Do you have a client-attracting brand? Are you wondering how to get in front of the right audience? In this episode, Natalie Arent, a Brand Strategy Coach, shares 3 steps to a client-attracting brand and how to choose the right platform to focus your time and energy.

 

Do you have a client-attracting brand? Are you wondering how to get in front of the right audience?

In this episode, Natalie Arent, a Brand Strategy Coach, shares 3 steps to a client-attracting brand and how to choose the right platform to focus your time and energy.

 

Connect with Natalie on her show, The Presence & Purpose Podcast and on Facebook.

 

Do you have a client-attracting brand? Are you wondering how to get in front of the right audience? In this episode, Natalie Arent, a Brand Strategy Coach, shares 3 steps to a client-attracting brand and how to choose the right platform to focus your time and energy.

 

 

Full transcription available at the bottom of this blog post

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Full Transcription:

Hey Natalie. Welcome to the show.

Hey, thank you so much for having

Me. I’m glad you’re here now, Natalie. I know who you are and I know that you are a brand strategy coach, but for mompreneurs listening, tell us what you do and why you do it.

Yeah, so I am a brand strategy coach for Christian female entrepreneurs. Why I do it is because I am really passionate about helping you find your people. Um, that’s kind of what I’m all about in a nutshell. And the way that I do that is through, um, branding and, uh, specifically personal branding.

I love that. And I know that you really focus on client attracting brand, which is really cool because I think a lot of mompreneurs can fall into that trap of trying to build a personal brand and they focus so much on themselves and they forget to think about who they’re trying to attract. So for the mompreneurs wondering how do I get in front of the right audience? What would you tell her?

I love answering this question. So there’s three things that I think are really helpful to really hone in on. I know something that just in my own life in business too, um, something I’ve been really focusing on lately is just like focus itself, right? Like when we are doing so many things, it’s just, it’s slow going. It’s slow growth. And I know you’ve experienced this too. We were in a mastermind together. And when you really like focus in on like, this is the thing that I’m doing, you see much more, so much more like momentum and growth. And so yeah, in terms of like how to get really in front of the right audience, um, something that I am really adamant about is focusing on three things, which is your person, the problem that you solve your platform. Um, and I’m happy to dive a little bit into each of those, but that is kind of in a nutshell, like when you were really focused on, you know, the one person that you talk, you’re talking to, you know, the problem that you’re solving. Um, and then this is the platform that I’m focusing on. Like you will see so much more momentum, so much more growth quicker.

So let’s start with the first one, the person, how do we start that journey or that almost in depth look at how do we identify or narrow down our ideal person.

Yeah. So I like to ask it in terms of who do you feel called to serve? Like who’s the person that you feel the most called to serve? Because it’s easy to look at this from the perspective of who will pay me the most or, you know, what makes the most sense, like I did this in the beginning of my business and, you know, I totally think that we do a lot of business is going off of what we know at the time. And then of course, as we move forward, we get clarity. Um, so I’m, I’m totally not knocking that at all, but I just like to give this example of when I started my business, I had just finished my degree in nutrition and decided that even though I finished my degree, like, I’m, I’m not gonna use that degree at all. I’m going to start this business.

And, um, because of just my own personal background and interest in health and nutrition, I was like, well, I will do branding for health and wellness entrepreneurs. Cause I was like, it just makes logical sense. Um, and I tried sticking with that for, it was probably only like six months. And that was really, I was really trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. I wasn’t actually working with any clients yet, but that was the direction that I thought was like logical. And then, you know, really involving God in my business, um, which is a huge thing for me. I realized like, no I’m called to serve these people. And it, I think it often goes against what we think makes sense. It’s like that poll of am I really gonna, am I really going to get enough clients? Like if I get, you know, quote unquote too specific, um, am I going to have enough clients? Am I going to turn paying clients away? Which is something that I think every single person goes through when they’re really looking at that, like, who am I called to serve?

