If you’re an entrepreneur, it’s mission-critical that you build your company and personal brand and audience on social media in the most authentic, low-to-no cost way possible. An authentically attracted audience is more valuable than one that you have to pay for, especially if you plan on owning your brand and business for a long time (10+ years). The most popular search term of the year in 2023 was authentic. If you are paying for your followers, leads, and customers all the time, then that’s not authentic. The term “authentic” is derived from the Greek word “authentikos,” which means “genuine” or “real.” It refers to something that is true, original, or genuine in nature. In a broader sense, authenticity encompasses the idea of being faithful to oneself, one’s beliefs, or one’s origins. mindset in being true authentic and not being afraid to be the best version of yourself and the best version of your products and services if you’re business oriented like me. If you stay true your self and are authentic, it will create less fear and doubt in yourself and others. Principles #1: Don’t Be Afraid to Ride of my 23 Principles is transferrable to everything including not being afraid to build your brand and audience. 

The Know-Like-Trust Rule of Social Media

I’ve developed and tested what I call the Know-Like-Trust  Rule of social media. It means that you must get enough of the right people to know about you, your products and services in order to make an impact. Shoot for 1% minimum of all people who know you are then going to the next phase which is Like. So for every 1000 views, you get 1 engagement in the form of a click, like, mention, dm, form submission, or call. Then, you will advance to the next round which is getting those who like you to trust you and this is the hardest and most important point of turning your passion into income and a living. Believe me it works, I am living proof. I’ve built my work around mountain biking. In fact, I’ve gotta hurry up and post this article out and get out on the trails before it starts raining! Many entrepreneurs struggle with getting their new business ideas from ideation to a state of having a solid commercially viable product that will do well on the market. There’s a space in between where you need to bring a significant amount of awareness through branding in order for anyone to see your products or services. You have to get enough people to know you and your products, like you and your products and services, and trust you and your products so that they will end up buying what you’re selling.

At the very beginning stages, even if you were fully funded and had plenty of funds to market and promote your new company, you still have to have the mindset and skills and technology platform software, all of that combined to make it happen.

As a personal and business coach who loves to think and speak about my passion and lessons from mountain biking, it’s way for me to be constantly excited to share my journey every day on social media in a way that is truly personal and authentic. When you turn your passion into a business, it doesn’t feel like work, it’s instead a constant source of enjoyment and content to share with others from all the great lessons and benefits you are learning. I understand that it’s hard to start the process of building your brand because it can be a scary and daunting thing. You have to have enough bravery, encourage and a powerful mindset in order to put yourself out there in your company out there in public to everyone for everyone to see love or hate.

Don’t Be Afraid to Build Your Brand

The sociologist in me always comes back to the fact that people do have a bit of an imposter syndrome, and it keeps them safe, but it also can hold them back by being too afraid to put themselves out there, so in order to have enough people to know you trust you and like you, you have to believe in yourself and not be afraid to commit to your cause or idea or passion because then others will also believe in it as well and want to support it. There are many tactics and ways that you can teach yourself to have the high value mindset. You need to be brave enough and strong enough to empower people, to be persuaded by you and what you’re saying. You have to have enough poise and confidence, that is unwavering and if you position yourself among the right side of audiences who need what you’re selling even if it’s just a strong personality or leadership skills, they will follow you.

You have to be patient and kind to yourself because new things are hard to understand sometimes and communicate so be very very clear about the value proposition that your company is offering and how it works for the customer right off the bat.

Branding is about creating clear and compelling and consistent messaging and products and services that people can easily remember and easily repeat. If the name is too difficult to say or pronounce it’s difficult because there’s cultural factors that go into the psychology and sociology of branding that if it’s not relatable to the culture that you’re trying to market to they won’t understand it and they won’t trust it or love it or need it. I’ve worked with many That are very passionate about what they’re doing and love their product but people just don’t get it or understand what they’re trying to offer or do because maybe the business owner isn’t quite sure or confident about what they’re trying to offer or do. So you have to have a very clear and powerful product or service that others are going to need and want, without hesitation, doubt or confusion. Be clear about the name, and how to pronounce it make it easy to remember and easy to repeat so that they can remember it later and if they see the brand or the logo or the name again, they can remember it again, and tell others and it becomes part of their psyche statistically a commercial needs to be shown seven times in order for an average consumer to remember The name of the product or the company. Repetition is key. That leads me to my next point of creating a consistent and constant Omni channel content plan for every week and every month and sometimes every day. You have to be clear about what you’re doing so that you can scale and grow and communicate to your team very clearly how they can help you promote And develop and create and manage all of the branding, especially the social media that you’re going to be producing. 

I love helping my clients create high, converting content and social media calendars and plans so that they can hit the ground running as soon as their offer is ready. My program goes over the mindset, measuring process and tools it takes to build and grow your brand and company in 2024.

If you believe enough in your idea, and are passionate about sharing it with the rest of the world and making it your living, you can do it with the right mindset tools and partners, to make it a huge success without waiting a lifetime.