Practice to Profit: Simple Business Growth Strategies for Sustainable Success

The Importance of Branding in Marketing: How She Transformed Her Business Through Brand Strategy

• Jenny Melrose: Business Strategist • Episode 477

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What if brand clarity is the difference between a beautiful website that nobody understands and a clear pathway that people actually follow? We sit down with Ellie Brown, a licensed professional counselor, author, and podcaster, to unpack how aligning faith and psychology—not hiding them—transformed her business, her confidence, and her results. Ellie shares the moment she stopped splitting identities and started speaking directly to people wrestling with shame, faith ambivalence, and the nagging question of why healing still feels out of reach.

We walk through the practical shifts that made the biggest impact: defining a specific audience, building four simple content pillars, and reshaping a homepage around problems and solutions instead of vague inspiration. Ellie explains how clarity made consistency doable and how consistency made measurement meaningful. From Instagram engagement to email open rates, she now uses data as a compass, not a report card—doubling down on topics that resonate and gracefully letting go of what doesn’t.

You’ll also hear about an ethical visibility win: a respectful client email series that simply named her resources—podcast, book, shame quiz, and the Better Way guide. The result wasn’t pushy; it was supportive care beyond the therapy hour. Ellie then breaks down her Better Way framework—awareness, education and exploration, taking down defenses, transformation, establishing and empowering, and rising in resilience—and shows how it helps people move from surviving to thriving with both therapeutic depth and faith-integrated hope.

If you’re a clinician, creator, or founder who’s tired of guessing at content and watching a “pretty” brand underperform, this conversation offers a practical roadmap. We cover audience definition, messaging, site structure, content strategy, and simple metrics you can track today. Listen, take notes, and then tell us your next move. If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs brand clarity, and leave a quick review so more people can find it.

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SPEAKER_00:

Influencer entrepreneurs podcast Daniel Fowler, where I drive by business or how to grow scale business.

SPEAKER_01:

What if the only thing holding you back is your branding? In today's episode, Eleanor Brown shares the brand strategy that transformed her business to make it that much more successful. Hi, Ellie. Welcome to the podcast. How are you?

SPEAKER_02:

I am doing great. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

Of course. I am so excited to have this conversation about the importance of branding and marketing and to talk about how you transformed your business through your brand strategy. Before we actually do that, can you tell everyone a little bit about yourself and your business? Just kind of sharing what it is that you do.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, my name is Ellie Eleanor Brown, and I'm a licensed professional counselor. I'm also an author, blogger, podcaster, all the kind of fun things. And I wrote a book, uh, a better way to uh a better way integrating faith and psychology to heal inner wounds. And um I I've I do a lot of stuff around that type of that type of thing.

SPEAKER_01:

