If you are like many heart centered solopreneurs looking to make a difference in the world, you know you need to get noticed in order to make your mark matter. So how do you get someone to do business with you? Or should the question actually be, why should they choose you over someone else?

Many years back, I picked up a book called Jump Start Your Business Brain and heard the term Unique Selling Proposition by Doug Hall. This book became my little “bible” to marketing.

It was full of nuggets of getting me and business noticed in what I thought was a flooded market. One of the biggest points Hall writes about is to discover your Unique Selling Propositions (USP).  You do this by logically uncovering the points that differentiate you from your competition. Sounds logical enough.

There is definitely a place for the logical thinking process, but when I became more of a heart centered solopreneur, I soon realized that in a world of abundance, there is no competition when you are following your purpose. You were meant to be living your purpose, no matter what.

Customers and clients connect with you not when you are illustrating the differences between you and your competition. You will attract more clients you are meant to work with when you allow who you are authentically to shine through.

So the answer actually lies in your heart, not in your head. It is not your logical USP that will captivate the hearts of your clients, but your unique brilliance that you need to discover that is fundamental to branding and marketing success.

Find your unique brilliance and let it shine from inside out.

With Love, Gratitude and Abundance,

Shauna Harper – Your Abundance Business Coach
Money and Marketing Business Coaching
“Sparking Contagious Energy and Action in Your Business”

As a solopreneur, having a brand that is authentic to who you are and that magnetically attracts customers to you with ease and grace is key to building a lucrative business (that can make a difference).  I love bringing my clients through the Personal Branding with Archetypes System by Million Dollar Coach Kendall Summerhawk. This is hands-down the fastest way to create a brand rich with emotion (isn’t that what we want our clients to connect with!) and that is authentic to you. But even without going through the Branding with Archetypes System, there is a way to put more “personality” into you brand and your business right now.

1. Don’t hide out- Often times when solopreneurs go into business, they try to hide certain parts of their personality. What part of your personality do you most often try to hide. You need to pinpoint and pulling back the covers on whatever you have been hiding to have more brand authenticity.  The little idyioscracies that we think we should hide, make us lovable, unique and stand out. Bring that to the forefront and let the real you shine.

2.List the emotions you evoke - Brainstorming a list of words that represent who you are and the feeling you evoke in others will get you closer to the brand you want to relay to your customers. Perhaps talking to previous clients or friends or family and see what words come to mind when they think of you. Doing a 360 degree evaluation can help with this if you find this process difficult.

3.Let it all hang out – If you think about all the ways your customers or potential customers will be in contact with you, that’s where you need to showcase who you are authentically. So “let it all hang out” and let your personality show in your ezines, next email, websites, marketing materials. This is scary to be so raw, but that is really the secret sauce of brand authenticity… being exactly who you are and making no apologies for it. The customers that are meant to work with you will… and the ones that don’t, we never meant to.

With Love, Gratitude and Abundance,

Shauna Harper – Your Abundance Business Coach
Money and Marketing Business Coaching
“Sparking Contagious Energy and Action in Your Business”

PS. Remember, the Branding with Archetypes System is a highly creative yet structured way to expedite this process and have a brand that is authentic to who you are.

Brand awareness happens when your customers recognize and associate your service/products with your brand. So how do you raise your online profile and get more brand awareness as a solopreneur?

Now with technology and social media there are a number of ways you can market and also a number of places you want to be online.

There is no doubt that you want to be searchable for your expertise or for what you want your brand to be known for on Google, Facebook and You Tube. These 3 sites are still the forerunners for where people are looking first online. How do you get more brand awareness via these sites? Here are 4 ways you can start:

1. Blog Posts – Blogging is an oldie but a goodie. I am currently doing a Blog competition for 30 days. Being a part of this competition, people are sharing my blog posts with their friends and passing along the information. Whenever you write a blog post, you are showcasing your expertise. But also, you are allowing (through properly researched keywords) search engines like google, yahoo and msn to find you and share you with even more people looking for what you have to offer.

2. Article marketing - Similar to blog posts, article marketing is key to have a great online profile. All article marketing means is writing articles and instead of posting them on your blog, you post them on other Article submission sites. When you submit articles to Article sites like ezinearticles.com you again are recognized as an expert in your field, but you are also giving more touch points online for customers to find your site and hopefully connect with you back to your own site.

