The guide on personal branding and conscious selling
Selling and personal branding - it is all a part of business, the online world and entrepreneurship. Whether you like it or not, you must sell in order to generate income AND whether you think you have one or not, your personal brand is made up of your actions and how you present yourself to an audience.
BUT, don’t worry - we got you. The amazing Lee-Anne Prytherch (Millennial Career Coach) has provided us with SO much valuable information around ALL things personal branding and conscious selling.
If you find value in this blog, make sure you share it with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram! Even better, share it with your audience! You can also listen to the episode below!
Are you ready to build a personal brand you love and sell to your audience in an easy and authentic way? Yep, well you have come to the right place!
Why should you start building a personal brand?
The biggest lesson and truth bomb is - you have a brand whether you want one or not.
Your personal brand is the impression you make combined with the reputation you create in society. This is simply the way you present yourself to the world and the impact you have after you leave.
As Lee-Anne said, many are unconcerned with their brand. They simply act as themselves, unconcerned as to how they affect the people around them. Sometimes this works out all right, but often these same people wonder why they don't get the respect, accolades, or opportunities they crave because it isn’t being focussed on.
People buy your energy as much as they buy your products or services. They buy the transformation, which you will help facilitate (legit love how Lee-Anne frames this).
Like the personal branding quote from Jeff Bezos - CEO of Amazon.
“Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”.
Whether you are the face of your brand or not, a personal brand still needs to be formed. Remember, people will make up their own assumptions anyway, you might as well be authentically you in the process.
A personal brand always sticks and remember, you have a level of control over the way you are branded to other people. You can use platforms like social media, blogging, podcasts and the like to build a personal brand that feels good for you!
Listen below!
How do you start a personal brand?
Okay so maybe you never really realised how important your personal brand was? Don’t stress, it is fine. You have time.
According to Lee-Anne, there are 10 things you need to know when developing a personal brand. These include:
1. Stop listening to everyone’s advice
Sounds ironic right? But seriously, you can lean on people for guidance but your personal brand is YOUR personal brand. Remember that.
2. Know your personal intrinsic values.
Your values, not your business values. YOURS. Want to start developing and looking into your values? Check out my blog/poddy on values here.
3. Know what you want to be known for
You know, the whole legacy thing? Have you ever done that? Written down what legacy you want to leave. Go do it, list down words you want people to use when describing you!
4. Know your aligned audience.
When you know your audience, you know the type of people you want around you. This helps you to create content that is authentic to you but will attract the people who can help lift you up!
5. Adopt conscious communication methods.
Communication is key and get ready to learn more about conscious selling/communication soon!
6. Leverage what makes you different
What makes you unique? This might take some digging, but really have a think about it - then OWN that!
7. Know your personal brand story
How/why did you start doing what you are doing? Everyone has a story and it needs to be shared with others! People love hearing about people.
8. Create helpful content.
Utilise channels like social media, blogging, podcast, YouTube to share your knowledge. Pick a platform you love and start creating.
9. Be consistent
Then of course to build that personal brand, be consistent! Consistent with content, with messaging - all of the consistency.
10. Be ready to fail.
To win some, you have to lose others. I know it can seem hard, but it is either a lesson or a blessing. You have nothing to lose.
If you want to go deeper. As a Personal Brand, it’s great to ask yourself some of these questions:
Are you clear on what you want to be known for?
Are you being real?
Are you being social in the right places?
Are you really adding value to your audience?
Are you connecting personally with them in any of your channels?
Are you remaining consistent?
Are you ready to fail?
Whether you’ve built an influential personal brand already, or if you’re just starting out, you can never stop growing. Paying attention to the guys at the top of their game is also a great place to start.
These are people who offer great tried-and-tested advice. Even if you’ve heard some of it before, it’s a good idea to keep refreshing yourself and maintain focus - then make it your own.
How to stop caring what people think when building a personal brand?
Caring what people think does get in the way when creating your personal brand. It stops you in your tracks for content creation and the like. When you take on what was mentioned above and combine it with the following, you will start to build a personal brand that is your own.
Do the inner work (journal, meditate - do what works to help you work out your inner demons when it comes to caring what people think)
Look at your intrinsic values and remember you need to live on YOUR terms
Just start - learn by doing. You can’t overcome it without tackling the fears
At the end of the day, caring what people think has nothing to do with them, it is all about you! It is your insecurity. Work on those and you will start to care less and less.
What is conscious selling?
As Bernadette McClelland says "Conscious Selling is all about an intrinsic intention and desire to bring in a purpose to selling. Selling a difference”.
As Lee-Anne said it is important to adopt a conscious heartfelt and soulful way of attracting clients and closing deals.
A way that empowers you and the other person. A way that feels good on all levels, a way that supports you in making an impact in the world. When Lee-Anne mentions the term 'conscious selling' people often challenge her, since we're not unconscious.
However, the term has a deeper meaning. A meaning within a meaning. It is the 'desire and intention to sell on purpose.'
To align and adjust to what is truly important in this money-making activity. It’s important to create sustainable wealth and flow when attracting clients. Often, there is an underlying negative association to sales. It's Lee-Anne's mission to change that.
The key steps to conscious selling
What you need to remember is selling is everywhere.
Selling is sharing and it's a sacred service (again, another quote I LOVE).
It is how you give gifts to those who need it. Money is then an energetic exchange of that value - And the more value you give away, the more energetic money that you receive in return. And I think it’s important to start with that in mind.
So these next eight steps aren’t necessarily the steps in a sales cycle. They’re more of a guideline. Thoughts of each step in the conscious selling process, and how to implement these when speaking to your most aligned clients.
1. Conscious intention
Be present to the discussion you are having when selling. Not just what you are saying, but what is happening outside of the conversation. Be genuine.
2. Conscious awareness
Be aware in order to determine the problem being solved. This starts with self-awareness, being more self-aware and having greater control on the thoughts and emotions happening. This helps to empathise and engage on a deeper level.
3. Conscious connection
You are always going to try and connect with that person you are selling to by drawing from past experiences. But your experiences are different from theirs, so you can never truly or fully understand what they are saying. Be empathic and reflect back to them what you are hearing to build on connection. It is all about emotional intelligence.
4. Conscious communication
Be aware of your words, actions and body language. Talk about not what you sell but actually the change or difference. How you communicate is key to the selling process so be more aware of it. Don’t just message or communicate to sell, do it to connect.
5. Conscious responsibility
Once you have understood the problem, you now have a responsibility to guide and support your aligned client. Instead of the financial gain, think about what that client actually needs (or doesn’t need).
6. Conscious financial detachment
Test your financial beliefs. Remember, selling is sharing and it's a sacred service - It is how you give gifts to those who need it. Money is then an energetic exchange of that value. The more value you give, the more money (energy) you will receive. But it isn’t all about the financial gain, it is about the service you provide that aligns to you and your client.
7. Conscious action
This is where you start speaking and presenting from the place of asking and listening.
8. Conscious alignment
This is the energetic win-win situation. Showcase the win-win scenario. Really it should feel aligned that you both work together. As Simon Sinek said this perfectly: “The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
Am I being authentic
Am I being intentional
Am I being transparent
Am I being vulnerable
Am I engaging with intent or consciously
Final thoughts
How do we feel about building a personal brand and selling consciously?! They do go hand in hand. Build up your personal brand and then start selling to your audience through conscious action. This is what we call building a business that feels authentic to you!
If you found value in this blog, make sure you share it with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram! Even better, share it with your audience! You can also listen to the episode below!
