Thank You To

TRANSCRIPTION  of Chapter 1 of Season 2 – Crafting Your Perfect Ideal Client (or Audience) Profile

00:00:02 – 00:05:00

Welcome to design speaks the podcast that helps you discover uncommon inspiration. See you can make more meaningful work. I’m brandy see my co host is Julie Hyder. This week we’re GONNA be talking about what it takes to find your voice. Stay tuned for that later in the show. Ideally. Welcome back. Yes, it’s been so excited. I I know that we had a couple of episodes to keep people from forgetting about us over the summer, but they didn’t really get to hear. US like this so I’m sure that they’re glad if you. Just kidding. How could you live without us every week for twelve weeks this summer. Yeah. So I’m really excited to be back. We have a lot of really amazing episodes we’ve planned and recorded for you guys, and we did record a lot ahead of time. So pardon us if there’s anything we refer to that’s like holy cow that was a long time ago you guys wanted to do this so it is. What are we today June? Stays June twenty fifth. So just so you know, but we were thinking about you this long ago. So I’m really excited about all the the episode topics I feel like The first half of the season was all about just kind of like getting your mindset in anything in talking about the different aspects of being a business owner in a creative and our kind of getting down to the the nitty gritty of like. All right let’s make this thing work. Yeah. So a lot of a lot of season one was like a little bit more in your mind and a little bit more on your habits, and this is going to be a bit more actionable while i. hope that. Every episode that we no matter what we talk about that, there’s always something you can take action on but. This is a little bit more practical like if you need to actually physically and a lot of these. Things we’re going to talk about do you can do that? So we’re excited to give you some some tools and some cool ideas and today we’re GONNA be talking about how how brand works what it is, how to find it and yeah. So I’m excited for that me too so. Inspiration has been even for me since Cova started months and months ago to really feel hard to come by and for for me to say that is. is kind of crazy because I can generally find something inspiring anywhere and I’m not sure if that’s because. You know location wise inside the house or if it’s you know just. Mental exhaustion from having to do life completely differently, and but something that has really been inspiring to me, and that’s going to actually coincidentally relate very much to what we’re GONNA be talking about today is I have shifted into doing more creative cutting and. Helping designers grow and teaching my strategic process via. Zoom calls and things like that, and in that process I’ve also been talking with other creatives that do the same thing and. I’ve been inspired by the community I’ve been inspired by wanting to help more than I ever have and not just because I want to make money for you know people to pay me for what I do, which obviously as a business owner, I have to get paid for my expertise but. Just realizing you know when someone I’m talking to you know even in a d m says like you know, wow, that really made a difference or I’m going to be using X. Y. or Z. that you said in your post like in something I’m doing right now and realizing that like I am making a difference and that I want to help others make a difference by like what I teach. I. I developed my very own little ven diagram based on all of this, and it’s it’s how to find purpose and so I will talk about that a little bit more later in the show as to like how that looks and I will I will put a link link for a free download to that on the show notes but I just was was very I have been very inspired by other people and Hoping that something that I can do can impact them, and so that was that directly. Related to me actually creating something so that I can continue to do that and help people dig a little deeper into their voice. Yeah. Yeah. I’m really excited to go over your van. Diagram I.