No, absolutely. So will you actually tell them a little bit about how what your business looked like before you focused on branding? So you come from a background of psychology, right? And you have a private practice. Do you have a group practice? Tell us a little bit about that background and how you've kind of switched into this digital marketing side that you've gone into.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh yes. So I I have a private practice. I haven't branched out into group uh as of yet, but I do have a private practice. And um so uh that you know I I see uh clients and I just really when I wrote my book, I wanted to get the word out there, but I wanted that to be completely separate from my counseling career. As a counselor, we're kind of taught we don't we don't do disclosure and we don't talk about uh personal stuff. And so I was trying to do these two separate, totally separate things. Uh and it turned out that they're really not separate, and I really had to embrace that. And so that's kind of what led me into knowing that I needed to get some help integrating uh all of the things that I do. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, what made you actually realize your branding wasn't aligned with your business goals? So you knew that you had your book, you knew you wanted to get the word out about it, but like you said, you kind of had these two separate entities. What kind of made you realize that that needed to get aligned?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, uh, so I I guess there was a part of me that was uh that was afraid to do the self-disclosure, to really kind of put myself out there, a lot of that being the training that we uh that we go through when we're in our master's program to become uh licensed professional counselors. And so keeping that very separate from the book side, because I really on the book side I wanted to lean into all of who I was, the integration of faith and therapy. And so it would it became very incongruent just for even within me, is here I have these trying to maintain two identities is kind of like the um dual um not dual attention, but almost like two sides of the same coin, and it just wasn't it wasn't sitting right with me.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, no, absolutely. So how did you what would you say actually were the first changes that you made to your brand?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, the first changes I made was trying to um trying to align the what I'm actually the the pain point of what I'm the person that I'm trying to reach, really trying to narrow narrow that down. And it was so broad, helping people, you know, that was really and um I there's as I lean into all of who I who I am, it really became it's not just helping people, and although that's great, that's so super broad, and I really had to um get more specific on that moving from simply surviving to thriving, and not just people, but people that are struggling with their faith, people that are almost that uh having ambivalence or I have this faith and yet I'm still broken and trying to figure that out. And when I was able to lean into that in my messaging, uh it really started to hone some things in for me.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, no, absolutely. So from there, you were able to then take that, put that out into your content. Um, when you first, when you and I first started working together, you already had a podcast. But I feel like over the last probably year at least, it has gotten super focused. You have a co-host with you that you both got on the same page about what direction you were trying to take your clients. And I think it's because of that first part that you talked about that you really got clear on your messaging who your person was, what problem you were trying to solve for them. Would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, absolutely. Uh, we so we only we had to get on the same page, we also had to get consistent, which was something we were struggling with. So we definitely we over this past year, we've definitely gotten a lot more consistent. And I've gotten more clear, as I've gotten more clear on my messaging, the the content becomes easier because I know where I'm headed.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and I think that consistency is such a huge thing, and I have a lot of clients that struggle with that, but I think it often stems from the fact that they're not sure what content they're gonna put out there, right? We have a tendency to kind of go after what's trending or to try just test something, but it's not necessarily in line with the person that we want to attract. So when we get really clear on who we're trying to attract, the content becomes that much simpler because you know exactly what lane to stay in. You're not trying to throw things against the wall anymore. Now you're staying within your pillars of content, going even deeper with people so they can really have a true transformation from the information that you're providing for them with that solution.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. I think uh coming up with the the three pillars and really leaning into emotional wellness and uh faith and creative restoration and the shame piece, and those were things I was afraid to put out there in the world. Uh, you know, because there's a there there can be a lot of negative connotation, especially in the therapeutic world when it comes to embracing the the faith piece. And uh when I was able to kind of okay, this is this is the route I'm going, I had more confidence, and having more confidence leads to not having that paralysis when I'm sitting down on a piece of paper and I've got to create content. And it's like, oh, well, where do I go? And I now have an ideal of where I'm going.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we created a content calendar most recently, I feel like in our coaching session. Yes. Um, and for those kind of wondering when we talk about content pillars, you've really made sure to use those on your homepage. You have great navigation in your menu bar, and now when people come to you, they can find exactly what they're looking for, your services, your products, but more intentionally, the problems that they have and kind of fall into that pillar of what they're looking for, whether it's going to be the shame piece or it's going to be the emotional wellness, or are they looking more along the lines of the faith based? So I think that your direction that you've given them from your home page is just so well done. You've worked so hard to not only make it beautiful, but to make it easily navigatable. I don't know if that's the exact word I want to use, but I can use it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Well, you know, one of the things I had to learn is that uh shiny isn't always better. And I had a beautiful website and no one was going, no one was sticking, and because they didn't know what was it even saying. And so getting clear and and putting a a message in there from the beginning, and uh getting all the pieces in there and trying to fit. And there's I was working on a little bit of kinks here and there, but it is so much better than it was. I mean, leaps and bounds above what it was. Yes, you can actually find my keywords on the on the homepage now, and that's not something you could do even a month ago. So it's getting clearer on my branding is really helping me not only with the my messaging, but how I'm presenting that with the website, with the blogs, with the podcasts, all of that stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, because I think a lot of times people struggle with that piece, right? We know that we need to be consistent, we know that we need to put out content, but then it becomes like feeling almost like a hamster wheel of just putting out content consistently. And we don't stop to think about, okay, this content is supposed to be being put out to solve a problem for the right audience, which is where that brain voice and then messaging comes in for them to understand. Not only can I solve your problem in a quick piece of content, but I also have a book, I have a podcast, I offer one-on-one services, whatever else you may offer. Um, I just think that that's just so important for them to be able to find that on a homepage and then know this is meant for me and get their solutions that they're looking for. Yes, absolutely. So, how would you say that stronger branding changed your marketing results?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, now I have an ideal of how to measure things, and uh having that ideal of how to measure things, I'm able to see what works and what doesn't work and pivot a little bit better. Uh, even in the things that I that I say in my um social media, just being more consistent on uh leaning into that faith-based piece or that shame piece. People connect to me a lot via shame and the better framework. And if I'm not talking about these things, people are kind of really confused. And so I'm able to see quickly what what things people are engaging with and what people things people aren't engaging with.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and when you say numbers, I just want to clarify you're looking at impressions, let's say on Instagram engagements, and then potentially on your email, you're looking for opens and click for right? Yes, absolutely. Yes, yes, and I think just as those that are listening going, okay, I'm hearing numbers, I'm getting nervous about metrics, what does this mean? It's uh it's not as scary as it sounds, but it can give you so much direction because if you notice that you're having a higher open rate when you're talking about shame, as compared to when you're talking about mental health wellness, then you obviously want to have more content that's going to be in the shame so that you continue to get those open rates, and that's what people are coming to you for. That's what they're looking for from you. Yes. Good. All right. So can you walk us through a specific moment when branding directly led to a win?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh so I'll give you a for instance. I don't do well. Uh many of my clients don't even know I have uh didn't know that I had a book, that I had a podcast, that I had any any kind of thing that I offered outside of the counseling room. And that was that fear of unduly influencing my clients, my uh um counseling clients. And I started I created a like a marketing, not marketing, an email series just for my clients, just to say, hey, here's some things that I offer, resources outside of the therapeutic room, also resources that I that I offer. And from that, um people are not only opening and engaging and asking questions in the therapeutic office, they're also purchasing the book. They're getting the shame quiz, they're getting the uh better way guide, they're they're doing things outside of the counseling office that help support their mental health. And that was something I was struggling with before, before getting really clear on my branding.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, I love that. I'd love to hear that because I remember when we were working on that sequence, and it's great to hear that you're seeing those results from it. I think that we often will have a tendency to feel less confident in people within our real life when we're talking about things. But like you said, they're valuable resources that are only going to help their results through therapy. So, can did you actually find that clarifying your brand gave you more confidence in marketing and selling?

