The Unicorn Guide: Never Doubt Yourself
Well, here we are at the beginning of a brand new week, sweet friends. And, with a new week comes another chance to begin again—a chance to build your best life, your best business, and your best self!
In this spirit, we’d like to continue breaking down a useful, little tool we like to call The Unicorn Guide. At its core, The Unicorn Guide is a “how-to” manual for creating and maintaining an authentic creative business with ZERO competition. Last week, we spoke on the first letter, “U”—which stands for “Understanding your Authentic Brand”. Today, though, we’d like to dive a bit deeper. So, without further ado, we’d like to present the second segment of this exciting series:
Never Doubt Yourself
We will cover a number of significant and truly helpful topics throughout this series—each one helping you to refine your brand and fine-tune your business model. However, I firmly believe that the failure to follow-through with this particular bit of advice CAN be more detrimental to you and your business than with any of the other included topics. After all, at the beginning and end of each day, you only have one person to whom you must answer for all of the chaos of the day—yourself! So, say you took our advice and established a beautiful brand that reflects your heart. It was YOU who dreamed of this concept…YOU built the business model, YOU put yourself out there, and YOU made it happen! How you could you ever doubt such a strong, creative boss lady?! Consider it this way...if the VERY person who created the business, built the business, and lives the business is filled with doubt about it—so too will be everyone else! Your confidence in your brand, or lack thereof, is not only apparent—it’s contagious!
Another way that people lose heart, in regards to their business and its potential, is through negative feedback. This can be a harsh blow for those unaccustomed to it, dolls…BELIEVE that! When others are vocally bashing or dismissing your authentic brand—a brand build upon all the things you love—it can be devastating. But, keep your head up…it WILL get better! If you make the conscientious decision to truly OWN your brand, their words won’t hurt so much. You just have to push past that innate fear of being different—of not “fitting-in” (whatever that really means!). Remember, you WANT to stand-out from the crowd! As we mentioned last week, that is the only way to create a business with no competition—you have to be your fabulous, one-of-a-kind self! And, if you lose a few clients or followers, you’re better off without them! You need clients who share similar interests and ideals—people who are loyal to you and your brand simply because they LOVE it!
Now, truth time…when our sweet Caroline was starting POSH PR® and beginning the branding process, she made the mistake of doubting herself. She was trying to fit-in, and not be “too pink”, “too frou frou”, or “too girly” (like there could be such a thing?!). Not only was she not being true to herself, but she was attracting the wrong clientele! I think she says it best by simply stating, “There was a disconnect between my brand and my heart.”. So, she changed her brand and business to better reflect all of the things she loves--champagne, pink kisses, pretty inspiration, and fashion being just a few of those! I’m not going to tell you that it’s not scary…that it doesn’t feel like taking a giant, blind leap; I’m only going to say that it’s worth it. Sure, Caroline lost followers, but it was to be expected…they’d yet to see just how truly FABULOUS both she and her brand are! And, less than a full year later, she’d rebuilt her followers to a number bigger and more impressive than ever—7,500!! There is NOTHING better than a truly loyal tribe of followers, dolls
In parting, we’d like to say it again…never doubt yourself! You won’t only eliminate competition with your contagious confidence, but you will find your ideal niche—a tribe of wonderful, devoted enthusiasts of your authentic brand. Although it’s much easier said than done, take that leap, sweet friends…it is SO worth it!
XOXO
PS: Stay tuned for the 3rd addition to The Unicorn Guide series, coming next Monday (April 11th). We’ll be breaking-down the best ways to Inspire Your Ideal Client!