00:05:00 – 00:10:17

went to see the doctor I’d come down with blue she said I can’t cure you. But here’s something new. Do take a piece of paper and go sit down for a while and drove pretty picture of something that makes you spa I know what makes me happy Thing for. But when I dry to dry, it always came around I had a box of twelve, forty, eight and sixty four. But nowhere could I find that one shade I was looking for I? Guess I realize should come as no surprise. Mel Doesn’t think. That was Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes. Kristen Andresson I’ve been listening to this song I. Really Think it’s fun. It’s it’s a little bit quirky and. Interesting to me because it has really a simple beat and the lyrics are really fun. Obviously I love color and I love songs that talk about color but I was really interested in the fact that this one was referencing specific colors in it, and it also sort of reminded me about you know the struggle to find the right way to describe ourselves. The person singing the song is talking about trying to find a color of the eyes of the person that she loves and nothing is measuring up and sometimes it’s like that for us as creatives or searching for the exact perfect thing and sometimes there’s not a perfect thing and sometimes we just have to choose something, and in this episode, we’re talking a lot about finding your voice and I feel like the Song Sorta has that idea in the title Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes. It’s sort of like there is no perfect solution for how we describe ourselves to others. It’s a mix of things. It’s a mix of different colors. It’s how we talk about ourselves. It’s in the colors we show actually it’s in the we use and the voice we talk in and all of these things come together to make something that’s really interesting. Cool and maybe there’s nothing perfect. There’s not going to be that one perfect color but hopefully, there’s something that can still be fun and interesting in how we describe ourselves. So this songs been on repeat my kids and I have been listening to that a lot and I thought it was really fun to share with. There’s no way I can capture the way make. One look from using. Blue. Green Teal no color qualifies that crowns telling. Does make. Hey look. At Gun. Twenty. Just can’t get that sparkle, and with that, we can start on the awesome topic of brand voice. So I think we both have a little bit of a different perspective on what what brand voice is. So I’M GONNA. Let you start with your perspective and kind of how you maybe how you have found yours and yeah, a little bit about that. Yeah. So so many different elements. That come together to make your brand voice and we could probably talk all day about the different. Yeah. Different aspects. So but I think a couple of things that have been just really a major part of me finding my brand voice. I know of mentioned before earlier in this season of Ow finding your y and I really really loved the process that Simonson Khazanah’s book. Start. With why and Find Your Y. and it just showed me like my as a person what my wife life is, and then I was able to translate that into how that shows up in my business, and that just gave me like a completely new perspective on things and it really helped me know what to say to potential clients and as I’m marketing to people what the purpose of my. Business is and how it can help people, and so I think I can’t recommend doing that process enough to people whether you’re a business owner or not I think just like knowing your your personal life why is incredibly valuable but I, think that’s a great place to start for knowing your brand voice. It’s a really great foundation and the another thing that I think was really beneficial with going through. Building. A story brand by Donald Miller and that’s just a really great. processed. As well, which I think it links up really really well with. Your Hawaii then you can kind of present what you uniquely. Two years target market in a way that. Isn’t even about you actually? It’s about it’s about, yeah it’s about how you can help them as their story, but it’s showing how you uniquely can help them in that journey that they’re taking of moving away from whatever their problem is to whatever solution you’re offering.

00:10:17 – 00:15:07

So I think those two things are really major I. felt way more confident in my a brand voice and not just confident. But just knowing that I was like that I had found the right brand voice I think it’s always evolving obviously, but I feel like it’s a very specific thing for me now, where before I went through those two processes it was More general like it didn’t feel quite as Uniquely. Me I guess, now I have no doubt that you know like nobody else has my exact why right and nobody else’s telling this story, the same way as me. So those are filaments that were really helpful for me, but there’s a lot involve to like your values are incredibly important in that is going to like kind of bleed into everything that you do and your personalities like knowing now my instagram type. That hugely actually fits into my Wi- which is really interesting and your perspective on life is going to come into that. Interior businesses while especially you know if you’re if it’s just you and your business like that’s especially true. Absolutely. Yeah. And I. I think that a lot of the people that I would venture to say because my ideal. For. This podcast is a professional creative and that can be someone who works in an office or it can be an agency but the the stats are often reflective of the fact that there are a lot more creative professional’s who are independent these days than ever especially with everything that’s happened with Cova. I think that. People are thinking about how they can do things on their own a lot more I. Think you’re right that brand voice is very, very personal. and. I think regardless of whether you are the only person. This or If you are the person that maybe owns a business that runs it. I was having a I’ve had a couple of conversations with a client and a potential client. And told them before. Before you answer any question about what you do in your business, you need to determine what your goals are as a person like, what what are your personal goals and how does that relate in your business? What are your goals leave for Your Business, right? Yeah. I think that also kind of helps you step out of the box of like this is how designers work this is. Design Agencies, students, how wedding photographers run their business when you instead of just like stepping on that? Ed. Just running with it if you’re looking at your unique voice. And your unique goals. That’s going to help you kind of step out of that which I do think sending out of the box is a good thing in many ways and so like structuring your business differently and marketing yourself differently is gonNA come from that. Yeah of knowing your goals and not just like Oh. This is the industry standard of what I should be trying to attain right? Yeah, and It’s it’s always I what I’m what I’m realizing more and more now that I’m doing a lot more strategy and a lot more a lot less. Design work is that even just saying, I’m a brand strategist. Some of the first questions that come are oval. Can you tell me? Can you tell me if my If my web page looks good. Or can you can you just give me a new business card or my trucks need some new stickers or something and it’s like okay. Let’s take a step back like I want to do design work for you but we need to decide like do we even need to do that is not even something that’s going to matter to your target. And in in your brand voice, you’re GonNa need to find the authenticity to and not just doing not just doing just to do like you said just because that’s what people think is supposed to be a part of whatever kind of business the you run. Yeah. It’s GonNa, point you in the direction that your business is going to go when I switched to doing from doing big traditional weddings to doing laments. Only, I was getting a lot of requests for like, Oh we just need you for an hour just to cover our ceremony in a few pictures afterwards, and initially I was taken that because I was like, Hey, this is a job. You know I, need to take this job because I’m kind of starting fresh and everything but when I started looking into what my values were and and all those different things.