SPEAKER_02:

I believe so. And one thing that you say all the time, and it's that are you hiding what you do? And I I was in in the fact that I wasn't talking about it. And as I got clearer on my branding, I'm now talking about it more. I'm even starting to do a uh where I'm just doing little videos on telling people about the book. I mean, I've got this book, they don't even know what's in it, and they aren't, you know, they aren't being connected to it because people don't know what's in it. And so I'm talking about that more and I'm getting more comfortable talking about it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And I think it's almost that shift, right? We have a tendency to think that selling is a negative by talking about ourselves. We're trying to take up space and we're being selfish. When in reality, we're actually being selfish when we don't talk about the resources that we can provide for people because we know we can fix a problem. That's why we created books and podcasts and all of these resources. It's because we knew we could help people. Um, so I think that once you did get really clear on your brain, again I remember the moment where you said to me that I think we were in a mastermind, and you said how your clients didn't even know you had a podcast or that you had a book, even though every time they come into your office, they could see your book in the office, but didn't necessarily put it together that hey, that's hers. Like I this would be an option for me to continue to evolve with what she's teaching me, and I can use it outside of the therapy room, which I think is so needed. I think too often that when you are seeking therapy, you think of as that's my time right then and there to take care of myself. There's an hour and in the room, and then when I walk out, every all the other time is meant for everyone else. When in reality, if there's workbooks and there's books, we can continue to do the work that we need to do to feel more comfortable in our own skin as people. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yes. So I absolutely love the fact that watching your growth. I think we've probably worked together past year and a half. I think you did my your 90-day plan with me actually when you came to Insider's Retreat last year in. Um, and I think that we've been able to kind of redirect and refocus back to creating that new 90-day plan each time. Um, and with the accountability that you get from masterminds yelling at you, going, Did you get this done? Let's make sure you got it done. And then it's in line with your goals, it's just so key. So, Ali, can you tell us more about your better way guide? I'm gonna link to it in the show notes to make sure that anyone that is listening can make sure that they can go and grab that.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, the better way guide is I created a framework uh from the better way, the uh the first book, and it's really heavily in the second book, but it's the framework is around the word better, and it's a it's just a tool to help conceptualize healing for me. And I I I believe that we have to begin to notice that there's a problem with the development awareness, and that's so important as a first step to healing, and then education and exploration, and that but this will only get you so far, and then it's the taking down the the walls that we build up, our defense mechanisms and things like that, shame, and then we can hit transformation. And when I have clients that come into the therapy room, they want to hit transformation right away. But you see, we got three steps before we can even get there, and then we can hit transformation, and then we can really build in the maintenance of establishing and empowering, and then we can really rise up in that resilience piece. And and so the the a better way guide is a way of cons you know seeing that and through a therapeutic lens and through a faith lens, being able to uh look at that and just taking baby steps to start moving you towards those goals.

SPEAKER_01:

Who would be someone that would be ideal for the better way guide? What would they be struggling with?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh well, in any kind of stuckness where I just feel like I'm just stuck on a hamster wheel and I'm just you know, I keep repeating the same patterns over and over and over again. And uh whether it's a shame cycle or anger um or broken relationships, I see that one a lot. And just realizing that there's there's a stuckness somewhere, and this will help them really start reflecting on what's going on. Excellent.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I love it. Allie, I appreciate you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge and your journey with my audience. I really, truly do. Thank you. Yes, this has been so much fun. Thank you for the opportunity. Of course.

unknown:

Yeah.

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