007: Execute and Elevate: Mastering Branding

In this seventh week of Blueprint to Breakthrough on Money Maker Monday, the focus is on consistency and executing business strategies to create long-term success. Listeners are encouraged to adopt the Relentless Execution Tracker to enhance daily priorities and eliminate distractions. Key topics include the importance of branding, optimizing LinkedIn and Instagram for visibility, and preparing for effective DM sales. The session underscores the necessity of consistent brand messaging and provides actionable steps for refining one's brand, boosting online presence through SEO, and engaging with potential clients. The episode concludes by emphasizing the value of execution over seeking validation, and listeners are encouraged to start the audiobook 'The Let Them Theory' by Mel Robbins to further transform their business approach.

 Relentless Execution Tracker

This podcast episode is exclusively for members and accountability partners of Blueprint to Breakthrough®. All content provided is for educational and motivational purposes only. Results may vary based on individual effort and application.

For more information and resources, visit www.sarahbethherman.com.

If you have any questions or need support, reach out through the cohort connection channel in Microsoft Teams. Let’s keep growing together!

Chapters

• 2:15 Mindset Shift: Success is in Execution
• 4:37 The Relentless Execution Tracker
• 5:26 Branding & Visibility: Your Business Needs Trust
• 10:45 Optimizing for Growth
• 15:17 The Let Them Theory Challenge

Transcript

 📍   Welcome back to Money Maker Monday, where we are turning strategy into action and business plans into profits. We are officially at week six of Blueprint to Breakthrough. And if you've been showing up, if you've been doing the work, and if you've been pushing through even the hard days, this is the time to subscribe.

When all the things are coming at you, I want you to know that I see you. This journey isn't about overnight success, and I know that you know that. It is about building something that lasts though. And that's what we're going to talk about this week.  I want to get real for just a second. Some of you are feeling amazing right now because you're seeing shifts.

You're seeing tangible results from all of the work that we have been putting in these last few weeks. But some of you are feeling stuck, maybe a little bit frustrated, wondering if you're doing enough, if you're moving fast enough, if you're getting where you need to be. Am I behind?

What have I forgotten about? What have I not finished yet? You're just wondering you're in a state of shock because you don't know where to go from here. I want you to know that success isn't about how fast you go. It is about how consistent you are.

And I've talked about that a few times in my stories this week. If you're following me on Instagram. Breakthroughs don't come from wishing and waiting. They come from execution. They come from showing up daily and trusting the process. Even if you don't see those immediate results right away, we're going to talk today about how to get your brand in front of the right people, how to build trust and how to prepare for DM sales.

These next few weeks are going to be so pivotal in your own career and in your own business building. In just a couple of weeks we have an expert that's going to be coming in for two weeks and she's going to teach us all the things on how to sell in your DMs. But we've got to get you prepared to get where you need to go.

I know that listening to this podcast, you probably feel like you know what to do. You know exactly what it takes to make your business grow, but somehow, you're still not getting the results you want.  And it's not because you're not working hard. In my opinion, it's because you're not tracking and refining your execution.

 And so last week I released the latest digital product I have for everyone here at Blueprint called the Relentless Execution Tracker. And it is waiting for you in the show notes if you didn't already download it. What makes this digital download different? Okay, let's talk about it.

One, most people don't fail because of lack of knowledge. That's not the reason that something didn't happen for them. They fail because of lack of execution, right? So, if you think back to what you're working on or different tasks we have here at blueprint and you haven't fully executed on them, you didn't fail because you didn't know how, because you have all the tools on the how you have them in the moneymaker Monday calls.

You have them in the emails that you get from me weekly. You have them in the 90-minute sessions every other week. You've got all of the knowledge on how to do the thing, but we're not finishing the thing. 82 percent of small business owners do not track their daily priorities effectively.

That's straight from Forbes. 82 percent only 8 percent of people achieve their goals, not because they aren't capable, but because they don't have a structured way to execute it. So, this tracker that I've created for you is here to help you close the gap.

It's all about clarity, knowing exactly what your priorities are every single day, accountability, tracking your execution. So, you don't drift into busy work and momentum, eliminating distractions. So, you can take focused, high impact action.  So, before we go any further in this episode, I want you to go to the show notes right now, and I want you to download the relentless execution use the code blueprint when you're downloading it.

