Brand Strategy Straight Talk with Asia Dore
About the episode:
In this episode, I interview my long-time friend and fellow brand strategist Asia Dore about the importance of brand strategy and how to build an effective brand in a no-bs, easy-to-digest way. We go all over discussing the five steps to building a brand, including knowing what you do, how you do it differently, who you do it for, and why it matters. We also explore the mistake of copying corporate branding and the need to embrace your unique brand especially as a solopreneur. We talk about how to make changes and pivots in your brand without committing to a full rebrand and why it’s important to do that regularly. And we also talk about how Instagram is like an ex you can’t quit and how the social media landscape has changed. Including corporate changes to emulate other social media giants but also how it’s done a disservice to the people who helped grow the platform in the first place. This is a lively discussion that I know you’ll get so much value from!
Takeaways:
How Asia got started with photography and how she naturally transitioned over time to become a brand strategist
The five simple steps to building an effective brand so you are the go-to expert in your niche: a strategic approach, knowing what you do, how you do it differently, who you do it for, and why it matters
A common mistake made by most entrepreneurs is copying corporate branding. It's important to build a brand that is unique to you and your values so you can connect with your clients
Making changes and pivots in your brand can be done without committing to a full rebrand. It's important to stay true to your original brand strategy and values
Asia and RuthAnn talk about how Instagram is like an ex you can’t quit and why it’s no longer a primary platform to market on and the other platforms they are focusing on
You shouldn’t copy someone else’s steps to “success” unless you’re fully passionate. It’s important to find your own unique way of marketing that you love, communicating that you love, and work that you love in order to be successful long-term
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RuthAnn
Welcome back to another episode of Rebrand with Ruthann. I am so excited about this episode because I have my friend and fellow brand strategist, Asia Dorr, with us today. Asia Dorr is a brand strategist on a mission to simplify and revolutionize the concept of branding so every entrepreneur can take full advantage of it to grow their business. Using her signature strategy, Audacity Method, she's helped hundreds of business owners build effective and profitable brands
that empower them to leverage their unique expertise. Asia, welcome, I'm so excited to have you on the show.
Asia Dore
Thank you, Ruthann. I'm really happy to be here. Like I said earlier, it's honestly an honor to be here. I have so much respect for what you do, not only as an artist, but also as a fellow brand strategist. So it really means a lot that you invited me on.
RuthAnn
Yes, likewise. I love everything that you've done. We have been friends for a while in the online space. I think we met back in 20s. Did we meet back in 2016? And that was the very beginning for me. Was that the beginning for you, too?
Asia Dore
I don't think so, yeah.
Asia Dore
Yeah, well, I've been in it for a few years at that point, but I would say I still felt like a beginner.
RuthAnn
I mean, I think I did until 2019, maybe even 2020. So yes, I totally get that. But I have been following you for a very long time and I'm on your newsletter list and I love the content you put out about brand strategy. It is so powerful and it helps people understand that it doesn't have to be like a far off concept, which I think sometimes when people do think of brand strategy, you know.
People think of branding as the colors, like the pretty stuff, the logo, but you and I both agree that brand strategy is incredibly important to have an effective brand. And so I just love all the content you put out. I'm so excited about our conversation today. But before we dive into all of that, I would love to hear how you got started and how you ended up in brand strategy.
Asia Dore
Sure, yeah. So I started my business as a photographer, as you know, and I kind of went through a few different niches with that, but eventually I found myself at Brand Photography, which was really exciting for me because I got to work with fellow business owners, right? But after doing it for a while, I had the realization that a lot of entrepreneurs...
While they wanted beautiful photos, beautiful imagery, high quality, they wanted to position themselves as a luxury brand, they didn't actually know what their brand was. And so me as a photographer had a really hard time translating that to a visual because the other stuff, the emotional stuff, strategy stuff within the brand has to come first.
So I started incorporating more of the strategy into my intake forms and the discovery calls and the strategy call before the actual session. And I realized that made the images that I was creating for them so much more effective, but also unique to them, right? Instead of just saying, oh, here's my Pinterest board of inspiration, let's recreate this. Like, no, let's do something new for you. Like you're your own person, you're doing your own unique business, let's make it unique.
