SWAGless: Smart Tips for Investing in your Brand

You have a business name!  I know you are so excited that you have a new business, you’ve finally decided on a genius business name and a new fancy logo! It must have taken so much brain power and you want to shout it from the rooftops!  And by rooftops, I mean every billboard, T-shirt, pen, business car, tote, mug, cup, laptop sleeve…. You name it!  But please, I beg of you, don’t run out and buy car decals, banners, notepads or any of that just yet. Stop and think for a moment, that is not how you market your brand!  Nor is smart investing when you first start out and money is tight.  Without customers and revenue, who’s paying for all of that?    Think less about the SWAG and more about the Product or Service.  That’s what you are marketing.

 

Here’s a smart and FREE way to begin marketing. Let’s say you don’t even have a logo but you have this great online business and you have a name.  Find a nice font and rock it!  On all your marketing materials, put somewhere @TheLifeoverCoach using the font you like.  This accomplishes two things: it creates name recognition and it’s telling everyone how to find you on all your Social Media Platforms.  If you notice on my Live announcements, I simply put @TheLifeoverCoach so people know that’s my handle on Social Media.  On other posts, I use my Logo and it’s on all my SWAG, products, and pages.

 

Another great inexpensive, and sometimes FREE way to invest in your brand is through training, workshops, conferences, and seminars. If you are deciding between spending money on tangible items or training, the smart move is to forgo the SWAG and invest in training.  The better you are at your job or business, the more valuable you are to your market.  If you can solve someone’s problem or issue, help them make more money, provide value or knowledge; the truth is they don’t care about no stinking logo.  They want results.

 

There are a ton of free Seminars, Webinars, and YouTube videos that you can watch to help you expand your knowledge, fine tune your expertise, and provide increased value to your customers.  Listen…Y’all listening?  I want to make sure you hear me and hear me loud.  You know the saying that Knowledge is Power right? Well, Knowledge is also Cash!  The more you know, the more people you can help, the more money you can make!  So, stop worrying about how SWAGalicious you might be, and start worrying about how much income you can create to take your business to the next level!

 

Network!  Get out there and talk to people.  Tell them who you are, what services you provide, find out what their needs are, and how you can help them.  This way you know if your services or products are on the money (see how I did that) literally and figuratively.

 

Let’s talk about networking for a bit. If you are going to an event and you know there will be people there that you want to meet, research them!  We live in a digital age where a few Googles will yield results about almost anyone on the planet.  When networking, it’s so important to

 

Be yourself! Stay cool, calm, and collected.  Be patient and polite because you never know who you may be talking to or how they can change your life.  Don’t be cheesy or phony, people can tell when you’re being authentic, believe me. Remember that we all come with different experiences. In order to find your tribe you have to be yourself unapologetically.

 

Make genuine connections.  The idea behind networking is to make connections that last beyond the initial meeting; people that you can connect with outside of only needing their help.  If you have something in common with someone, bring it up as a way to connect.  Talk about that first before you say, oh by the way I’d like your company to donate $500K to my “XYZ” fund.   When networking for business, make sure you can present win/win opportunities to the person you want to meet.  For example, in exchange for running ads with your name and logo on all my social media platform 5 times per week and doing a special give away of an item of your choice, I’d like for you or your company to sponsor my “Live with Renay” event by providing “free airtime on your radio station”.  Lead with Value! People remember that.

 

Practice your elevator pitch.  An elevator pitch is a short sales pitch, that is, a summary used to quickly and simply define your process, product, service, organization, or event and its value. Have a 30 second and a one minute.  Write it down, memorize it, tell it to your friends, and practice, practice, practice.  Here’s my elevator pitch for inspiration… “I am Renay Butler, the Lifeover Coach.  I am a speaker, an award-winning business owner, and a certified project manager. I teach you how to organize and prioritize your life and teach you how to monetize your business ideas and products.  Simply put, I teach you how to get your life and get your money!”. It can take some time to perfect, but you’ll know when you’ve got it right.

 

If you are networking to be hired; have your resume handy and be prepared to talk about your accomplishments.  Did you get that?  Not your job description but what you actually have done that was of value to an organization.  For example, “I streamlined our business capture process which saved my organization $1M in overhead and allowed us to bring in $10M more in business the first year and $20M the second year”.  That’s an ear catching accomplishment and anyone would want to hear more.  So, if asked, be ready to talk about the steps or process you implemented to get those results.

 

My last tip is to Be Prepared and Practice! Practice networking with friends, family, or anyone who will listen.  When I worked at JB Robison Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry  as part of our on-going sales trainings we would practice making and closing sales.  We practiced how to overcome objections and still make the sale.  I teach no pressure strategies so that when you ask for the sale, the client is already sold.  Remember, everyone started out as a beginner.  If you’ve gotten this far in your business, it’s because you know you have a gift that needs to be shared. So move forward with confidence, you’ve got this!

 

Until next time,

The Lifeover Coach

You can find me LIVE on FB and IG @TheLifeoverCoach every Sunday, 7pm EST or at www.thelifeovercoach.com.