A ServerWise five part Series
What I Learned Will Empower You To Create A Successful Coaching or Membership Brand Without Fear or Risk
Who Is This Series For?
Simply put, if you’re an expert looking to teach, coach or train anyone on anything for any reason, you’ll find substantial value in what I’m going to share. If you’re currently running or plan to operate a membership based website for passive income, you’ll want to pay attention as well. My experiences (and failures) can be parlayed into a successful branded start for anyone in the health, beauty, crafting, DIY, lifestyle, gaming, financial, self-help, fitness and the list goes on.
POSTS IN THIS SERIES
- Intro To Brand Identity In Coaching and Membership Sites Series & Why Should You Listen To Me?
- First You Must Design Your Brand Identity Plus The 3 Questions To Ask A Designer or Best Sites To DIY
- Get Intimate With The Color Wheel To Do Your Own Design Branding And Don't Be Afraid To Crowdsource To Get It Right The First Time
- Be Consistent With Your Brand Identity Everywhere But A Clever Marketer Knows The Power Of An Unexpected Switch Up
- How To Use Authenticity As The Foundation Of Your Long Term Growth Strategy While Staying Genuine
- Delete Those Stock Images If You Want Real Branding And My 5 Tips On Working With A Pro Even When You're Not
A Bit of Background or Why Should You Care What I Have To Say?
My expertise is simple. I’ve spent most of my career in data security, working in the same well-known company. It was after I retired and found that early retirement didn’t suit me that I decided to help my wife. And that began my unexpected but amazing experience of building a highly profitable niche membership business with my wife.
We kept the budget tight so as not to make the same mistakes other startups often do. That meant we weren’t going to toss money around until something stuck. That was our rule, and it was easy to follow because we didn’t have a lot of money to toss around.
Tossing money at something until something happens – huge mistake. Instead, we took a measured and educated perspective. My wife focused on her niche which was her expertise and she understood her desired customer. The customer (buyer persona) was a female with disposable income who loved crafting and knitting. All the while, I focused on becoming our in-house digital marketing expert, primarily because I was cheap.
From No Facebook Account To Digital Marketing Expert: A Very Bumpy Road
Now, digital marketing doesn’t come easy to me because I personally don’t do social media. I’ve never even had a Facebook account. Consider it a byproduct of my many years working in the data security industry. But I learned everything I could have about digital marketing. I invested in my own education by taking classes from legitimate experts. Firstly, I started with free content on YouTube and devoured all I could while taking notes. Eventually, I found an expert I had watched enough to know his enhanced training would be worth it. Now, my expert may not be worth it to you. You’ll want to put some time in on YouTube and see who you mesh with and who you find the most knowledgeable. If you can’t find anyone, drop me an email, and I’ll tell you who I used.
Once I learned as much as I could, I began identifying the FIVE necessary branding steps we needed to take to start out successfully. This took me three months to nail down, so I’m proud to be able to save you a good three months of time and headaches.
The Series In 5 Sections
1
Designing Your Brand
Whether you go in alone or hire a designer (and from where) is most likely based on your budget. As I know how that goes, I’ll tell you what to expect in terms of cost for each option. I’m also including a few important and valuable questions you should ask any designer before selecting him or her.
2
Getting To Know The Importance of The Color Wheel
I have to admit that as a guy I never paid much attention to colors and combinations thereof, and if you had once asked me, I would have told you that colors aren’t that relevant. Then I grew up! Your brand has to have consistency of imagery, and color plays a huge role in that. Click here to skip to this lesson.
3
Brand Consistency Varies By Platform But Must Always Be Consistent Until It Doesn't
Confused? So was I. This is just as much about marketing demographic as it is brand consistency. Your brand may have slightly different looks or imagery or personality on different platforms. Your brand on LinkedIn should be slightly different from Pinterest, after all you’re targeting different demographics (you may not even need to target LinkedIn). Click here to jump to this lesson.
4
Authenticity Must Be Your Unofficial Brand Motto At All Times
Authenticity is a frequently used buzzword for marketing these days. So much so that the very concept of what it means has been diluted. Your brand must change that immediately. You need customers, clients, members, subscribers, etc. and they need someone and something they can trust. A brand or name that’s dependable and honest. Become and stay that way, and you’ll have droves of paying coaching clients or members for years, with plenty of word-of-mouth advertising built right in. It’s harder than you think (certainly was harder than I thought it would be). Click here to skip to the content.
5
Real Photos Make a HUGE Difference
When my wife first started her website, she turned to commonly used stock photos in the site, social media pages and campaigns, ads and emails. It helped us get started on the cheap, which is why I recommend it, but once she got a dozen paying clients she invested in real business-quality professional photos and sales skyrocketed. But it takes more than a good photographer – it takes knowledge and preparation, after all, this is your brand and your responsibility. If you’d rather skip to this section, please click here.
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