5 ways to develop your brand voice

5 ways to develop your brand voice

When I first started my business, finding my brand voice was the hardest part of branding for me. I wasn’t used to blogging and I never used social media. I was only used to writing term papers for class or emails for business, so my writing tone was formal/professional. Here are 5 ways to develop your brand voice. These tips are how I was able to develop my brand voice.

5 ways to develop your brand voice

01 Use what you have

If you don’t know how you want to sound, don’t let that hold you back from starting. The hardest part of anything in life is just getting started. I think of everything as a work in process. You can always learn on the go.

The only thing you have to do is start. My advice to anyone who’s on YouTube, podcasting, blogging, creating content for social media, or anything that requires your voice or writing, is to be yourself. What does that mean? Talk like you talk and write as you talk. It’s that easy.

 

Be yourself

 

Why should you be yourself? As an entrepreneur, especially if you’re a service based entrepreneur, you’re going to speak to your audience or clients on Skype, Zoom, a phone call, or whatever you use to communicate with a client,  so you want them to feel like they already know you. If you’re different in person, then people might get the wrong idea.

We’re not actors. We want to be authorities on our topic. A real, authentic person who knows about their industry. Now, there are some things you can fake and that’s confidence and a positive attitude. No one is comfortable putting themselves out there, so you have to fake it until you make it.

02 Just start

Earlier I touched on getting started and how it’s the hardest part of anything. Don’t be a wallflower. Yes, it’s fun sitting in the back and observing everything around you, BUT imagine how fun it is to be part of it.

 

Take the first step

 

Never in a million years would I have thought I’d have my own business, blog, newsletter, or be active on social media. I loved reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos, and now I make them. Before I started using social media, I hated it. I only liked to use it to stalk my family, friends, and my favorite celebrities. So for me to use it daily is jaw-dropping.

Do you know how afraid I was to launch my website? To post my first Instagram post? To hit publish on my blog post? Every time I had to post something, I felt like throwing up. But guess what? Now it’s nothing to me. You have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Why am I telling you about my fears? Because every time I wrote a blog, email, or social media post, I had to use my voice. As I kept going, my voice evolved and I became more confident. I’m not going to say that I’m 100% happy with my voice, but I have come a long way from my beginning.

That’s why the start is the biggest thing you will have to overcome.

PSSST,  let me tell you a secret if you’re starting from scratch, you’re not going to have a big audience. I’m not trying to be mean, but it’s true. I have more views on my posts now than I did when I first started. You might think it’s bad news, BUT the time to experiment is when you don’t have an audience.

If you’re someone who’s followed me since that first blog post, email newsletter, and/or social media posts, THANK YOU and I APOLOGIZE! I know that my beginning work was horrible, but thank you for supporting me so far on my journey. *bow of gratitude*

 

Thank you

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How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business
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How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business

Before I get into how my wrist injury helped me revamp my business, I want to give you a peek inside how I was living before my wrist injury happened. I was working more than 12 hours every day. Since I was working so much, my health took a back seat. I already gained like 30 lbs because I started eating foods that were more convenient to save time. Not only that, but I was exercising less. I use to exercise 4 to 5 days a week for about an hour a day, but now I was exercising for 30 minutes for 2 or 3 days a week.

I had the mindset of ‘If you’re not hustling, you’re not succeeding’. My butt was in my chair all the time and my family was definitely annoyed because I was spending less time with them. Then, one day, I was doing a wheel pose after a cool down, and I hurt my wrist. I didn’t really know until the next morning, but I brushed it off and kept working, so the pain increased. It got to a point where I couldn’t do anything. I had to quit working.

I’m a failure

Not working, made me feel like a failure. This was the lowest point in my life because I had to depend on everyone to do everything for me. Not only wasn’t I working, but I couldn’t do any household chores or cook. I was useless. All I did was sit around the house feeling depressed while watching TV. To make things worse, I gained another 20 lbs.

While I was in my depression, I realized I needed a change. I started hanging out with my family more and I was becoming more of a human being instead of a robot who was always working. I also decided to work on some courses that I bought, but hadn’t finished.

During this time, I had an epiphany. There were so many things that I wanted to do, but couldn’t because I was always busy working. What’s the point of working all day, every day if I wasn’t happy? Because of this, I decided I needed to work smarter not harder to create a balance.

How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business

It’s all over

The first thing I realized after my wrist injury was my business is nothing without me. I couldn’t do any work without my wrist. If I can’t work, I can’t make any income. This was an eye-opener for me. How can I take days off, have sick days, and so on if my business can’t survive without me?

At this point, I can’t say that my business will survive without me, but I have systems in place so I don’t have to work as hard as I did when I first started. Read More “How my wrist injury helped me revamp my business”

Am I ready for a Web Designer?

