Showing Up In Your Brand (with Lisa Princic)

In this episode, I interview my colleague, business and marketing strategist Lisa Princic. Lisa helps intuitive entrepreneurs clarify their messaging, what makes them special, what sets them apart, and how they can communicate all of that to their clients. She helps impact-driven business owners dive deep into their unique value in business models to build sustainable seven figure brands.

Lisa helps entrepreneurs simplify their offers, focus their brand with bolder messaging, and strengthen their marketing systems. She is a trained business strategist and marketing mentor, and she’s the host and producer of the phenomenal Mastery and Message podcast. (If you haven’t checked out Mastery and Message, I highly recommend it – you may even find an episode featuring me!)

Lisa is a results-oriented deep thinker who has a knack for seeing the value of each business and turning that into a pipeline for ideal clients.

Positioning Yourself in Your Business

(2:30) At the beginning of our interview, Lisa talks about helping her clients figure out their positioning so they can find their unique place in the world. She helps entrepreneurs discover why people need their brand, how they differentiate from everyone else, and how they can develop confidence in their brand and their values. Then, she helps then get their brand into the world in a more significant way.

I’ve heard the word “positioning” a lot in my own business, and I love Lisa’s definition: the idea of finding our unique place in the world. As a coach, I focus on finding a client’s niche: whom they serve and why they serve them. But positioning starts with the business owner. How do you want to show up in the world? How do you want to position yourself in the market?

As service-based entrepreneurs, Lisa suggests we aren’t typically filling an existing gap in the market. Instead, we just do what we love and what we’re good at, and then we try to get it out in the world. Because there are other people doing our work already, it’s about bringing our unique skillsets to the work we do. It’s about blending the internal world and the external world.

We start with ourselves and our strengths – what makes us unique – but then we do need to figure out where that fits in the world and with our clients.

Knowing and Communicating Our Value

(5:55) Lisa also talks about her personal quest for truth and inner peace and how that has played into her business. She says once we discover our truth, then our market fit comes into play. If we can’t articulate our value to others, we lose the heart of our business.

In other words, when you don’t understand the value that you bring, you’re trying to sell a product or a service that isn’t anchored in what you believe and who you are. And that leads to a sense of inauthenticity.

Lisa mentions that our businesses are all about creating relationships. To keep a high satisfaction rate, be truthful about what you’re selling and why clients need you and your product or service. If we don’t show up with truth and understanding of our unique value and communicate that effectively, we won’t make any money, and we won’t have any impact.

Finding and communicating your value is a step we can’t skip, Lisa says. This step brings us closer to the meaningful part of our work. Being fulfilled in our work is what is most important.

Lisa’s Process to Finding Her Truth

(9:00) For me (Lee), getting to the root of my truth has played a huge part in my life, both personally and professionally. I asked Lisa how she has gone about discovering her truth. I love that her first response was “I’m still always finding my truth.”

It’s an ongoing process for all of us. Lisa’s journey looked a little different because she first learned a skill set and started coaching before she had a firm vision in mind. She knew she wanted to love her work. She also wanted more freedom and flexibility to do the things she loves outside of work.

For her, it was about ambition. She says she’s not afraid to try new things and to put herself out there. She is the person who likes to have a big vision or a big goal, and she wants to help her clients realize those bigger results, too.

I love Lisa’s ambition to show up and say, “this is how I can make this work for my clients and myself.” It goes beyond merely being confident, and it really moves into this place of conviction. You know who you are and what you’re good at, and you know how to get it done.

However, Lisa is the first to admit it didn’t happen quickly. There were many years when she wasn’t grounded, when life threw her off. She had to evolve over time to get where she is today.

All About the Enneagram

(13:00) As Lisa and I discuss finding our truth and bringing it into our businesses, we talk about Enneagram results. (If you’ve never taken an Enneagram test, you can try one HERE).

I’m a two with a strong three wing, which means I seek acceptance from others, often through what I do. Lisa says she is an eight with a seven wing, meaning she is a challenger and an enthusiast. Sometimes, she says she can come across as confrontational, but it’s just because she loves a challenge.

Over time, Lisa says she has stopped worrying about what other people think, and just started putting herself out there, trying new things. As an enneagram eight, she can be a powerful leader thanks to her sense of conviction and purpose.

For me, when I’m in an unhealthy state as a two, I go towards eight, and I can get dictatorial. But when true eights are at their healthiest, they are strong leaders.

Personal Development and Defining Success

(15:30) Lisa also talks about embracing personal development and finding strong female role models, specifically the strong, challenger types. But, she says, “without personal development, a challenger can be challenging for the sake of challenging. And, and it’s not always needed.” People don’t always need to be pushed, and that’s something Lisa says she has had to learn over the years.

As she’s grown older, Lisa has come to understand herself and her place in the world in a new way. I think that’s what makes her so valuable to service-based entrepreneurs because she was a life coach, but she also experienced personal growth. That growth helps her identify where helpers and healers are coming from.

