I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for Authority Magazine’s series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand. (Also: can we take a moment to acknowledge that for all of about ten minutes I got to share screen real-estate with Seth Godin?!)

So in case you missed it, or you prefer to listen rather than read, I’ve recorded it and turned it into this podcast episode!

I’m not gonna lie, this is going to feel a bit weird, because I’ll be pretending to be both the interviewer and the interviewee. But here we go!

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Read the original article on Authority Magazine
• Free micro course: Brand values, not bland values!

People + brands mentioned in the episode:

• Randi Buckley
• Slow Business Adventure
• Talormade
• Dana James Mwangi
• Chris Do
• Seth Godin

A bit of a rare occurrence today: I don’t often have a guest return to the podcast for a second interview. In fact, I think it’s only happened once before!

But when my friend Petra Fisher messaged me to say basically:

“Hey, I had a ball when I was a guest last time — my focus has shifted a bit now and I talk even more about values and purpose, would you have me back for a second round as YOU seem to be going more and more in that direction as well?”

...I needed all of two seconds to ponder on this before I answered HECK yeah, I'd love to have you back on the show!

Let me introduce you to Petra: A “cranky old fuddy-duddy who claims to know shitloads about Linkedin” — those are her words, not mine! It’s how her Linkedin bio starts.

You can probably already tell that Petra is a LinkedIn trainer with a twist. She's not really fussed about pleasing the algorithm. Instead, she shows you how to attract your dream clients: those who match your values, personality & fees!

Oh yes, my cuppa tea indeed! Which is perfect, since the one thing Petra does every day, all day, is drink tea. It’s brilliant really, she’s made her tea-drinking part of her brand — and a very memorable part too. Pure genius, if you ask me! Petra doesn’t work as hard as she would like, as she often ends up stuck under the cat, and given the housing shortage, she’s not holding her breath for the young adult daughter to move out, so she made sure her online business allows her to travel and work instead.

Intrigued? Grab a cuppa and join me as I welcome Petra back for a chat about how to stop being intimidated by Linkedin, and instead make it enjoyable and profitable.

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Connect with Petra — on Linkedin of course! Where else?!
• Grab Petra's free checklist
• The study that revealed that a whopping 82% of consumers want a brand’s values to align with their own

—Oh, you’re so creative, can you just whip up this [pretty design] for me?

—If you can just play around with some sketches, it probably won’t take you long!

—You work in marketing, right?

—I need someone to draw this for me, and I know you’re into artsy stuff so…

The other day, as I was chatting with a potential client, it dawned on me that; to someone who isn’t in my line of business; branding, design, and marketing, even art — anything labelled “creative industry” really — might all seem like one big, slightly confusing, mess.

Business strategy, brand strategy, brand identity, brand design, and marketing are all important components of a successful business. We all know that. And while they are related, each of these elements has a unique purpose and plays a distinct role in building your business.

So I thought: let me record a super quick guide to help you understand how these disciplines are connected, where they sit in relation to each other, and which of them I can actually help you with.

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Book a call with me
• Brand identity design — the full shebang!
• Brand Boost
• Brand it! strategy sessions

For this episode, I am joined by Rachael Cumberland-Dodd, an ex-corporate marketer turned niche-whisperer. She loves helping do-good business owners get to the heart of what they do, why they do it, and for whom, so they can market their mission with more ease, and less urgh!

Today, I’ve invited Rachael to share a conversation with me on a topic that sits right in the intersection of brand strategy and business strategy, and one that many people have strong opinions about how it “should” be done: defining your niche.

You know me, I don’t like “shoulds” — so I’m thrilled that we get to dive into a different, less rigid, way of doing things today, as Rachael shares her approach with us. And to quote Rachael:

"There's so much pressure to nail your niche, but what if your niche didn't need to be nailed — it just needed uncovering?"

Tune in to hear Rachael’s take on niching from within.

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Feed Marketing website
• Connect with Rachel on Instagram or Linkedin
• Book a free clarity call with Rachael
• Book a 90-minute 1:1 niche session
• Freebie: How to find and connect with your best-fit niche

In this episode, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Rachel Allen. 

Rachel is the owner of Bolt from the Blue Copywriting, where she and her team make words make money.

She loves mixing the neuroscience of communication with the art of great writing to create the words and strategies that make it possible for businesses to take the cap off their income, impact, and influence. Ultimately, all her work is in service of one simple mission: to write the words that bring great ideas into reality.

A little while back, Rachel wrote a series of three articles about the state of the online business world. They’re so good, I highly recommend you read them — in fact, I think they should be mandatory reading for every business owner out there!

Anyways, out of everything that Rachel wrote, six words really stood out for me. And by “stood out”, I mean: I couldn’t get them out of my head. They’re still there, they keep popping up in my mind almost daily — a sure sign of a true golden nugget!

Those words are: Human is the only move left. 

And that, my friend, is exactly what Rachel and I are going to dive deeper into in this episode — that also just happens to be the perfect follow-up to the last episode I dropped; about reclaiming authenticity.

I hope you enjoy this very human conversation!

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Bolt from the blue website
• Connect with Rachel on Instagram or Facebook
• Article 1: The big lie
• Article 2: The third wave of masculine marketing is here. It’s smart. It’s woke. And it’s horrifying
• Article 3: Human is the only move left
• Jonathan Stewart (Rachel mentions him)

Authenticity. It’s unfortunately become a bit of a buzzword in the branding world, and that is a pet peeve of mine!

Because so many companies have been misusing authenticity as a marketing gimmick to appeal to people’s yearning for something genuine, trustworthy, sincere products and experiences, “authentic” no longer carries the same meaning as it used to. 

So now, when a brand claims to be authentic, instead of leading to increased levels of trust — it often leads to scepticism and cynicism. That’s because we, as consumers, increasingly recognise that many brands use authenticity as a fancy facade to hide their true intentions. And those intentions are often focused on profit, profit and more profit, at any cost. As a result, these cynical brands have ruined authenticity for the rest of us, and it’s pissing me off big time!

Can we reverse this damage? I think we can, but it’s going to take some work. As human-centred brands, we need to take a different approach, one that prioritises authenticity in every aspect of our businesses — without shouting about it as if it’s a big deal. I mean, it kinda is a big deal, but really it should just be the norm. We shouldn’t have to question someone’s authenticity, but here we are.

Tune in to hear my take on this!

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Strategic brand design
• Brand Boost
• Brand it! strategy hours
• Book a free call
• Free five day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!

In this episode I want to dig deeper into a topic I emailed my list about a couple of weeks back, and I want to challenge you to ask yourself: are you falling into the trap of building a shallow brand?

I want to make it clear: I’m not implying that you, as a person, are shallow! Firstly: I don’t think you’d be listening to this podcast if you were, tbh. I would have scared you off a loooong time ago!

And secondly: even if you were, you wouldn't admit it, would you? I mean, who wants to be seen as someone lacking emotional or intellectual depth; that person who judges others on their looks, their job, their house, or how much money they have. Who is all-consumed with appearances, but flakey af when shit's about to get real. I’m not saying that at all.

Of course you're not shallow. But what about your brand?

I hate to tell you: If you are only focusing on the visual aspects of your brand, then… yes. Your brand is shallow.

 — But I want [my brand] to be so much more than just a pretty face! I hear you scream. Well, my friend, I want more for your brand too.

Tune in to hear about the pitfalls, and how to avoid them!

TL;DR — episode links:

• Shownotes
• Free brand audit checklist (PDF)
• Free five day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!
• Free brand perception survey (Google form)
• Brand it! strategy hours
• Strategic brand design
• Brand Boost
• Book a free call

With all the recent talk about artificial intelligence I thought it would be fun to “invite” ChatGPT to be my guest for a podcast episode about the importance of a human approach to branding in 2023 and beyond. I hope you appreciate the irony of the topic as much as I do 😆

Anyways: I asked ChatGPT to script an episode, and dropped a few questions into the mix along the way, and here’s the resulting “conversation” between AI and I.

It should come as no surprise to regular listeners that I take a very strategy-driven approach with my work. A little while back I connected with today’s guest, and as we chatted it soon became apparent that the “strategy first” approach is something we share, and that we both implement in our respective professions. Today, you’ll hear us chat about how strategy and branding come before a website — and how most people think of the website as a thing that leads those, but it's truly just one piece of implementation.