So do you think, um, when it comes to attracting your ideal person or other ways that people say your ideal avatar or your ideal audience, that all means the same thing, same, same, you know, I, I relate to that because when I first started teaching on Instagram, I could have gone the route. Cause you said in the beginning, like, Ooh, who’s going to pay me the most money. Like I could have totally went with, um, female entrepreneurs who already have like awesome businesses and high level and I could have charged them. But when you said who you feel called to serve, it’s almost who do you feel like you will relate to and you want to work with on a day-to-day basis? And once I took a look at that, I realized I am not the corporate kind of person. I don’t want to work with corporate people and I’m not saying I could not serve them.

And there wouldn’t be like a good relationship there, but I like how you said who you’re called to serve because you know what, I relate to the moms and have a kid off their hip and they’re transitioning from working full time and they want to be the stay-at-home mom, but you know what, they still want to bring some sort of income. They want to contribute to their family, but they want to be present with their kids. And they’re juggling all of that. And I just knew I wanted to serve that audience because I was them. And do you find, when you go through this journey of figuring out your ideal person, that you are almost attracting people that are very similar to who you are? Yeah.

Yeah. I find that a lot. Um, I’ve, I’ve definitely experienced that in my own journey of, um, you know, going through these struggles, like, like the people that just to give you an example, the people that I feel very much called to serve right now, like the newer, um, Christian female entrepreneur is like, that was me two years ago. And I was, you know, struggling to figure out these things. Where’s my place online. Like, are people really gonna want to work with me when they see who I really am? Um, I feel unqualified to do this. Like all these things that I struggled through are things that I’m able to help women now. And I’ve seen that with clients and just with business friends too, where it’s like, you go through these things and often your ideal clients, your ideal audience are people that are going through very similar things. And I just think that’s so cool.

Yeah. I love that too. And when we go through this period of identifying our ideal person, once we identify that person, really the work doesn’t stop there because we do want to get in front of our audience and we want to build the client attracting brand. So it goes beyond just identifying our person. And you mentioned the second part is figuring out the number one problem you solve for your people. So how does a mom per Nuer, who is in this journey right now? How does she figure out their number one problem? Yeah,

I mean the best answer, and this is maybe not, what people will want to hear is to ask, ask, like, what is the problem? Like, like what are you experiencing actually have those conversations? Um, you know, market research is something that I think a lot of people approach it as like a one and done thing like, Oh yeah, I did market research and I’m like, no, continually like always ask questions. I am literally doing market research every single week in my business. I’m always asking questions every time somebody joins my group, I’m storing those questions or those, those answers to those questions. Like just constantly getting further clarity on things like that. Like what is the problem? Um, another example, cause I feel like those are really helpful, um, with my business. So I felt super unclear on like, what is the problem that I solve for a long time?

And I think that’s so normal because we’re so close to our business. And so we know our ideal clients so well that we are able to see like, well, this is what you need. And so we’re over here being like, this is what you need and this is what I help you do. And they’re like, yeah, no, I don’t want this. I don’t want that. I want this. Um, and so something that I remember really leading with in my business, um, for the first years I was doing brand design specifically, but still branding. And so become an authority in your space. I’m helping you show your expertise. I’m helping you build a cohesive brand. And it’s like, yes, those are things that they needed. But ultimately they wanted to find their ideal clients like they wanted to find. And you know, even more specific than that.

Cause like I said, this market research thing is a continual process. So as I have asked people, um, I even now will ask them like, what is your biggest frustration, your biggest question around X, Y, Z, right? Whatever you do. And I will still do that. And um, it helps to get specific on the language. So even more specific, like for my audience, that’s why I use that phrase of find your people a lot because that’s what really resonates with them. Like it’s more than finding your ideal clients. It’s, it’s really finding the people that it’s like, these are your people. Like this is your community. Like it’s just it. Um, it just creates this feeling. And that is what really helps you, um, get that wording down is really asking those questions and really, um, listening to what people have to say because, um, often it’s confirmation of what you think the problem is, but sometimes there’s surprises and sometimes you can realize that, um, you think, you think you’re already saying that, but they’re saying it differently. And when you just like tweak the wording that you’re using, that’s when it really lands with them.

