What’s the difference between building a brand and growing a brand? You consistently hear that it takes years to build a brand. But we disagree. Brands grow over time but can be built in just a few weeks. Let’s dive into what that means and exactly how we do it.
What’s the Difference Between Building and Growing Your Brand?
Let’s define the difference between building a brand and growing it.
Building a brand means crafting the message and image you want to convey. It means defining who your ideal prospects are, what sets you apart from everyone else in your space, positioning yourself in that space, and creating all the messaging and the look that aligns with what you want to be known for.
Those are the building blocks of a great brand. You can’t grow something if you don’t build it first. Why? Because you have to define what it is that you’re trying to grow.
What Does It Mean To Grow Your Brand?
Growing your brand means promoting your brand. When it comes to growing your brand, that’s when you factor in time. However, time is not the main success factor that influences the trajectory of your brand.
Successful brands do continue to grow over time, especially if you commit to them. But the truth is: Brands grow through impressions. The more you put your message and image out there, the more your prospects are exposed to it. That translates into impressions. In other words, your brand grows:
- Every time you introduce yourself with your brand identifier
- Every time you post on social media
- Every time you share your story through an interview
- Every time you advertise with your branding elements
Every one of those is impressions, and there are thousands of others you can do at no cost after you’ve built a brand that promotes that brand out there and gets that brand growing.
Why You Still Need To Prospect After Building Your Brand
You can create or build the greatest brand in the world, but if you don’t continuously put it out there, it will never grow. It’s like decorating for an elaborate party but not sending invitations.
You still have to put your brand out there. You still have to prospect. You still have to advertise or market yourself. The reality is that if you’ve branded yourself correctly, you spend less on your marketing over time.
Your brand handles your business, marketing, and prospecting. When you put your brand out there, people already know who you are when you reach out to them. Your brand eliminates cold calls and gives you a better sense of where your spending is working and where it’s not so you can make better decisions for the future.
So ask yourself:
- How and how often are you making an impression?
- How often do you put your brand out there?
- How much content are you creating that shares your story and your expertise?
- How present are you on social media?
- How are you demonstrating your expertise inside the right circles?
And when it comes to impressions, it’s not only about quantity. It’s about reaching the right customers with the right message. And that’s what we mean by building a brand right before growing it.
The Takeaway
When you build your brand, you know exactly how much money to spend on your marketing currently, how much more you must spend to grow your business, and where to spend it. Marketing works when you’ve built a brand. And when your brand is properly built, you can start growing it through impressions.
These reasons are why we look at 77 different criteria to develop your secret sauce. So if your personal brand needs a makeover, we’re here to help. Schedule a free call with us today to help your brand deliver your desired message.
Are you a Coach, Consultant, or other Expert with a life-changing message to share? Join us inside our free Facebook Group to learn how to position & present yourself and your offers differently in order to maximize your time and dramatically increase profits.
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BrandFace LLC is a personal branding company for coaches, consultants and other experts who want to STAND OUT from their competition and attract their ideal customers so they can become recognized and sought after authorities in their industry. Tonya Eberhart & Michael Carr are international bestselling authors and the partners behind BrandFace. Their mantra is, “People don’t do business with a logo. They do business with a person.”