In this bonus episode, we're taking a break from Sell With a Summit: Speaker Edition snippets to talk about how to use your brand messaging to make summit decisions easier! Hosting a summit or even speaking at a summit can require a lot of decisions, right? Ashlee's sharing her strategies for creating brand messaging guidelines that will help you make those decisions with a lot less heartache (and headache).

Get Ashlee's workbook at ashleesang.com/standout

Connect with Ashlee on Instagram @ashleesangconsulting and on LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Evergreen Summit Audio Training

If you're ready to host a summit or have already hosted one and want to get more out of the months of work you put into your summit, jump over to evergreensummits.com. I put together a free audio training that you can take on the go in your regular podcast player!

Evergreen Summit Audio Training

Welcome to Virtual Summit Success.

I'm Jenn, founder of Virtual Summit Search, and you're in the right place

if you want to make the most of your virtual summit experience, whether

you're a host or virtual summit speaker.

Let's get going with your next step to virtual summit success.

So I am super excited to have Ashlee on with me today, and we're going

to be talking about brand messaging and how it ties in with summits.

But before we jump into all of that, I'll go ahead and let you

introduce yourself to everybody!

My name is Ashlee Sang.

I run Ashlee Sang Consulting and I do brand strategy and related

consulting for visionary founders.

So really helping people nail down who they are as a brand and as

a founder and what they want to stand for in order to stand out.

And so for me, it's all about getting consistent and aligned visibility in a way

that feels good and actually connects with the people that you're trying to reach.

I love that.

And standing out is definitely something that I know the listener is looking for.

And before we get too far into stuff, I know that a lot of folks have different

definitions of brand messaging and all that, so if you could give us your

definition of what that actually means?

Yeah.

So for me, brand messaging is the foundation of everything.

Even before your visual brand - which is maybe what most people jump into - or

sort of hand-in-hand with your digital branding, your brand messaging really

establishes who are you as a brand?

So these are things like your mission.

Why does your business even exist?

Things like your audience - this is a key component of your brand messaging,

because you could have the best product or service or summit in the

world and it doesn't serve any purpose if it's not serving people, right?

So that your audience is a really, really key part of brand messaging strategy.

And then another key part that I really focus on are your brand values.

For me, when you stand up for your values, this is how you stand out.

And it's because there are 600 million summits or copywriters or chiropractors

or whatever else out under the sun.

So what sets you apart besides the specific people you want to serve.

It is those values.

It's what you stand for that really is going to resonate and is

really going to make you show up consistently in a unique way, too.

There are many other components of a brand messaging strategy, but basically

at the end of the day, it's just putting a stake in the ground and saying, "this

is who we are as the brand and this is what we want to be recognized for."

So again, in the same way that a logo is recognizable, the way you

sound and the way you talk about your brand should also be recognizable.

I love that because especially for summits, it is you

putting your stake in the ground.

It's how you build your authority in your industry, so if you don't have

your brand messaging down, nothing else is really going to fall into place.

So I'm really excited to be talking about this today.

Are there any big mistakes that you see, like, your audience and your clients

making when they're brand messaging that we should avoid, especially

as it would pertain to summits?

Yeah.

So a common one is wanting to be all the things to all the people, right?

We just want to serve!

So many of us are helpers, especially event organizers,

especially service providers.

We know that we want to serve people and that's why we started

this thing that we created.

Niching is so, so scary, but so necessary because it's what makes you memorable.

If you meet someone and they say, "I run a business summit,"

that's not very 'sticky,' right?

There are many, many business summits.

What about your business summit are you going to be hitting on?

Or who exactly is this the perfect fit for?

Is this for women who just quit their job and they are turning their side

hustle into a full-time thing and they don't even know where to start

and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

That's a lot stickier.

Because then if I meet someone who's in that boat, I will instantly think

of you and your business or your event.

Same thing with wanting to just offer too much.

Again, your brand can absolutely evolve.

It can absolutely include other things down the road, but what

do you want to be known for?

What is that core thing to that core group of people that is

going to carry you through?

And then how can you expand from there?

That's where the fun comes, but it's really establishing that baseline

that is super important and so many people are afraid of being boxed in.

I work with visionaries.

