How do you turn your business into a well recognized brand?
This is an area where a lot of entrepreneurs struggle in making that transition.
They’ve focused for so long on building the systems in their business, that they haven’t created a personal identity to connect with their consumers.
Now, I’m known as the MAN UP guy with my new book coming out. Craig is known as the guy who brings structure and discipline to people’s lives.
To stand out from the competition and run a successful empire, you need to build a brand.
People today are more interested in how they can connect with you and your brand than the logistics of what your product or service offers.
Today, Craig and I are going to talk about the 7 strategies from personal brand building in order to take you from business to brand.
#1: Deep Connection With End User
When we run our Fit Body Boot Camp Universities for new owners that come on board, I tell them “Listen, we’ll focus on growing the global brand, but we want you to focus on growing the local brand.”
The deep connection with the end user happens when we take Fit Body Boot Camp outside of our studios and into the community.
For example, we put on charity drives, organized mud runs, 5K’s, etc.
We even throw a cocktail party at the end of our 6 week challenge where the ladies can pull out their little black dresses and celebrate their success together.
A unique identity gets built around these kinds of events because it makes people think “gee, this is more than just a fitness place. This is a place I have a community.”
We’ve found that when we do these mud runs and 5K’s and charity drives, it creates a sense of retention and referrals.
Word of mouth is branding that simply can’t be bought.
#2: Inspires Change
When you’re building a brand, I like to look at it on the global level and the local level.
For Fit Body Boot Camp, we’re a franchise with locations all over the world. So my job is to build the brand globally.
Our big mission right now is donating $3 of every single on boarding client fee to Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals.
That’s tens of thousands of dollars every month.
We let it be known that we’re all about change and making an impact.
Our global impact in this case is helping the children in communities who need medical procedures, but their families can’t afford it.
When people have a choice between Fit Body Boot Camp and another fitness business, all things being equal, they’re going to go with us because we are change driven.
On the local level, we run a “Girls’ Night Out” Promo. This program isn’t designed around scale weight, but around women feeling confident and sexy in their skin no matter what stage of life they’re in.
Then they go out at the end, wear their dresses, and celebrate the change of breaking out from the “mom in sweatpants.”
#3: Leading With Courage and Confidence in a Changing Environment
Leading with courage and confidence simply means we are in the changing times.
Through technology, the internet, and so many other factors, the economy is changing rapidly. And if you’re not changing with it, then you will perish.
A successful brand is one who leads change rather than run from it.
We use websites and apps to generate traffic and clients in Fit Body Boot Camp locations.
I CRINGE when I see businesses still sending out postcards to homes. In this day and age, sending a postcard is like sending a carrier pigeon.
Those $2,000 – $5,000 postcards a month could go towards running effective funnels on social media, and generate $50,000 in clients just by embracing change.
Brands like ours have an obligation to embrace change and lead from the front.
#4: Creating a Future That is Impossible to Ignore
I talk a lot about Elon Musk, because he’s an entrepreneur I highly respect. He has the courage and confidence to lead a rapidly changing environment.
The guy not only changed the game for electric cars, he’s also working with NASA and crushing the big military giants who send equipment to the international space station.
He’s sending equipment more frequently and at a lower price than any of the global conglomerates in that space.
Now THAT impact is impossible to ignore.
#5: A Brand is Loved and Gets People Excited
If you’re a brand getting love from the community and you have people who are excited to work for you, you’re already ahead of the game.
That kind of support and love is difficult for any competition to fight against.
I used to think that Fit Body Boot Camp just got lucky in creating that environment. But we’ve got owners and clients with FBBC tattoos – that kind of dedication isn’t accidentally created, it’s manufactured.
I’ve found it’s through culture and morale and having your own language that gets people excited about your brand.
If you have great morale in your studio or amongst your team, then culture is automatically born as a byproduct.
Through morale and leadership, we’ve built an amazing culture at the studio level, team level, and corporate level.
#6: Take A Stand
Apple took a stand against ugly electronics. Elon Musk took a stand against badly designed electronic cars.
Fit Body Boot Camp is taking stand against obesity.
There is only one competition I’m really worried about, and that’s the food organizations marketing horrible food and false advertisements.
Guess what? Sugar free ain’t as healthy as you think.
If you can take a stand on any one thing, you can crush your competition.
#7: Tripling Down on Employees
For any entrepreneurs reading this, and you have empire size ambitions, then you have to triple down on your employees.
In fact, it makes me cringe to call them employees. I think of them as team members, I’m just the team captain.
You can’t build an empire without an efficient high performance team, and you have to invest in each person to grow your business.
Even if I end up losing them, I look at it as I’m losing them but I’m making the world a better place because they’re going to go out there and be more effective in whatever they do.
I want fighter jets all around me, not crop dusters who can’t perform and crumble under stress.
So if I want fighter jets, then I have to build them up to be the best versions of themselves.
And if I’ve got a grand vision to impact millions of lives, I can’t do it alone. Which is why I have to replicate my effort and skills through every team member.
That is how I force multiply my growth.
To listen to Craig and I cover all of this and more, click here to watch our podcast.