And I love how you said when we do market research and we start asking those questions, we start asking our ideal person that we never stopped asking. And that’s so true because what you think you need to put out there, the content that you’re going to deliver to your ideal person, you may be on target, but the way we deliver it may need to be tweaked just by asking questions. And I always thought for my ideal person, I thought their biggest frustration was what to post on Instagram. And after I started working with mompreneurs and digging into their frustration, I really found out that they didn’t truly understand their own brand pillars. So without understanding your personal brand and your own content, then how would you know what to post on Instagram? So it’s constantly asking your audience questions, constantly asking questions and Instagram and Facebook groups in your memberships.

If you have one, even in your Instagram stories, I am always polling using that poll feature in Instagram stories just to see, cause I might, like you said, we’re so close to our business and what I think they need or what I think they want. Like right now, the biggest thing is Instagram reels. I think they want to be trained on Instagram reels, but in reality they’re a little leery to try it cause it’s overwhelming. And they would prefer still to use Instagram stories. So I can’t forget about Instagram stories because that’s what my ideal person wants right now. So I love how you said, figuring out that problem. You always have to ask questions and I have a follow-up question. Do you feel your number one problem that you solve evolves as your business grows?

Yeah, I definitely do because your business, like everything grows and evolves as you grow and evolve as a business owner and your focus will shift over the over time and your, your ideal audience, your ideal client might shift over the over time. I love that question, but yeah, I definitely do think that, that it does shift. So that, that just further emphasizes the point of why market research and really pulling your audience, asking your audience, um, continually is so important because things will shift and evolve and you’ve got to keep evolving in other ways in your business too. Um, like with your messaging and stuff. I hear that from my clients. So often of like, I feel like I’m always tweaking my messaging and I’m like, well, yeah. It’s cause you kind of always.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think too, it’s important as, um, a mompreneur as a business owner, whatever niche that you’re in. I think you also need to find a group of strong women in your same niche that are willing to be in a community with you to bounce ideas and ask questions and do market research within the business women who, you know, because I think that is eye opening as well. And that’s how I transitioned my business. It was being in a group of other women and that’s how I figured out. Um, I need to pivot from stock photography and what to post on Instagram in pivot to Instagram clarity. Cause that was really the root of the problem. And it was because being in a group of other women, that’s how I got there. So I think not only market research with your ideal audience, I also think you need a really good group of women in a group or in an Instagram group and just be there for each other. And you know, we always say community over competition and just help each other grow because that’s how you’re going to discover how to find the problem that your audience has. And Natalie, I know you and I have been in that group as well.

Yeah. I’m so glad you said that because I, I feel the same way with kind of how my business has evolved, like with my entrepreneurship journey, um, and being around like minded women and how, you know, like I kind of evolved from like doing brand design to really like getting to the root of the root of the problems of my audience, which was like the brand strategy, like that brand clarity of, you know, who are your people? Um, what is your message? Let’s get really specific because like, I can help you with your visual design, but I kept getting clients who we’d create this beautiful brand design. And then it was like, Oh, except you’re not totally clear on this stuff. And so that’s not really going to move the needle forward in your business. So yeah, I love that. You said that

And I think it’s just a Testament to, to that sane of don’t go wide, go deep. So really zoning in. And like you said, in the beginning, um, learning to focus now I’m going to jump to the third part of really building the client attracting brand. So now that we have our ideal person and now that we kind of understand the number one problem, here’s the ultimate question? Where do we show up? Like where are they, how do we choose the right platform? So take it away.

