I usually update my blog on Mondays or Tuesdays. There’s no hidden social media secret to this choice, I just like to let my words marinate over the week. It gives me 6 days to think about the comments posted and how to address them in the next post if I need to.
Last week Two weeks ago I chit chatted about Yoga or a New Coach Bag. I also said I would follow up the post next week talking about conversion and how to create a sales culture without feeling like a total slime ball. Then I went and posted something else two days later and Monday was a holiday and blah blah blah. Long story short, my blog schedule is totally jacked! I have been derailed!!
So rather than whine over my own undoing on Wednesday I sat down on my lunch break and thought about yoga + sales culture. Yoga + Business and Yoga + Profit. I have a lot to say about all of it, and unless you’re new around here, you know I’m not usually at a loss for words. But sales. Fuck. I just can’t stutter it out right now.
Wanna know why? Because it all starts with branding. I can’t talk about sales culture until I talk about branding {and mission + vision + values and all the other big picture creative dreaming things that make me jizz}.
*ahem* right.
It ALL comes back to branding… And I haven’t blogged about branding at all!! The irony of all of this is that I am currently in the middle of the visual branding for my new gig, The Darshana Collective. Going through this process has created light bulb explosions of insight.
And I definitely want to talk to you guys about it – but it’s going to take a while for me to collect my thoughts, reflect on them and then process them back out to you. It’ will be juicy though, I promise.
So.
Before we talk conversion (as I promised nearly two weeks ago and so woefully let you down) I want to start digging into branding. Not your logo, not your color palette, your BRANDING. Whether you want to or not, you have a brand. It’s experienced through the eyes and mind of your students, members and clients. Your brand is more than your logo and color palette. It’s the sum of all your parts. The great stuff, the ugly pieces and the juicy bits. It’s the personality of your biz and that personality is what attracts people to you.
If you can tap into your personality, you will build your brand. Try to come up with one adjective for your business, and then begin to build your brand from there. Make sure everything you do to brand your business relates back to that word – your logo, your copy, your voice, your mission. Everything. The more it relates back to your one word, the more authentic your brand will be.
Lets play make believe and put this little idea into practice.
You on a yoga studio. You’re totally type A. You’re determined. You’re confident. You’re bold and you’re ready to change the world yesterday. Your chosen word is fierce. At your studio, you have two types of ideal students. The first are men. They’re coming to yoga because even though their CrossFit training has them ripped their quads are in knots, the IT band is ready to pop and they’re looking for just a little bit of peace. The second are women. They’re feeling a little lost a little run down. They come to your studio to practice yoga because they want to feel empowered, confident and bold. They want the prowess of their youth.
It wouldn’t be in line with your brand (personality) to develop a logo based upon a water lily, utilizing a color palette of soft greens, pinks and yellows. A word like fierce deserves a powerful logo – a tiger in bold colors. Your messaging should be powerful, bold and determined. It should reflect your personality and speak to your PRFs!
Your brand a reflection of YOU, make it authentic. <~~~ TWEET IT!
Just start with authenticity. Let go of the fake. Who are you? What do you do? Who do you do it for? Why do you do it? What do you want people to know about you? What are the key messages you want people to know about your biz? Let go of trying to advertise and be something you’re not. Dig in to what makes you + your studio tick.
Figure out your one word.
Joy up By Design 
Talk to me!