So once I had that realization of, oh, the strategy part is actually like the most, like that's the biggest part of brand photography, of good brand photography. And that was the part that really, I just really connected with a lot more. I don't have a very analytical brain, so that might be why. But eventually I just kind of phased the photography part out because I realized that the strategy part is what so many entrepreneurs needed the most help with.
RuthAnn
So true. So you don't do any photography anymore. Your photography was so gorgeous.
Asia Dore
Thank you. I should some film sometime, but for the most part, it's, you know, the cameras are kind of collecting dust, which is a bummer, but I might get back to it someday. For now, it's just a skill set in my back pocket.
RuthAnn
Yes, which is always so nice to have. And I love that it was kind of a natural evolution of like, wow, this is really giving people amazing results and this is what people really need. And so you saw that need in the market. And so you were able to pivot essentially and focus more on the brand strategy. That is so awesome that you were able to recognize that and see that need there.
So how can you build a brand so that you are the go-to expert in your niche?
Asia Dore
Well, there's really five steps, five really simple steps to building a brand. And we get so caught up, and I mean, it's an overwhelming concept. Branding is overwhelming. And if you're new to business especially, it feels like, okay, I have to create this massive thing and it has to be perfect and beautiful. And it's just, we get so in our heads about it, but let's get back to earth for a second because it's really pretty simple. Not easy, but simple.
The first thing is you have to know actually what you're doing. There are so many entrepreneurs who are pulling from multiple skill sets and experience and education and modalities that it kind of just becomes like this cluster of like, I kind of know what I do. My clients kind of get it, but don't ask me to explain it. Please don't ask me to explain what I do. But if you want to build a brand, people have to know immediately what you do because they need to know immediately if you're relevant to them.
if I'm being honest, like, can this person help me or not? So you have to know what you do. You also have to know how you do it differently than everybody else because that's the only way to really stand out, unfortunately, because it's like, okay, well, I feel... You know, it's a saturated market. I'm doing everything, you know, the same way everyone else is.
RuthAnn
So true.
Asia Dore
But you're not, right? You have all of this experience that's so unique to you. So really figuring out how to leverage it and like, okay, how do I do this differently? The third thing is you have to know who you do it for, right? Your ideal client. And I know ideal client gets like such a bad rap, like don't make us do another avatar worksheet. But like your brand is for your ideal client.
Right? So you have to know who you're building a brand for if you want an effective brand. One, two, three. I think I did those out of order than I usually do, so now my brain's mixed up. What you do, how you do it differently, who you do it for, and why it matters. Right? Like, yes, you're in business to make money, of course. That's literally the point of a business, but the point of a brand is actually impact. People need to get on board with, you know, your mission and your purpose and your values and...
why you're doing it. Because no one wants to buy from a business just because that business wants to make a profit. That's boring, right? We need something more. We're humans, we have emotions and souls. We need to get into that. And then the fifth thing, and this is really something that a lot of people forget, is that you have to go, like you have to put your brand into action. Nobody's gonna know that you're an expert at what you do if you don't go explain that you are, right? So that's where your marketing comes in.
your messaging, you have to be willing to share that over and over again. Otherwise, nobody is going to know you exist.
RuthAnn
100%. I love how all of those steps build on one another and you have to start at the beginning and go down. Every single number of the things that you said were so good. And I think letting yourself stand out, what you were saying, number two or number three, was like standing out and being unique and embracing that. You've done such a good job at that. You are hilarious. You're clever. You're witty.
So what if someone is like not, what if they're more like introverted? What if they're like, oh, I just don't know what makes me unique. Like I'm just kind of a, you know, a quiet person. I enjoy like reading, I'm home with my cats, you know? What if it's someone who's just more like, you know, I'm not the big, you know, I don't have a flashy personality. How can they embrace their unique brand?
Asia Dore
I mean, even like I'm an introvert, right? And I mean, yes, I do. I am willing to put my personality out there more, but I haven't always been like that, right? I was a very shy kid growing up, but especially in business, it can be really difficult. It's like, okay, like this is my business, hey.
here's how to buy my stuff. It's weird to put yourself in that position where you're like, hey, I'm an expert. This is how you can buy my stuff and you should, because it'll fix your problems, right? That takes practice. But sure, if you don't have a flashy personality, if you're not super confident with having attention, the thing I would say to that person is that it's not about you. And I'm not saying you have to pretend to be someone you're not by any means, but...