Am I ready for a Web Designer?

Am I ready for a web designer? If you’re wondering if you should hire a web designer, there are a lot of things to consider. If you’re doing things on a whim because everyone has a website, just know there are things web designers have to consider before they even start designing your site. In this post, I’m going to cover everything you need to prepare before you hire a web designer. If you don’t have this stuff ready, then it could put your website launch on hold.

Everything you need to prepare before you hire a web designer

It’s mine!

I want to hope that you’re not starting a business on a whim, but you probably don’t want to hear that from me right now. Before you start a website, you should already have a foundation for your business. Here is a list of questions that you should have an answer to before you start your web design project.

  • Do you have a business name?
  • Can you tell me who your target audience is?
  • Do you have a host and domain ready for your website?

Once you’ve cleared this first level, then it’s on to the next.

Have your copy ready

Now it’s time to think about the copy (aka the words and what/how you want to convey them) for your website. You can hire someone to do this for you or you can do it yourself. I write the copy myself for my website, but if I had to do it all over again or if I get a chance to rebuild my website, I would definitely hire someone to do it for me. I find writing copywriting very time-consuming. Not only that, but I’m sure a copywriter would do a way better job than I’m doing.

If you’re going the DIY route, then I suggest doing everything in a Google Doc. You can create a separate document for each page. Here’s a list of pages that you will need on your website:

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Services
  • Each individual service
  • Products
  • Each individual product
  • FAQ

Once you have all the copy written for your pages, then organize them into a folder.  When you hire a web designer, you can just share the folder with them.

On Wednesdays We Go Rogue

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What should you put in your YouTube description?

What should you put in your YouTube description?

Are you typing in a description for your YouTube videos? If not, you definitely should be. Why? Because it’s important for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It helps your videos get in front of your target audience. As an added bonus, you can also add important links and information to your description.  So what should you put in your YouTube description?  Keep reading to find out and I’ll also show you the easy way to add all the information you want to put in your description and never have to think about it again.

What should you put in your YouTube description

The #1 thing

The first 2 sentences in your description should be relevant to your video. These sentences are important for SEO. Because of this, you should create sentences that include the keywords that your target audience is searching for. For example, if I was creating a video on branding specifically for YouTube, I would write something like:

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to attract their target audience on YouTube? Check out this video on how to brand your YouTube channel to look like the AUTHORITY in your niche.

This sentence has all the keywords I need. I’m targeting entrepreneurs and the video is about ‘how to brand your YouTube channel’. You can get even more specific than this depending on your audience and what your goals are. For example, if I’m targeting female entrepreneurs, I would add that instead of just entrepreneurs.

Utilize the default

After the first 2 sentences, you should put in other information that is helpful to your audience or links that you want your audience to click on. Here is a list of items that you can add to your description.

  • Links to your opt-in or freebie
  • Affiliate links
  • A link to your Facebook group
  • Subscribe link
  • Email newsletter link
  • Links to your social media channels
  • An about you section

If you’re going to reuse the same information in your description, then you should create a default description. This will automatically add the information to your video every time you upload a new video. This is what I do for my videos and also my clients’ videos. The first 2 sentences are the only sentences that change in the description.

Brand Your YouTube Channel opt in

Here’s an example of my default description:

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Video Editing and Design for Sophie VL
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Video Editing and Design for Sophie VL

Yay, I’m excited to post my first portfolio for video editing! Here’s the video editing and design for Sophie VL.

Video Editing and Design for Sophie VL

Overview

Sophie VL is a business coach who helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs grow their online business and ditch the plan B.

YouTube Videos

Sophie creates consistent videos every Tuesday and Thursday, so I edit 2 videos a week.

Color Correction and Lighting

The first thing I do for any video is a color correction and adjust the lighting. Before I start any project, I send a questionnaire to my clients. From that questionnaire, I take into consideration the style that the client likes, their brand, and their content when deciding on lighting and color.

 

Before

Video Editing and Design for Sophie VL Before color correction

After

Video Editing and Design for Sophie VL after color correction

Editing and cuts

This is all dependent on the client. At the beginning of the project, there were a lot of jump cuts and heavy editing when there were mistakes. Sophie didn’t care too much for having a lot of edits and cuts, because she wanted to keep things natural.

Before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk3vDQgNW2g&t=9s

 

After

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGmd3eI03bA

Channel Manager

I’m actually the channel manager for Sophie VL. I upload videos, research titles, and tags, schedule the videos and create the end cards for the videos. Sophie only has to concentrate on creating awesome content. Read More “Video Editing and Design for Sophie VL”

How to record better YouTube videos
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How to record better YouTube videos

As a video editor, it’s my job to make you look good. That makes sense right? I mean, your success equals my success too. Because I get the raw footage of your videos, I see your best and your worst  (don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me). I know how nerve-wracking it can be to be in front of a camera, so I think being prepared and knowing what to do on camera will definitely help make your videos look better and the editing process easier. If you want to learn how to record better YouTube videos, here are the 5 mistakes you’re making when recording a video.

