When you think about branding for your business, the first things that may come to mind are usually colors, fonts, and copy. But, did you know that there is so much more to creating and growing your brand? And it doesn't involve creating another inspirational Pinterest board.

On this episode of the Book Your Dream Clients podcast, I'm chatting with Nikki Arensman about the mindset hacks of growing a brand that aligns with your values and vision for your business.

Nikki Arensman is a Brand Designer & Strategist, host of The Business of Branding Podcast, Creator of Brand Identity Breakthrough, a multi-six-figure Self-Liquidating Offer, and mama to the sweetest girl. Nikki helps female service providers & coaches build a binge-worthy brand while staying true to themselves. Nikki understands firsthand the importance of knowing your ideal client's desires, fears, and needs and how to get out of your head and into their hearts. She believes that at the heart of every successful brand is a person with a purpose. Whether working with a 1:1 client, coaching in her courses, or speaking on stage, Nikki aims to help her audience realize that they have expertise and uniqueness that, if tapped into, can give them access to standing out, being seen, and selling more.

Nikki's Free Resource: https://free.nikkiarensman.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkiarensman/

Episode Transcript:

[00:00:00] Lindsay: Nikki, thank you so much for being on the Book Your Dream Clients podcast. I'm so excited to have you on.  

[00:00:52] Nikki: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you. 

[00:00:58] Lindsay: Well, we've talked a lot about branding over the years on the podcast with awesome experts.

[00:01:03] And it's always exciting to bring on another expert because I think that all of these branding gurus have such unique perspectives to everything. And I don't think there is just one set way on how to develop your brand and mature it and establish it. So I'm excited to bring Nikki here with us. So why don't you go ahead and introduce you.

[00:01:24] Nikki: Yeah, thank you. So I, my name is Nikki, obviously. I've been in the branding space for the last, oh, it feels like forever. It's been over 10 years. So maybe, maybe 12 ish years. Whether. Building a brand for myself or helping other women. I was in licensing for a handful of years doing like children's sporting goods.

[00:01:50] I was in a women's accessories for a handful of years, and I had my own clothing line for. About five years along with my sister I sold that business in 2017. And after that, I, I sold that business right when I was having my daughter who's now four and a half. And I, when I did that, I was kind of thinking like, okay, what, what am I going to really do now?

[00:02:19] And I thankfully like had time to sort of like Organically figure that out, I guess, is a good way of saying it where I didn't have to jump right into another full-on career. So I took, you know, the first six months of having her to really kind of just peel back the layers on what did I love so much about having the clothing line and having that whole business that business was called Jeeva active wear and.

[00:02:45] And what did I love so much about Jeeva and through that sort of process, I really uncovered that. I loved working with these other business owners. I, we did a lot of wholesale, so I loved connecting with these women who owned these businesses, whether those were online boutiques or. A yoga studios or fitness, you know, fitness studios, whatever it was.

[00:03:06] I just loved what they were doing with their own businesses as well and how they were promoting and marketing and growing their business. And so I started consulting for other small businesses initially in the. And then sort of got more into the service based business in the online world with coaches and consultants and creatives and course creators, digital product creators.

[00:03:31] And through that really just kind of got down to like, I love. Taking ideas and seeing somebody's vision for their business and their brand from start to like full fruition where they're now operating online and they've got an online presence and they're connecting with their dream clients and able to really kind of like make that connection from.

[00:03:55] I had this idea at a certain point and I was able to build this whole thing. And now I'm like supporting my family or taking vacations or whatever it is. And so over the last, you know, four and a half years, it's sort of just snowballed from consulting to one-on-one design services. Sorta got out of that and got into more of digital product creation and course creation.

[00:04:19] And that's really kind of where I've landed now over the last last year or so has really been creating tools and resources for female business owners to be able to create a brand that they are in love with from day one. 

[00:04:36] Lindsay: I love hearing stories of how all of everyone who's on the show started because it's always, it doesn't start out with, well, I decided to have a, you know, a brand consulting business and then 24 hours later, I was successful.

