Listen to Jessica’s testimonial.

Read Stephanie’s story:

I am not a person who easily drops money on stuff (vintage dishes and organic food notwithstanding), and I am always hesitant to spend money on myself (don’t even ask how long it’s been since my last haircut). After stumbling across Shenee’s website and reading through the archives, I signed up for the free 5-day branding workshop emails and found myself actually DOING the work after they arrived. I know you know what I mean, you with the budding business in the back of your mind, you with the impulse buy website domain name & the idea that won’t quit you. I bet you were like me, and spent time at your day job reading all about starting your own business, but never actually moving forward. I was, too, until Shenee’s proverbial kick-in-the-ass.

But, because I freak out about spending money, I was hesitant to enroll in HBA. Was it for me & my business since we were still embryonic compared to people with websites and business cards, people whose businesses paid taxes, people who had Clients with a capital C?

I emailed Shenee & just asked her, because I have no problem contacting random internet people and asking for their opinions. She replied that the course was intended to also work for people like me, and, it turns out she wasn’t lying just to get my money—HBA is valuable, even if you are just starting out, with no website, no paying clients, just a business plan and the drive to move forward.

I will make the caveat that I feel that HBA is only for you if you have a (somewhat) defined sense of what you intend to offer in your business, though. My business is just a paid version of volunteer work I was already doing throughout my community. So, even though I had no official business, I knew my demographic, my services, what I brought to the table. This is key as you work through the program. While some things might change and morph with the week’s activities, and lightbulb-epiphanies can occur, I feel you need to have some defined starting place to fully reap the benefits.

Note from Shenee: Yes, if you are tring to figure out if you want tto sale apples or be a life coach, HBA is not for you. 
Thanks to the course, I avoided some blunders and mistakes before I even put my business-baby out into the world. Competition is fierce in both the internet world and the real-world, so starting from a place of clarity, servitude and effective copy is key.

Now, thanks to HBA, I have my web copy ready to go, my website is being built, I have my first paying client. I feel confident and ready to birth my business out into the world.

Some advice, from one random internet person to another: Before you invest in business cards, before you buy crazy expensive software programs, before you drop hundreds of business books on Amazon, enroll in HBA. Shenee will kick your ass into gear & hold your hand AT THE SAME TIME, and afterward, your business will be better for it.

Engagement is gonna be one of those things that will be a “buzz word” in about a year or so and you can say that you heard it here first, folks!

So, what is engagement?

You can’t just show up and be awesome.

You have to get people to CARE about what you do, mkay? They have to CARE. So, how do you get people to care?

You talk to them in a way that gets them to talk back.

Best way to do that?

Get people to talk about themselves.

In yesterday’s workshop we explored the process of creating content based off of the problems and questions people have for YOU.

Let’s talk about the power of getting people to answer questions and talk about themselves.

Let me first say that this is my most powerful business building tool and there was a time that I was using this method almost everyday.

Why asking questions is so effective:

It gets people to vocalize whatever is going on in their head

They now know that YOU understand who they are and what they are going through in a way they might not have realized before.All of the sudden, your people are TALKING to you. YAY.

How it works:

Think about the problems you solve. What kind of questions can you ask them about what they are going through?

If you are on my list, this method is probably already familiar to you.

Let’s use a dog trainer as an example.

If you train dogs, what kind of questions can you ask your potiental clients?

Example that immediately strikes a chord with me (because I am currently working on training my dog):

What is your dog walking experience like? How would you like to improve it?

Why this question works:

• It’s open-ended and primed to give you great feedback
• It invites people to share a “story” and not just answer.
• It gives people the impression that you could help them improve the situation
• It helps you figure out what type of support/help folks need around dog walking
• Your audience is primed for content/products that explore this problem

Now that you have this information, you can create content and products that you KNOW they want because they have already told you what they needed.

If you ask a question once a day, I promise you will see HUGE results in the effectiveness of your offers and the response to your blog posts WILL increase.

I created a little brand engagement worksheet for a talk I did a while ago and I think it is perfect for helping you with this.

Your DIY Engagement Plan

This is a simple plan for using questions to build your brand on a daily basis. Super simple. Super easy.  You’ll get great results right away.

I created a little video to show them how to use it and I figured  you guys could use it too!

Check that out here. 

Missed the last few workshops? Check them out here:

What is a brand, anyway? 

How to build a brand empire 

How to: Brand Your Personality 

How to write content people care about 

ant more?  Sign up for the last Hot Brand Action of the year.

Like it? Please  share!

You’ll get a preview of what a typical chapter looks like. You’ll also see how much fun we have along the way.

Who are we branding today? This lovely lady.

How would Edna Mode write content for her people?

Download the workshop!