 

Secrets

How to record better YouTube videos

01 Slow it down

Talking too fast. This is a nervous habit. I’m guilty of this too! When you talk too fast, you tend to run your words together. It’s also not flattering to your audience. If you edit your own videos, you’ll also see that it’s hard to edit out mistakes because words will get cut off or force you to keep parts that should have been edited out.

If you’re nervous, stop and take a breath. Those pauses will be edited out anyway. If you’re still nervous, just stop recording and do a dry run. Usually, if I’m nervous, it’s because I’m not prepared so I like to practice and be aware of myself. When I say practice, don’t just read through what you want to say. You have to practice like it’s real. If you practice at 50%, then the real performance will be 50%. Always practice at 100% so you’ll do it naturally at 100%.

 

02 And cut

Just like talking too fast, you need to take a break between thoughts. I have a client who goes from one thought to another without pausing. When you keep plowing through your thoughts, you’re bound to make mistakes and get flustered. You might think that you’re doing a good job because you know your subject and you’re finishing your video quickly, but it doesn’t look good on camera.

It’s kind of like singing. Professional singers don’t just randomly take breaths during a song. If they did, they would destroy the rhythm of the song. Same thing for acting. You don’t see them taking random breaths during a scene. It would be distracting. Well, that’s exactly what happens when you plow through your words.

When you keep talking without pausing, you start randomly taking breaths, or worse, swallow because your mouth is dry, and keep going. When it comes to editing, it’s hard to edit out these random breaths and swallows if you keep talking without a break. Instead of being like the energizer bunny (do you remember him, he just keeps going and going), take a breath, regroup, and then finish your thoughts. It’s all about looking natural on camera.

 

Energizer bunny

 

03 Being too perfect

No one likes making mistakes. We all want to put our best face forward. No one wants to show their worst side, but in this case, do it. I’m here to edit them out. Even celebrities make mistakes. Do you think they can act out their character perfectly on screen? No, they get to have do-overs. That’s how we get to watch awesome bloopers.

bloopers

Your main focus should be knowing your subject and being natural. Even though your audience will likely fall in love with you because they want to emulate you or you’re helping them with your content, they still want you to be human just like them. Read More “How to record better YouTube videos”

How to add a channel manager to your YouTube Channel

How to add a channel manager to your YouTube Channel

What’s a Channel Manager? Well, it’s someone that you add to your channel who manages your YouTube channel. This is a great option for Vloggers who want someone to do all the things for them on YouTube without giving them ‘Owner’ status. As a channel manager for my clients, I upload and schedule videos, add thumbnails, write in the description and tags, and add end cards to videos. All my client has to focus on is creating the content. Here’s how to add a channel manager to your YouTube channel.

How to add a channel manager to your YouTube channel

01 Login to your account.

02 Under your icon, in the top right, go to settings.

 

How to add a chaHow to add a channel manager to your YouTube Channel -Channel iconnnel manager to your YouTube ChannelHow to add a channel manager to your YouTube Channel - settings

 

03 You’ll automatically be in the account section, but just in case, go to account.

 

youtube script template

Get more confident on YouTube

Get Your YouTube Script Template for Free!

Grab your script here!

 

04 Under account, go to the bottom of the page and click add or remove managers.

 

How to add a channel manager to your YouTube Channel - account

 

05 You should see a blue button labeled ‘Manage Permissions’. Read More “How to add a channel manager to your YouTube Channel”

How long should your YouTube video be?

How long should your YouTube video be?

How long should your YouTube video be? When you’re thinking about the length of your videos, you have a lot of factors to consider. Is it a live video or edited content? Are you a beginner or a veteran video blogger? Who’s your audience? Because of all these factors, the answer will be different for each person. That’s why this post is dedicated for entrepreneurs and vloggers who are just getting started on YouTube.

How long should your YouTube video be?

What does your audience want?

The number one thing to consider is your audience. Why is your audience watching you on YouTube? This may depend on your content, but if you don’t have an audience, you have to think about who you want to watch your videos.

You don’t want to build a list of random subscribers because that would be useless to you. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re basically on YouTube to market and make money, so you should keep who your target audience is in mind. Everyone else who subscribes is a bonus or a future client because you never know.

Let’s say your target audience is entrepreneurs who are moms. They have busy lives because they’re balancing their business, their family, and their personal lives. If they’re going on YouTube, they’re searching for the shortest video that can help them. I’m the same. If I go on YouTube to search for something, I always choose the shortest video.