[00:04:51] There's a long, there's a history, there's a history with every business and usually it's pretty lengthy. And I think that's so important to. To show that this is normally never a one, a quick success story. It's always like I had to start here and work hard and figure it out and try lots of things. And then I finally figured out what I really love and I kind of packaged it all up into a business.

[00:05:14] That's usually how it goes. And I think when we're just starting our business, we think we compare ourselves to everyone who's really successful in our eyes or from the views of an Instagram real. And we think, and we compare ourselves. And we beat ourselves up because we're not there yet, but I know that the coaches who are just starting and who are, you know, building their business well, one of the biggest, well, I'm just going to say one of the biggest distractions we can get tied up in is branding.

[00:05:41] And we can go back and forth and back and forth and switch things up over and over again. I like that you, you do the big work, but you also have tools for creatives and coaches out there just to help them along. And I don't see that a lot. I kind of see consultants or you know, branding experts. Like you, you work with them on a one-on-one basis and no one ever offers any tools just to even help them get started.

[00:06:05] Why did you decide to go that route? 

[00:06:08] Nikki: yeah, that's a great question. Just to touch on what you were talking about of that sort of back and forth with the branding and that being like the thing that people often get hung up on. We, I actually call that like, Like a branding vicious cycle that you end up getting stuck in.

[00:06:25] Cause you've facilitate between, is it my visuals? That's not attracting people. Is it my copy? And my messaging? Is it my website? Do I need to update my services? And you end up in this, like, Vicious cycle of constantly changing and updating things that essentially like are not income producing activities.

[00:06:45] And that can really be hard, a hard place to get stuck in. And I think that that's one of the reasons why I sort of re like course corrected myself in my own business and, and created all of these easier access resources and tools because. When you're just getting started in your business. And I was there, you know, I didn't have a big budget and I didn't come from a Curry, like you know, years of a career where I was now, you know, branching out on my own.

[00:07:17] I. When we sold the business, I sold my email list. I sold everything that we had with that business. So I really started from ground zero when I then got into the work that I'm doing now. And I know that even. I didn't have the budget to invest in you know, hiring a consultant on a one-on-one basis. I didn't have the money to invest in a coaching program at the time or a one-on-one support.

[00:07:45] So I was, I know myself, like I was looking for more accessible resources for me to be able to do certain things in my business, whether that was like funnel build or email service provider or whatever it is. Cause obviously I had the creative. On my side, that I knew how to do all of the design stuff.

[00:08:03] But I knew that a lot of times when I would get on calls with people whether they were in a place ready to like whether they had the money to invest in one-on-one services or not, it didn't always mean that that was like the smartest decision for them to make based upon. The season of business that they were in.

[00:08:26] So sometimes when you're really early on in your business and you're just getting started and really what's holding you back, is that like competence and feeling professional enough to like show up on stories or, you know, do alive or record a webinar or whatever, whatever it is. A lot of times it's like, I want to feel legit.

[00:08:49] Right. And that's kind of like the easiest way for me to say that. And, and so it might not like things are going to change over the next six to 12 months. So would investing three to $5,000 in creating this full brand. You know, identity and direction, make the most sense when you really don't even like you haven't really gone through like the organic process of figuring out, like, what do I love doing?

[00:09:15] What don't I love doing who are my clients? And so even if you, even if these people like had the money, it didn't always feel like the right move for them to make. And I was, have never really been in the business for like, okay, well, let's just do the work anyway. So if they weren't the right fit, I really didn't have anything else for them.

[00:09:34] You know? And then it was like, where am I sending these people do? So the first like easy ticket, like product that I created was brand identity breakthrough, which is a whole logo template system. And just full brand identity. And there, I don't typically lead with the visuals like that, but I know that.

[00:09:58] Like I just said, when you're just getting started, it's kind of like the sexiest thing, right? It's like, I want to look good online. I want to have a professional, like image. I want things to be cohesive and consistent. I want a color palette. I want funds. And that's like one part of your full brand strategy.

[00:10:18] I knew that that was like the easiest the easiest sell anyway. And that was what people would typically come to me for first. They don't know that they need to like work on their voice or their values or, or, you know, anything else it's like, I need to like look a certain way. So so we created, or I created that product and.