3. Video Marketing - Video marketing is probably the fastest growing way to grow your online profile. Because the world wide web is so large, video is becoming the best way for potential prospects and clients to get to know, like, and trust you quickly via the connection they build on the internet.  Videos rank very well via search engines. When your videos are tagged with certain keywords it is more likely to have people searching for what you have to offer. A video is the next best thing to having you sit directly across from your client to share who you are and how your products/services can help.

4. Word of mouth referring and social proofing via all social media platforms. Although technology is a wonderful way to build a business… we are all still human. When a friend or a co-worker recommends a service or product, you are more likely to sit up and listen because of your emotional and friend connection vs. seeing an ad and taking action on your own. This is social proofing. Having people share your content (be it video, articles, blog posts or just your thoughts) with people they know, means that you now have a higher chance in getting more traction and increasing your online marketing profile. It is now easier than ever to have your followers re-tweet on twitter, or share your content with their list on facebook.

I would love to hear your thoughts. And how can I end this article without asking you to tweet or Facebook about this article.

With Love, Gratitude and Abundance,

Shauna Harper – Your Abundance Business Coach
Money and Marketing Business Coaching
“Sparking Contagious Energy and Action in Your Business”

Let’s face it, the internet is NOT going away any time soon! People arevgetting more and more comfortable building relationships and doing business online. A simple way to build relationships with others online is to make sure you set up your Gravatar.

What is a Gravatar?

A Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar of yourself or company logo that you use to brand yourself. Most blogs are now wordpress based. When you comment on blogs, you will see that some people have their pictures beside their comments and others have that blue symbol like the one I have in this article.

Why use a Gravatar?

Now, the picture is of course important, but more importantly is what happens when the reader clicks your picture.  If the blog reader (or comment reader ) liked what you said, they will click on your image and it will lead them to your blog. It is a great way to get back-links onto your site (great for traffic and great for google!).

How to set up a gravatar?

I would highly suggest you use your face vs. a logo. This is of course is a personal choice… however, here is my opinion: No matter how big you want your company to appear, people still connect with people. So, let’s see those pearly whites!

1.To Set up your FREE gravatar go to : Gravatar Account

2. Create a free account by entering a password and email address. Make sure you enter the same email address as you use when you comment on blogs. That way, your photo will pop up once you have posted your comments.

That’s it … simple but key to making a connection. Looking forward to seeing you !

Feeling anxious about how to keep your small business afloat and supporting you during this tough economy? I was interviewed on Monday by Michelle Schaeffer from www.thesmallbusinessmuse.com on The Personal Economy of Abundance. Learn how you can do what you love and make money doing it despite today’s economic times!

You can listen to the recording for the next 30 days
http://AttendThisEvent.com/?eventid=11808372

On this call I answered questions about:

* Why do some people struggle to make money doing what they love?
* How can a Personal Economy of Abundance to pull us through these economic times?
* What is holding people back reaching the goals they have set out?
* What action steps we can take today to start doing what we are passionate about?
* … and explaining how money shows up when we are aligned with what we are meant to do in life!

You can listen to the recording for the next 30 days
http://AttendThisEvent.com/?eventid=11808372

I have been away for over a week now. While waiting for my connecting flight from Phoenix to Vancouver, I wandered into a Starbucks. As soon as I did, it felt as comforting as home. I am not even a big coffee drinker. However, the smells, sounds and feel of the place felt familiar.  And familiar is comforting! You know what to expect… Ah, branding at its best.

The smell of the coffee brewing, the soothing jazz music playing, the sounds of the espresso machines whistling and the friendly, quick moving baristas waiting to take your order. In fact, even their customers are their brand… no matter which Starbucks you enter, there always seems to be that person asking for the long winded 7 worded coffee drink and then the one just wanting an Americano with “a little room on the top”.

When I watch a company like Starbucks, I can’t help but take my hat-off to their mastery.

So, how does a solopreneur compete with companies and corporations with million dollar systems and teams to help them brand? Well, a brand is not about a logo, not even about your tag line… but instead, it is about a feeling that your customers feel when they think of your company.

