My husband was gone for a business trip last week, so when he came home we wanted to do something fun with our daughter.
It was, of course, his idea to make cookies.
So we pulled out the flour, sugar, eggs and all the other ingredients and each took a part. Other than losing half an egg down the side of our counter, baking with a toddler actually went pretty smoothly.
Until we got to the end and actually tasted the cookie dough.
Something was off.
There was a funky flavor to it. It had a strange texture. And the worst part was, there was a sour aftertaste that was hard to get rid of.
My husband and I looked at each other, wondering, what the heck went wrong. Then I looked into the Crisco container he had used, and the shortening had turned a light brown.
It was going rancid.
Do yourself a favor and don’t Google what happens if you eat rancid shortening.
I dumped the whole batch into the garbage and we had popcorn instead.
It’s amazing how just one ingredient can have such a huge impact on the taste of a cookie. If one ingredient is bad, it can filter through the whole dough.
The same goes if one ingredient is missing. Have you ever tried to bake cookies without baking soda? Just a teaspoon missing can bring about totally different results.
I see similar results for businesses that skip branding and go straight to marketing.
Branding, in and of itself, is made up of many ingredients. Not having a brand isn’t like missing one ingredient, it’s like missing five.
Your branding includes defining the ideal customer for you. Your business’s values. Your messaging is part of your brand. And the aesthetics that make up your brand personality are part of it too.
If all you do is sell to people who don’t really want to be sold to, you might be leaving a sour aftertaste in their mouths.
If you start building an audience without the brand, you may build the whole thing and realize it's full of people who aren’t in the right stage of life for your service or don’t need what you are selling.
The crazy thing is, when you have a solid brand that is speaking to the audience that needs your services, it doesn’t feel like selling to them. It feels like you are their fairy godmother with the answer to their problems.
It tastes like, well, a soft fluffy chocolate chip cookie with all of the fresh ingredients mixed in the right order and toasted to perfection in the oven.
Creating a brand can sound like an abstract thing. You might not know where to start.
I’m opening the doors to my program the Amplified Brand this fall, and I’m so excited to provide a step-by-step recipe for women like you who might feel that way.
This course takes the guesswork out of what ingredients you need and how much of each.
Before that happens though, I’m offering a free branding masterclass, that will help you get started on finally laying the foundation of your brand.
It will open for registration early next month, but if you know that’s something you need help with, you can get on the waitlist now.
I’d love to have you join me so we can get to mixing up the perfect ingredients for a brand that stands out in your crowded marketplace. Join the waitlist here.
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