(this is a sample chapter so the links are not live yet but the video above is what I am talking about)

Let me know what you think of this chapter! It’s one of my favorites. So useful!

 Want more?  Sign up for the last Hot Brand Action of the year.

Missed a workshop?  Here is what we have so far:

What is a brand, anyway? 

How to build a brand empire 

How to: Brand Your Personality 

Like it? Please  share!

Ok, let’s get started.

Let me start off by saying that “personality” doesn’t mean you have to be loud, exciting or even super nice.

It means bringing YOU online.

Your passions.
Your quirks.

You can brand your personality with these 3 questions/ideas

“What do you want people to KNOW about you?”
What are you passionate about?
What are some other fun extra bits about you?

Guess who is the example today?

That would be me.

HOLLA.

Hey Shenee is IN THE BUILDING

Here is my brand personality map.

Let’s start by just looking at what I just wrote.

HOLLA!

Hey Shenee is IN THE BUILDING

So, what does this say about who I am in real-life? What can you expect when you come here?

I like to keep it light + fun as much as possible.
I am not taking  isn’t taking myself too seriously.

Other examples:

RYAN GOSLING is my class mascot.

I am obviously very passionate about design. I have put a lot of work and energy in making sure my design is on-point. Even the details. In fact, this whole branding series shows my commitment to design. I LOVE IT.

Transparency:

I have written posts about going broke, getting in digital fights and so many other things.

Pop Culture:

It’s everywhere. On my site. In my newsletters. Everywhere.

The idea is to start small. How can you let your people know more about what you are interested in outside of working?

Can you make an analogy?

One of my first blog posts was about Keanu Reeves.

What Keanu Reeves Can Teach us About Branding

Can you invite them to do something with you?

My friend Michelle is REALLY into tea and she will be doing a tea class.

Can  your other interests help strengthen  your brand?

So, for example, Erika of the Daily Whip REALLY loves TV. She gets lots of inspiration from shows.
This past weekend she live-tweeted Shark Tank.

Engagement + Personality branding at the same time! Wee!

The key is to do this authentically!

Do not blow up/over emphasize a part of your personality because you believe it will make you more likeable.

It won’t.

Here is a blank one for you to look at:

Just getting some of your ideas on paper is a GREAT place to start then pick 1 little piece of information to focus on.

BABY STEPS.

I am a BRAND STRATEGIST so I can brand myself. It’s what I do. But if you aren’t a brand strategist don’t get caught up in giving the world ALL of you at once.

• Post a picture of a childhood crush.
• Write a post about a hard time in your life.
• Post a video.
• Get a mascot.

So, have any ideas on how you can bring more “you-ness” to the table? Need some help figuring out how this will work for you? Go ahead and comment here!

Want to learn more about creating your own personality-driven brand? You are in the right place, my friend.

Jump into Hot Brand Action!

I have put a LOT of hard work into creating these workshops and I would love for them to get into the digital hands of as many people as possible.

Please SHARE the love. Email, tweet, facebook + all of the other ways we share things nowadays.

To hold you over, 2 options:

Watch this awesome copywriting tutorial

OR

Look at THIS!

DECISIONS!

You can TOTALLY do both.

Some of the highlights:

• How she wrote the copy for her new sparkly service using HBA and managed to sell it out in 2 weeks
• How she filled her new program with HBA hotties
• What she loved the most about the class

I’m a digital copywriter and I help people tell their business stories online. My work is about giving brands a unique voice so they can really stand out and attract the right kinds of customers.

Where were you in your business before the class started?

I’d been freelancing as a writer for over 3 years and I recently gave my site a revamp and started a blog. With the blog especially, I just felt it was really important to have a clear message and brand that people would connect with.

What were you struggling with most?

I was really struggling to connect with potential customers and explain what I could do for them beyond simply writing their copy. I knew I had more to bring to the table but I couldn’t convey it.   

What did you like most about the class?

I loved having access to Shenee because she really knows her stuff. To be able to get feedback from everyone through the Facebook page was awesome. For a solo operator like me, this is worth the cost alone. I also enjoyed meeting all the great women on the course, hearing their stories and watching them build their brands.

What are you most proud of?

My bio – I’ve never had a better one. I also love my “battle cry” which has become my new tagline. It expresses what I’m all about much more clearly than before.

What was the most challenging part of the class?

At times it felt like you were putting yourself and your ideas out there. I think that’s really scary for everyone so it was great to be able to do it in such a supportive environment.

How do you think the class will influence your brand in the future?

Well I’m taking the class again! So I’m guessing I will get even more out of it this time.

Any final thoughts about this experience?

Just that I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to build a brand they can be proud of. Shenee is awesome! I’m so glad I came across her when I did

The before and after tagline!

Listen to the case study!

Here is the manifesto she created