Yeah. Um, so in terms of choosing the right platform, I’m guessing a lot of your audiences, Instagram considering, um, that is what you are all about, but when you’re thinking about like, how do I even ch you know, like, you’ll hear people say, um, like go where your ideal clients hang out and it’s like, how do I know that? How do I find that out? Um, and there’s several things that go into it. Um, really the big two things are like, yes, you want to think about where does your ideal client hang out online in terms of, you know, obviously you have to be clear on who they are, you know, to give you an example, if you are a business coach who works with photographers, you’re probably going to choose Instagram because most photographers are on Instagram. Like it’s a visual platform. They’re most likely there, if you are, I’m just going to stick with the business coach example who works with like, stay at home moms who are wanting to start a business, like maybe you’ll focus on your Facebook group because they’re most likely already on Facebook.

They really liked the community. Um, if you are, um, a career coach, obviously you’ve got people with a corporate background you’re to be on LinkedIn. So it’s like, there’s definitely that factor of looking at who is your ideal client and where are they most likely hanging out online considering these different life, job, um, factors. But then there’s also the other side of it, which is where do you enjoy hanging out? Because my jam is Facebook groups. Like that’s how I started my business. That’s where I’ve got my Facebook group. That will always be kind of my focus. I think it’s so important to honor that, to like, look at where are your people online, but then also, where do you enjoy hanging out? Because there will always be people who are, you know, shouting from the rooftops that this place is the place to be, and everyone’s gotta be here or you’re leaving money on the table.

And like, yes, there’s truth to that of like, there’s different strengths. I mean, there there’s pros and cons of every platform. Right. But I think that’s something that we really need to honor is like, if you really don’t enjoy Facebook groups, you don’t have to be in Facebook groups. Right? Like you don’t have to use that as a strategy just because someone’s saying, well, your ideal clients are most likely over there. If that really does not feel in alignment for you then like by no means, do you have to do that? And I think that’s something that, um, I think it kind of comes down to like employee versus CEO mindset, a little bit of like, you hear people teaching a strategy. And so you’re like, okay, if I do this, I’ll be successful, but there’s so much, so much, I guess, independent thought. I don’t know what else to call it. That comes in when you’re, when you are the CEO, when you’re the mom preneur, you’re the business owner and you really have to put on your CEO hat and be like, okay, my people are probably over here. This is where I love showing up. So I’m going to, I’m going to do this, you know, do this, even though there’s some expert that’s saying I should probably be over here. Does that make sense?

Yeah, it totally makes sense. And I like what you said earlier about feeling aligned. And I like that word aligned because in the past, I think a lot of mom preneurs get overwhelmed with the term balance. So they assume they assume that they have to balance all the social media platforms. I don’t like the word balance anymore. And I used to use the word balance. I prefer the word aligned because you know what someone might say to me, you should be on LinkedIn. You could attract a lot of female entrepreneurs who have MLMs and sidekicks and you could help them grow their presence on Instagram. But if it’s not aligned with me and it’s taking up my energy, then why am I going to put myself there? I would rather give my full energy to my main hub of where I know mompreneurs are at.

And, you know, I teach on Instagram, but what’s funny is that’s the platform that I love to be on, but they’re not on there yet because they’re not really sure how to use it. So I’m finding my mom, my mom preneurs, my main hub is the podcast. And then they’re on Pinterest. They are searching Pinterest of how to grow on social media, Instagram strategies, you know, whatever the terms they’re typing in. So my main hub is the podcast and I love serving my audience through the podcast. And then they find me through Pinterest, but where I’ve loved to show up and hang out is Instagram because I feel so aligned with those three social media platforms. So Natalie and I are giving you mom’s permission. If you don’t feel aligned with showing up on LinkedIn, don’t do it. If you don’t feel aligned with showing up on video every day, don’t do it, serve your ideal clients on the platforms where you can give your most authentic energy. Do you have anything to add to that, Natalie?