Lisa says she truly understands what it’s like to want to find our right place in the world and have that be more important than just making money at the end of the day. The idea of caring about money was a hard concept for her to grasp. She had to start caring about the business side and admit that she did want to have a successful business.

Even though at the end of the day, it’s about doing the work we love, it’s okay to want financial success. Lisa says it’s about finding the balance between what really matters (our values) and the indicators of success (money and sales).

Lisa makes an important point here. If we want a “successful business,” we need to define success and be clear on what’s going to lead to that. I asked Lisa what she sees coaches and spiritual entrepreneurs skip or overlook when it comes to building a successful business.

“I think the big thing is getting too caught up in our craft,” she says. Too caught up in the learning, the training, and the confidence-building. Sometimes, we just have to do it – start the business side – and then we will start seeing results.

She says it’s important for entrepreneurs to understand what part of the business they really like, and then moving towards the business side from there. It’s not always natural for people who serve to focus on the business part.

She’s so right. For me, going back to the Enneagram, I’m a helper. I’ve always been very service-oriented. It’s rarely been about the money; it’s always been about helping people. That’s why I went into social work and therapy. What I didn’t feel comfortable with was my three wing: that achiever, the part that wanted status, to work hard, and be famous. I felt like I had to quash that.

Interestingly, it wasn’t until I started my own business that I realized I could leverage my strong three – my ambition – to help me in my business. I could stay balanced so that it doesn’t become serving other people at the expense of my business. I found that the more I started working on my business, the more I loved it.

Now I’m trying to figure out where to start delegating, because I can’t do everything. It’s been interesting for me to see how I can combine the client-facing desire to serve with the inward CEO-facing side, learning how to protect and advocate for my business.

Embracing Success

(22:25) Lisa goes on to say there’s ambition in everyone. There’s something in us that wants to succeed, and we should start admitting that a bit more openly. We should surround ourselves with people who will help us achieve success. Lisa says she has started intentionally connecting to her peers, developing relationships with people are business owners as well.

Don’t give up, she says. If a program or an offer doesn’t get off the ground immediately, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s probably right. It just didn’t work this time. It’s not that the email marketing doesn’t work. It’s not that webinars or freebies don’t work, it’s just that everything needs to line up and we need to figure out how to meet people where they are.

I love Lisa’s view on this. I believe that once we have the client in the room, once we’re actually doing the work, that’s where we shine. That’s where we are comfortable. But there’s a lot that goes into getting that client in the room.

We need to make sure we have a structure and a framework that supports our business and serves our clients well. If you’ve got that solid foundation in place from the start, it’s going to be so much easier to scale your message.

Finding Clarity

(25:10) Lisa goes on to say that we need to get clarity on what we do. She mentions that once her message was clear on her website, she instantly saw an increase in cold traffic signing up for sessions. It didn’t take effort: it was just that her message and her purpose were clearly stated, her brand and her messaging were strong. Once we are clear on who we are and what we offer, our businesses will grow as a result.

As business owners, we can try to do everything for everyone, but what’s the thing you truly want to do for people over and over again? Once you’re clear on your brand and your message, you’ll gain clarity on how to market your business and how to build community.

We don’t always know our niche up front, Lisa says. Sometimes, the niche starts to define itself after you’ve had some experience with clients. Remember, too, that you will always be evolving. As you grow and your clients grow, how can you keep serving them? That’s going to require an evolution in your business and your offerings.

It all comes back to positioning: figuring out what makes you unique and where you fit in this world.

Make it Work Moment

Today’s Make It Work Moment is brought to you by the Clarity Summit, running from September 30 – October 4. It’s a virtual summit designed for intuitive, heart-centered coaches who are looking to build their business and their bank account and really dive deep into the art of coaching. And it’s FREE! To learn more and to register for the Clarity Summit, just head over to claritysummit.com.

In today’s MIWM, Lisa talks about finding your signature system. To get a more detailed look at this concept, sign up for my free weekly newsletter, the Deeper Dive, which comes straight to your inbox on Sundays.

Here’s Lisa’s process to determine your signature. First, think of three to five clients with whom you loved working, clients who got great results.

Now, think about where they were when they first came to you. What was going on in their lives and their businesses? Next, think about what they were like at the end of your time together. What changes did they make? How were they different?

Those are the two bookends: the “Point A” and the “Point B.” To get your signature system, fill in the details in between those points. How did you get them from Point A to B? That in-between is your signature system. That’s where you should focus your time and energy, that’s what your content should be developed around.

Not only will that help clarify your brand, but it will also help build your confidence because you’ll see the results. You’ll know what you’re good at, and you’ll be able to confidently tell others what you do well.

If you want more help developing your signature system, check out Lisa’s free guide.

Thanks for joining me on today’s podcast! For even more information and resources to help you transform your business, head over to my website, WorkYourInnerWidsom.com.

Until then, let your inner wisdom lead the way…