00:15:08 – 00:20:02

I also realized that that doesn’t fulfill me and I know we’ve talked about this before like you’ve really gotta do the things that are filling you up and not the things that are are taking from you, which is going to lead to feeling locked creatively in night inspired and all that stuff, and then just like happiness to yeah. But when you when you know those things that goes into your brand voice to of instead of me just saying like. I do elopement. I’m very specific about the kind of Alumi- that I wanNA, help people create and have happened and me photograph and that Lake sets a different expectation So I’m not just getting anybody WHO’s eloping trying to you know work with me. It’s I’m painting the picture of this is what fulfills meanwhile Ireland. This is how I can help you and this is what we can create for you and everything. So I think a brand voices really important and. There’s a lot of introspection. Yes. That you need to do before. You’re just like, Hey, I’m here. This is what I do. Let’s do it. Yeah. Really understanding and I’m sure that there there are a lot of people out there that. Just want just want you to say Here’s how you do your brand voice just say these things or just show you know these kind of pictures and While, that is part of a brand strategy. That’s not that’s not the voice, and so I think if I if I could explain it another way, it would be almost like. Brand voice is literally. Almost. Like a slang like A. Away that you talk away the that you. Say things that no one else does one of the just like a physical. Yeah it is and so if you if you really. I think that a lot of times we as humans and especially creatives like we. We try to make things more complicated than they need to be, and we try to like think about them real heavy or but why do they call it a brand voice because it’s literally how you say things about yourself or your company or your brand? Yeah. Anyone could be saying the same exact words like you and I could read this same paragraph and we’re gonna read it differently with different voices and so it’s the same thing lake. Your Voice is going to bring across the message differently than someone else which is good because every business needs to be differentiated from each other. We don’t all need to be exactly the same right, and in that there there are nuances and things that. Certain people will get and other people will be put off by, and that’s how you find your people like that’s people that don’t appr- don’t really care about color theory or you know. Finding inspiration in in the I dunno cracks belief or something like I do or Aren’t aren’t going to follow me. You know they might think it’s frivolous or it’s silly or I don’t know. Those people because they’re not. But those might be someone else’s people have a different way of of motivating them to create better work and that’s okay and I want to have the people that resonate with me and can hear what I have to say and can hear when I get fiery about something and. You know either be challenged it or be encouraged by. And when you can find your people, your fans, your brand ambassadors. That’s that’s what happens when you use your voice. And so I, the thing that I kind of alluded to earlier with what I created I created this ven diagram because I’ve been I was working with. A client and trying to figure out like, will you know like we talked about what? What is it that you? What are your goals? So, there’s there’s questions that I ask about goals. There’s purpose there’s Dreams and aspirations, and those are all different things like they sound similar. But they’re all really different and what do you want to focus on and so? The. Why is definitely a part of this? Overarching things. So I I strongly suggest as Julie said that you if you do only one of these things that you do the why finding your way any Graham is. Is a lot deeper of work and I. I suggest that you do that also, if you feel like you were able to and then the story brand thing is like next level for me it’s like why than any Graham and then start story brand or a kind of like it’s it’s taking all that new information that you have and. Tying it up to be able to present it to your potential clients. Like I said I will I will put this up for download because it’s it’s hard to guess picture.