And you'll be able to get that right away. So, this is your reminder that knowledge without action is just wasted potential. So, pause right here and go download the relentless execution tracker.   Now that you've downloaded the relentless execution tracker, let's talk about something that will make or break your ability to sell in your direct messages, your DMS. This is your brand. Now, let me tell you something.

People don't buy from strangers. They buy from brands that they trust. Here is the reality on some statistics that have to deal with branding and buying through the DMs. It takes an average of 7 to 10 brand interactions before someone makes a buying decision. 80 percent of consumers say that they need to trust a brand before they will consider making a purchase.

Consistent brand across all platforms can increase revenue by 33%.  So, if you're not showing up consistently, if your message isn't clear, if your audience isn't seeing you over and over again in a way that builds trust, they're not going to buy from you. This is why your brand needs to one, tell a story.

So, you make your audience feel something to be recognizable. Keep your messaging visuals and tone consistent. Three, stay personal. If your audience doesn't connect with you, they won't buy from you. This is the foundation you need before we even touch DM sales.  No matter how good your pitches, if your brand isn't positioned, the sale won't close. 

Your action step for this week to move yourself forward and the power of your brand is to write down in one sentence what your brand stands for. If you can't sum it up clearly, your audience won't understand it either. I spoke with someone this week that we literally were going through a one-hour mentor session talking about their brand and I asked them the top three things or reasons that someone should do business with them.

We wrote down step one, step two, step three. Then I challenged this mentee to look at every one of those statements and think about the opposite of what that is. So, if it is to make more money, then the opposite of that is they're losing more money. So, they're losing money.

That's the negative. So, I challenged this re report.  I challenged this mentee to look at the top three things that they gave me and think about what the negative aspect of that is. So how could I turn this statement that they just said is the reason someone should do business. into something negative that would hook someone to come and do business with them.

So, let's say the reason Shem wants you to do business with me is because they will make more money. Okay. What's the negative. If they don't do business with me, they will lose money. Okay. How will they lose money? Put that into a quantifiable term. Okay. So, they will lose X dollar amount based on these metrics.

If they don't do business with me. You have to be quantifiable. It's not just about what is the reason someone should do business with me? It's what will happen if they don't do business with me? And what does that loss look like? What is that negative impact look like?  That's what I want you focusing on. 

So, what's your one sentence? What do you stand for?  What do you stand for? And what is the negative impact on someone who doesn't work with your brand?  That's your question.  Pause here, write it down if you need to.  Branding is one thing, being seen is another. So, let's break down how you actually get in front of the right people. 

First, LinkedIn SEO. This is your digital business card. You should be on LinkedIn. It is so important. LinkedIn is responsible for 80 percent of B2B leads. 80% 

You know, last year alone, I cleared almost 700, 000 in revenue from LinkedIn people finding my I challenged this mentee to look at the top three things that they gave me and think about what the negative aspect of that is. So how could I turn this statement that they just said is the reason someone should do business. into something negative that would hook someone to come and do business with them.

So, let's say the reason Shem wants you to do business with me is because they will make more money. Okay. What's the negative. If they don't do business with me, they will lose money. Okay. How will they lose money? Put that into a quantifiable term. Okay. So, they will lose X dollar amount based on these metrics.

If they don't do business with me. You have to be quantifiable. It's not just about what is the reason someone should do business with me. It's what will happen if they don't do business with me? And what does that loss look like? What is that negative impact look like? That's what I want you focusing on.

So, what's your one sentence? What do you stand for? What do you stand for? And what is the negative impact on someone who doesn't work with your brand? That's your question. Pause here, write it down if you need to. Branding is one thing, being seen is another. So, let's break down how you actually get in front of the right people.

First, LinkedIn SEO. This is your digital business card. You should be on LinkedIn. It is so important. LinkedIn is responsible for 80 percent of B2B leads. 80% 

You know, last year alone, I cleared almost 700, 000 in revenue from LinkedIn people finding my profile, seeing what I do, connecting with my brand, working with me. Profiles that use SEO driven headlines and descriptions get three times more inbound inquiries.  If you're not optimizing your LinkedIn profile, you are invisible to decision makers.

I was talking with someone else this week and I was talking to them about LinkedIn. And I think I've actually said this in multiple calls I've had this week because it keeps coming up. But one of the key things people don't understand is that the people on LinkedIn They are a different generation.

They are the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, even 80-year-old people that are still somehow in business, still collaborating, they are LinkedIn is their Facebook page, their Instagram page. They are the decision makers, the high-net-worth people that are making decisions and businesses.

