If Your Business Is Struggling This Is Probably Part Of The Problem
A struggling business can have many issues:
- No marketing plan
- No consistency
- No goals
- No clear message
But under all that is a foundational problem that is pretty painless to correct:
A willy-nilly, watered-down reputation.
You’re reputation is what you’re known for. And what you’re known for is a result of what you eat, sleep, and breath in everything you do for your business:
- social media posts
- newsletters
- blog content
- YouTube videos
- presentations & speaking gigs
- your systems & customer experience
- how you interact with people at networking events
Your reputation is what people need to associate you with.
People will associate you with what they see you care about with fervor.
When you prioritize building a reputation, your ideas will come into alignment more easily, your marketing message will be easier to convey, and you’ll become better at saying ‘yes’ to what matters and ‘no’ to what doesn’t.
Here are some powerful, but simple questions to help you clarify the reputation you want to build:
- What do you care about?
- What do you want to be known for?
- How do you want customers to talk about you to their friends or other potential customers?
Close your eyes and envision this.
Get clear about it.
Feel the energy of deep alignment around it.
Your reputation should make you feel proud and alive, not burdened with an obligation that feels un-fun, but necessary.
Let your reputation act as a strong foundation.
It can be the energy source that everything in your business connects to for life support. Your programs, your packages, your presentations, your marketing, what you say in your sales calls, how you introduce yourself to people…
Give all the limbs of your business a pulse that comes from the heart of your business—the reputation you’re actively cultivating.
If you’ve been feeling scattered and all over the place with your business ideas and efforts (ie. really busy, but not actually making progress)...
Here’s an exercise for you:
1 // Use the questions above to help you identify the reputation you’d like to have.
2 // Write your reputation down on paper as if it’s already real.
3 // Read your reputation aloud every morning. Make this your time to get clear and set your compass. When you read your reputation, you’re defining who you are and what your mission is.
4 // Refer to your reputation often throughout your work day.
This simple exercise will be extremely helpful to you in very specific ways:
- you’ll be less vulnerable to shiny object syndrome
- because you'll be more focused on what matters in your products, packages, presentations, and overall marketing message
- and this will turn you into a better decision-maker—you'll say yes to things that fuel you toward your reputation and no to things that distract you from it
As an example—to help you think about your own reputation—I’ll share mine:
I have a reputation as someone who genuinely cares about helping small business owners create success with their website, marketing copy, and mindset.
That’s it.
I read it every day because it helps me stay focused on what matters to my business. It helps me make decisions about projects, content, and how I use my time. It guides me on the journey I’m taking, the help I’m offering, and the person I’m becoming.
I hope the process of clarifying and building your reputation acts as a springboard to help you get laser focused. I hope it helps you make more powerful choices and take better action with your time and energy. And I especially hope it helps you feel excited to start turning things around one deliberate day at a time!