I’m thrilled to be welcoming today’s guest: Kelsey Gilbert-Kreiling, the cofounder of Week of the Website. With over 700 successful site launches to date, Week of the Website aims to be the most creative, trusted and loved Squarespace agency for industry innovators. Week of the Website has worked with groundbreaking artists, industry innovators, game-changing political advisors, creative leaders and just all around awesome people.

Kelsey drives business development and sales for Week of the Website, and loves working with clients to help them synthesise their ideas and make them real. She’s all about breaking down barriers between her clients and their websites, and gets super excited to work on projects featuring authors, travel, hospitality and design, but also likes digging into innovation in professional services. As the Fearless Leader of the Week of the Website design team, Kelsey loves coaching and supporting developers as they help make their client’s website dreams come true.

When she’s not working, Kelsey loves spending time with her son and her husband in Chicago. Lately, she’s making her way through a cosy knitting project and reading The School for Good Mothers by Jessamin Ward.

TL;DR — episode links:

• Week of the Website
• Connect with Kelsey on Instagram
• Website planning toolkit — handy steps you can take to prepare to build your website either on your own or with a designer

OK, so this is exciting! And terrifying. But mostly exciting. When you're a brand designer, one of the hardest damn things in the whole world is working on your own brand! And yet, that is exactly what I've been doing for the past few months.

I'm 42 today, and this is my gift to myself: a bolder, braver, and more edgy iteration of my brand. I'll be rolling it out across all my platforms and collateral over the coming month or so, starting with my evergreen Instagram grid, the most important parts of my website and my podcast. 

You'll recognise some familiar things, like two of my brand colours and one of my brand fonts (and me, I'm not going anywhere) — but there are also some quite radical changes, like a new and quirky feature font that is also used for the logotype. My yellow accent colour is sharper, and I've added a darker teal for better visibility and contrast against white backgrounds. Overall, it's a more attention-grabbing brand identity that aligns better with my brand values — and my depleting levels of fucks left to give.

To hear more about the rebrand and why it came about, tune into this week's podcast episode!

TL;DR — episode links:

• Check out my new Instagram 9-grid
• Take a peek at my new brand guidelines
• Sign up for the Brand values, not bland values! micro email course

“I have done many values exercises but found absolute clarity in embracing your challenge.”

That was the response from Stephanie Graham, after taking part in my Brand values, not bland values! challenge. In this episode, we get to hear how Stephanie worked through the mini course, and the difference it made in how she approaches her brand values.

Stephanie is an artist, photographer, and filmmaker who creates artwork about relationships, pop culture, and being black. She exhibits this work in art galleries and museums and works on commissions through editorial and advertising companies. Her zone of genius is getting to know people! People are her palette as she loves to hear people's stories, where they have been, where they are going, and what their dreams are; conversations and storytelling with people and how we relate are where she gets her inspiration for her projects.

She says she can talk to anyone, and you can see some of this in her podcast noseyAF, an interview series of people in the thick of what they do.

Anyone who has listened to my podcast, or been in my general orbit, for a while, knows that I keep going on and on about the importance of rooting your brand in values. So I think it’ll be really cool for our listeners to hear about the process from someone who has actually done the work to define their core brand values.

Do I have a treat of a conversation for you today? Yes, yes I do! In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Maddie Peschong — a branding photographer and coach who is obsessed with teaching creative entrepreneurs how to build a profitable business by being themselves.

If you’ve been listening to this podcast, or following me on social for more than about three seconds, you know that this is something I feel strongly about too!

Through coaching, digital products, and personal branding photos, Maddie helps women discover their magic so they can stand out in a saturated market, confidently scale their income without trading more time for money, and do only work they love. She is the leader of the Confident Creative Mastermind, host of the Take it Personally Podcast, and founder of the White Space Studio in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — a place where creatives can design, dream, and collaborate while developing their own irresistible brands.

Today, Maddie and I talk about building an authentic personal brand to stand out in a saturated market — and we get to learn about her framework, and the “four Rs”. I can’t wait, so let’s dive straight in!

Links:

• Shownotes + transcript
• Connect with Maddie on Instagram
• Visit Maddie's website

• Brand Boost
• Free 5-day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!

What makes us trust a brand? I know, hard to put your finger on, isn’t it? It somehow feels so… subjective and intangible. Yet, trust is one of the key ingredients in building a successful brand. If people don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. But how do you build that trust?

Last week I learned something that I wanted to share with you. I attended a business related conference, and one of the keynote speakers was Anita Krohn Traaseth, who is a brilliant and very well renowned Norwegian business executive, speaker, and author. Anita shared about a tangible way of determining your trustworthiness: the Trust Equation. It’s a tool that you can use when evaluating your strengths and weaknesses as you work to earn the trust of your people — whether it’s your employees, or your dream clients.

Links:

• Shownotes + transcript
• Brand Boost
• Free 5-day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!

Tune in as I chat with Suzi Gray, an online business mentor who likes her humour served dry. You can already tell this is going to be a good one, right?

Suzi works with quietly ambitious coaches, consultants and creatives who want to position themselves as pioneers in their industry and radically redefine success for themselves. She's also a new mum, former lawyer, and she lives on a little marina in the UK. (I mean, come on, how fantastic does that sound?! I'm a little bit jealous here.)

Anyways, Suzi considers luxurious simplicity to be her love language. Her clients adore her ability to pull out the gold inside them and the unique way that she combines strategy and creativity to package it up irresistibly. Before moving into mentorship, Suzi was an in-demand copywriter and brand strategist for some of the industry's best. 

In this episode, Suzi is here to teach us a thing or two about positioning yourself as a pioneer in your industry.

Links:

• Shownotes + transcript
• Connect with Suzi on Instagram
• Visit Suzi's website
• Go read the love letter!
• Brand Boost
• Free 5-day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!

You can’t rush quality.

In this episode, I talk about the current obsession with instant gratification, and why it’s not a great approach to take when building a brand.

I see it all the time, across all industries: people are chasing after results, and they want them NOW. “I need a full rebrand, and a full visual identity system, and some branded templates — and I need it ready to go in three weeks!” 

When did we get so impatient?!

It’s a bit of a rant, this. But I just want to be a counterweight to the fast-paced hamster wheel, and advocate for a return to seeing time as a creator of value.

Whether you’re new to business and this is your first time building a brand from scratch, or you’re a seasoned business owner who was seduced by the thought of instant gratification and later realised that you rushed past all the good parts in the process: this episode is for you.

Links:

• Shownotes
• Brand Boost
• Free 5-day micro course: Brand values, not bland values!
• That 🔥 post by Nik Goodner (and a hat tip to Tracy Stanger for making me aware of it!)

I'm kicking autumn off with a special client spotlight episode to highlight my Brand it! Group programme.

For those of you who are new around here, Brand it! is an intimate group experience where I help you go from confusion to brand clarity → in just 12 weeks, as you discover and define your brand’s unique purpose and personality, find the confidence to own your sh*t, tap into your uniqueness to spark meaningful connections — and attract more of those omg, yes! 🤩 clients.

At the time this episode airs I’m in the middle of enrolling students for the second cohort of the programme, and what better way to give you an insight into what it’s actually like — than to invite one of my past students on to tell you about their Brand it! experience?

So that’s exactly what I did. Lynn Dutrow was a student in the first cohort of Brand it! and in this episode I chat with her about her brand strategy journey. Lynn calls herself a Compassionate AssKicker, and has a background in psychology, education, coaching, and motorcycle sales. She specialises in supporting Empathic Entrepreneurs and Purpose-fuelled Professionals in enjoying their success with less stress. She’s also the author of the book ALIGNED as Fuck — transforming your inner assholes into allies. Yep, she’s pretty awesome, and I’m proud to be able to call her a client and a friend.

Links:

• Shownotes
• Brand it! group programme
• Book: ALIGNED as Fuck — transforming your inner assholes into allies
• LynnDutrow.com
• Connect with Lynn on Instagram
• Connect with Lynn on Linkedin

In this episode, we’re going to be diving into the topic of… emails! And I have invited a guest on, who is just the perfect person to teach us a thing or two about using email to boost your brand!

Eman Ismail is the person to call when you want to make money from your emails. 

As an email conversion strategist and copywriter, she helps 6-figure (and above!) online business owners and ecommerce brands fire up their conversions, evergreen their sales and turn fans into Superfans. 

She’s worked with powerhouses like Emily Thompson from Being Boss, Joanna Wiebe from CopyHackers, Belinda Weaver from the Hot Copy Podcast, Interact (the quiz platform), and she also holds regular copywriting workshops in partnership with Lloyds Business Bank. 