If you like staying home with your cat and reading and doing art and not really talking to people, you can talk about that because I guarantee there are millions of people out there, maybe even billions, that feel the same way, right? You're going to be relatable to those people. You're still going to be able to connect. Maybe you don't connect on having a flashy personality, but maybe you connect on your values.
or your hobbies or your beliefs or your life experience, right? So even if you would rather just stay at home and read with your cat, which like, absolutely I'm here for that. You like, yes, you can do that, but you also have a business, right? You also need to bring people into your business. You also need to market. So find a way to market your business in a way that...
RuthAnn
I am too, actually.
Asia Dore
is actually fun for you. Maybe that's writing, right? That's my preferred method of communication is to write. So leverage that, like let that be enough, right? You don't have to force yourself to be on live video every single day, but you do still have to find a way to be able to share your message so that people know about you.
RuthAnn
100%. I love that you said it's not about you. That is so true. And people need what you have to offer. Like so many people are looking for the solution for their problem. And so I love that you reframed that for us. And you said you love to write and I can definitely be a testament to that being on your newsletter list. You're such, you have such a good way of like letting your personality shine through your writing. And so yes, I think that's an absolute great way to market yourself is like
be yourself and let, you know, talk about the things that are interesting to you, important to you, and people will connect on those values. I love that so much. What is one of the biggest mistakes almost all entrepreneurs make when building their brands?
Asia Dore
Oh man, okay, I mean, I got to like stretch for this one. So when you, like if you have ever Googled anything, like even when you were starting your business or thing about how to build a brand, how to figure out your brand, how to build a personal brand, it's just like you'll get search result after search result that all say the same thing. And what they say is, hey, look at Apple, look at Amazon, look at McDonald's.
RuthAnn
Hehehe
Asia Dore
Look how successful these businesses are. Look how profitable these businesses are. It worked for them, therefore you should brand your business in the same way that they did. And while I am absolutely not refuting the fact that those are very profitable businesses, they're also just the business model is so completely different than a small business like you or me, especially if it's the solo entrepreneur that doesn't even have a team. Right? These corporations
They have investors, they have shareholders, they have multi-billion dollar marketing budgets probably. So they are very invested in creating a brand image and then pouring just money, money into controlling that image so that the brand becomes untouchable. They also usually have a lot of unethical business practices.
They're having people manufacture their products and those people are, it's slave labor. All of the things that we either don't want to do as small business owners that actually care about doing good in the world or just have the resources that we simply don't have. So to say that you should brand your business in the same way a corporation does,
It's just, it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I just get really heated about this because that is what the mainstream branding industry says. It's just that easy, just brand like Apple.
RuthAnn
Okay, Asia, I have to say, I definitely wrote a blog post back in the day, I think this was like 2017, and it talked about Apple Star...
Asia Dore
Now listen, I-
RuthAnn
So funny. I just feel like it's easy to pull from huge conglomerations that we all know of, but you're so right that it's just not the same thing. Yes.
Asia Dore
It's not the same thing. And I appreciate you confessing that to me, but I will let you off the hook. But on the other hand, I'm not saying we can't learn anything from how a corporation builds their brand, right? Especially since a lot of these brands are successful. They're extremely profitable. They're also extremely recognizable. So I think that we can learn some things, but I think when it comes to the strategy part, it's not tangible enough to say, just do what Apple did.
You can't as a small business owner, right? So you have to do it with those five steps that I said. That's the tangible thing that you need to know when it comes to actually building your brand. So it's a mistake because you won't have the effective brand that you could have if you did it the entrepreneur small business way.
RuthAnn
Yes.
RuthAnn
Mm-hmm, yeah, 100%. And I think as solo-preneurs, as people with small teams, as building a small business, you have to, you are the face of the business. It's basically all on you. So Apple can hide behind a logo and no one knows who's the helm of the ship or whatever the case may be. But for us, it starts and ends with us for the most part. Even if you have a small team, you're still the face of your business, your brand, even when it gets up to maybe hundreds of employees, you're still probably the face of your business. And so I think it's so important to embrace that and not look at it as a setback, but look at it as an advantage because you are special, you are unique, you have a unique voice and perspective and values to share. And so I think it is to our benefit that we are small businesses and I think we can go pretty far with that and we don't need everything else, you know, to get there.