I work with people who have so many ideas and they have this really

big picture of the impact that they want to have in the world.

And so they just want to do all the things and they don't want to be

boxed and they're multi-passionate, but that's a big mistake in not

really deciding, "alright, what's the core thing I want to be known for?"

Or sometimes it's just a question of getting outside perspective

of how to incorporate all of those multi-passionate facets of

yourself as a founder or a brand.

Sometimes it's just a question of finding the common thread.

You can include all of them, for sure.

You can serve people who want to DIY and who want high-ticket services as long

as that common thread, that mission, those values is well-established.

So really it's a question of clarity.

That's the big issue and often the fix is some sort of outside perspective.

I definitely love getting outside perspective.

I know I bounce my summit ideas off of other people all the time, because I'm too

far in my own lane and sometimes I don't realize that what I think is going to

work isn't going to actually be something that resonates with other people.

So glad you brought that up because that is something I always recommend

for folks when they're picking their summit theme: get an outside perspective.

Go and ask your audience, ask other people in your industry and just check it.

Check it against yourself because what we think is going to work

doesn't always end up working.

And niching down is really key too, 'cause like when I did Sell With a

Speaker Edition, I was really excited, 'cause I could go to folks

like Jessica Rasdall, who's the Public Speaking Strategist and say, "Hey, I am

doing a summit that is for your specific audience, and I have this topic you've

talked about stuff around it before, but you haven't necessarily gotten

to talk about this specific thing."

And then she ended up doing a podcast episode on that same topic

afterwards, so you can actually help other people too by niching down more.

And it makes it really easy for them to say yes.

But another thing that I see folks doing - especially with summits - is

getting the shiny object syndrome.

And we want to do all the different things, whether it's new technology

or going too broad with our summit theme or whatever it happens to be.

So in your professional opinion, how can having impactful brand

messaging help us to avoid that shiny object syndrome in our summits?

That is super common, right?

Entrepreneurs, we just want to iterate, we just want to do all the things.

So that is why having a strong foundation through brand messaging is so important

because then if you have a very clear idea of what your mission is, if you

have very clear idea of your values and your audience, those are filters.

Those are the lenses that you can use - whether you have outside perspective or

not - you can go back to this living, breathing document that you create - or

we create together, or however it comes to manifest - and you can put

this new thing through that filter.

So for example, maybe you've never focused on accessibility in the past in terms

of subtitles, if it's a virtual summit or any other sort of accessibility.

How do you know if that's a shiny object syndrome symptom or not.

Well, if your audience has mentioned in the past that they suffer from some sort

of disability and haven't been able to fully enjoy your content or your summit

in the past, well then, ifyour goal is to serve them, that is absolutely something

you should focus on and implement.

Or if they say just how important accessibility in general is to them,

even if that's not a core value to your business or hadn't been in the past, maybe

that's something that you pivot toward.

Maybe that is something that you test out and determine, all right, this is

actually worth the time, the resources, the learning that this is going to take.

Whereas, something like having some sort of VIP Lux offering

to go along with your summit.

You've seen other people do it.

It's been successful, it's a huge revenue booster, but the people you serve aren't

really into fancy stuff, or your core value is all about delivering the basics

in the most approachable way possible.

Well, then that is absolutely a shiny object that you should reroute from.

So having these filters through your brand messaging guide is a really useful

way to have quick yes's or quick no's.

And sometimes it's not quite as simple as that, but often it really is.

Does this bring me towards my mission or not?

And then go from there.

Love that.

Having those filters really helps keep you in the right lane instead

of going off and veering into a fork in the road or something like that.

So what are some ways that we can go and set up those filters when it comes to our

brand messaging so that we can make those quick and easy decisions for our summits?

So for me it really is those three cores: your mission as a business

and/or a founder, especially if for some reason you're a solopreneur

service provider and this is your first summit or something like that.

But really your mission, that is the big picture.

Your values.

Again, if it doesn't feel right to you and it doesn't feel right

to the brand that you are trying to create, then it's not right, or

it's a not-right-now sort of thing.

Again, you would need that feedback from your audience or you would need

some sort of testing environment where, "alright, I want to take a

leap of faith on this because I have some sort of instinct about this, but

currently, no, this does not serve me, this is not what I'm working toward."