[00:10:37] Created a funnel system for that one. So did a lot of paid advertising for that one and low ticket, $27 like easy buy. And we've sold over like 16,000 up that one template system. Yeah, just, just for the brand identity. And it's good because. I, it allowed me to shift out of, I have a four and a half year old.

[00:11:02] I'm pregnant with my second one right now. And it allowed me to get my time back from just doing one-to-one services. And I was able to then do one-to-one in a way that has felt really good. And when people do come to me, who aren't quite ready for one-on-one I have something for them. 

[00:11:23] Lindsay: Well, congratulations on the baby coming.

[00:11:25] That's so awesome. I love that you created something that will still help people and you recognize that. Okay. My time is super valuable, you know, with the kids and everything, like everything can get really crazy. I totally get it. And I love that. There's always something for people to work on in the meantime, like, Hey, go play over here and when you're ready, I'll be here.

[00:11:45] I think that's awesome. Do you feel like. When someone isn't ready to work with you, they're almost asking for like a quick band-aid because they don't want to do the inner work with that comes along with the, the, the big brand word. Does that make sense? 

[00:12:02] Nikki: It does. I think I like to think that I. Have this is going to sound weird, but I like to think that I've done a good enough job on my own big work, like my own brand strategy work to really kind of like.

[00:12:18] Make it so clear about why the brand strategy work like the bigger work is so important and so valuable and really kind of unders help my audience understand the ROI or the return on investment of actually doing that brand strategy work that I do it doesn't like, it's not as hard of a sell for them.

[00:12:43] You know what I mean? Or yeah, they don't feel like they're just. Getting like the short end of the stick and because, you know, essentially like there, we look at it, like there's 13 parts of a brand strategy, right. And those visuals are really just one piece of the puzzle, like one of 13. So when I can ha when I can help people understand that the people that they look up to in love online, Or like in their industry or the places that we love to spend our money and shop like target or Starbucks, or, you know, I'm just naming, like, I feel like trendy places like Lulu lemon or, you know, trader Joe's or whatever it is, like these places that have these like, quote unquote, like cult followings R V they did all this kind of work.

[00:13:33] Like that's how those businesses got bigger is because they did the brand strategy, work someone somewhere along the way early on, or at some point said to them like, whoa, whoa, whoa, pause. We have to really understand who our audiences and how we're going to create this communication channel with them.

[00:13:54] So that everything that. Decide on create, do say, and be from this day forward is done with the intention of serving this person and that when I can help people understand that then they understand that like, okay, Visuals are exciting, but what I really want to do is sell and make more money.

[00:14:19] Right. What I really want to do is create offers that people need. What I really want to do is create content that sticks and that people are engaging with. And so when they understand that, like that stuff doesn't really come from a logo, colors, and fonts, that stuff comes from the other work, then they're like, I can get them excited about it.

[00:14:41] Lindsay: Well, And we started working with a client because they loved the show. Peach website, 

[00:14:49] Nikki: but you don't think about it right there. Just like when you're getting started, you're just like check, check. Like, this is something on the list that I need is my brand identity. And so, you know, you don't actually ever really equate that to you know, An overall brand strategy.

[00:15:08] You're just like, oh yeah. It's like something I want and need. And, and it's fun. Right? It's like buying clothes, like literally a brand identity is like going out shopping. You're like, I want to like look this way and wear these clothes. So like, I'm going to go and buy them. I'm going to feel really good about 

[00:15:23] Lindsay: it.

[00:15:24] Well, I think. I remember when I first started and everyone was saying, well, identify with your audience and what your, what your clients want. And I thought I don't have that yet because I just started. And how am I supposed to know that? What do you recommend, you know, new coaches who are listening to this, how do they build a brand that aligns with their vision?

[00:15:44] When they, when they just started and everything is so new to them. 

[00:15:48] Nikki: Yeah. I think one way is like talking to people like a lot of times these like dream client scenarios are built off of like profiling someone out that you sort of like make up in your head, right. You're like, okay, Jenny shops here and does this.