When Eman is not writing high-converting emails for clients, delivering workshops or teaching business owners how to write copy that converts, she’s bingeing either podcasts or pizza (but she’d rather you didn’t tell her PT that).

I reached out to Eman about… six months ago I think it was. I first came across her when she was a guest on The Get Paid Podcast by Claire Pelletreau, where she spoke about how she went from tiny profits to steady 10k months. I was inspired by her story, and started following her, and there was something about her relationship-building approach to emails that just really resonated with me. I knew pretty soon that I wanted to invite her on for a chat.

Ah, I’m eager to dive in, so let’s get to it!

Links:

• Shownotes
• The Email Rules (free 35-minute email class)
• InkHouse website
• Instagram

Today’s episode is brought to you by throat lozenges and cough mixture, and you can probably hear why! I’ve come down with a nasty cold, so to spare my voice this episode will be short and sweet.

It’s another behind the scenes episode today, where I’ll be talking about why I went back to custom proposals, when “everyone” says you need to productise and package up your service offerings in order to be successful.

Links:

• Shownotes
• Get on the waitlist for round two of the Brand it! group programme
• Join in on the biz birthday giveaway (ends Friday the 10th of June)

I dunno about you, but I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately. Take the daily grind of juggling running a business with family commitments, add all the expectations to show up everywhere, be on every platform, say yes to everything… top it with the stress that builds up during a couple of years of global pandemic, and add in a war, political polarisation, looming climate changes. It’s a lot. With everything going on in the world right now, do we really need to add to the stress by placing unrealistic expectations on ourselves as business owners? Is there a way to find balance in a business world that seems to be stuck in the hustle or nothing mentality? Can we be productive without hustling, or is that sheer utopia?

That’s what I’ll be talking about with my guest; productivity mentor Jenna Hellberg, in this episode.

Jenna’s a recovering busy person living in the San Francisco Bay area. She’s run a documentary family photography business since 2014, which is how she got suuuper familiar with overwhelm and overworking.

A couple of years ago she leaned into her experience as a business owner, her training as a psychologist, and her background as a Finn to figure out practical ways to be more productive without the hustle. It made her excited to start supporting small business owners to do the same. Her approach is holistic and collaborative, and the types of business owners she works with tend to care deeply about the people they serve.

When she’s not working, she’ll take any excuse to head out for a hike with her partner Marcus and their Australian shepherd Nova.

Ready to hear what wisdom Jenna has to share with us? Let’s go!

Links:

• Shownotes
• Building Balance podcast
• Instagram
• Free marketing task declutter guide
• Website

Welcome to another behind-the-scenes episode, where I share a glimpse behind the curtain of my own business. I’m firmly on team #keepingitreal, and I’m sick of only hearing the success stories, and nothing about the hiccups, and that’s why I want to share about some of the less glamourous things that happen in a business.

In this episode I pull back the curtain on a recent setback and how I’m using it to drive change in my own business.

If you’re on my email list, you will probably recognise a lot of what I am about to talk about. I’ve sent out a couple of emails to my list recently, where I shared how I got myself into a bit of a money pickle. Turns out that just as you think the days of rookie mistakes are over… the rookie-monster comes back to bite you in the arse.

After a total of almost 13 years as a business owner you'd think I'd be cruisin' it, right? Yeah, I thought I was too. Turns out, I'm not. Long story short: ever since I started my solo business back in 2016, I've been diligent about putting aside money for my taxes throughout the year. And every year I've set aside more than enough to pay my tax bill. So when I opened the email (that I knew was coming) from my accountant, I was fully expecting it to be a case of “Same procedure as every year, James!”

Except this time… it wasn't. 😳

Links:

• Shownotes
• Get on my email list
• 50% off The Lone Brandit (TLB) with discount code PETCHYPICKLES
• 3 for 2 on Brand it! power hours
• Book me for a podcast interview or guest training

In this episode I’m joined by Christine Baird – a media producer who teaches small business owners how to use podcasting and YouTube to attract their dream customers.

After six years in corporate sales, Christine did a career 180 and has been working in podcasting, event production, and influencer branding since 2014. She worked on Lewis Howes’ brand, The School of Greatness, for four years, where she got to grow his top-ranked podcast from less than 1 million downloads to over 80 million.

In 2019 she pivoted to supporting more brands launch and grow their shows and impact. She is the owner of a boutique media production house, Worthfull Media, where she trains teams to become in-house producers of high-quality media.

Christine hosts her own podcast, Worthfull Project, and is the co-host of the Think Like a Producer podcast. She’s passionate about owning her worth and inspiring others to do the same.

Since podcasting and YouTubing for business marketing has hit the mainstream, many business owners feel the desire or pressure to create this kind of media to market their businesses. But how do you make sure that the shows you're creating will get you the return on investment you're looking for? This is the foundation of what Christine teaches her clients, and it’s also the starting point for our conversation today.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/056/

Links:

• Website / Instagram / Podcast: Think Like a Producer
• Christine's current favourite recommendations for the most frequently asked questions regarding podcast creation
• My wonderful VA, Melissa

Welcome to the first in a behind-the-scenes series I cooked up whilst laying on my sofa feeling a bit blah because I woke up to snow and my period. You can already tell I’m going to be such an effin’ ray of sunshine today, right?

Today I want to talk about my word of the year for 2022, and how that’s affected my plans and my offer suite. I want to give you a glimpse into the brain of a small business owner trying to figure out what the heck she wants and how to make that happen. Spoiler alert: it’s not a linear process! As a bonus for me, I get to tell you about the different ways I can help you – which I was initially feeling might come across as very “salesy”... and then I remembered: this is my podcast, nobody is paying me to create it, and I get to do whatever I want to. Woohoo! So yep, I’ll be talking about my own stuff, but I hope that hearing about what’s going on behind the curtain in another small business is also helpful.

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/055/

Links:

Whimsical.com

Brand identity design

Brand it! Power Hours

Brand it! group programme

The Lone Brandit self-paced course

WAIM Unlimited (affiliate link)

Today’s episode is a juicy one, for sure! Especially if you, like me, feel a bit vulnerable about putting yourself out there. You know the feeling, you want to be seen and recognised and known for your expertise – but the thought of being visible is scary as heck, because with increased visibility comes the very real possibility of people not liking you. And we all want to be liked, yes? 

My guest today is someone who has truly mastered the art of putting herself out there: Eleanor Mayrhofer is a Californian transplant, who's lived in Munich, Germany for over 20 years. In her 25 year design career she’s done everything from book compositing to designing mobile apps to methodology and agile process design for global creative teams. She’s worked on projects for clients such as Chronicle Books, Rizzolli, Vodafone, BMW, Audi, and more.

She escaped corporate life in 2010 to start her own online business, and her work was noticed by Goop, Martha Stewart, The New York Times and Pottery Barn Kids.

For the last year and a half she’s been having a really good time helping (mostly) female business owners get their websites launched in a day and helping them with their digital strategy. Her zone of genius is getting you online fast.

Eleanor has had her work featured in Goop, The New York Times, several magazines including Glamour, Martha Stewart and Architectural digest. So clearly she knows a thing or two about putting herself out there, and I can’t wait to hopefully pick up a tip or two!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/054/

Connect with Eleanor:

Website: www.eleanormayrhofer.com  

Blog: https://www.eleanormayrhofer.com/blog 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanormayrhofer/

Instagram: @eleanormayrhofer

NOTE: This episode was recorded before the horrific events we see unfold in Ukraine right now, with the ongoing Russian invasion, and all the fear, suffering and loss of lives that war inevitably brings. I feel helpless, sad, scared and angry. I want to make it clear that I stand with the brave people of Ukraine – and I also stand with the thousands of Russians who take to the streets, putting themselves in danger to protest the war and oppose Putin's regime. I’d like to invite you to join me in one minute of silence. During that minute, take the time to visit https://supportukrainenow.org/ – it’s a list of links (curated by Ukrainians) that tells you real ways you can help Ukraine as a foreigner. If you can, please consider donating to one of the organisations listed. If you do donate, send me an email to let me know, hey@petchy.co, and as a thank you I’ll gift you my Brand it! Strategy Workbook.

Let’s move on to the episode:

Today I'm joined by Maya Šarić – sales copywriter, messaging strategist and owner of SharpshineCopy. She helps coaches and soulful service-based business owners win more freedom in business and life through content that connects people and stands out.

