What are some of the ultimate branding principles? Why should you research your competition and consider working with them? How can you bring the best of your business to the forefront?

In this second episode of a two-part series, Sam Carvalho speaks about the ultimate branding guide.

Podcast Sponsor: Heard

As a therapist, you’re probably too preoccupied with your caseload to want to think about bookkeeping or tax filing. Heard can help you out with that. Heard is a bookkeeping and tax platform built specifically for therapists in private practice that helps you track and improve your practice’s financial health. Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned clinician or are in the first year of your practice, Heard will help you to identify areas for growth and streamline best financial practices for your business.

When you sign up with Heard, you’ll work directly with financial specialists to track your income and expenses, file taxes online, and grow your business. You’ll also receive financial insights such as profit and loss statements and personalized monthly reports. You can say goodbye to poring over spreadsheets and guessing your tax deductions or quarterly payments; focus on your clients, and Heard will take care of the rest.

Plans begin at $149 per month and can easily be tailored to fit your business’ financial needs. Sign up now at www.joinheard.com.

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[SAM CARVALHO] Welcome to the Marketing a Practice podcast with me, Sam Carvalho where you’ll discover everything you need to know about marketing and branding your business. To find out more about how I can help you brand new business visit www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design. Hi there. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you are having a beautiful day so far. Today we are jumping into part two of the Ultimate Branding Guide. If you missed last week’s episode, definitely be sure to go give it a listen. I thought that I would break it up into two episodes, as it’s a lot of information at once and I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed, but basically I’ve gone and collated a bunch of tips and advice all to do with building a strong brand. So in case you missed last week’s episode, I’ll just delve into a little bit of the introduction, basically that branding is important and it’s also a lot more than just a logo or the visual side of things. It’s essentially providing your business with a strong identity, personality and a point of difference, all of which are essential to making you stand out. 86% of consumers feel that authenticity is a major element in determining which brands they enjoy and support. Therefore, your branding is about your reputation and the impression that you make on clients. [SAM CARVALHO] Without further ado, I’m going to jump back into our list starting from number 25 of the Ultimate Branding Guide and that is to not try and please everyone define your brand and stick to it. If your brand is a small label handcrafted beer, for example, you aren’t going to please the discount beer drinkers who scoff at your high prices, and that’s okay. Do what you do best. You’ll find your brand ambassadors out there. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 26, set up a referral program. This doesn’t have to be complicated. If someone likes your product or service, give them something for telling their friends. It could be a discount, a free gift, or even a cash back bonus. The natural side of this is that if people have enjoyed their experience with your brand, they’re going to speak about it in any case to their friends and family. So why not give them a reward for doing so and they might do it even more? [SAM CARVALHO] Number 27, don’t try to be somebody else. If you’re creating something fresh, be fresh. Don’t try to imitate the big names that everybody knows. Be who you are. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 28, use social media to build connections. Don’t think of social media as a way to blast, blast, blast your brain out there. Rather make connections, entertain people, have a laugh and build relationships. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 29, wait. You can implement all of the branding strategies you like, but sometimes it just takes time for a company or brand to stake hold. Get out there but also learn to be patient. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 30, show behind the scenes struggles and triumphs. It’s a temptation to hide away your company until it’s larger than life, but that’s not how life works. Don’t be afraid to document and share the parts of your company that are still a work in progress. Social media is a great way to do that, and again, it will help you build those authentic connections with your clients or potential clients. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 32 is to involve the professionals. You want to take care of your company. If you don’t know how to do something, hire a professional. Even if you do know a bit about branding, hire a pro that can do it better. You want to build the best brand right from the start. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 33, stick to a few things you know and do the best. Stick to content and messaging around what you do and stick to only a few topics. Don’t water your brand down with too many services and promises. The brands that build authentic brand loyalty over time do so by focusing on one or two things, but they do them better than anybody. [HEARD] As a therapist, you’re probably too preoccupied with your caseload to want to think about bookkeeping or tax filing. Heard can help you out with that. Heard is a bookkeeping and tax platform built specifically for therapists in private practice that helps you track and improve your practice’s financial health. Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned clinician or in the first year of your practice, Heard will help you to identify areas for growth and streamline best financial practices for your business. When you sign up with Heard, you’ll work directly with financial specialists to track your income and expenses, file taxes online and grow your business. You’ll also receive financial insights, such as profit and loss statements and personalized monthly reports. You can say goodbye to pouring over spreadsheets and guessing your tax deductions or quarterly payments, focus on your clients Heard will take care of the rest. Plans begin at $149 per month and can easily be tailored to fit your business’ financial needs. Sign up now at www.joinheard.com. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 34, connect with your competitors. Don’t be afraid to share the market. There’s always enough room for everybody, so why not connect with some other local businesses for an event? Think meet, mingle and work together. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 35, Don’t be afraid to expand your brand along the way. Just like people, companies change and grow over time. Keep an eye out in the areas where you’d like to grow and find ways to expand your brand. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 36, get blogging. While blogging in and of itself isn’t a branding strategy, getting some of your company ideas out there can help you define and refine your brand. Remember to consider your brand qualities when blogging and include them in your blogging style. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 37, create your company style guide. I have many episodes on this, so be sure to check it out. If you rarely want to clarify your turn style and branding strategy, create a company style guide so that everybody is on the same page. That way you can make sure that your brand has consistency throughout all of your communications. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 38, take care of your clients. If you want to build a brand that people are loyal to take care of your clients, think of ways to give them little extras that make them feel special. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 39, know exactly what the goal of your brand is. Knowing what your goal is will help give you direction. Are you a new brand trying to get your foot in the door? Consider being a little edgy in order to get people’s attention? Or are you a company who’s rebranding to give a more affordable feel, consider a less sophisticated logo paired with a discount offer. Your goal will drive your brand. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 40, speak to your audience as if they are individuals. A brand needs to communicate to every individual buyer, not a massive group. Think of your audience, not as a large group without a face, but rather an individual you’ve sit down for a cup of tea with. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 41, communicate the emotions behind your brand, not just what makes your brand great. We don’t make decisions with our brains, but rather with our hearts. We purchase a new home because of the way it makes us feel, imagining the memories we create there, our friends and family turning on the deck outside. So if you don’t sell people that emotional motivation behind the product, the service, the brand, you won’t connect with as many potential clients. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 42, use illustrations to emphasize your brand. Again, being wary of trends, but illustrations can really add the wow factor or even dare I say, hip factor to your brand if done right. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 43, showcase your brand personality with video. If you haven’t invested in some video marketing yet, you definitely should. With our ever-growing attachment to our smartphones, we are watching more videos online than ever before. So how can brands take advantage of this? Put videos out that showcase your unique brand personality. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 44, think about how your brand will look on mobile. Think about how your logo will look when it shrinks on a smartphone screen. Creating a logo that will work on all sorts of devices is a must, and there are several things you need to consider when thinking about your digital look on a much smaller screen. One of these is your practice name. I’ve come across a lot of private practices who have really long names and it’s really difficult to fit this into a logo and more so into a logo that’s going to be visible on a mobile screen. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 45, create a memorable brand experience that people will talk about. Brand experiences or any experience people have with your brand, whether it’s the extras you give in customer service or the ease at which someone can navigate your website, experiences with your brand matter. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 46, be authentic at every brand touchpoint along the way. It doesn’t matter how large your brand is today, without authenticity, you won’t be able to build a brand that lasts. Do what you do best, just do you and your followers will be there. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 47, bold and follow a brand strategy. A brand strategy is more than your brand guidelines. It’s a plan with a specific long-term goal that can be achieved as your brand evolves. These goals typically revolve around your brand’s purpose, emotion, flexibility, competitive awareness, and employee involvement. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 48, don’t let inspiration turn into imitation. Competitive analysis is important. Not only does it educate you on where your competition stands, but it can also give you ideas on how you can improve or further set your brand apart. However, be conscious to not fall into an imitation trap. Keep your competitive research limited and focus on what your company brings to the table. [SAM CARVALHO] That’s it guys. I hope this has been helpful. I know it’s been an information overload, 48 tips over this week and last. If you’ve been on the move while listening to this, be sure to check out the show notes for a refresher and I really hope it’s been helpful in helping you build a strong brand. See you next week. Thanks again to Herd for sponsoring this episode. When you sign up with Herd, you’ll work directly with financial specials to track your income and expenses, file taxes online and grow your business plans. Begin at $149 per month and can easily be tailored to fit your business’ financial needs. Sign up [email protected]. Thanks for listening to the Marketing a Practice podcast. If you need help with branding your business, whether it be a new logo, rebrand, or you simply want some print flyer designed head on over to www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design. Finally, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on iTunes if you like what you’ve heard. Talk to you soon. Marketing a Practice podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice podcast network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like Beta Male Revolution, Empowered and Unapologetic, Imperfect Thriving, or Faith in Practice, go to practiceofthepractice.com/network. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.