[00:16:07] And she's in this season of her life in business. And like, this is what she needs. But like, there's like Jenny actually exists. So let's just go out and talk to Jenny. Right. And so I always recommend like connecting with your audience. I don't care if it's 10, 15, 500 50,000 people. Talk to them and under figure out where, what season they're in of life, what do they need, what do they want?

[00:16:33] What are they struggling with? Are they like you a couple of years ago? You know, and what did you need want and desire to, to be experiencing in your life or business? You know, just depending on like what type of work or industry that you're in. And so my number one thing is like, Definitely messaging is so important, right.

[00:16:54] Just to lay that out there, like messaging and copy are, is so important, more important than the visuals, but they're, they work together. Right. And they, when they, all of these things come together, that's when like the real magic happens and you get into like a great flow in decision-making in your business.

[00:17:14] And just kind of like where you're going, but in order for us to have. Rockstar messaging and copy. We have to know who we're talking to. So instead of making that person up in our head and just guessing, let's go out and actually talk to them like conduct some interviews, find some people who you think might be ideal clients.

[00:17:35] I grabbed them for five minutes on a call, you know, give them a $5 Starbucks gift card for like connecting with you and ask them some questions that are going to get you clarity on whatever it is that you are creating in your own business. And that's a great way to just start building like rapport with people.

[00:17:53] And at the same time, really figuring out like what's what is actually needed. 

[00:18:00] Lindsay: That is fantastic advice. The next thing that I see coaches do, and I find myself doing as well, you know, I can get distracted with branding and just completely go in a cave and just redo everything, not blink for a week and then be done.

[00:18:15] And I see a lot of other people in my space do that too. Or they update all of their copy on their website and refine their messaging, and then they get discouraged because they didn't have this, this big. Amazing results because they changed everything and they're like, well, how long do I wait until I change it again?

[00:18:33] How do I know if every time I re every time I pivot in my business with branding visuals, copy, how do I, how long do you recommend somebody? Lets it sit until they might tweak it a little bit. 

[00:18:46] Nikki: Yeah. I mean the thing, I think that. There's no, like clear cut answer, right. Like six months. And then when you hit the six month day, like changed, like, I don't think there's like an answer there.

[00:19:00] I think that when I think of like all of the things that you've mentioned, right. So when I think of like visuals and messaging and copy and. All those outward facing, like all those things are very outward express parts of a brand strategy, right? Those are all the things that people see from the outside, looking in all of those things, in my opinion.

[00:19:27] Are useless if they're not done in tandem with other things that internal things in your business, like your voice and your values and your services and offerings and the things that like in your products. Right? So, and, and like maybe a couple of other things trickled in that. I'm just not thinking of off the top of my head, but like now these all have to really work together because.

[00:19:54] Updating one part of it is like, think about like being in a relationship with someone. Right. And they're like, I look, look, I changed everything about me. I changed what I'm saying to you. I changed what I'm wearing. Like, I look different, you know, look at me and then like, none of their, nothing else has changed.

[00:20:17] Like it's like actions speak louder than words. Right. And that's sort of the same thing when it comes to branding. It's so much more impactful to understand your audience, go back to the drawing board and understand who they are and shift like offerings to make more sense for them to be like easy no-brainer buys for them.

[00:20:38] And then let the messaging like follow that. Like, okay. Now, like we've tested this, we've tried this, like, people like it, it's working great. Now let's like update everything else to like, make sense for this. It's like, is this making sense? What I'm saying? It's making perfect sense. I like another example of this is like, I've changed my.

[00:21:00] You know, mission statement like that one little one-liner on like my Instagram bio, like probably like 40 times in the last, like three years, right. To say like one thing or the other, and it. Nobody, like they care about like, what they really care about is like, that can say, I literally like build snowman year round, and then like, they click on the link in my bio and I have like all these branding resources.

[00:21:27] Right. It's kind of like, those things just pull someone in. But once they're in seeing like, with a relationship, like once they're in, you're like this, isn't what I thought it was going to be. Right. Or like, they don't have what I thought they had. And so it's really just, it's really important that the offer your offers and your products and your, the way that you're servicing people make sense for them on an actual, like an, on an actionable level, because talk is just talk, words are just words.