With a background in philology, translating, and business, she’s been uncovering the wow factor in business owners’ offers and personal brands for more than 4 years, taking all the other puzzle pieces like insights and data from their ideal clients, transmuting them into powerful messages on websites, sales pages and emails.

In this episode, Maya and I will talk more about what it really means to stand out from the crowd, if you can actually attract and convert clients with your content – or if it’s a myth and you have to give in and chase them down in DMs and bots - even if that’s not your “style.”

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/053

Connect with Maya: Website / Instagram / Facebook

Workshop: Shortcut to a stunning website

A few weeks ago I did a post on Instagram, where I dropped a bit of a truth bomb [aka, "what I wish someone had told me when I started my biz"] – and it was about how if you want to build a brand on your terms, you have to get comfortable with the word NO. 

Nope. Nah. No thanks. Not today. Hell no. No.

When I polled my insta peeps about whether to do a podcast episode on this topic, I had a 100% ‘yes please!’ rate, which tells me that this is something you want to hear more about.

In this short n' sweet episode, I dissect the different types of no you might encounter as you grow your business – both the the no’s that come from others" and the no's that come from you – and how to make them easier to handle.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/052/

Book a Brand it! strategy session

Get on the waitlist for my group programme

Raise your hand if you’ve ever put off sharing about your thing, whether it’s your regular services or a new offering you’ve created, because it feels like your website isn’t quiiiite complete yet. If you can regognise yourself in the above, you’re going to love this episode!

Samantha Mabe, creative director and designer of Lemon and the Sea, helps service providers and coaches stop cringing every time a dream client asks for their website. She loves designing custom sites that empower business owners to raise their prices and feel confident that their online home finally reflects their brand. With her signature framework, Samantha has designed and customised over 25 websites over the past 6 years for all different types of entrepreneurs. When she is not digging into design and strategy, Samantha loves true crime podcasts, adventures with her toddler, and trying to keep up with her Netflix queue.

Samantha reached out to me because she wanted to share about launching with a simple website. She believes that you don’t need a complicated, 47-page website filled with pop-ups and funnels in order to launch your new service or course. All you need are the 4 pages that move people from browsing to buying.

Now, this fits in nicely with my philosophy of making things as uncomplicated as possible so people actually get on with building their brands instead of getting stuck in the "but I have to do or have x" rat race.

Tune in to hear all about Samantha's approach.

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/051/

Connect with Samantha:

Website / Instagram / Facebook

Free guide: 5 Updates for a Higher Converting Website

Happy not-so-new-anymore year!

Yes, I know I’m a bit late with my year in review episode, but I couldn’t keep you waiting any longer for that brilliant conversation I shared with Eli Trier in my last episode. Besides, the usual excitement over the blank slate and new possibilities a new year brings… just hasn’t been there for me this time round.

This episode is a bit different. It has less of a branding and more of a general business and personal focus. I’m going to be sharing the good stuff from 2021, the not so good stuff, the top three lessons learnt, and a glimpse into my plans for 2022. It’s the kind of transparency I myself was desperate to see from others when I first started out – and given that integrity, honesty and transparency are all values I align my own brand to, I want to practice what I preach. So in a way, I guess it does tie in with branding.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/050/

Warning, this episode is a bit of a link-o-rama, so here ya go to save you scrolling:

Top three podcast episodes:

Selling without selling your soul w/ Erika Tebbens

How brand values can drive business growth w/ Samantha Summerfield (I mixed stuff up and said this was a solo episode. It wasnt!)

Building an unshiny brand w/ Jo Casey

My VA Melissa Plumley and my brand photographer Karina Lange

Book a virtual chinwag with me

My Flodesk affiliate link (gives you 50% off for a year and me a one-off reward of $19)

Erika Tebbens’ Rebellious Success programme

Heather Thorkelson’s The Incurables membership

My Brand it! VIP days, strategy sessions and group programme

Podcast episode 47, about my revised Brand it! framework

Our topic today is community – and as someone who has quite literally built, and is still building, a business through authentic relationships with other humans, I’ve experienced first hand how important community is from a branding perspective. And that’s why I want to introduce you to the amazing human who is my guest today.

Eli Trier lives in the wonderful city of Copenhagen, Denmark and is a community builder for Quiet Revolutionaries. She helps introverts with big dreams to get connected and build thriving, engaged communities around their businesses, so that they can make a massive impact, find their dream clients, and make their corner of the world a better place. A long-time business owner, Eli knows first-hand the power of human connection to build a business, and her unique approach got her featured in The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking. She specialises in creating powerful, strategic online community projects and loves every minute of her work (even the boring bits). When she's not working you can find her curled up with a book, painting, or hanging out with her husband Lars.

I mean, strategy and community. Two of my faves! I have a feeling this will be good, so let’s go ahead and listen to what Eli has to share with us!

Today I’m joined by Chantelle Andercastle, a service based business strategist, web designer and creator of the Aligned Action approach. Since 2018, she has taught entrepreneurs how to get past where they’re stuck or where they’ve settled and help them grow into confident business owners who make conscious decisions and take meaningful action so they can generate true connection – and cash because hello, we’re all business owners here, right? – all while making their vision a reality. 

In this conversation that you are about to hear Chantelle and I dive into a topic that I found really intriguing and really interesting: We’re going to be looking deeper into the relationship between the business owner and the business itself and how that connection between yourself and your brand plays a crucial role in building your business, can’t wait to get stuck in. So without further ado here is that episode!

Shownotes

Connect with Chantelle:

Podcast: Apple / Spotify 

Website

Instagram

It’s been a while since my last solo episode, but this week I wanted to tell you about something I am really proud of, something that has been in the works for quite some time, and a couple of weeks back it was finally ready: v2.0 of my Brand it! Framework.

Previously, you could buy a workbook that took you through my framework, but that is changing. I’ve completely revamped the workbook, it’s now twice the volume (but still no fluff!)– but I’m not going to be selling my workbook separately anymore, it’ll be reserved for 1:1 clients, group programme students and special friends. But stick around for this episode and you’ll get a breakdown of what it’s all about!

Shownotes

Apply for the Brand it! group programme (or join the waitlist, depending on when you're tuning in!)

If you’re a business owner who wants to build your brand on your terms, and you’ve had enough of hustle culture and sleazy marketing (and since you’re listening to this podcast I have a hunch that’s the case) I think you’re really going to like the conversation you’re about to hear.

Today’s guest is Sarah Santacroce, who describes herself as a “Hippie turned Business Coach”. Not only is Sarah the author of two books and the host of the Humane Marketing podcast – she also works with heart-centered entrepreneurs to question their assumptions when it comes to marketing & give them permission to market their business their way, the gentle way!

Over a decade of running a successful LinkedIn Consulting business inspired a yearning in Sarah to create a global movement that encourages people to bring more empathy and kindness to business & marketing.

Sarah shares a fresh perspective and doesn’t shy away from calling things out that no longer work for many of us when it comes to the current marketing model. Her clients sometimes refer to her as “the female Seth Godin”.

The story of how Sarah ended up a guest on this podcast is funny and it certainly put a smile on my face when it happened – so let’s dive in and hear all about that, and also about Sarah's recent rebranding journey and how it ties in with her Humane Marketing approach.

Shownotes

Connect with Sarah:

www.humane.marketing

www.sarahsantacroce.com

https://ch.linkedin.com/in/sarahsantacroce

www.twitter.com/sarahsantacroce

www.humane.marketing/1page

today’s guest is Cassie Paton – a copywriter who creates potent stories for gutsy entrepreneurs.

She’s the founder of Mettle & Tonic, where she helps service providers whose messaging is bland, out-of-date, or spineless write website and email marketing copy that’s punchy, powerful, and persuasive so they can attract more dream clients and run businesses they love.

Using strategy and empathy, she takes a values-first approach to help you unlock the language that makes your dream clients a little bit obsessed with you.

In this episode, Cassie will be sharing with us the seven questions your home page needs to answer – and how to answer them – and I have to say… I’m a little nervous to hear whether my website measures up… I guess there’s only one way to find out!

Shownotes

Connect with Cassie: Website / Instagram

I am soooo excited about this episode you’re about to hear! I know I say this every time, but this is an episode I’ve been looking forward to – maybe even a little bit more than usual. Can I even say that without offending any of my other guests? Ah well, I just did.

