How to Define Your Brand Values

Defining your core brand values helps you set yourself apart as a coach or healer.

You’ve probably heard of brand values. But what exactly are they, and how do you determine your brand values? 

If you’re a coach or have worked with one, you’ve probably done a values exercise to figure out what’s most important to you.

But what about your brand values? Your brand values are the foundational values or beliefs that drive your business.

Wait… what are values again?

Values are the guiding principles that drive your decisions in your life and business.

Whether it’s adventure or family, freedom or security, accomplishment or fun, a value describes what’s most important to you.

When your life is aligned with your values, you feel more happy and fulfilled. And the same thing is true when you honor your values in your business.

What are brand values?

When you start a business to do what you love — and you want to do purpose-driven work — it’s important to determine your brand values.

Determining your brand values helps you set the overall mission and vision for your business, and gives you a compass from which to make business decisions.

When you know your brand values, you are clear what is important in your business. When you run your business with these values, you attract opportunities and clients who are aligned with these values.

Examples of brand values

Examples of brand values include:

• Transparency
• Authenticity
• Freedom
• Exploration
• Truth
• Creativity
• Integrity
• Inclusivity
• Self-trust
• Learning
• Intuition
• Fun
• Connection

When determining your brand values, the key is not to simply choose a word, but to define what specifically this word means to you.

If one of your brand values is creativity, what does that mean? What does that look like for you in your business? And what actions will you take to ensure you honor that value?

How to identify your brand values

As a business owner, and especially as a coach or healer, you want to take the time to define your brand values and understand what your brand stands for.

Here are some questions that can help you define your brand values:

1. What’s most important to you in your business?

2. What could you NOT live without?

3. What’s a personal value of yours that you want to ensure that you’re carrying through your business?

Why sharing your brand values is important

Sharing your brand values with your audience is a key part of both establishing your brand, showing your audience who you are, and connecting with others who have like-minded values.

Here’s what can happen when you are proactive about sharing your brand values:

• You feel more natural and confident with the topics you speak and share about because they are important to you. No more sleazy-feeling marketing or putting on airs. You’re sharing the real you.
• You attract people who value what you do. When you express your key values, you naturally attract others who appreciate and want the same thing. This can bring clients, partnerships, and all sorts of opportunities your way.
• You make decisions more easily, because you know what’s most important! You’ll know what project to prioritize, what opportunities to say “yes” to, and what to do in your free time.
• You stand out from the crowd. If your marketplace is competitive (and whose isn’t?), your values help you stand apart from others who do similar work.

3 characteristics of strong brand values

Although brand values will look different for each business, strong brand values share these characteristics. They are:

• Important to you. Yes, many businesses may have a value of “integrity,” but what does that mean for you specifically? The meaning is what’s most important.
• Honest. This is a no-brainer, but don’t choose values that you feel you don’t currently embody or practice just because they sound good. Choose what’s most true for you.
• Communicable. If you say you value creativity, make sure you can communicate your creativity through your work.
• Lasting. Strong values are lasting over time, whether you change your services or your ideal client.
• Important. You can embody a lot of positive qualities in your business and as a brand, but what are the MOST important ones? That’s where to focus.

Of course, it’s not enough simply to declare your brand  values. You must embody them through all you do in your business.

Embodying your brand values will help you create a strong brand

When you take the time to carefully consider, choose, communicate, and embody your brand values, you set the stage for  creating a strong brand that reflects who you are and attracts your dream clients.

Want to learn more about choosing and communicating your brand values? Sign up for a free consult today.