Get Started With A New Professional You

Having A Professional Look Is Very Important

If you want to attract the right kind of clients, you need to be the right kind of business owner. Nothing beats being really good at what you do, and that's for sure.

In fact, being an expert can never be replaced by something else. But what else is important is looking and acting like a professional, so that you can be seen as the professional that you are.

Think I'm speaking too much grammar? Here's what I mean:

Let's say you walk into a dentist's office and you meet the office really clean, the chairs well arranged, the equipment properly cleaned and set on the table, and then you are greeted by a smiling secretary.

And then you walk into another dentist's office, but the sight of the place is appalling, the dentist's lab coat looks like it hasn't been washed in weeks, Which one do you pick?

Yeah me too.

Today's customers have become really wise. They won't do business with you except they can trust you unless they can trust you with their money or their lives. That is why you need a new professional you.

For a small business owner, who is looking to build a profitable and compelling brand, you need to do the following:

1. Get A Professional Headshot: Get a clean and professional headshot of yourself, like those ones you see on LinkedIn profiles. You can decide to smile or not, it's your choice LOL. Let your outfit give your business cue.

For example, if you are baker, wear a baker's hat and smile for the camera. If you are an artist, hold your paintbrushes. If you are a farmer, take the shot next to your crops, LOL. Just be creative with your shots and let people be able to guess what you do in an instant.

2. Be Discoverable Online: Some months ago, I went to finance training for small business owners. And our facilitator asked if anyone had a general question. One guy, in particular, raised his hand and asked: "How can I be seen on Google?" 

He said whenever he searched for himself on Google, neither his pictures nor anything about him shows up.

I replied and said the best way to be "seen on Google" is by optimizing his digital footprints.

What this means is that your social media pages and your websites need to be regularly updated. Use your real names or your business names for your social media profiles so that it will pop up when you are searched for. Re-engineer your digital presence, make sure your platforms are up to date.

3. Have a Mission and Vision Statement: At a point in your business, you are going to ask yourself why you went into business. You are going to question your reasons for starting the business, you will get frustrated and you will try to quit.

But your purpose is what will keep you going- assuming it's a compelling one.

Your vision statement is where you want to go, what you intend to achieve with the business, and your mission statement is how you intend to get there. Craft your branding statement to include your target audience, and have a strong WHY.

4. Analyze Your Competitors: Make time to understand what other people in your niche are doing, find out what works for them, how they got into the market, try to analyze their income, look at their customers, look at what they do best, find out what keeps their customers coming back and then use those principles to get better.

Use their principles as a guide, not to copy.

5. Get Better At Your Craft: In the book 'How To Lead When Your Boss Can't or Won't' John Maxwell said that the best way to lead others is to lead yourself well first, practice your craft daily and get better at it"

Robin Sharma, author of the book 'The 5 am Club' says that the best way to get better at what you do is to practice it every day for 2hours and 44 minutes.

6. Learn How To Write: Writing is an important aspect in the life of every business owner. It's not just for authors or bloggers alone. From proposals to feasibility studies to business emails, cold emails, letters, blog posts, copies for social media ads, website content, etc. writing should be your new best friend.

You don't have to be a professional writer, a Chimamanda or a Stephen King, but be able to express yourself through writing. Take writing classes, read books, and constantly think before sharing your thoughts online.

7. Don't Avoid Socials: Social media is a great place to attract the right kind of client by positioning yourself as an expert. Use social media tools to boost your profiles, get speaking engagements, network with other professionals and contribute to society.

It's a powerful tool, use it to your advantage.