Because today, my dear listeners, today I have the pleasure of introducing you to someone whose work has inspired and directly impacted me and my business; first as I consumed pretty much every free resource she has ever created (I’m still eagerly awaiting her podcast episodes every Wednesday, and you should too!) and then as I joined her group programme Rebellious Success – and now to be able to call her a friend, and soon-to-be client at the time of recording this… It’s awesome. She’s awesome.

Erika Tebbens is a Sales Strategist for ambitious misfits who want success, but aren't willing to compromise who they are to get there. (See why I was drawn to her?) She works with service-providers, consultants, and coaches to create custom growth plans that avoid complex systems, sleazy sales tactics, or battling burnout. With 17+ years experience running successful businesses, from solo operations to multimillion dollar retail teams, Erika knows that there's no one "perfect" way to operate – only one that’s perfectly aligned with your strengths, values, and vision. She also hosts the weekly Sell it, Sister! Podcast where she dishes out BS-free business advice.

Shownotes

Connect with Erika:

Website / Podcast / Free no-sleaze sales guide / Rebellious Success group programme

My guest today is Jana Krizanova; a Customer Journey Strategist. She predominantly works with coaches, consultants and mentors, helping them to clean up their customer journeys to ensure a world-class experience for their group programme participants, so they get transformed from one-time customers into repeat clients and brand ambassadors. 

I’m so excited for this conversation, as the customer experience is an often overlooked, but oh so important part of branding. How your clients and customers feel before, during and after interacting with your brand – whether it’s when they buy one of your products or their user experience as part of your group programme – has everything to do with how they perceive your brand, and whether or not they will come back for more. And maybe even more importantly: whether they will recommend you to their friends, or tell them to steer the heck away.

Shownotes

Connect with Jana:

Website / Raving Fans Formula Power Hour / Free guide: Four Foolproof Ways To Turn Your New Group Members Into Raving Fans

Join the interest list for my Brand it! Academy

In today’s episode, by popular request over on Instagram, I’m diving further into a topic I emailed my list about earlier: connections and relations, and how they can help you grow your brand.

If I had to pick the one thing that has made the biggest impact on my business and brand over these past 5+ years… it's connections, and the longer term relations that stem from those connections. Hands down! 

I'm not talking about the aimless mingling with random people at a business conference in the hopes of getting a sale out of thin air. Not that we've been able to attend those business conferences for the past couple of years anyways, and this introvert biz owner is totally fine with that, but that's a different story. No, the kind of connections I'm talking about go way deeper than that.

I'm talking about those connections that turn into deep and meaningful relations – the kind that really only happen when you approach that other person with interest, curiosity and openness, when you genuinely care about connecting with them as a human – not as someone whose wallet you want to get into.

Shownotes

Sign up for the Brand it! Academy interest list

For this episode, I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Jo Casey to the show. Jo describes herself as an unshiny business coach, and she helps artisanal business owners (including coaches, makers, and healers) increase revenue without compromising their values or sacrificing their wellbeing. She’s the host of the Unshiny Podcast and creator of The Supernova Collective – a transformational 9 month coaching and mentoring program. In her own words: she’s the coach that you come to when you’ve grown tired of the bro marketers and their obsessions with how big their funnels are and how early they get up every morning.

Right up my alley, in other words!

So as you can imagine, I knew I wanted to invite Jo to a conversation about how to embrace an unshiny approach to building a brand. Let’s dive in!

Shownotes

Connect with Jo:

Website / Instagram

Time for the third and final episode in my Summer Shorts mini series, and this one is for the new business owners out there, or even if you are just in the early planning stages of “possibly, maybe starting a business”. Today I’m tackling the runner-up question from the vote over on Instagram: Branding advice for the first 6 months of your business.

There is one piece of advice that I give new business owners all the time, so my first and main tip is: don’t worry too much about the logo. At least not just yet. And the other tips? Find a cool spot, pour yourself a chilled beverage and tune in to find out!

⛱⛱⛱

I meant to keep the Summer Shorts episodes under 10 minutes each, but I “had to” sneak in a bonus tip in this one, so it's a little longer. Two minutes and thirty four seconds longer to be exact. Please don't hold it against me. 😉

Oh, and even if you're a seasoned business owner, I hope that there is something of value in this episode for you too – if not, I'd love it if you could forward this to someone you know who is just starting out and who needs to hear this.

Shownotes

Get the Brand it! workbook (€47)

Welcome to summer shorts – a series of short and snappy episodes, to give you actionable branding tips without taking up too much of your precious time in the sun – and in all honesty: so I can spend my summer break chillin’ rather than recording podcast episodes in random locations.

So: grab your chilled beverage of choice, whip out the sunglasses – and let’s get our shorts on!

In the second episode of the Summer Shorts series, I give you some tips on what to do when people come to you for services you don't offer. Enjoy!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/039

Welcome to summer shorts – a series of short and snappy episodes, to give you actionable branding tips without taking up too much of your precious time in the sun – and in all honesty: so I can spend my summer break chillin’ rather than recording podcast episodes in random locations.

So: grab your chilled beverage of choice, whip out the sunglasses – and let’s get our shorts on!

In this first Summer Shorts episode, I give you five questions to ask yourself to instantly improve your brand strategy. Enjoy!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/038

I have a super inspirational guest on for you today: Mariana Peña is an instructional designer for purpose-driven online business owners who want to develop a red-hot, unique-to-them signature service or certification program that feels like a true representation of them and transforms their clients on a deliciously and unusually deep level.

In the conversation you’re about to hear, Mariana shares not only her expertise, but also how she’s using her own lived experiences and her own background to create a brand and a business that not only serves her and her clients, but also contributes to a better world. I hope you find this as inspiring as I did, and that it spurs YOU to incorporate your background and beliefs into that fabulous brand you’re building.

Let’s get to it!

Connect with Mariana:

Website / Instagram

Hollie Elliott is a brand strategist and designer for 6 & 7 figure female entrepreneurs with 14 years industry experience. When she’s not working she’s spending time with her family and friends, walking her dog Lionel or baking cupcakes. 

Hollie joins me today for a conversation I think is incredibly important: is your brand strong enough to support you when something unexpected happens? Life has a funny way of throwing us a curveball when we least expect it. At the time of recording this episode, we’re still not out of the Covid pandemic and times are still uncertain. A lot of people’s lives were turned upside down almost overnight back in March 2020, a lot of businesses were affected, and so I think we can all relate to today's topic in some way. But this is not an episode about how to respond to a pandemic, because let’s face it… unexpected things are likely to happen to us on an individual level too. It’s the nature of life: it’s unpredictable.

So what can you do, to ensure your brand is solid – even when the rug is pulled from under your feet? 

Warning: In this episode, Hollie shares her personal experience of a loved one being diagnosed with incurable cancer. If that's likely to upset or trigger you, you might want to skip this one.

Shownotes

Connect with Hollie:

Website / Instagram / Freebie: 5 Questions to help shape your brand and business today, so it can look after you, tomorrow

This week on Brand it! With Petchy, I’m joined by fellow brand strategist Samantha Summerfield, who describes herself as an idea generator, communicator and motivator. An ex-corporate girl turned entrepreneur, Samantha is now on a mission to help successful, female, service-based entrepreneurs who want to attract their ideal clients and level up their business by creating an aligned and kick-ass brand.

In this episode we take a look at how brand values are more than just words on a piece of paper, and how they can (and should!) be a driver for business growth.

Shownotes (full transcript available!)

Connect with Samantha:

Website / Instagram / Linkedin / Brand personality quiz

Tune in as I'm joined by Aditi Jajal-Newey – a Brand Efficiency Strategist who works with successful, busy and overwhelmed coaches, consultants and service-business entrepreneurs who need to optimize their brand and draw in more clients.

She uses a bold, unconventional approach to create a powerful brand core and a minimal yet effective marketing engine around that core.

Drawing from over 10 years of marketing and branding experience with businesses of all sizes, she has learned what a brand needs to do and just as much, what it does not need to do to create impact and revenue. In 2020, Aditi hit burnout as a consultant who tried to do it all. She stepped off the marketing hamster wheel and saw the one truth she carries in all of her work today: In today’s noisy business landscape, the only way to get your brand heard is by speaking directly and explicitly to your customer, and making them feel seen and heard. No best practices and strategies – brand-building is intimate relationship-building.

Aditi now helps other coaches, consultants and experts build those crucial relationships and create exponential results for their businesses.