00:20:02 – 00:25:08

But if you know what diagram as it circles overlapping, have like a common meeting place in the middle and this particular ven diagram. Is to find purpose. It’s not exhaustive by any means it’s meant to be sort of a quick and easy thing to us but one side, there’s three circles and one is interest, which is things you stuff you’re interested in and what you’re curious about. Then there’s intelligence what you’re good at what skills you have and what you know about, and then there’s intention which is how you want to change things whether that’s you know with your services or through your products who you want to help. So in that is your target audience and where you can make a difference and that’s where you want your message to live basically, and so once you can fill these things in. You should find some common ground in the middle and that will help you find your purpose, which will lead you to figuring out your brand voice because it encompasses a lot of the things that you are. It’s what you know about is what you’re good at. It’s who you care about and. In that, you will then be able to move forward a lot more strategically with your brand voice and really be confident that Lake Okay. This is actually me because all these questions. Are Reflective of you, and then obviously that goes a whole other different direction on you start to include the story brand stuff. Then it’s not about you but you have to know who you are. Yea I. Yeah and what you’re offering and an your unique perspective on things and how you’re you know I remember kind of I guess when I started. Doing my business full time. And I was reading about like your unique selling point and I was like how the heck do I figure this out and I just couldn’t come with anything that fell. Like. Me Or unique lake at all just still felt very general and I never liked that kind of I just felt stuck. So I kind of moved on. But I, think this is a really great like just to sit down and tackle each of those topics that you have on the ven diagram to just have a notebook and sit down and. Just. Taking afternoon to think about like what are your goals and how do you want to help people and and what kind of experienced you have that like it may not actually feel that unique to you. But just riding down the things that you do feel like you’re an expert in. Not everyone in your field is an expert in all of those things especially, not in like the unique combination you have and then when to write all that stuff down like that’s a really great knowing all that stuff is a great way to move for for so many different things and I think even like sometimes when I write down stuff like that it’s like, oh I, can make each of these different things into an instagram post something to put on my website. Like suddenly you have all these I have because you know your voice right and you you know you know that you know what you’re talking about. There’s yeah. There’s also another tool that I that I’ve I taught when I was teaching at the college and I did a did a Instagram TV video awhile back on making a box and this is sort of another angle on finding your unique selling point is basically, people are going to put you in a box anyway. They think about you what they think you do all that stuff and They will do that if you don’t make the box for yourself, you have to tell them what you stand for. You have to tell them what you believe in and what you do and how you do it. I basically created this this idea of like make an actual box. On sheet of paper, just four sides and finding your your unique selling point by on one side of the box is your your ideal audience, your target person, and telling that story another side is your competitive advantage. So really looking deeply. What do you do? What one to two things do you do really? Well, not just are you good at it? What could you objectively say that you’re maybe even better at than a lot of other people and then another side of this is unmet needs so Of the things that like you’re good at what are some what are some unmet needs maybe in? In that realm that you can use your skills to answer, and fill the holes may be for someone that whether it’s a product that needed making or needed improving or a service that you offer that maybe you do better than someone else and then the last thing, and this is the one that I generally have. The most trouble with myself is feedback and testing is the last side and this is where you you real- you? Can Get to the heart of what resonates with people. And that’s by just starting to talk about this. So you have all these three sides and you have all these things from the diagram like you said, it gives you some content right and gives you some ideas on what you can talk about what you can show, but then you still have to kind of test it no way to guarantee.