If you’re a beginner creating content, basically you should be asking ‘Does my target audience have time for this?’ If you don’t know, then research other YouTube videos  (competitors in your niche, because every genre is different) and see what they’re doing. While you’re researching, check how many subscribers they have. If it’s a big number, check how many videos they’ve created and then look through their middle videos because we all know the first videos we create are not great and with their newer videos, they can get away with creating longer content if they have a huge following of loyal fans.

 

youtube script template

Get more confident on YouTube

Get Your YouTube Script Template for Free!

Grab your script here!
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5 tips to keep your brand consistent

5 tips to keep your brand consistent

If you’re reading this, you already have a brand or you’re ready to start thinking seriously about it. Having a brand is all about building recognition and attracting your audience. So how do you become recognizable? Simple, you just have to stay consistent. Consistency is the easiest way to get people to recognize you and keep you memorable. Here are the 5 tips to keep your brand consistent.

5 tips to keep your brand consistent

01. Writings on the wall

No matter if you’re creating YouTube videos, blogging, creating content for social media, or just a business in general, you’re going to have to use text. The first tip is to always use the same fonts. You shouldn’t have more than 3 fonts unless your business branches off and each item has its own brand.

Unless your branching out, no matter what you’re putting out into the world, use the same fonts. That means using the same fonts on your Instagram graphics, website, worksheets, workbooks, YouTube graphics, blog graphics, ads, billboards, and so on. If you keep doing this consistently, your audience should be able to recognize your business by your font.

Note: If you create content for online and print use, then you might have 4 to 6 fonts. One set for online use and another set for print. Those fonts are based on legibility.

02. Don’t be every color of the rainbow

Unless your brand colors are every color of the rainbow, use only your brand colors. Like with your fonts, use them consistently on your social media graphics, YouTube thumbnails and videos, blog graphics, website, and so on. No matter what you create, if your audience repeatedly sees your content, they should know who it is.

For example, if you create a YouTube thumbnail and you use the same colors and fonts, then your audience should automatically think, ‘Oh, so and so just released another video, I should watch it’, without even looking at the YouTube channel name.

03. Image is everything

Photo images are also a part of your brand. Make sure you create the same style of images. The best example is Instagram. You’ll notice that the best accounts create a consistent theme. Those themes can be based on mood, colors, lighting, and/or focus.

I think you can get a little more creative with Instagram, but whatever platform you’re using, if you’re using images for your brand, make sure to keep the style consistent.

Want to find out more about branding photos? Click here to read 3 types of photos you can use to brand your business. Read More “5 tips to keep your brand consistent”

5 reasons you need a rebrand

5 reasons you need a rebrand

Have you ever thought about rebranding your business? I know that I think about rebranding all the time, but I always have to hold myself back because I know I’m the type who always wants to try something new. It’s kind of like how I always have the urge to get bangs or dye my hair a different color. It seems cool at the moment, but I know it won’t fit my everyday style or mood. Instead of changing your brand on a whim, you should have a legitimate reason to rebrand. Here are the 5 reasons you need a rebrand.

5 reasons you need a rebrand

01. DIY and over it…

When you first launched your business, maybe you didn’t have the funds to invest in a graphic designer. Instead, you went the DIY route and didn’t really consider the types of people you were attracting. Any business was good business.

Now that you have a steady income and a good idea of who your target audience is. You’re not really proud of the brand you created and you’re ready to take your business to the next level. In this case, a rebrand is a great idea. With a rebrand, you’ll have a more polished brand that you and your target audience will be proud to be a part of.

02.  Not my type

Did the people you want to come to your party never show up? Basically, everyone but the people you wanted to show up are crashing the party. Well, the problem is you’re sending the wrong message with your brand. You attract what you reflect.

In this case, a rebrand will help you attract your target audience. During the rebrand, you can reassess what’s working and not working with your brand messaging.

03. Dine and dash

Are people coming to the party, but aren’t sticking around? It might be your brand. First impressions are everything and looks definitely matter. For one, you want to make sure you don’t look like spam. Another issue might be a confusing message.

Maybe you had sales in the beginning, but now their decreasing. You’ve tried changing up how you market your services and even changed your services, but nothing is working. It’s time to think about rebranding instead. Your brand may be sending the wrong message to your audience.

04. Trendsetter over here!

Is your brand outdated? When you first started, your brand was perfect for you, but now your business has evolved. Your brand doesn’t reflect what your business stands for any more or maybe you’re not feeling it anymore. Your target audience might’ve also evolved with your business.

A rebrand will help update your brand. You don’t necessarily need to change everything, but you can keep elements of your brand that are working but update everything that’s outdated. Read More “5 reasons you need a rebrand”