I’m so thrilled to be welcoming Aditi on as a guest, and you’re in for a treat with this episode as we dive into what it takes to build a great brand in the consultancy and coaching space. Aditi also shares about her personal experience of overwhelm, and the clarity that came to her from that.

Shownotes

Connect with Aditi:

Website / Instagram

I’ve had some questions lately, and some really good conversations with clients and fellow business owners, about what it means to be a purpose driven brand. So I wanted to chat about this a bit in today’s episode, and give you some tips on how to get started.

I also give you a real life and very relatable example of a brand that is brilliant at leading with their purpose.

Shownotes

CleanCup

Accenture Strategy’s 2018 survey

Book a Brand it! VIP Intensive

In this episode, I respond to a question that was asked over on one of my Instagram posts. 

"About how often do you find is an average time between upleveling a brand? Or is it less about time and more about something else?"

I want to point out before we start that in this episode we’re not talking about a full-on, all the bells and whistles rebrand, but rather about making smaller adjustments to ensure your brand feels up-to-date and relevant. So, for the purposes of this episode, we’ll say you want to change things up a bit, but essentially stay true to the essence of your brand. And we’re talking about the visual side of your brand, not the deep strategic work.

With that in mind, whilst I’d love for there to be an easy answer to this question, like “yes, every three years!” I’m sorry. The answer is: there is no set interval for when you should refresh your brand.

Tune in to find out what signs you should be looking for instead of relying on fixed time intervals.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/032/

Book a Brand it! VIP Intensive: https://petchy.co/vip/

I talk a lot about brand strategy on this show, and the elements of branding that you can’t see – today I thought I’d talk about something that’s a little more tangible: logos.

***Before we dive into this episode, I have a public service announcement! If you’re a regular listener, you probably know that I’ve been doing weekly episodes up until now – this is going to change. As fun and rewarding as this podcasting journey is, I have realised that putting out an episode a week isn’t sustainable for where I am at with my business right now – there’s only one of me, and I need to make sure I can serve my clients well, have time for self care and family and also have enough time to put out some good quality episodes for you! So there won’t be an episode next week, and from now on I’ll be releasing a new episode every other week. I don’t know yet if this is going to be a permanent thing, but I hope to be able to resume back to weekly episodes at some point! I just don’t know when.***

Right, now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about logos – and why having just the one logo simply isn’t enough. OK, so if that makes you think “Whaaaaaat? Are you trying to tell me that one logo isn’t good enough? Why the heck would I need more? And what about consistency and being recognisable all the time? This simply doesn’t make sense…” 

Well, actually it does. Make sense, that is. If you can spare a few minutes of your time, I’ll try to explain!

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/031/

Book a Brand it! VIP Intensive: https://petchy.co/vip

In this episode I'm joined by Elli Runkles, for a conversation that might just shift the way you think about and approach writing sales pages.

Elli Runkles is a sales copywriter and messaging strategist who works with values-driven entrepreneurs to turn their big ideas into empathy-filled, money-making sales copy. She’s helped hundreds of online business owners, coaches, and creative entrepreneurs dig into their message, deeply understand their ideal clients, and write sales copy that both sells and sounds like them.

In this episode, Elli shares her tips on how to "de-bro" your sales copy, to focus on empathy rather than stabbing at people's pain points.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/030/

Today, I want to chat about brand values. Ok, so it’s probably not the first time you’ve heard me talk about brand values, and it won’t be the last. But today, I specifically want to talk about a trap I see so many brands and businesses fall into: the perceived safety of bland before brand. Safing it with generic values that could belong to pretty much any other brand out there.

When you try to make your brand stand for everything and the kitchen sink, it ends up standing for nothing. And when you try to make your brand stand for the same things “all the other” brands stand for, you will never be able to stand out.

Brand values may seem insignificant – and if you’ve just randomly picked a selection of generic and positive words without giving it much thought at all, or because they're the kind of values you expect will resonate with your audience, they will be insignificant. Because they’re just empty promises.

I dig into what you can do to make sure your brand is more than just bland (omg, that was way cheesy – sorry!) and how you can ensure your brand values are more than just fancy words on a corporate poster.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/029/

I had actually planned to take a break this week, because I’ve got the entire week off and I am behind on my podcast batching. I was doing so great there for a while, with episodes lined up for several weeks, and then… life happened! So yeah, I wasn’t going to publish an episode this week.

And then I realised: holy shit! This week is my 6 month podcast anniversary, I can't not post an episode! Cue wild panic.

So I reached out to my people over on Instagram, because I thought it would be super fun to do a Q&A, ask me anything, episode to mark the occasion! And I’m recording this last minute, with people in the house and whatnot, but what the heck… Here we go!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/028/

How would you feel if someone said it's ok, good even, to pick just one marketing platform for your brand? Relief? Hesitation? Disbelief? All the above?

In this episode, I am joined by Tracy Stanger – an anti-hustle business coach for women building world-changing businesses while parenting. She believes you don’t have to “do it all” and that you will actually get better results (and less stress) when you do less, but do it better. Tracy teaches her clients how to trim their to-do list to just the most impactful tasks for them – and make it easier to get those tasks done.

We talk about ditching the marketing platforms that don't give you joy or results – and instead doubling down on your best one, to maximise the results of your efforts without driving yourself to burnout trying to be in all. the. places.

If the thought of going cold turkey scares the shit out of you, don't worry: Tracy has some actionable tips to help you make the transition if you choose to give it a go!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/027/

Connect with Tracy:

Instagram

Website

Get Tracy's Sort, purge + organize course

In this episode I’m talking about choosing a name for your brand, and I’ll share with you my method that I have used to guide clients through naming processes.

A great name is an important part of a kick-ass brand!

If you have kids, you know that choosing a name can be... well, let's just say a bit tricky. After all, a name is supposed to last a lifetime, so the last thing you want is to f*** it up. And that name that you’re so in love with? Hah. Most likely, someone in your circle of friends and family are going to absolutely hate it. 

I hate to break it to you, but naming a brand is no different. It’s not uncommon to plough through hundreds of potential names before finding one that works for your brand and that isn’t already taken.

A great brand name is timeless, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember. Just like your brand’s visual assets, the name also has to communicate your core values and brand personality – after all, you’re gonna use it in pretty much all of your communication; phone calls, emails, your website, packaging, presentations, business cards... yeah, you get my drift. 

Your name becomes even more important in situations where you can’t use the visual elements of your brand, like in a radio advert or when someone mentions your brand in a conversation.

In this episode I give you some tips to help you kick-start the process of finding the perfect name for your brand. I’ve also created a PDF with some worksheets to go with this episode, which you can grab from the shownotes!

↓

Shownotes

Brand it! Boost group programme

This episode is a short one, some might call it more of a rant actually. But I have something I want to get off my chest.

You see, I’m in the middle of a launch right now, and something’s come up that I would really like to talk about a little bit. So since I'm launching something, naturally I have a sales page, and I’m promoting it on social media, sending out emails to my list… you know, all the usual launch stuff. But with my spin on things, because a full-on launch is just… too much. And hey… burnout is no fun, and neither is feeling like I am spamming people and almost forcing them into buying my thing. So I’m opting for a gentler approach that aligns more with my brand values and my own personality. 

And here’s the thing: 2-3 people have reached out to me to suggest changes to my sales page and my sales copy, changes that would help make me more money or land me more sales.

And despite knowing that this advice 100% came from a place of kindness, I just think it’s so sad in a way… it’s like we are so accustomed to these kinds of sales tactics, that when we spot someone who is not using them, we don’t quite know what to make of it because it’s outside of the norm.

So yes, that's what I'll be ranting about today!

Get the shownotes here

Learn more about the Brand it! Boost group programme

Maggie Patterson is the founder of Scoop Studios, a boutique content marketing agency, and the creator of Small Business Boss. With a 20+ year career in client services, and 15 years of being a business owner, Maggie brings a unique perspective to service-based business owners. She serves freelancers, creatives and agency owners through her mentorship, mastermind, and podcast, The BS-Free Service Business show. 

I am really really excited to welcome Maggie to the show. I’ve been following her for a while, and she has a refreshing take on the online business world that really resonates with me and the way I want to build my brand.

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/024/

Connect with Maggie:

Podcast: BS-Free Service Business Show 

Instagram: @smallbusinessboss

Freebie: Trust Audit Checklist

In this episode, I'm joined by Venese Lau for a conversation about how you can create a brand without necessarily showing your face. (I can almost hear all the introverted and shy people perking their ears already!)