00:25:09 – 00:30:08

What your voice is saying to people. Yeah and if they’re going to talk back unless you talk. And so the last piece is getting that feedback and listening to people and then. By the time you get enough feedback you’ll have found your unique selling point because you’ll see by analytics or by comments or any of the really measurable things like what are people responding to? Okay. This is the thing. Yeah Yeah, and if you’re feeling stuck on some of those things like. Even, if you’re having a hard time picking out what you feel like you’ve really really excel that. You know if you have a friend in the industry who understands they’re doing the same thing is used to they understand what you’re doing and they could say like, yeah, you’re really good at this. Yeah. Sometimes, you just need an outside perspective because I feel like one hundred percents every little aspect of S.’s. You know. So it’s all like swirling around in our heads and to figure out. What stands out is really hard. It’s it’s kind of like Donald Miller talks about and building storebrand. The cursive knowledge is like as a business owner, you know everything about the business. So how do you know what to like what questions you need to be answering to people who don’t know anything about it is Kinda. The same thing with yourself like you know everything about you. So what is it that people actually need to know that you’re not actually like putting four? Yeah, it’s hard to be objective and honestly there where I’m operating from right now is the result of an sort of accidental third party giving me some insight that I wasn’t really looking for like it wasn’t wasn’t like I was actively searching out for my like unique selling point on anything. I was pretty solid on the fact that like I do design strategy and I work with the process that no one else does like that have been my us p. for like years. And then Hugh Weber, and just like a conversation we were having at some point said like. You know I don’t know anybody that looks at inspiration the way you do I don’t know anybody that can that he and he he’s a creative coach like he is. On the Board for J. National, like he talks to creatives all the time and so when he told me like the way that you find inspiration is like nothing I’ve ever seen before you need you need to use that and I was just like Yeah Holy Crap. How have I been I’ve been doing this my entire life and so yeah, I didn’t see it because it’s just something I did like it wasn’t like a like a thing. I had to offer. It was just like a thing I did it’s like I just wash my teeth in the morning or something. Yeah having an outside perspective definitely helps a lot and we’re also here if you guys needs like just an objective third party who doesn’t know you to like take a look at what you’re doing and say like. I don’t know what you do, but here’s what it looks like you do. And sometimes, even just that it’s like, oh? That’s not what I was trying to say at all. Thank you. Definitely. So I think we did a really good job. Julie us on our own backs. Yeah no I think this is a really great action actionable steps of finding your brand voice, and there’s so many there are so many aspects to it. But I think getting like a solid foundation. You’ll be able to build from there definitely, and just an it’s always going to be a learning. Yeah. No constantly learning and you know your. Your accent will say, may change in your voice over time. Yeah and that’s totally fine. But how what you have to say? Will always be your voice and just as a sidebar creative voice I don’t think it’s the same thing as brand voice and so i. hope that we can either give you guys a bonus episode at some point or find a way to help you out with that. It’s not in our actual twelve episode plan, but in planning for this one. We kind of stumbled upon the fact that there may be some confusion and maybe some clarity needed between brand voice and creative voice and I do not want to leave you guys hanging. So stay tuned. We’ll probably figure something out to give you similar info on that. We appreciate you being here and hope that you got a lot out of this episode. Does. Job. Again. That was Crayola doesn’t make a color for your eyes by Kristen. Andros. In you can find this song and lots of other inspiring music on our spotify playlist just search music from design speaks. Alright everybody that’s our episode for today if you enjoy this show and want to support US become one of our exclusive patrons over at Patriotair.

00:30:08 – 00:30:49

Dot Com slash design speaks where you’ll have access to some extended episodes and fun bonus content. Design speaks is produced by Kenneth Nathan and Dakota Cook Audio Production by the Podcast AIDS thanks to Colin from Vesper team for our theme music, you can find vespa teen on Apple Music and spotify design speaks is a project of brandy see designs it is recorded and produced in the shadow of the Watermelon Pink Sandia mountains near Albuquerque New Mexico. You can leave us a note on Instagram at design speaks podcast, and you can find all current and past episodes at design speaks PODCAST DOT com. Thanks for listening until next time.