Asia Dore
Yes, I completely agree. I completely agree. And thank you for mentioning that too. It's like, why would we abandon our greatest asset, which is that we're humans doing business with other humans, right? You've heard people buy from people. It's so true. Why would we lose that by creating this image and then manipulating perceptions until we're seen how we want to be seen? No, just if you want to be viewed a certain way, then treat people that way and they're going to view you that way.
RuthAnn
Yes, 100%, I completely agree. And so thinking about your branding, thinking about when people are trying to put their brands together, especially when they're doing it on their own, it can be so hard to pick something because it just feels like, oh, there's so many options. Like say, for example, you're trying to niche down and you're like, well, I don't wanna say I only work with women.
Coaches because I don't want to like exclude the men because that's a whole other population I could serve and so people are like really like second-guessing themselves and they feel like they're just not sure they just feel like Scattered so how do you like how do you help someone like really narrow in and make a decision? Even when I work with people on their branding and their websites they just can't make sometimes they have a hard time making a decision like just you know choose one and like go with it is kind of
And I think people wanna see options, especially when it comes to the design of their brand. Sometimes they just wanna see all the options of like, what can you do? But how do you encourage people to make a decision and stop overanalyzing?
Asia Dore
I think the biggest thing is being willing to zoom out. A lot of times when we think of niching, we're like, we get very specific, but in kind of the wrong ways, right? Like, oh, I'm a seamstress. I make tiny clothes for tiny hamsters, for women who just wanna stay at home and read all day. Right, like, okay, sure.
RuthAnn
Yeah
Asia Dore
But like that's definitely a niche. That was a perfect example, by the way. That is a niche, but it doesn't really tell us anything else. Like it doesn't, that doesn't tell us anything about the psychology of the people that you're solving problems for, right? So like, okay, you're a seamstress. So let's zoom out. You're a seamstress. What does that mean? What kind of impact are you trying to have? What skills do you wanna use to help people, right? So the...
RuthAnn
Hahaha
Asia Dore
The biggest piece of a brand strategy, in my opinion, is essentially your big idea, or what I call your brand philosophy. It's like the world view, like the lens in which you are viewing the world and the lens through which you are building your entire brand. So a lot of times when people have all of these scattered ideas and like, oh, I can do this for people and I could do this and I could do this.
It's usually all stems from one big idea, but you have to be willing to zoom out to get a new perspective to see that big idea. Right? So my advice to someone who's struggling with that, who feels like they have too many scattered ideas, is to zoom out in whatever way that is. Right? Maybe it's talking to a friend, maybe it's writing in your journal, maybe it's voice notes to yourself. Get it all out and go back and have it reflected back to you and try to find the common threads in all of your ideas because I can pretty much always guarantee that there is one, especially for entrepreneurs who are experts at what they do. They just don't really know how to communicate it. So find those common threads and just keep pulling until you get to your big idea. And that's what's gonna help you find cohesion.
RuthAnn
Yes, that is so good. And I love the voice memos to yourself. I do that a lot, where I just like record and I'm like talking it through. I'm such a verbal processor. And I think something you mentioned too was, you know, when you have that big idea, I think it is helpful to bring in someone else. Someone like you or me is like always so helpful because we can see all the common threads very easily because we're not in it, you know? And so, you know, definitely like.
Asia Dore
Oh yeah!
RuthAnn
when you can hire someone, it's fantastic. But even bringing someone else in who's maybe entrepreneurial minded or something could really be helpful to give you that perspective of like, okay, what do you see that's like a common thread here and that can help you as well. So I think that is a great suggestion. So as we go on to say, we completely build our brand, we're very happy with how things are, but you know, life goes on, years go on, things change.
And this is a huge topic of this podcast, is something that I love talking about with people, is like, you know, we're in business for the long haul. We're in business to make a change in our world and in our families and stuff like that. And as you're in business though, you know, things change and evolve. And so how do you make those pivots and changes as you're going through your business?