And then the third factor, besides mission and values, is that audience.

It's, "do they need this?

Do they want this?

Have they asked for this?

How are they going to react to this?

How is this going to make them feel?"

All of that, because again, your brand exists to serve them.

So really just taking a look, asking yourself very simple questions like,

"does this align with my mission?

Is this an alignment with one of my values?

How would my audience feel about that?"

Those are really quick and easy ways to get that feedback.

And then, again, if you're still on the fence or something's telling you,

I don't know, then that's when you seek out the outside perspective, because

our businesses are our babies in most cases and we live and breathe it.

We live inside our head and our heart every single day, so sometimes it really

is a question of getting a business bestie or if you're in a mastermind or some

sort of random business community, or any sort of way that you can get feedback.

Sometimes that is the lens you need.

And then them answering one way or the other, or them posing

more questions to you will then bring you back to your values.

You might not realize it when you're just asking yourself, but when someone states

their opinion or ask more questions, that might be enough to tip you over the edge.

"Oh yeah!

Why would I prioritize this?

I have so many other priorities," or, "yeah, that's what I was trying

to convey to myself, but I just was too stuck in my head to do so."

That's a really good thing to think about is getting someone to

ask you questions, because I know for me, I was going to do a totally

different summit for my last one, and I kept having people ask me questions

about a totally different topic.

And so that got me to pivot what I was going to be doing the

summit theme on and change it up pretty much entirely, honestly.

And it ended up being a great pivot.

And so, yeah, I think if folks don't have other people to bounce

things off of, go find somebody, 'cause it's totally worth it.

But you also mentioned , "does this feel right?"

So how much, in your experience, once someone has set up their brand messaging,

I guess, and like, has that basis, has that foundation and knows what it is...

should they be referring back to that?

Or how much do they trust their gut when it comes to making those decisions?

So I think it's an and sort of situation, not an either/or.

The thing with the brand messaging strategy - at least the way I do

it - is that it really comes from the founder's head and heart.

They come up with everything.

They come up with all the core messages, they come up with all the values.

I'm just the one that's distilling it.

I'm just the one that's connecting the dots, bridging that gap from what is

inside their head and heart to something that is actually able to be comprehended

by someone who is outside themselves.

So the brand messaging guide should already feel like

an extension of yourself.

It shouldn't feel forced in any way.

And if any part does, then that part needs revision.

So already that should be your gut check that that baseline already feels good.

And then in terms of intuition, I think that's super important - and it's so

easy to disregard because we see so much noise on the internet and even in books

or however else we consume content.

Sometimes it makes us question our own gut decision, but our gut got us this far and

our gut will continue to push us forward.

So I think it's absolutely important to listen to your gut and experiment and know

that, "well, this might not work out."

That doesn't mean anything good or bad.

Every opportunity is definitely a lesson at the very least, but really

listening to your intuition, getting that outside perspective when you need

it or even just, again, to confirm or deny what your gut already said.

Because even if they say something opposite and your gut says, "no, no,

I think I'm right," then that's great!

Listen to your gut probably more than anyone else.

And then it really works in tandem with that brand messaging guide because

that guide should already feel good.

I didn't mention those that your brand will evolve.

So it's not meant to be a stagnant guide or strategy or process.

It is meant to grow with you, grow with your audience.

And we learn things every day, right?

We morph our audience every day or every quarter or every year or however often.

So it is important to revisit things like our core audience

persona - who is our ideal client?

It could be very, very different today than it was a year ago.

In my case, that's absolutely true.

So really it's about constantly being in contact with ourselves and with

the brand that we want to be building.

So it's not like a "yes, checked this off the list!"

It is ongoing, just as building any other facet of your business is ongoing.

Yeah, and I actually had a client recently who she was trying to figure

out how to structure some of the stuff in her summit and one of the things she

kept hearing was do a Facebook group, do a Facebook group, and she was really

hesitant to do that, but she decided to listen because that was what the

pros said and she got into the summit and there was like, no engagement.

And she told me afterwards, "I knew this was going to happen.

My audience doesn't like Facebook any more than I do, but everybody said I

should do it and now I'm wishing I hadn't done it, that I'd done something else."