This week, you're updating your headline with keywords that describe exactly what you do. Instagram SEO. That's your social visibility. Okay. So, LinkedIn's your digital business card. Instagram is your social visibility. 90 percent of users follow at least one business. Optimized captions and hashtags increase engagement by 30%. 

Are your captions keyword rich? Are you using hashtags that actually attract the right audiences? I want you to go through your last 10 Instagram posts. Do they have clear, searchable captions? If not, rewrite them. You can edit your posts. Go edit it. Go rewrite them. Use chat GPT if you need to.

The power of direct messages. You're going to learn all about these from a sales expert in just a couple of weeks. But DMs, they convert three times better than cold emails. 80 percent of sales require at least five follow ups. And one of our moneymaker Mondays a few weeks ago, I talked about how I know exactly how many leads result in quantifiable revenue that we are generating.

Do you know that for yourself? You cannot give up after one conversation. You might talk to someone one time and you might think that call went amazing. They're definitely going to be closed. I'm definitely going to get them. They're going to become a client of mine. And then you might never hear from them again.

If you work with anyone who is a high caliber, high functioning business owner, leader, running multi figure brands, you need to understand that their plate is full. They are busy. And they're not busy in a way that is terrible. They're busy in a way that's productive. And so productive people don't have a lot of time to make decisions.

If they don't make a decision with you on the phone in the DM right now, you need to have a follow-up strategy. What does that look like for you? This week, I want you to start doing just value driven, direct messages. I want you to try it with three people. I don't want you to pitch them. I just want you to establish connection.

This is not about selling. This is about driving value. I want you to start here to set the basis for where we're going to go when we take our big deep dive into sales in the DMs and sales online. Now let's be real. Everything I've shared so far today, none of it matters if you don't take action. So here is your commitment for this week. One, we're refining your brand so it's clear and powerful. What is your sentence? Two, optimize your online presence with SEO.

You're heading to LinkedIn for this. Three, position yourself as an expert in your space. Go in your direct messages, three people, build credibility for yourself. Get that connection going. I also want you to make sure if you didn't already, download the relentless execution tracker in the show notes and start tracking your execution daily. 

At the end of the day, your breakthrough isn't waiting for you in another course. or another strategy or another webinar. It is in your ability to execute what you already know. It is in showing up when it's really hard and it's in doing the work. Even when no one is watching, this is your time. This is your moment, and this is your breakthrough.

Before I close out this episode, I want to talk about one thing that is going to completely shift the way you move in business and in life. And if you've been following along, you already know that. I believe listening is not optional for entrepreneurs. 

You can't afford to only learn from experience. You need to be absorbing the knowledge of those who have gone before you. You need to hear new perspectives, challenge your thinking, and rewire the way you approach business and leadership. And that is why I gifted each of you the audio book, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins.

And let me just say, if you haven't started listening, you're behind in my mind. The first 25 percent of this book alone will completely reframe how you handle expectations, control, and resistance in your business. The truth is that people are going to doubt you. Let them. Clients are going to walk away.

Let them. Competitors are going to talk. Let them. Because the energy you waste trying to control what others do is energy stolen from your success. And how many of you have spent time trying to convince people to believe in you, trying to explain your worth, trying to make others understand your vision.

Let me tell you, you don't need their validation. Your success doesn't require their approval. The only thing that matters is what you choose to execute on, how you show up, how you keep going forward. And if you're stuck in a cycle of convincing, chasing, explaining, defending, you're not leading. You're reacting.

So, your final challenge in this moneymaker Monday episode is to start the audiobook. Get through your first 25 percent before our next session. Write down every moment where you realize you've been wasting energy trying to change what you can't control and then make a choice. Where is your energy going from now on?

Because I promise you when you stop chasing validation and start trusting your own execution, everything changes.

I want to leave you with this today. You do not have to convince the world of your value. You have to execute at a level where your results speak louder than your words. So as a recap, you're refining your brand. You're making it clear, powerful, and magnetic. You're optimizing your online presence, your SEO, social visibility.

It's how people find you. You're taking control of your execution using the relentless execution tracker. You're going to start listening to the let them theory and apply what you learn. You are not here to play small. You are here to build something real. You are here to execute at the highest level.

You are here to lead. No more second guessing. No more chasing approval. It's time to take 📍 action and I'll see you guys' next week.