Today I want to talk about branding and specifically branding for therapists and healers What does it

mean for small business owners uh and self-employed healers therapists to have a brand What deeper purpose is served

by getting clear on our brand After all we're not like Nike are we So firstly what do I

mean by brand Normally when we talk about branding we think of logos and color

schemes and typefaces and fonts and taglines But it's really really hard to to point to any one thing

and go that's a brand isn't it But of course when we do think of you know mcdonald's and um

Coca Cola Apple BMW we normally see their logo in our minds Maybe you know the tagline

maybe a little jingle jingle is playing in your head maybe Um And it's easy to think that

these things are the brand but that's not it Your logo your tagline your colors

are just representations of your brand Your brand is a combination of elements that all

add up to one thing Your brand is the promise of an experience I'm going to say it

again The brand is a is the promise of an experience It will make people feel a

certain way and it will give you a good idea of what to expect from consuming

something from that brand Uh mcdonald's is a great example When we see the brand or the

logo we know exactly what experience we are expecting don't we It's low end It's fun based

quick food You're not expecting a top level woman experience are you I hope Um and there's another

really great example here in the UK and that's our chemists We have two big

high street brand chemists and that's boots and Superdrug Now when I when you think of

those names do they feel different to you Now here's the thing you see they they they sell the

same stuff Yeah they do They have cosmetics they have toiletries they have off oo over the

counter medicines Um they sell the same things and yet they have an entirely different theme and normally if

you go to a uh if if you have an insect bite or something you might go to

boots to get some cream to put on it because boots has much more of a

a medical a clinical um a more professional feel if if I can say that and

superdrug is more fun and more frivolous and it's got a different vibe altogether A younger vibe maybe But they

sell exactly the same thing This is what I mean about the brand being the promise

of an experience So if mcdonald's depends and Jaguar depends you pretty much know what to expect

from each of those That's because that brand has given you a feel for it Another fantastic example

is um yeah around Christmas time or Valentine's Day around then there will be a lot

of perfume ads on the telly and here's the thing right Perfume ads they're not going into

the talking about the perfume and say well this perfume will help you do this and um

it will give you this feature and this benefit It doesn't just doesn't do that The the ads will give

you a feeling a sense and it's the promise of an experience So some are

fun and frivolous Some want to want you to feel luxurious and expensive and pampered and glorious and others may

have more of a risque vibe right You're getting the idea your brand is the promise of an experience

Now that's all very well And I hear you say well Kathy you're talking about big companies here

What does that actually mean for us For a small business for a small company

or a self-employed therapist and healer That's the thing We still project a brand we of a wheel we

still project the promise of an experience whether we like it or not So have a

think about this What is the experience that you want your clients to have when they come in contact

with your brand when they see your posts when they read your emails when they watch your videos or get

on a call with you what is it you want them to feel Now of course when we focus in

on you know what what are what is our brand what represents our brand This is not

us being false I know that as therapists and healers that you want the best for

your clients that's just the nature of who you are So think about how is it how do you want

them to feel when they interact with you Getting this right for you is about staying aligned being

aligned and staying aligned with what really is true to you at the core and to you

and your services I'm getting clear on this can inform all of your marketing materials and

everything you put out with out there Now Interestingly I think it's a it's it's a two way thing It

has both an outward and an inward focus So outwardly your brand is an opportunity to create

aligned connection with your clients with your potential clients with your audience meaningful thought provoking and aligned connections But inwardly

your brand is also important It's an opportunity to create real focus and intention It's almost bringing you

back to you who you are bringing your business back to who you are at

the core focus intention and energy but building your business and creating your materials in

an aligned what So it's just as valid for us So your takeaway for today I have three questions

for you I'd like you to write them down Please feel free to put them in the comments I'd

love to see go and see them after this Firstly well what do you want your clients and potential clients

to experience when they come in contact with you and your brand Secondly how do you want them to

feel And thirdly to add another nuance if you like to what were doing here what

are the values they are important to you and your brand They are important to you and your services

that your clients need to know about you and your brand in order to know that

they are a good fit with your services Those three questions write write the answers down or even better

type them in the comments And I'll put I'll put the questions down there as

well Understanding your brand at the deep level is a really important part of getting your foundations in in place

for a profitable practice uh next week as part of the celebrations I'm running a training uh a much

more in depth training where I'm gonna share what I consider to be the three essential

pillars to an aligned profitable practice And you'll see how what we've talked about today fits

in the first pillar If you're not already registered I'd love to see you that

it's free and you can register at www dot Cathy simmons.co.uk/private hyphen training again I'll put the

link down below and register and come and join me I think its Tuesday at 7 p.m. UK time Tuesday

the 11th Uh This will be the first time I've shared this framework So I'm I'm pretty excited

to get it out there and I'm gonna go into why the standard marketing practices don't really

work They don't really fit the needs of therapists and healers I bet you anything you've already found

that to a degree right And I'm also gonna share why I what I think is

the missing ingredient for many transformational businesses as well obviously as sharing the framework which

gives you the grounding for profitable and yet still aligned practice So the link is www.co

dot Cathy simmons.co.uk mouthful forward slash private hyphen training I'll put it below and tomorrow I'll be back

same time same place I've always wanted to say that for tomorrow's business point and

I'll be looking at positioning and what I mean by that is how can we stand

out in a sea of therapists And he is who all seem to be offering the same thing