WhenIGrowUpCoach.com
Have you ever tried to talk with someone who is formal and stiff? It’s hard work and not very entertaining. When people relax and their quirky, unique natures are revealed, they are much more interesting – it’s those odd bits that make us intriguing.
In the business world too often “professional” gets translated as formal, and that can very soon become boring. As few businesses these days can claim a monopoly on what they deliver, they need their branding to stand out and safe and boring can quickly become undifferentiated.
Let’s have a look at a great example of allowing your brand to really have a personality.
Michelle Ward is the “When I grow up” coach. A life-coach, but one who focuses on “help(ing) creative people devise the career they think they can’t have – or discover it to begin with!” Michelle explains in more detail here, and also has a great explanation here of what coaching is.
There are a couple of things that Michelle is doing brilliantly. Firstly, she is very clear about who she targets. Being clear about your target market is one of the biggest challenges for any brand or business: I think it’s so hard because by choosing to define your target it can feel like you are turning other consumers away. Of course when you get it right what it means is that you are more effective at making conversions to purchase.
Secondly, her brand and business is distinctive. There have got to be a million life-coaches out there (it looks like a massive growth area on the internet) but Michelle really stands out as she is unabashedly putting herself and her personality into her work. Now the concern here is that a potential customer might look at her site and think, “that’s not going to suit me”, and the ‘sale’ will be lost. And that might be so, but it looks like there have been many more people who find that she stands out and they are really able to connect with her style. And for those it doesn’t appeal to? Well, it’s better to find out early that it is not a good match, and it just means that there is space out there for another type of coach who is different in their approach. The most important thing is to be authentic: Michelle’s branding works because it is true to her.
As an interesting comparison have a look at Marcus Buckingham’s site. He is an amazing writer and presenter who focuses on helping people identify their strengths, and as a result work more successfully and smarter: he explains it himself here and if you haven’t come across his books I recommend them. For such an inspiring man, his web site feels very formal and old-school corporate, and as a result, a bit ‘flat’. Now obviously the targets of these businesses are different: Marcus clearly is targeting big corporate business, whilst Michelle is focused on creative individuals who are wanting to move away from corporate life, yet there is no reason why both can’t bring their brands to life in an engaging, inspiring way that is still relevant to their target.
Another fascinating business which puts its personality out there ‘loud and proud’ is Photojojo, an online store & blog about all things photographic. Have a look at this job spec for a role they are recruiting for: the energy of the company just leaps out, and it feels like it would be a dynamic place to work.
So the point here is not to imitate Michelle or Photojojo, but to be inspired to dig into your own brand and business, identify what makes you unique, and then be proud to put it out there.
opinioniste 