So how can you come up with that, especially if your brand is you? You are the service, you are the first line your customers see? How do you get your customers to have a deep emotional experience and connection to who you are authentically?

Well, the reason I am even in this airport is because I just spend the last 4 amazing days with Million Dollar Money and Marketing Coach Kendall Summerhawk.  I am becoming one of her Certified Money Marketing and Soul Coaches.

I am coming back finally with a system that can help entrepreneurs figure out their Brand Archetype.  Their Brand what??? Sound too ‘out there’ for you? Please, keep reading…

By figuring out your Brand Archetype, it ensures that your brand is a deeply emotional experience for others and also a highly authentic experience for you.

In other words, you can create the connection between you and your customer so that they really ‘get’ who you are authentically. You can evoke the feelings and connect in a way that is authentically you.  You can grow your business based on your strengths and what you already radiate to the world.

Believe me, the dilemma of “what is my brand” became crystal clear after I figured out my Brand Archetype. I no longer struggled with the question, “Is this my brand?? Or is this my brand?” And best of all, it comes from the place that is authentically you (Check out my article… Transforming my Brand.)

I look forward to sharing this amazing transformation of how you can go from the accidental ‘You Brand’ to the ‘You Shining from the Inside Out’ through the Branding with Archetypes System.  Free teleseminar coming up, stay tuned…

I invite you to leave your comments and thoughts below. And sign up, if you haven’t already done so for my free newsletter.

With Love, Gratitude and Abundance,

Shauna Harper

Your Abundance Business Coach

Money and Marketing Business Coaching

Many of you know me as the Serial Entrepreneur, passionate about helping entrepreneurs build businesses. Yes, I love to build businesses, but over the last week, I have had a HUGE… no MASSIVE transformation.  I spent the last 4 days masterminding with Kendall Summerhawk (Million Dollar Business Coach) and 49 other Money Marketing and Soul Coaches in Tucson, Arizona.

Through Kendall’s Branding with Archetypes System, I have found clarity around the often unanswered question, “What is my brand?”  But this system helped me figure out MORE than my brand. This system helped me figure out what and how my brand is connected to my authentic purpose.

The most important part is that when you figure out your authentic purpose, the brand part comes with ease and grace versus trying to grow into something that isn’t you.

I realized during the 4 days that I needed to step forward into my role as Your Abundance Business Coach and start “Playing Big… a LOT BIGGER!”

I figured out: What gets me jumping out of bed each morning with a heart filled with gratitude and powerful inspiration? It is my calling to show entrepreneurs that they can make amazing money while following their calling and passions.

Over the last 10 years of growing my business Color the Universe, I am living proof that money flows where passion goes.  So now, through money and marketing business coaching, my mission is to spark contagious energy and action in entrepreneurs. I will show you how, when you align yourself with your true calling and passion, that you can also make amazing money doing so.

This isn’t just living in your head: hoping, wishing and dreaming. This is about setting up clear steps and systems that will take the spark inside of you to a place where you can share with the world your gift that you were always meant to share.

As the (previous) Serial Entrepreneur, I have been mirroring the mindset, strategies and secrets and have been mentored by Multi-Million Dollar Entrepreneurs and coaches. I have invested thousands… I mean tens of thousands of dollars in my business brain and my soulful heart.

And every course I have taken, every mentor I have talked to, every coach I have paid for (that I didn’t think I could afford at the time) and every lesson I have learned so far – has shown me that a multi-six figure income is possible when you are in alignment with your passion. Are you ready to do the same?

I invite you to join me in the next phase of the journey to Color the Universe with your talents and passion by building a business that ignites you to take inspired action daily. Money will flow when you are aligned with your passion… don’t worry, I am here to show you how.

Looking forward to being Your Abundance Business Coach… Are you ready to step up?

With Love, Gratitude and Abundance,

Shauna Harper

Your Abundance Business Coach
Money and Marketing Business Coaching

PS. My website and logo and all the parts of what you see here, will change over the next few weeks.  When you know what you are meant to do, inspired action cannot be held back… it will burst ahead and the rest will catch up… I promise. LINK just added www.tinyurl.com/brandwithsoul