of showing up. What we need to understand is how do we pull people? How do we pull our target audience into our ecosystem and start a conversation, that's where we need to go. And that does take a bit of a skill in understanding how to write, how to write stories, we do need to understand marketing. And we need to understand that we need to go back to where it started. And that is humans connecting with humans, not humans connecting with robots. Yes, the platform that we use is managed by an a robotic platform. However, we as humans, are feeding that platform that AI with information and data doesn't survive without a human interaction. So my philosophy is, I still want to have that heart to heart conversation with you, Pete, I really do. I don't want to email you. I don't want to SMS you, I can do all of that. But when I can have this heart to heart conversation with you, it changes the whole dynamic. And we need to take that idea on social media on a keynote on a panel discussion on a podcast interview. We really need to humanize that process and bring people into our ecosystem. Once people come into our ecosystem, then we can lead them where we want them to go.
Pete Mohr:
Love that. I love that Mary and, you know, our podcasts are short here on the simplifying entrepreneurship podcast and maybe we'll have the opportunity to have you back someday and talk a little bit more about personal branding. And until then, For those that have had enjoyed this conversation, want to learn a little bit more about you and how to get a hold of you to learn even more. How do they do that?
Mary Henderson:
They can email me, Mary at Mary Henderson coaching.com, you can go to my website, Mary Henderson, coaching.com, Instagram, and Facebook is also Mary Henderson coaching as is LinkedIn as well. So LinkedIn, I'm at Mary Henderson coaching with a pink circle around my face.
Pete Mohr:
Awesome. Well, thanks so much for spending some time with me and really enjoy the conversation here, Mary, and I've got some homework to do for my personal brand that I'm going to take in after this conversation. And we always talk about using the actions and what are you going to do right after this show, and I've got a few things already brewing. Thanks again and appreciate our conversation. Thank you. Well, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Mary here today and think of all the different things you can put into action. Are you too focused on your niche? Why should every entrepreneur know their true currency, and what's the pull strategy that you are going to engage and that's going to be part of your personal brand, I mean, those are the three key things we went over today. Even if you just do one of those as you get off this call today, you're going to be so much further ahead. I'm going to work on all three of these I think there's just so much value here. So always remember that clarity creates confidence and confidence ignites momentum and having the right personal brand will definitely ignite momentum for you and your business. If you want to learn more about my coaching programs, best way to do it is just connect with me by going to speak to pete.com That's speak to pete.com where you can book in a zoom call with me and we'll discuss turning your wants into wins. It's time to simplify your business and life as a leader and until next time make it a great day.
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