[00:22:02] If they don't connect to the actual offer itself and make sense, like we're humans, right. We can see that from a mile away. 

[00:22:13] Lindsay: I love that analogy so much, you're in a relationship and it's not working and you change everything, but you didn't change your values or lack there of, and I think that's so important and no one talks about that.

[00:22:25] Why is the fact that you should be folding in your values with everything you do in your business? Why is that important? 

[00:22:34] Nikki: I mean, I'm like, why is it not important? You know? Like, it feels like the most important thing, because at the end of the day, as a consumer, I just think of myself as a consumer.

[00:22:44] Like I work hard for my money, you know? And, and when I say like, work hard, like I, I put in the time that feels good for me in order to make, make every dollar. And I, when, when I'm going to spend it, I want to make sure that I'm putting my money in places that feel aligned with what I believe in, in my life, like outside of like even running a business.

[00:23:13] Right. I want to know what those things are about a business. If I can't find any of them, like. What, like, what is this business stand for? But when, but a business and a brand that does have their values woven into all the things that they do, like you, you know what those are because they're plain Jane out there.

[00:23:39] Right. And so, you know, values come into play so much. You have like your core values of your business, right? And these are just kind of like the standards that you operate your business from. And then you also have just like general values of a business owner and how you grow your team. And you know, how you take care of the people that you're working with and things like that.

[00:24:04] All of these values, whether they're like core values or just like internal brand values, they show up in the way that we talk to people in our DMS, they show up in the way that we handle when something doesn't go the way that we thought it was going to go. They show up in the way that we write copy and.

[00:24:22] Present our personality as a business. They show up in the content that we create for social media and in the way that we take care of our clients and our customers and potential clients. So their values to me become the, like, become the way in which people who are. Interacting with your business, feel something.

[00:24:48] And if I don't feel the way that I, you know, just as a consumer, if I don't feel the way that I want to feel I know like I know from being in branding, like that's a value thing. Like there's none here or they're not aligned. And so I trust that, like, I would find another option. 

[00:25:10] Lindsay: Oh, that's so good. I love it.

[00:25:12] I think, I think now more than ever, it's more important to embrace your values and don't be afraid to, to put them out there. If we, if we don't do that, people are going to look elsewhere and people shouldn't have to dig on your website to find out who you really are. Like, where's that one sentence that tells me her value statement, like where is that?

[00:25:33] It should be portrayed in the copy. You put on Instagram, the stories you share, everything that you do ha should have a hint of it in there. And then it involves you embracing who you are, your uniqueness being confident in who you are, and that's how you stand out. And, and you're finally happy with the brand that you have, and you don't feel the need to keep changing all the time.

[00:25:56] Do 

[00:25:56] Nikki: you agree? Yeah. Yeah. I don't like, that was an interesting question before, because I don't feel like You know, I don't want people to have to change up all the time now. Nothing is set in stone. And I do think that like, like I talked about, I started doing this and then I kind of shifted into this and, you know, I was in one-to-one and then had meant like, there's things about your business change.

[00:26:22] But I think like at the core. Who you are and who your business is like that. And like what your brand is built on. Like a lot of those foundational pieces, a lot of those stay somewhat the same just over time, you know? Yes. You may update like your services and offerings and unlike your products or the process that you do.

[00:26:51] Things like, like me, you know, I went from like doing a lot of one-to-one work to like a lot of digital products and like templates, systems and assets. So like my process changed, but at the core it's always been like my brand has always been about. Giving women like the resources and tools to be able to create like have a brand that they love from day one.

[00:27:14] That's always sort of been the essence of it. And so I've, I've like, I see the value in like updating messaging and copy and little things like this over time. But I think, you know, when like, that's like, Required because you've up-leveled versus like it needing to be done because you, like, aren't making enough money doing whatever you're doing.

[00:27:38] And you're like, okay, let me just try and fix this. Oh, 

[00:27:41] Lindsay: perfect. That's perfect. That's. Right on the money. It's, it's an important distinction to make as a business owner. And I'd like to relate growing your business to, you know, you're in the baby stages and then here in the toddler and then you grow and you're awkward, and you're trying to figure out who you are and then all of a sudden, and whether it takes you, you know, a short amount of time, or maybe it takes you longer because every person is different.

