Today I was on one of the private Facebook groups I belong to and one gal was asking for help with naming her new project. People who know this gal well were reflecting back to her that the title she was tentatively using didn’t feel like her brand at all.
They also pointed out that the main word in her title was associated with a different member of the group. She had no idea she was doing this! And this why she was feeling discomfort with the name and why it would create confusion with her followers.
Since I tend to struggle with naming things it caught my attention. I’m currently going through that struggle with renaming my podcast. (I’ve been advised that iTunes profanity censors may someday take offence – so I’m being proactive!)
People work really hard at creating exactly the right words to express their brand and what they are bringing into the world. And certain terms become so popular that sink into our consciousness and we start using them in our everyday language. This is good for the creator of the brand, but bad for the rest of us when we unconsciously add someone else’s mojo to our brand.
In everything that you’re putting out into the world you should be asking yourself these questions:
Is this me or am I being a copycat if someone else? 
If I am copying, what’s the essential meaning of the message that I want to get across and how do I translate that into my brand?
Is my brand showing or do I sound like a knock-off?
As a way to avoid brand knock-offs, I ask my Kickass biz chicks to create a brand recipe. This is a list of five or six words that truly represent their brand. Now remember the brand comes from the inside out and is not imposed from the outside onto us.
The first place to start when creating your brand recipe is to ask a group of friends to come up with 3 words that describe you. Ask your clients the same thing.
Notice I didn’t say to ask them about your work. This is about you.
Then come up with six things that you want potential clients to think about when they are considering working with you. What essential aspects of you do you want them to see.
After compiling your list of words circle the ones that are most popular and the ones that you most want a see incorporated into your brand.
Finally, reflect back to your coach or a trusted advisor what you are learning. Together, choose the 5 or 6 words that express what you do, what makes you unique, what draws people to you.
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