“Products are made in a factory but brands are created in the mind!”
Walter Landor.
One of my greatest work passions is the inner work or the behind-the-scenes of a business leader. Some call it mindset, some call it mindfulness, some call it awareness, and some call it growth mindset.
Let me introduce you to this interesting topic called inner branding and inner marketing.
When I became an entrepreneur, I thought that if I learned the tools to build my business I would be all set. But what I learned over time was that it was not only business tools that I needed; I also needed personal development to get to the next level.
Today, I want to talk about an interesting topic, which I call inner branding. Let’s talk about the definition of brand as the perception that we form of something. Generally speaking, terms like personal branding and business branding are about the outer perception that we create.
However, few people look at inner branding and how important it is. This is also known as self-perception. In my coaching and consulting business, I often see that people not only need a roadmap and a plan for success, but they also need to be aware of their own visibility triggers and blocks that prevent them from executing the roadmap or the plan.
There are many symptoms of misalignment with the inner branding
For example, a person may show their lack of readiness and self-confidence by using perfectionism and overthinking. In this case. their inner branding may be thinking of themselves as not ready.
Another symptom may be a person constantly learning a new tool, but not implementing what they learned. In this case, their inner branding may be: “I am not ready. I don’t know enough. I am not prepared enough.”
Awareness of your inner branding is super important and will lead to greater confidence, greater results, and greater impact.
Because transforming your self-perception is key! Being truthful about your own perception of yourself while being graceful is also key, so you can get to the next level.
Is your inner branding perfectionistic, procrastination, avoidant, not ready until, or overthinking? What if you shifted it?
What if you became aware of your inner branding and transformed it? Like you transform your branding for LinkedIn, other social media, or your advertising and marketing campaigns for your business?
What if new reframes and focuses could help you see things differently?
Usually, when people brand a business, they don’t advertise all the flaws of their business. Have you ever seen an ad about how a business or business owner isn’t great? Not really.
What if you approached your inner branding as an ad? What would you see in yourself that is a characteristic, value, personality trait, or unique perspective that is something to be proud of? It doesn’t even have to be business focused. Start with your whole self. You will start seeing a new perspective; you will start discovering a new way of experiencing yourself.
This inner branding in turn will help you unblock your personal branding. Hopefully, this transformation will move you into action.
Virginia Nava