[00:28:05] You find that. Like you're finally settled with who you are and you're happy and you're okay with being consistent with what you do. And you finally feels like you find your sweet spot, your cozy spot. 

[00:28:16] Nikki: Yeah. Yeah. I, I agree. I mean, I think that. It feels really good to like settle into your like space where you've like built some authority and you feel like you're, you know, becoming the go-to in your industry.

[00:28:33] And you've kind of like got these foundational pieces in place and things are working, right? Like you're in, you've got some systems in place or some automations in place where things are actually like functioning the way that they should function. And then. It's like, we're never done. So then you're like, okay, what do I like?

[00:28:53] What's next? You know, the cool thing. Well, what I feel like is like, things in life happen that allow like a little bit of like a pause. So like right now I'm in this sort of like okay. Get like, we need to get these certain like systems and things in place. And so that things are running a little bit more efficiently because we're having another baby.

[00:29:16] Right. So like, and I'm, I know that I want like certain things to happen while I can take some time off and just, you know, give myself like a maternity leave. And so I think that like there's seasons of. Even like growth and expansion, and also just like coasting. Someone, I forget. I feel like it was last year.

[00:29:40] I like heard this saying about how about like, businesses are, are like flowers, like flowers and gardens, where like, there are times where you are growing and you're blooming and you're out there and you are visible and you are shining. So much happening and there are, is a winter where you are underground and you're planting seeds.

[00:30:04] And like it's not growth. Like it is not. Show up and shine time all the time. And sometimes I think as business owners, we like do a disservice to ourselves and create like an unneeded burnout when we have to be on all the time, like all year long. And I think it's important to know that there are like, it's okay to like, Have these sort of like more hibernation periods where you are sort of like setting things up or creating some systems or you're, you know, you're just like in the internal work.

[00:30:43] And I always find that on the other side of that is like my next day. 

[00:30:48] Lindsay: I love that a garden analogy. I totally love because it's so true. It is so true. We don't always have to be on. And I think a part of this whole thing is not only trusting the process, but getting comfortable with being consistent.

[00:31:01] And I think that can be really scary. I am all about consistency and you know what, sometimes it's going to feel like, wow, my days feel like the movie Groundhog. I remember watching that when I was little and that might be, but if you just stick it out, it's gonna, it's amazing. Things are gonna happen.

[00:31:18] And your garden might just be right around the corner tomorrow. Something's gonna pop up and you're, you're going to feel like, oh my gosh, all of that worry was for nothing. And I do. That this is gonna, this is going to happen because we, there is so much in there for us and we just have to be willing to have the patience, to let our businesses grow and be proud of the crop that comes up from all the work that we've done.

[00:31:42] And in that season of planting and taking care and nurturing that comes from, you know, a decade of running your business and being a mom and you know, what, nothing teaches you more to trust the process. Then being a mom, I have three kids too, so I totally get it. No kid is the same. And sometimes you just got to let go of white knuckling, the steering wheel and just let it go.

[00:32:09] Nikki: Yeah, I totally agree. They'll they are big 

[00:32:13] Lindsay: teachers for sure. Yes. Oh, well this was an awesome conversation, Nikki. I knew that this would be completely different from all of the other branding experts that we had. So it's nice to be proven. Correct. And I love everything that you said. Why don't you go ahead and share how people can find out more about.

[00:32:30] Nikki: Yeah, I obviously easily find me on social media at Nikki Arensman. You can check out my website, Nikki Arensman dot com. There's great resources on there to connect with brand identity breakthrough, which is the logo template system I was talking about. We have a full brand strategy. You can either.

[00:32:50] Self-lead or get six months of live support. That product is called brand strategy blueprint. And you can find that on there as well. And obviously you can always DM me and I'm sure you'll have my links in the show notes too, to check all that out. 

[00:33:05] Lindsay: Of course. Thank you so much, Nikki, for being here with us and everyone, please go follow Nikki and let her know how much she loved the episode and we will see you on the next.