Creating a Unique Image for Your Business (or Blog) - Guest Post by Christy Strauch

I'm very excited to have Simply Sweet Home be a part of Christy Strauch's virtual book tour this month, and I'm happy to have her guest posting here today!  Christy Strauch is the author of Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business. In addition she is president of Clarity To Business and has worked with over 300 small business owners, from artists to real estate agents, helping them do what they are passionate about – and make a profit. Her book is available at Amazon.com - Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Turn Your Passion into a Solid Business

For this post, I asked Christy to tell us how we can make our blogs and businesses stand out; that is, how can we create a unique image and differentiate ourselves from other bloggers (or shop owners) in our niche so that we can gain a loyal readership and customer base.

When you start making things, whether they are crafts, lotions, a new recipe for a meal, a dress, a blog, a new website, or anything else, underneath the impetus and desire to create whatever it is, lurks a purpose.

The purpose can be anything. You might want to beautify your home, create something new for your family, teach yourself a new skill, make a new kind of lotion that’s easier on your newborn’s skin, hone your writing skills, or even, God Forbid, even earn extra money.

The first step in creating a unique image for yourself and the things you make, are to discover what this underlying purpose is.

I’m going to use this website as an example. Jerri tells us in her “About” page that she’s “…always loved expressing myself through music and writing….It [the website] has been a wonderful creative outlet…It is a place for women to come for ideas, family fun, and inspiration.”

So the purpose of Simply Sweet Home is to give Jerri a wonderful creative outlet and serve as a gathering place for women, where they can find new ideas for making family life fun and inspiring.

Now that you know the purpose of this website, everything flows from there. Jerri can use this purpose to decide what products or services she herself might offer on her Etsy site. As an example, she creates jewelry; that work gives her a creative outlet which is in line with her purpose.

Her purpose will help her choose what products or services from other people she would endorse on the website. She features other Etsy artists, and women who make things that make family life fun and inspiring.

She uses her purpose to help her create blog topics. It helps her decide how she communicates to her readers, what she says, and how she says it.

Most importantly, her purpose helps her differentiate herself from other people and businesses doing the same work.

This is where your work comes in.

If you want to differentiate yourself from other websites or businesses doing similar work, here’s what to do.

Sit down in front of a blank piece of paper. Find your favorite pen, and answer these questions:

1. What do I enjoy doing so much that I’d do it whether I got paid for it or not?

2. What motivates me to do this work?

3. Why it is critical for me to do this work?

4. Why is it critical for the world for me to do this work?

The answers to these questions will help you begin to unearth your purpose. And once you know what it is, knowing it and expressing it in all your work, will be the single most successful way to differentiate yourself from everyone else.

Christy Strauch is the author of Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business. In addition she is president of Clarity To Business and has worked with over 300 small business owners, from artists to real estate agents, helping them do what they are passionate about – and make a profit. Her book is available at Amazon.com at Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Turn Your Passion into a Solid Business