True Branding Begins with Owning the Role

Ever find yourself in the following business situation?

You know you have something to offer the world, and if given a chance, you can set it on fire. But you just can’t seem to get past that newbie, amateur, self-starter image. You’ve been branded a beginner.

I get it.

In 2001, my husband, Jan, and I both started businesses. Between us, we had a fist full of college degrees and some really great experience. We were hard workers and a formidable team…set to take the world by storm.

But we were cash-poor beginners.

And we all know cash is king. No matter how much income you have, or how many hours you’re about to invoice, if you can’t cover the bills, the wheels come to a horrible, grinding halt.

And at this particular time, we had skills, dreams and a damn good strategic plan, but not so much of the green, you know?

So when I landed my first good-sized marketing project and got a check for $60,000 to pay for the printing the client had agreed to, I was elated. It was just the relief I needed to get things rolling for the first little while.

So I strutted into Bank of America, where I had opened my business account just days before, and slapped down my big, fat check. I was proud. Hell, I was bursting. It felt like things were finally moving forward. And I just knew the people at BofA would feel that way, too.

As it turns out, they felt a different way.

Maria-with-the-serious-hair-style kindly but firmly explained that they felt they needed to hold the check for 21 days. Because I was a new customer, and I had a new business, and it was a lot of money.

I laid my forehead on the teller counter, completely disillusioned. I was crushed. The next three weeks passed before my eyes, and they looked like utter gridlock. It was as though Maria, in her navy blue suit and chignon, had sucker punched me.

And as I stood there in my shorts, flip-flops and messy bun, under a sign that read “Allow Us to Help You with Your Small Business Needs,” my disappointment turned to indignation. I resented Maria and the power she wielded. And second by second, I became sure that I was right. I was good. And BofA… well, they were the evil empire.

So I did what any overly emotional, smart-assed young business owner would do. I closed my account. Amid a flurry of furious, self-righteous remarks, I closed my account. I made a scene. I may have even stomped my feet. And I rushed out to the car, check in hand, and home to tell Jan about my triumph over “the man.”

I rushed toward the conversation I knew we would have, about how I had been so seriously wronged.

But we never had that conversation.

Instead, we had the one where Jan told me I was wrong. Where he kept his cool, even though he was spittin’ mad, and reminded me that we had checks outstanding. And that those checks were going to bounce if I did not immediately drive back to the bank, apologize to Maria, and re-open the account.

He gave me very detailed instructions about how I was to eat crow.

And for the second time in 30 minutes, I was shattered. 

I don’t even remember climbing out of the hole I’d created for myself. But I must have. Because the account was reinstated.

Meanwhile, Jan was back at home and holding the uncashable $60,000 check. And by the time I returned to the house, he had hatched a plan.

It involved an impeccably tailored three-piece suit, an air of sophistication and confidence, and an empty briefcase.

That day, Jan practiced the number one rule of brand (and personal) development:

If you want something, if you want to be something, you just begin being that thing.

You don’t wait for someone else to invite you or validate you or call you that thing.

You step straight into that role.

Getting what you want begins with becoming the one who deserves it.

Jan began scouring the listings for a local business bank that wasn’t ruled by a huge corporation and by huge corporate decisions.

He put on his best suit, grabbed that empty briefcase, and headed out.

I wasn’t at this local bank when Jan showed up, but I was there when he came home with immediate access to the $60,000. So I know what happened.

Jan had owned the role of successful entrepreneur. He had walked into the bank with a big deposit, a tailored suit, a German accent, and the air of absolute confidence. He had introduced himself to the Branch Manager and the New Accounts representative, and he had assumed the position of “big fish.”

He made that bank believe that they were lucky to have us as customers. And you know what? They were.

But it didn’t end there. For the next two years, every time Jan went to the bank, he came home first and put a suit on, and he took that damned empty briefcase out of the hall closet.

He branded himself a successful entrepreneur. And they were most definitely picking up what he was putting down. But even more importantly, we were picking up what he was putting down.

We had become legit in our own eyes.

Inside of six months, they gave us our first substantial line of credit for the business, our cash flow problems came to an end, and we started really building something.

As a side note, I was forbidden to go to the bank during this time. I was branded a “loose cannon.” I was a threat to the tycoon brand Jan was launching with the business-lender-underwriting target market. And he was smart enough to know that you protect your brand at any cost, even if it means ticking off your hot-headed wife.

It’s been 15 years since the “check incident,” and both of us have grown our businesses to substantial enterprises. And both of us, to this day, take the roles we want by stepping into them. 

We brand ourselves first by being honest with ourselves about the way our target markets need to see us and relate to us in order for a sale to go down.

So if you’re feeling undervalued, under-appreciated, ineffective or amateurish, think about the role you need to take on. Think about what your target market really needs to see in order to trust you and get with your program.

And then own that role.

And wear that sucker like a three-piece Hugo Boss suit.

And for goodness sake, don’t forget your briefcase.

Julia “Juju” Hook has been a brand strategist for more than 25 years. Her online program, Unforgettable U, provides entrepreneurs and small business owners an affordable option for developing killer brand strategies. Click here  for a free download of her proprietary system for building an authentic brand that connects, converts, and changes the world: The Anatomy of a Brand , and to access her blog which provides Strategic Juju to entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business owners each week. Juju shares insights about how we brand our businesses to connect with our ideal clients, and about how we brand ourselves to connect with our full potential.