How great brands work: Marie Forleo, Danielle LaPorte and YOU + what is a brand, anyway?

Hi! SO, HBA is OPEN! YAY! We already have lots of students in the class and I truly hope you will join us because it is going to be AWESOME. In honor of my class, I wanted to give you a little idea of what we are trying to do in the class and give you some examples.

So, here is one the biggest questions I always answer:

What is a brand, anyway?

Well, it’s a lot of different things that combine to make up a brand.

It’s not JUST personality.
It’s not JUST story.
It’s not just DESIGN

Here is my shorthand equation for it:

A brand = a big idea (battle cry) + YOUR personality

That equation is illustrated with:

Content
Style
Engagement
Story

This is what builds personality brands and platforms. These elements. Once you see this, you’ll be able to identify it in EVERY brand you will ever encounter.

In HBA, our mission is to fill in the gaps so that you have something for each of these categories. I even created a little infographic so you can see how it all lays out.

See,  brands are ACTIVE. If you are having a hard time selling or being “seen” as a brand, it’s because some of these elements are missing or you are WAY to focused one aspect and not the others.

For example, if you focus primarily on sales, you might SELL but people might not see you as a brand.

Content is the MOST important here. If you don’t have your content down, the rest won’t matter. 

In order to SHOW you what this looks like for an actual brand, I decided to use 2 popular brands as examples.The first two circles are filled in with her mission + some of her personality that she has infused into her brand.

Marie Forleo is BIG on content and she has also focused a lot on style.  She talks in a certian way, her website looks a specific way and it all feels very “Marie.”

That is why it is so OBVIOUS when people steal from her. They are taking one small piece of this pie. If you take her “style” and match it with your “content” it won’t work.

In Hot Brand Action, we will talk about what pieces of the graphic you REALLY want to focus on. Do you want to be known for having lots of style and being super engaging? Would you rather have awesome content and a killer story? It’s totally up to you!

You start with a foundation that includes each of these elements and fill in from there.

Now, let’s talk about Danielle.

I would say that Danielle focuses a lot on content, story and style. She has a very specific aesthetic point-of-view and writes posts that will literally change her life. Lately, she has been adding a lot more engagement to her brand by sharing more on instagram and sharing with the “Burning Question” every week.

The important thing to notice: a brand does NOT make sense without the BIG IDEA + Your personality. If you are feeling stuck or like you aren’t getting anywhere,  check-in and see where you might be missing things on this chart. What do you need more of? What’s missing?

I created a little graph for you to fill in on your own so you can map out your own brand and see where you need some help. That way, instead of thinking: “I need a BRAND” you know EXACTLY where to fill in.

I will be sending a similar worksheet to my HBA students so we can get a good idea where everyone is at.

If you want to discover your brand alongside some POWERHOUSE women, check out Hot. Brand. Action. It’s a 6 week mastermind designed to help you fill in the blanks and create an unforgettable brand.

Check out who will be stopping by as guest teachers.