This concept of creating a brand personality that isn’t actually based on a real person is something we are fairly used to with the larger brands out there, but what if you’re a solo business owner? Can it still be done? This is going to be an interesting conversation indeed.

Venese runs an events and marketing company in Tokyo, Japan. She has been an entrepreneur since she was 19, running all kinds of offline and online businesses. She is the host and face behind Your Entrepreneur Resources, where she helps entrepreneurs start, grow and scale their businesses, connecting them with the right mentors, resources and tools.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/023/

Connect with Venese:

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourentrepreneurresources

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ACA3SHHThlrAhnDFFc5mQ

Podcast: http://yourentrepreneurresources.com/podcast

Your Entrepreneur Resource Library: http://library.yourentrepreneurresources.com/entrepreneur-resources-library

In this episode I want to talk to you about brand alignment. Or in other words: signs that your branding isn’t “quite right”.

Recently I’ve had several conversations with business owners who don’t feel quite “at home” in their brands. When I’ve described some of the symptoms of an unaligned brand, they’ve responded with “Oh, that is so me! I totally do that!” – so today I thought we’d take a look at some of those symptoms, what they can lead to, and how you can fix them. You’ll not be surprised to hear it’s going to involve… strategy.

A strong brand reflects who you are, helps you stand out and attract your dream clients. When your brand is aligned with who you are, what you do and who you do it for – everything just flows. And that’s what we all want! But what if something just feels… a bit off somehow. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know something’s not right. And it’s frustrating, because when you can’t define what the problem is, it’s hard to fix! Right?

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/022/

Buy the Brand it! strategy workbook ($47)

For this episode, I am so pleased to welcome back Malene Fuglsig – and this time round, she’s here to teach us all how to incorporate some hygge into our brands! And I mean… who doesn’t need a bit of hygge right now, as we come up to almost a year of this Covid crap?!

You see, Malene is not just a Pinterest expert – she is also a hygge ambassador! Yep, that’s right. But if you thought hygge was just about woolly socks, hot chocolate and candlelight, you’d better think again. Malene teaches business owners how to step up, show up, add hygge and lead with intention. She’s the kind of business coach that rocks up with a cup of something warm, and she’s all about creating that business that makes you light up and that feels like home.

If you're ready to add hygge as an integral part of your brand and business: tune in!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/021

Connect with Malene:

Instagram

Website

Hygge your Business email series

In this episode I share a conversation with Audrey Holst, about perfectionism and how it can impact your brand.

Audrey Holst helps people reform their perfectionism so they can reclaim their agency and put their full energy into what really matters. Her work uses a combination of mindfulness and neuroscience tools, and through her Fortitude & Flow® Process, Audrey guides individuals and groups through a holistic experience to shift the way they approach themselves and the things that matter to them – for good.

Trigger warning: In this episode we talk about bullying and the long term effects it can have – and I do get quite personal at one point. If you feel like that would trigger you or be uncomfortable to listen to, please skip this episode. And if you want to talk about these issues, my inbox is always open!

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/020

For those who want to connect with Audrey, you can find her here:

Noticing meditations for perfectionists

Instagram

Facebook

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And if you want the free branding checklist I mentioned towards the end of the episode: get it here

You may have heard the term brand audit and thought it sounds like a complex process and something only the big brands do. Well… Yes and no. The big brands do, of course, and their processes might be complex, but:

1. They most likely have an internal team or they hire a team to do the audit
2. You are probably not running a big multi-national corporation, so you don’t need it to be big and complex

But what is a brand audit?

To put it simply: It’s like a health check for your brand! 

A brand audit is a closer look at your brand to gain an understanding of where it stands right now, and to identify any problem areas that need to be fixed. Performing a brand audit gives you valuable insight into your brand’s current strengths and weaknesses, and will help you create a strategic road map for the next step of your branding journey!

It may sound daunting, but it needn’t be a massive undertaking! The scope of a brand audit can range from a simple check of your visual assets to make sure they are cohesive and aligned with your brand values, all the way to a comprehensive look at your brand’s inner core, external communication, customer satisfaction – and everything in between!

In this episode we take a closer look at brand audits – and some reasons why you might want to do a perform one.

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/019/

Download my free brand checklist: https://petchy.no/#checklist

Hallgeir Gustavsen is a self-proclaimed nerd who helps marketing managers become superheroes. He’s been working with marketing, sales and the web since 1998, and has built numerous brands from scratch, including his own. Today he's a digital consultant who works with websites and ads, as well as visibility on digital surfaces and giving lectures on marketing, sales and social media. 

This episode is centered around marketing, specifically direct response marketing, and how getting on top of your data can help your marketing efforts. Marketing and branding are closely interlinked disciplines – so this should be an interesting conversation indeed!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/018/

Connect with Hallgeir:

Linktree

Podcast

LinkedIn

Blog

Digital marketing starter-course (in Norwegian)

So, we all know that visibility plays a huge part in creating a brand and getting it out there! But with all the social media channels out there, how do you know which to focus on? Being on every single channel is a surefire way to spread yourself too thin, and that’s why I’ve invited a series of guest experts to let you in on allllll the secrets – so you can make an educated decision about where to show up for your audience!  

In this episode, Petra Fisher is here to tell us about Linkedin + she has a special time-limited offer that's too good to miss, so hurry up and tune in!

Petra is the entrepreneur too shy for acquisition. You know, the one at a networking event who hovers in the corner and sneaks out when finishing her drink. Oh hang on, you don’t know that type, as they are invisible. To combat this problem, Petra started to become visible online. Doing what she loves most, helping out. Answering questions, sharing knowledge. What started out as a necessity, turned into a thriving business with clients on 5 different continents. These days Petra works with entrepreneurs around the world, to become visible on LinkedIn, to get noticed, mentioned and remembered, so that clients come to them. Not just any bill paying clients, but those clients that you love to work with.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/017/

Connect with Petra:

Linkedin (of course!)

Facebook group

Instagram

Special offer if you tune in between the 14th and the 16th of January 2020: Coupon code FABPETCHYFAN saves you €100 on the Attract Dream Clients on Linkedin 15-day LinkedIn Profile Transformation E-course. And as a bonus, you also receive the Authentic Network Growing Course (€47) for free. BAM that is a total of €147 in da pocket! 

Grab it here.

You are welcome to share this with ONE person who you think can really use this and will be a great accountability partner for you.

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And if you want the free branding checklist I mentioned towards the end of the episode: get it here

In this episode, I’m joined by Helen Tremethick – a brand voice strategist & business coach who helps entrepreneurs find the courage, confidence, and clarity they need to grow and scale their businesses. Formerly the CEO of The Communications Distillery, Helen has recently rebranded under her own name. Since 2011, she has worked with hundreds of business owners to clarify their messaging, copy, business models, and transform their self-confidence while doing so.

Tune in as we talk about creating a brand voice strategy!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/016/

Connect with Helen:

Website

Instagram

Love & Badassery Facebook Group

Get the behind the scenes scoop on what 31 successful entrepreneurs did to grow their businesses while becoming more authentic and brazen over at: loveandbadassery.com

If you’re listening to this episode as it airs, it’s xmas eve 2020. I’m recording this in my brand new home office – which is such a lovely way to end an otherwise pretty shitty year. I have a cozy reading nook, ambient lighting, plants – and a door. A door! Finally some peace to record.

The end of a year seems to automatically make me reflect on what was and what will become, and the shitfest that was 2020 is no different. In this episode I get a bit personal as I talk about the plans I had for 2020, how the events of the past year have affected those plans, how I feel about it, and what visions I have for my brand and business in 2021.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/015/

Nominate a charity for a free rebrand.

So, we all know that visibility plays a huge part in creating a brand and getting it out there! But with all the social media channels out there, how do you know which to focus on? Being on every single channel is a surefire way to spread yourself too thin, and that’s why I’ve invited a series of guest experts to let you in on allllll the secrets – so you can make an educated decision about where to show up for your audience!  

In this episode, we dive into the world of Pinterest, and Malene Fuglsig is here to tell you about the pros and cons of this platform and what it can do for your brand! 

