Ding ding ding, it’s Reverie Rendez-Vous time and it’s quite special, not just because it’s the first one of the year or because we’re talking about branding and our imperfect stories but also because it is our guest’s birthday today!!! – Yes, I might have moved things around a bit to make it all coincide haha… I love a good celebration! So, please after reading this great article find her on social and throw some confetti or a virtual hug her way. I promise she loves that!

Okay enough with my chit chat, our guest today is non other than the fearless and generous leader and movement maker Ashley Beaudin. She’s describes herself as an encourager, speaker and coach for heart-led entrepreneurs. She’s all about empowering extraordinary women to create powerful lives and businesses using heart, vulnerability and community. She is the lady behind the incredible social movement ‘The Imperfect Boss’. You can find more information in the links below:

ashleybeaudin.com
Twitter: @ashleybeaudin
Instagram: @ashley.beaudin

“For anyone who has any bit of online presence, branding matters in a big way. You can have the most amazing vision and message to tell the world, but if you don’t have a solid brand, you’ll lose so much of the momentum that you are actually capable of.

When you have powerful branding, you’re able to give your work credibility, attract the people you want to and share your message even when you’re not in the room. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been interested in working with someone, but the moment I get on their website, I close it out because their brand isn’t well put together.

Don’t lose people where you could be winning hearts.

Now, I think sometimes we get caught up in this thing where branding is about perfection — painting the picture of a perfect life and a flawless work. When we do that, we are selling ourselves short. Because inside of us is an imperfect story that has the power to give connection to your brand and your business.

People will connect more with your honest than they’ll connect with your performance.

And it is not about being so real that you deny excellence, growth or improvement. But it is about living and leading authentically in a world that has become so easily filtered and curated. So, I want to jump in and give you a few ways you can use your imperfect story in your branding to become compelling in your industry.

1 – Design visuals that are built upon your personality.

Whether you’re designing your brand yourself or you’re hiring a designer, really dig into your personality, so that it can be communicated in the use of colors, fonts, styles, and photography. Think about the ‘imperfect’ parts of your personality, and how you can reframe those things as a strength and weave them throughout the visuals.

For example, if you see yourself as feeling just too much all the time, you can reframe that strength as empathy and you could use pastel colors in your brand to really accentuate that truth.

2 – Write copy out of how your story collides with your client’s story.

Take a piece of paper and describe your story on the left side. On the right side, describe the story of your client. Now, brainstorm how can the elements of your story and journey collide with the elements of your client’s story, so that they can be transformed after working with you.

For example, if I have had many failed businesses in my entrepreneurial journey, I can collide that story with my client’s story as she may be battling with a fear of failure. I can speak to her heart through my web copy and social media copy about how fear doesn’t have to hold her back anymore because I’ve failed and I’m still standing (and better for it too).

3 – Create a brand experience that makes people feel something.

I want to encourage you to think past this idea of looking flawless and think about how you want to impact someone’s heart who gets to know you. How do you want them to feel and how do you want their heart to be moved? When they get on your website, are they going to feel like a burden was lifted off of them, or are they going to feel like they can do anything?

Don’t just make yourself look amazing. Give them an experience where they feel moved to do something, to say something or to let go of something. Knowing this can help you dictate everything from visuals, copy, free resources, media, offerings, etc.

Let go of the filters and lead unmasked. Watch how that changes how you feel in your business, but also the quality of connections from your dreamiest clients. It is time.”

REVERIE MINGLES: How can you introduce more imperfection into your branding?