I often talk about the 5 C’s of Branding – Clarity, Communication, Content, Consistency, and Courage – with my clients and their teams. In the SheBrand 50-point Brand Health Checklist, I walk you through these principles to help you assess the health and ultimate performance of your brand. Each of these five elements are integral to your brand’s health, and to one another, as they build a combined foundation to help you shine your light all the brighter.
Courage isn’t often referenced when it comes to creating a powerful brand, but I believe it’s one of the most important elements, if not the very foundation of your brand story. I sometimes think of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, scared of his own shadow as he walks through the Haunted Forest with Dorothy, Tin-Man, and Scarecrow. Walking through the landscape of your brand, or what you dream your brand could become, can be equally as scary if you don’t have a blueprint or a map. It’s one of the reasons I decide to create the 50-point Brand Health Checklist.
Without courage and a willingness to take risks – to put yourself out there and really be seen – it’s difficult to practice the other components of building your brand, like effective communication, meaningful content and consistency with any real resonance. Without the courage to be authentic and vulnerable, it’s not so easy to make the emotional connection with your potential customers that is key to growing a loyal following.
One of the points on my checklist assessment is as follows: I am comfortable sharing my story, being vulnerable when I’m called to be, and I have the courage to do so often. This is a 3-parter that I snuck in as one item. In this task, you are being called to share your personal story, open yourself with vulnerability and truth, and continually raise your courage to do so often. It may be a lot to ask, but it’s also a requirement. I believe in the power of vulnerability and sharing our truths and I know, first-hand, that it is not only healing and integrating, it’s the lifeblood of healthy branding. When we share our stories, we help others, when we help others, they want to do one of two things: work with us, or pass the torch and be vulnerable themselves in their work and life so that others upon others heal. Either way, it’s a win-win.
– Anaïs Nin
So, I would like to ask you: where can you raise your courage in your life, in your brand, in your sharing of yourself? Think about why you do what you do. Not ‘to pay the bills,’ that’s a result and certainly a worthy goal, but why do you want to put yourself out into the world in this way, doing what you do? What motivated you to start? What did you lose/gain/realize/change? That’s the bit people are curious to hear. If you can truly drill down to that answer, it will make mapping out your brand so much easier. With a monumental touchpoint like this, you can return to it again and again as a simple, infallible truth that serves your brand, your product, and most importantly, the loyal community you are building.
Get a free copy of the SheBrand 50-point Brand Health Checklist Assessment and start building a better brand today.