And that's a great example of trusting your gut and your brand messaging

and knowing your business and your audience and all that kind of stuff.

So that is really a good guideline for folks to think about when they're

making these decisions based on their brand messaging for their summit.

So for a little bit more of a concrete example, anyway, say if a summit host

was trying to decide on their summit theme - so the overall topic that their

summit'sgoing to be about - or if a summit speaker is trying to decide

what their signature topic will be, how would you say that brand messaging is

going to play a role in that and how can it help inform those decisions?

Yeah.

So again, it's about that alignment and consistency.

So it would be misaligned and out of left field if you're constantly

talking about audience building and lead generation, and then you do

a conference on knitting, right?

That doesn't make sense.

Your audience is going to be confused.

You're not going to have any infrastructure in

place to bridge that gap.

So I could see it going two ways, either in expansion of the core

thing that you want to be known, for that mission, or again, those core

messages that you always hit on.

It should be an expansion of that.

So maybe do some sort of mind mapping around, "all right, well, I always

talk about community building.

How could this translate into a summit?

What sort of different directions or questions are people going to have?

Or how could I expand, just blow up this topic of community building?"

Or the other way to do it would be that sort of niching way.

So if you generally talk about three things: community building,

lead generation and social media marketing or something like that.

Well, really hone in on one.

Get extremely granular.

Bring in experts about every single technical facet of one of those things.

So it's really, for me a question of expansion or deep dive, but it's

really coming back to that core, that problem that you solve, the

thing you want to be known for, the thing your audience needs and wants.

And then also, honestly, events are a huge time suck, energy suck.

They take so much effort.

So it should be aligned with your business goals too.

There is no point in running a summit if it's not going to

serve your brand in some way.

So how does this lead into your core offer or this new thing that you want

to launch and this is the precursor.

Or how is this going to deepen your relationship with your existing audience

or reach new people in new ways so that you can serve them in sort of your normal

way outside the summit, because events are not for the faint of heart by any means.

So it really, really needs to be aligned with your business goals

but then also just aligned with that brand that you've already spent

so much time and effort to create.

Yeah.

And I love that you touched on deepening the relationship with the existing

audience, 'cause that's something that I talk to my clients about all the time

is there's different goals for summits.

Yeah, it may be list growth for a certain summit, but for another one,

it may be that you want to take your existing audience and funnel them

into a bigger product that you know is going to make a bigger impact on them.

So that is another great thing to think about when it comes to your mission

and your brand messaging is how is it going to build into them even further?

So I love all the stuff we've gotten to cover today.

I think it's going to be super helpful for my summit hosts out there.

And if there was one big takeaway that you want them to get from this

conversation, what would it be?

Yeah, I think it would be to take that bird's eye view.

Take a step back and really think about what do I want to be known for.

That is the question at the end of the day.

That is what your brand is, because as much as you can say what you do and who

you are, it's really all about perception.

So the entire strategy behind brand messaging, visual branding, any kind

of creating a brand facet is how will this be perceived by the people I

want to serve and how can I make that as close to my vision as possible?

So really just take that step back, ask yourself some questions,

get that outside perspective if you need it and go from there.

What do you want to be known for?

And go think about that as we wrap this up.

Thank you so much for being here, Ashlee and sharing all of this.

So before we wrap up, where can everybody find you if they want to learn more

about brand messaging and what you do?

Yeah, thanks so much.

So if you want to get the ball rolling, I do have a free workbook all around

establishing your brand messaging strategy and also a consistency checklist,

because the strategy alone is not enough.

Do not let it die in your inbox or your archive files.

So it's really all about that strategy and then that implementation.

So that is available at ashleesang.com/standout, because I

really want you to be able to stand up for your values in order to stand out.

And then besides that, I mean, catch me on social.

We can chat!

I'm most active on Instagram @ashleesangconsulting and

on LinkedIn at Ashlee Sang.

And it's Ashlee with two E's and Sang like sang a song,

Perfect.

We will have all the links for that in the show notes as well.

So thank you again for coming on Virtual Summit Success today, and I'm excited

for everybody to go out and nail down their brand messaging and figure out

what they want to become known for!

Yeah.

Thanks so much.

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