6 surprising factors for successful brand building.
It really should go without saying, but having a good product or service, having a solid strategy, and having a unique value proposition are all important ingredients for successful brand building.
But knowing what you offer and how you uniquely serve is not a philosophy, it’s just a given. Without these fundamentals, you’re always going to be fighting against the current. So go take our free brand strategy class on YouTube or book a live workshop if you need to get these things hammered out.
But past having a great offer and great strategy, what are the difference makers? What habits and practices are going to set you up for long-term thriving? After more than a decade of helping brands, here are the six factors — philosophies, if you will — that set all the best brands I’ve ever worked with apart.
HAVE YOUR OWN SUCCESS LIST — Following paths that are not our own feels like a learning experience most of us must go through. But at some point, you have to stop and define for yourself what success looks like.
What life do you want to actually live? Seek to enjoy the journey not just the rewards and outcomes.
Not just how things look to those on the outside. Start from a place of worthiness. As long as your list is genuine and meaningful to you, it’s enough.
What is important to you? Where are you wanting to go and why? What does success mean to you? Take a few minutes to workshop this out for yourself. Start with a drop list, brainstorm everything you can think of for a few minutes. Now look at your list, what stands out? What are common themes? Try to narrow down your list to around 5 key markers of success for you?
CONSTANT ORGANIZATION — Yes, this one is boring but non-negotiable. I’ve never worked with a truly thriving scattered, pants-on-fire brand. There is a Phil Stutz passage that I always come back to:
A few rare individuals refuse to live limited lives. They drive through tremendous amounts of pain — from rejections and failures to shorter moments of embarrassment and anxiety. They also handle the small, tedious pain required for personal discipline, forcing themselves to do the things we all know we should do but don’t — like exercising, eating right, and staying organized. Because they avoid nothing, they can pursue their highest aspirations. They seem more alive than the rest of us.
There is so much packed into this short passage, but I want to focus on one thing: the things we all know we should do but don’t. Staying organized. This is such an overlooked superpower. It’s so tedious and ordinary, that we fail to acknowledge its importance. Or maybe we don’t want to see it.
Either way, it’s a non-negotiable part of the equation. Tell yourself what you want, but fail to do this and everything else will be infinitely harder and sometimes even out of reach altogether.
SELF CARE — No, this doesn’t have to be the self-indulgent consumerism style of self care. It’s not a spa day once in a blue moon, it’s routine. Exercise. Eat right. Get lots of sleep. Drink lots of water.
It’s so simple and yet these are the most under-utilized tools for enhancing your performance and elevating your work.
Not to mention, they make your days more enjoyable too. You’re in this for the long haul, act like it.
BE CONSISTENT — Speaking of consistency, brand building requires not just knowing who you are and how you communicate, but doing it consistently across all platforms and over time. Do you sound the same in person as you do in emails as you do on your website? Does everyone who works for you act as a seamless extension of this experience too?
If you want to elevate your brand and be the cream of the crop, be consistent.
Value open mindedness in your thinking and consistency in your execution.
BE AUTHENTIC — Add authenticity to consistency and now we’re really getting somewhere. This is when you start to pull away from the bulk of brands and start really carving out your own space. This is when it gets interesting and when you start to really hit a zone of thriving.
So while consistency is the predictability across the brand over time, personality and authenticity lend the humanity and creativity.
When I come across your brand, this is how I connect with it. And it’s also the reason I keep coming back.
GROW NATURALLY — Oooh boy, is this one unpopular. In a world full of double your income and 10x growth messages, this one is definitely un-sexy. But I’ve seen more brands fail chasing passive income than I care to count.
For things to grow, it takes consistency not bursts of activity followed by absences. This is the natural order of things. We plant, tend, and growth happens. We don’t plant a seed today and get tomatoes tomorrow.
You too are a part of nature. What you practice grows. What you tend grows.
Fulfillment need not be only at the end of the journey. We can find it along the way too.
Want to dig into each of these philosophies more? Watch the full lesson on YouTube…