Yeah, I mean, I, I agree with all of that. I think, I think it’s like FOMO comes in and we feel like we need to be all the places. Um, especially when maybe there’s like a, you know, an expert that you look up to and you follow and you really love and respect them and they talk all about this specific platform. And so like, you feel like you need to follow that. And that again comes down to like really putting it through this filter of, but does that make sense for me and my business? Does that feel aligned? Does that feel good? Because it’s not a one size fits all with anything. And I know that can be really frustrating. Like, especially when you’re just kind of in the mindset of like, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it, like tell me, you know, put these things in the machine and outcome success. Like I totally wish it works that way. Um, and so I think it’s kind of like deep down inside. We want someone to just say like, just pick this platform. Um, but yeah, it’s, it’s factoring in those two and it’s really, really feeling it out. Yeah.

Well, and I think too, we have to go back to who’s our ideal person, even though we’re listening to these experts and they’re telling us to do these certain things or use these certain strategies, let’s take video. For example, if I had, um, a person I, that I looked up to for years, and this person just stressed the importance of video, showing your face and showing up all the time on video, like constantly. And I was feeling almost overwhelmed and stressed out thinking that’s what I have to do. But I was like, well, wait a minute. My ideal person is busy moms. My busy moms are not going to sit here all day long on Instagram and watch videos. Nope. They’re going to stick their phone in their back pocket and listen to a podcast. So even though you’re being overwhelmed with so much content and so many experts telling you what to do, you have to go back to your ideal person and you have to go back to their number one problem. So if there’s, yeah, if there is one thing you want the woman listening to remember from this conversation, what would it be?

I mean, I think it would go along the lines of what we were just saying is, is do what works for you in your business? Even going back to the first question, how do I get in front of the right audience? Like, you know, how do I narrow down my ideal client? How do I find the problem? How do I pick the platform? Like all these questions that we have. It’s so easy to like look to other people, to try to find the right answer or to, to cave into the pressure of feeling like this expert is saying, you have to show up on video. And so I guess I have to show up on video, but do what works for you in your business with your family? Because ultimately like, you know, I think every single one of us, like we’re moms, we start a business because we want to have to create income and do something that we love.

Yes. But in a way that works around our family and that doesn’t like take over our family time where we really want to honor that. And that’s where a lot of these decisions come in and we have to do what makes the most sense to us. And so I just, I guess, just want to encourage you to really, really stay strong in that, like really do what works for you. And don’t, don’t feel like you have to cave into pressure. And honestly, if you’re following people that you feel pressured, um, unfollow, unsubscribe like that, you know, you have to protect like who you let into your circle. Cause there’s so many voices online and you have to really, um, be careful about like how people make you feel if you feel pressured, then bless and release. Yes.

I’m so glad you said that. Cause I was actually going to follow up and say, go ahead and unfollow them and don’t feel bad about it because you have to cut through all the noise. You have to cut through all of the strategies and figure out what is aligned with you and go back to, what is your purpose for doing this? We, we get so tr you know, in our own mind sometimes, and we feel that we have to do so much, but who are we doing it for? And so we’re doing it for, like you said, our kids, our family, and we’re doing this for time, freedom, or even maybe financial freedom, but remember your ultimate purpose and remember who we’re serving. So Natalie, thanks so much for today. I love this conversation and share with our audience where they can connect with you on social media.

Yeah. So I’ve got two places where I hang out, I’ve got my Facebook group, which is called presence and purpose. Um, and then I’ve got my podcast, which is also called presence and purpose.

And I will make sure I put that information in the show notes. And thanks so much again, Natalie, for being on the show.

Yeah. Thank you, Alison.

Thank you for tuning in today. If you love today’s episode, then please head over to iTunes, social media for mompreneurs and leave a review. Your review helps grow the show and don’t forget head to boss, lady and sweat pants.com to grab all my freebies and hang out with me on Instagram @allisonscholes. I’ll see you soon.

 

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