Are You Ready For Your Close-Up?

We all know branding is about finding your ideal niche, understanding how to differentiate yourself and communicating your message clearly to engage your audience. However, a HUGE part of branding is the visual image you create to represent your promise of value.

We often think of the image of the brand as the logo or even the colors and fonts on your website. Those are all very, very important. However, if you are solopreneur one of the most important aspects of brand image is your own face!

Your brand may be the face of your business, but as a solopreneur, YOUR face is the face of your brand. @HeatherPoduska (Tweet this)

How you represent yourself personally both online and in the flesh is extremely important. Your audience will [Read more…]

Why Pretty Always Wins

“And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.”

Genesis 12:14-16

Since the dawn of time, beautiful people have had an advantage. The gods have favored them with good looks and the rest of us mere mortals shower them with gifts, love and money for simply winning big in the gene pool. This chick got Pharaoh to cough up some serious loot just because she had small pores and shiny hair. It’s just not fair!

Well, fair or not, it is so. There are definitely advantages to being beautiful and they’re not just superficial. Did you know  [Read more…]

“Does Your Brand Feel Pretty?”

Don’t you just love those days when you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror to see your skin has cleared up? Or when you spin around to  notice the past ten weeks of spinning class have finally firmed up your back side? And the best one, your prayer to the hair gods have finally been answered and you are having one of those rare perfect hair days? Doesn’t it just make you feel great? I can just see you now doing a happy dance in your pj’s.

Now let me ask you another question. What do you see when you look in the brand mirror? Does what you see make you feel like grinning from ear to ear, or does it make you feel like you wished you had just pulled the covers over your head and gone back to sleep? If so, ask yourself why are you living with a less than stellar brand image? [Read more…]

When Being in the Red Isn’t Bad for Business.

“I’m so mad, I’m seeing red.” “He’ll never make the leap, he’s totally yellow.” “I wish the sun would come out, I’m feeling blue.” Our brains are programmed to make many specific associations to color, so much so, we have woven those associations into our everyday language.

Because of the powerful effect color has on our psyches, it is one of the best tools we have to strengthen our brand impact. You can use those innate associations to your advantage, but first you must be clear about what kind of associations you want your audience to make with you and your business. Once you are clear about your desired impact,  you can choose colors that  resonate with the core message of your brand to engage your ideal clients. Pretty cool!

The spectrum of possibilities is endless, so how are you going to choose the palette that’s just right for your brand?

Here are a few tips… [Read more…]

Does Your Brand Look Good Naked?

Have you ever found yourself paging through one of those celebrity fashion magazines feeling a little cynical? That little green monster creeps in as you compare yourself to all those gorgeous ingenues. You comfort yourself by making excuses as to why they are there looking so beautiful and you are still living the life of a mere mortal woman. How hard is it to look beautiful when you’re wearing a glitzy dress or ball gown? After all, it’s one of the most flattering things a woman can wear. It’s all smoke and mirrors you think. Peel away the glitz and glamour and underneath it all they are probably not that special. Or at least you hope. [Read more…]

Is your Brand a Brown Box or a Thoughtful Gift?

Content is king, right? That’s what we are told over and over again. While I believe you need to have quality services and products to offer your clients, I don’t believe great content is a panacea for drawing in and converting eager clients. Substantive content is vital to building a valuable and trustworthy brand, however, it isn’t necessarily what is going to grab the attention of your audience.  What you need to go along with your relevant content is enticing packaging.

There, I’ve said it. You can all start throwing your tomatoes now. I know for many people the idea of glorifying packaging is exactly what they dislike about marketing. They feel it devalues the core of the message or product they are creating and selling. As consumers we sometimes [Read more…]