When you cut to the core of your brand, you become . You rise to the next level of social media – the place where serendipity, exploration, and expansion collide. You start getting real.
This next level of awareness moves away from merely showing off your life and your business. And it evolves towards a fully experiential experience “ where you listen, explore, connect, learn, teach, and fully embrace every opportunity that you encounter.
Why is this important?
Maybe you’ve realized that sharing for the sake of sharing on social media is not a smart strategy. And maybe you’ve learned that creating content for the purposes of SEO didn’t get you anywhere.
Cutting to the core helps you focus on Human Engine Optimization (HEO). And it fuses a little bit of ZEO in there too. It’s how you build a new future with the tools of the new web.
It’s exciting.
This new web is a place where you share with intent, clarity, and purpose. It’s a utopia where you can become more fully you. And build real relationships.
When you’re completely rooted in the core of your values, you become more human with ease, grace, and an open heart.
But it’s not always easy. It takes grit, guts, and fierce determination to see it through.
Here are seven ways to cut to the core of your brand:
1. Distinguish your calling from your ego
When you learn how to distinguish your calling from your ego, you cut to the core.
Ego is what tells you to be more, do more. It tells you that by having more, whether that means more money or more stuff, that you must be important and valued.
A calling is subtle. It’s reflective. It’s inquisitive. And it acts as the catalyst that you crave.
It’s similar to the difference between fast media, and slow. Fast media (like your ego) is forced. And after awhile, you realize how unnatural and out-of-touch it feels to your innate desires.
Slow media is a yearning. It’s that deeper calling to feel and do something more. Ironically it often happens by doing and being less.
2. Create content
Content curates the process of change. When you create content, you build a media platform. When you build a media platform, you grow an audience. You start connecting. You find your voice. And you make an impact (often in ways that you can’t even see).
Creating content today is an art. Technology and humanity are fusing at a furious pace, and radical filters will fundamentally change how we discover information.
When you create content, you humanize your marketing. This is is helpful for both humans who read your content (duh!) and for the cognitive computers that will curate their way through your quality content in the future (this is right around the corner).
But don’t just create content for the sake of it. Create it with context to tell better stories.
3. Work Out
Content marketing is like running a marathon. And the only way to keep your content marketing from getting lost in the stampede is by staying in shape and finishing strong.
Whether you run, walk, bike, or swim, working out helps you cut to the core of your brand. Physical activity helps you realize your fullest potential. And it allows you to better take control your mind, so that you can have the discipline of a warrior. Not the discipline of the ego telling you what to do (see #1 above). But rather, the discipline to be yourself, no matter what.
Adventure out of your physical comfort zone. And find the best work out for you.
Running is my personal workout of choice. I run long distances as a meditative act. I run to explore. I run to feel more alive. And who am I kidding? I run so I can eat delicious desserts.
When you work out, you welcome realness as a warrior – a warrior who is completely open to opportunity (and dessert).
4. Determine your Core Values
Core values shapes the culture and character of your company by providing a strong sense of identity. It provides the thread of continuity that weaves worthy moments into your stories. These threads slowly become vital strands that help hold your brand together in the face of change.
Once you determine your core values, you can then determine your value proposition. But your core values come first, because without knowing who you are uniquely at your core, how can you give value to others? Determining your core values is crucial to cut to your core.
5. Be authentic
You may hate the word authentic because of your own insecurities. But the truth is, the more we authentically tell our stories, the more they set you free.
Authenticity is mandatory for growing an audience. Authenticity allows you to be unapologetically real and raw. And it often means sharing parts of yourself that make you uncomfortable. Getting uncomfortable is what helps you grow.
6. Combat the lizard brain
The lizard brain is hardwired in us all. It’s the part of your brain that tells you to be cautious. To stay comfortable. To embrace inertia. To not do anything to disrupt the status quo.
When you’re aware of the lizard brain, it becomes easier to let go of “the stuff” that holds you back. You get out of your own way. You stop doing more for the sake of more. And start doing less as you evolve from your core.
How do you cut to the core of your brand?