We’re going double Scandi on you today, with Malene in Denmark and myself in Norway! Malene is a mother, an entrepreneur, a dreamer, a passionate leadership expert, an opportunity hacker, and a hygge ambasador. Her passion is to empower female entrepreneurs to be confident in the way they want to lead their life and business. She has been running a Pinterest Marketing Agency in Denmark for the last two years - and is a firm believer that Pinterest is a fantastic platform for entrepreneurs to get more traffic, fans and customers.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/014/

Connect with Malene here:

Website

Instagram

Rosie Di Lecce is a Persuasive Content Expert and Coach. After years working as a content and copywriting specialist for a variety of startups and big brands, Rosie started her own business to support entrepreneurs struggling to create content that sells. Her current mission is to help entrepreneurs to learn how to sell more through the power of persuasive content and storytelling, while supporting them to embrace their voice and connect emotionally with the audience, too.

Born in Italy and passionate by nature, she is a fervid supporter of self-expression and believes that being authentic, a defined persuasive message and good storytelling skills are key to a modern thriving business.

In this episode, Rosie and I talk about how stories can help you grow your brand – I can’t wait to dive into this conversation!

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/013

For those who want to connect with Rosie, you can find her here:

Facebook

Instagram

Rosie’s Free MiniGuide on Storytelling

Rosie’s Magical Content Framework

rosie@writingwithrosie.com

www.writingwithrosie.com

So, we all know that visibility plays a huge part in creating a brand and getting it out there! But with all the social media channels out there, how do you know which to focus on? Being on every single channel is a surefire way to spread yourself too thin, and that’s why I’ve invited a series of guest experts to let you in on allllll the secrets – so you can make an educated decision about where to show up for your audience!  

In this episode, we dive into the world of Instagram, and Preeti Pooja is here to tell you about the pros and cons of this powerful platform and what it can do for your brand! 

Preeti is an Instagram strategist and the founder of YourSocially, an Instagram creative studio based in Amsterdam. Preeti helps hidden gem entrepreneurs start showing up on Instagram and gain the visibility and recognition they deserve. She is passionate about building a culture of conscious social media marketing that feels good and is healthy. Preeti also runs a community of marketers and entrepreneurs where she leads discussions about social media marketing and inclusivity in entrepreneurship.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/012/

Connect with Preeti here:

Instagram

Linkedin

Website

Email

After a few weeks of pretty badass guest experts on the show, if I may say so myself, you’re stuck with just me this week! Keeping it short and sweet with this episode on brand identity. 

A couple of weeks ago, at the time of this recording, I did a talk at an online summit – along with my friend and copywriter extraordinaire: Iren at Pen Intended. We spoke all about how a clear identity can help you build a stronger brand – and I wanted to bring that topic over into this podcast too. 

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/011

So, we all know that visibility plays a huge part in creating a brand and getting it out there! But with all the social media channels out there, how do you know which to focus on? Being on every single channel is a surefire way to spread yourself too thin, and that’s why I’ve invited a series of guest experts to let you in on allllll the secrets – so you can make an educated decision about where to show up for your audience!  

In this episode, we dive into the world of YouTube, and Gulce Onganer is here to tell you about the pros and cons of this powerful platform and what it can do for your brand! 

Gulce is an entrepreneur with her online business Architect Accelerate and a YouTuber with her channel ‘Making it in Holland’ where she shares her experience of living in the Netherlands as well as what it’s like to be an entrepreneur.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/010/

Connect with Gulce here:

YouTube

Linkedin

Instagram

Facebook

Beth Farris is joining me today to talk about messaging. Like I’ve mentioned in previous episodes, branding is not just about the visuals, and Beth is here to tell you that you need both a visual and verbal brand identity to stand out and succeed.

Beth is a business mentor and brand strategist for starting solopreneurs. She spent 18 years working in creative marketing communications for companies before starting her own business. And today, she loves helping others do the same by helping them get clear on their unique brilliance, business, and brand. “Start with clarity” Beth likes to say, “and simplify your path to success.”

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/009/

Connect with Beth here:

Website: https://www.beth-farris.com/

Newsletter: https://www.beth-farris.com/insights/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethfarris/

I don’t know about you, but I am oh, so guilty of standing in my own way sometimes. It’s super frustrating, especially when you have a really clear vision for your brand… and then you sabotage yourself for whatever reason, and that goal seems to always stay juuuust out of reach.

And that’s why I’m really excited to welcome Barbara Nixon for this week’s episode. Today she’ll be talking us through 5 common ways you're blocking your own success without even realising it, and how to side step this so you can start building the brand and achieving the results you really want.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/008

Consistently Visible Toolkit: https://toolkit.barbaranixon.co.uk 

Connect with Barbara:

https://www.barbaranixon.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/barbara___nixon 

https://www.facebook.com/barbaranixonsuccesscoach

When I was speaking to Heather Thorkelson the other day, in episode 4, we had a really interesting conversation about owning your sh*it when it comes to building a strong brand. We briefly touched on whether you should be mixing politics and branding and I really wanted to dig a little deeper on this because I think it’s something a lot of people are struggling to navigate, and a lot of people think it’s scary to start mixing politics into their brands. 

I’ve been told time and time again, and you probably have too, never to mix politics and branding. Well, I disagree, and in this episode I tell you why. 

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/007/

Colour is the visual component people remember most about a brand. According to the Institute for Color Research, people make a judgment about your content or your brand in 90 seconds or less. And, up to 90% of that judgment in that very short amount of time is influenced by the colours they see. Research shows that the proper use of colour can increase brand recognition by as much as 80%. 

That says quite a lot about the importance of choosing the right brand colours, right?

In branding, there’s a lot of talk about colour psychology and the internet is full of pretty infographics with colours and their meanings. Colour psychology is the study of how colours affect our feelings and behaviours. In marketing and branding the focus is mainly on how colours impact people’s impressions of a brand – and whether or not they persuade consumers to consider a certain brand or buy a certain product. 

Colours can communicate feelings or set a mood, and allow a consumer to form an initial impression without even really knowing what your product is about.

So let's dive in and see if we can help ypu on your way to picking the right brand colours!

So many of you have asked me to do an episode about fonts and colours, so today we are going to look at how to choose fonts for your brand, and take a deeper dive into some of the options available to you.

Note: Apologies in advance for some volume ducking where we both speak at the same time – total rookie mistake on my behalf there. The episode is still too good to miss though!

I'm really excited about today's episode, because it features my first guest! And what a guest to kick off with – you're all in for such a treat!  Heather Thorkelson is a business consultant for incurable entrepreneurs, she's helped hundreds of small business owners grow livelihoods that honour their strengths and feed their bank accounts. But get this: she also runs a polar expedition company. How cool is that?!

To top it off, she's just about to publish her first book (I've read it, and trust me this one should go on your reading list!) I first met Heather in 2019, when she was one of the keynote speakers at the Slow Business Adventure. Her talk and her spin on entrepreneurship made such an impression on me, that she was right there at the top of my list of dream podcast guests – and now she's here!

Shownotes: https://petchy.no/shownotes/004/

For those who want to connect with Heather, you can find her here:

Website: https://heatherthorkelson.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherThorkelsonBusinessStrategist

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherthorkelson

Her fabulous book: https://heatherthorkelson.com/noplanb

I thought it would be nice to kick off this podcast by taking a closer look at what a brand is. So in this episode I would like to tackle a common misconception that I come across quite a lot; that a logo = a brand. 

Newsflash: it doesn’t!

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/001/

Link to grab the Brand it! strategic workbook (€47): https://petchy.co/workbook/

In this episode, we go personal! That’s right, I’m here to share my story of my own branding journey.

Tune in to discover why I chose to rebrand a couple of years into running my business, the process behind it, and the results I have seen from doing so. I also want to teach you the telltale signs that indicate it might be time to do a rebrand or a brand adjustment.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/002/

Get my free brand audit checklist here: https://petchy.co/brand-visuals-checklist/

I’ve just completed a set of comprehensive brand identity guidelines for a client, so with this fresh in my mind I thought we’d take a closer look at… you guessed it! Brand identity guidelines, what they are and why they’re a good investment.

Shownotes: https://petchy.co/shownotes/003/

Get your free brand board template here: https://petchy.co/brandboard/

Welcome to the Brand it! with Petchy podcast – a podcast dedicated to helping you discover and consistently express your brand’s inner core – so you can attract those dream clients of yours with ease! I’m Petchy; a brand strategist and identity designer, and I want to demystify this whole branding malark, inspire you and give you some handy tips as you evolve your brand.

This is the episode where I tell you a bit about who I am, what the heck this podcast will be all about and what I want you to take away from it. I’ll try to keep this intro episode short and sweet, so that we can get on to the good stuff sooner rather than later!

If you’re ready to take your brand to the next level, and have some fun along the way, then tune in!