By Rachel Beider
Today’s business landscape is crowded. Even if your services differ from the rest, you still need to find ways to stand out and get noticed. Sometimes it can be hard to identify what makes your brand unique, especially when you’re offering services similar to other businesses. A strong brand helps clients connect with the services and products you offer and makes them more likely to buy from you. Clear and consistent branding makes it easy to find you and even easier to tell others about you. To build a brand, you need to understand your strengths, then communicate them to potential clients.
Start by observing other businesses in your neighbourhood that offer something similar to what you do. You should know inside and out what your competition is offering so that you can build upon what’s already out there, or offer something different, better or more unique. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but bringing your unique value or taking on something different sets you apart. You must know your competition so you understand your differences more thoroughly, and how to market them. At my massage practice, for example, we don’t offer wraps or scrubs or aesthetic services—we just do clinical-style therapeutic massage. Our competition offers a wider variety of services at various price points, but we specialise in a particular style of massage that resonates with our clients. Clients don’t come to us just to have oil rubbed on them to relax; they come because they know they will have a deeply healing experience, where whatever was ailing them will be addressed with specificity, care, and detail.
A quick note on visual branding and identity
Trust me on this one: don't use a lotus or stack of hot stones in your visual branding; they are the most obvious and overused wellness symbols and will not help your business stand out. Remember, a great brand is consistent, memorable, and simple. Don’t overcomplicate things. If you can find a local artist whose branding you love, see if they'd consider a trade with you for massage! You should also check out inspiration on sites like Pinterest and Canva. I love using 99 Designs for logo design. Try getting inspired by industries outside your own, and see if anything connects.
Here are several ways to help you discover your brand:
● Ask a friend or client to describe exactly what it is you do. Their description should be enlightening: If it’s inaccurate, that means you have work to do. If it’s on point, you know you’re on the right path.
● Scan your online reviews on Google or Yelp for words that come up repeatedly. These words and phrases will help you have a greater understanding of your strengths through the lens of your clients.
● Consider your personal history: People don't buy from companies; they buy from people.
● Ask yourself this question: If you stopped offering your services, what would clients miss the most about working with you? For example, if your favourite restaurant closed forever, you might miss the food, the waiter who always knew your order, the convenience, or the ambience. Think about what clients would miss the most about you, and be sure to lead with that!
Your Mess is your Message.
Make your brand unforgettable by infusing it with what makes you unique! This could be your background, illnesses, family stuff, history or something else. Don't be afraid to be controversial. Stories make your brand unique. These life experiences will resonate with people. Clients don’t want to see some “perfect” business: it reads as inauthentic and fake. We don’t feel close to something that feels like a huge corporation; we want genuine connections with real people. For example, I grew up with scoliosis, which caused me constant back pain as a child, especially carrying around a lot of heavy textbooks. I’ve also often been anxious, with my shoulders frequently up near my ears. This terrible posture, coupled with the curves of my spine, resulted in near-constant chronic pain. The chronic pain I experienced from scoliosis makes me unique, and it’s something that has resonated with my clients. Because I have a deep understanding of physical chronic back pain, I’ve attracted quite a few clients who also suffer from scoliosis and chronic pain. I enjoy working with them—I get it.
Something from your own life experience defines you, whether personally or in your family. Something from your past that impacted you. There’s a reason you chose this profession. Lead with that. Tailor your services to what you love to do, and what resonates with you. Look for other examples in your own life that have coloured your experience. Maybe you’ve been injured, cared for a loved one with an illness, or watched a friend go through something. Take whatever experiences have shaped your views, and start there.
You might think having a niche would limit who you can see, but that is a common misconception. Everyone loves a specialist! For example, my dentist in NYC loves treating jazz musicians—he loves jazz music, has posters and black-and-white photographs of the greats all over the walls of his dental practice, plays seriously good jazz music over the speakers, and on his website talks about the specific dental issues that some jazz players face from using their instruments. He calls himself the Jazz Dentist. I found this seriously cool—most dentists don’t distinguish themselves or brand themselves in such a unique way. And his branding seriously stood out to me. Am I a jazz musician? Absolutely not—and I’m guessing many of his clients aren’t either. But his brand made a memorable impression, and I became a very loyal patient!
Remember, everything that you do is a branding opportunity: from the tone and copy on your website, to your Instagram, to your printed business cards and any freebies you offer. How you communicate directly shapes your clients’ experience of your brand. Lead with what makes you uniquely you, and you’ll gain the favour of lifelong customers who are thrilled to do business with you.
Biog
Rachel Beider is a multi-passionate entrepreneur and best-selling author who bootstrapped her massage business from a solo practice to over $10m in sales. She is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard University, where she works with students on starting businesses. Her work has been featured in the WSJ, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and "O" Oprah Magazine.
