From Shona Chambers owner of Shona Chambers Marketing

Why did you start your own business? I’m guessing at least part of it was you wanting to have more control over your work life. Moving away from being told how to do things, and using your own expertise instead. Growing a business can be a challenge, but one of the great things about it is you get to pick who you are aiming to serve and the way you want to do that.  To make it clear to your ideal customer that you are there for them, there are a few things that you can do. Here are 5 of the most important when it comes to creating a strong personal brand.

1. Be authentic

As a small business owner it is highly likely that your customer will be dealing with you face to face. There's no one else to hide behind. It’s important to remember to be yourself when creating any content for your business. Use your own tone of voice in your writing (blogs, social media, your website) everything that is about your company should pass the authenticity test.  If you are a one person business, avoid using ‘we’ to try to sound more important. Avoid setting yourself up for any disappointment as far as the customers you are seeking to serve are concerned. When they meet you for the first time in person they should not be left with any feeling of difference to the image you project elsewhere.

2. Give value

Think about the value that any content you produce to market your business creates. Good marketing should leave people interested in your business, demonstrate expertise, and offer generous insights into the product or service you are offering. Think about how you can offer a free sample that leaves the customer wanting more. A great way to do that is to create a lead magnet (something of real value to your customer) for example a PDF they can download in exchange for their email address, that helps them in some way with a problem they have. If in doubt jump onto Google and have a look at the sorts of questions your customers are looking up right now, then base your content around that.

3. Look your best

When you look at advertising images they are glossy and well presented. Using the best photography and video that you can afford for your business is a great investment. A professional photo shoot for headshots, and lifestyle imagery can give you so much content for your website, your social media posts and printed materials.

4. Be consistent

To generate enquiries for your business you need to be consistent in producing marketing materials. From blogs to social media posts you need to figure out a way to show up consistently for your customer in a way that they recognise instantly as being you. I highly recommend planning your marketing content in advance, so it supports you and your business. This could mean taking one day per month and writing lots of blogs and posts. And another day for recording video and taking photographs.  You can plan ahead on pretty much every platform these days, and it helps give you much needed control as a small business owner.

5. Use your voice

As humans we are designed to enjoy speaking and listening. This is why finding ways to use your voice within your marketing is really useful. Maybe you like talking to people on Instagram stories, or putting short useful videos on YouTube, equally you may consider creating a podcast and letting your customers hear you talking to other people about interesting issues to them. You could consider adding a welcome video on your website to explain who you are and the services you offer.

About Shona

Shona Chambers is a freelance marketing consultant  with a career spanning over 20 years, working with both large and small companies. Shona has also created her own businesses, including a networking group for the self employed and freelance community, Self Employed Club. Most recently Shona wrote her first book, 100 Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners available now on Amazon for Kindle. 

Background information

Shona completed this project during the lockdown period of 2020 after her main consultancy work went on hold. Having published a blog with 50 Free Marketing Tips a few years ago that always did well whenever shared, Shona decided to challenge herself to create a fresh 100 tips, and so the book idea was born. Written in 20 minute chunks around her family commitments the book slowly came to life.  

Find out more about Shona Chambers Marketing from www.shonachambersmarketing.co.uk