Without committing to a rebrand every single time because I personally think rebrands are really big overhauls. And to me, that does not include tweaking your brand message, tweaking your colors, refining things here and there. To me, those are just like little refreshes. And so to me, a rebrand is like a huge overhaul where you're changing your color palette, you really feel like there's a disconnect between your audience, you're not attracting the right people, you wanna raise your prices, you're changing your business name. I mean, there's like a lot of bigger things that play when you're doing a rebrand, but when you're making all those micro-pivots and changes, how do you make those and still stay true to your original brand?
Asia Dore
Yeah, that is a fantastic topic. And I love that you distinguish between like a full rebrand and just a brand refresh where we're tweaking things that kind of just evolve naturally. I think it's so easy for entrepreneurs to be almost like starstruck by the idea of a rebrand. It's like, oh, a fresh start, right? Like everything's going to be different now. But it seems like that usually happens out of boredom, right? Like we're bored with, you know, even our colors. We're bored with our content, but that's actually a good thing when we're bored with our message, right? That's a good thing because it means that we're consistent. It means we're doing the same thing. If your message isn't working, if your brand isn't working, that's a different conversation. But a lot of times it's like we almost self-sabotage because it's like, okay, nothing new exciting is happening. Like I got to rebrand. So that's just a side note. I love that you distinguish between those two.
Asia Dore
you allow your brand to evolve with you is by building it with strategy in the first place. And by that, I mean really getting into the nitty gritty and core components of your brand, but also of yourself, which really comes down to values, right? Like our values don't seem to change that much. I mean, maybe, you know, as we're, as we're kind of growing up and getting older, but I feel like once you hit about 30, it's like, okay, this is who I am, this is what I believe in, this is what's important to me. And so unless something drastic happens to us, our values don't really change. So if you can build your brand on your values and your worldview and your personality, it allows you to be a human in business, it allows you to...
RuthAnn
Yep.
Asia Dore
have a brand instead of being a brand, which I have a blog post coming out tomorrow that I'm really excited about, because I think that's a tough thing to distinguish too, especially for people with personal brands. But when you are a brand, you don't get to be a person anymore, right? You don't get to change and grow and evolve like a person does. If you focus on your humanity and treating other people like humans, it allows your brand to evolve naturally because you are evolving naturally.
Right? Like people are going to expect things to change because you're a person. And we all change. So it really comes down to building your brand strategically in the first place. And if that wasn't the case, right, if you did just go on Etsy and buy a logo and you came up with some message that's like, be your best self, then, you know, like you can certainly build a brand in that way. But that's what I love about what you do because even when you help someone rebrand, it still comes back to strategy. Right? You're rebuilding based on strategy, even if you have to change the strategy, right? Which a lot of times you do if there's a rebrand. So it all just comes back to the strategy. And if you haven't taken the time to do that and you're you do feel like, okay, I need to rebrand, things are changing, and you've already built a brand, that's okay.
RuthAnn
I was gonna sneeze. Keep going.
Asia Dore
Okay, almost plus you. Then that's okay if you haven't done it yet, you can always come back to it later, right? You can always, I still tweak my brand strategy and I'm a brand strategist. It's like, geez, you can't get it right the first time? Like, no, I did then, but now I'm tweaking it.
RuthAnn
Exactly, exactly. And you go through different periods of evolving and maturing and growing. And sometimes it like maybe the messaging isn't aligned anymore. And so you're making changes and tweaks. And I think there should be like no shame at all when you are going through and making some revisions or updates. I just think that's such a natural part of business. And I think we should be reviewing our message on a bi-annual basis just so we can make sure things are aligned and up to date and all that stuff. So I think I definitely want to link to your blog post that's coming out tomorrow for sure. And so we'll make sure to link to that. But I think it's I think it's so good that it does always come back to strategy. That is 100% true. And I always say like if someone is going through a lot of changes in their business, like let people in like let people know. Obviously, if you're going through something personally, I don't think you need to do that.
If you're going through, like, I kind of was starting to get off Instagram. I'm still on there, but I'm not like posting as much. I am such a weird, I don't know what I'm doing with Instagram guys, okay? But, you know, I talked about it in my podcast. I talked about it in my newsletter. Like I'm letting people know, like, I'm going through something and I'm trying to focus on like the right marketing platforms for me. And so that means maybe not being on Instagram as much, experimenting with different platforms, focusing on the podcast. And so I think it's good to just let people know where you're at and how things are changing. And you know, if you are, I'm also sharing about my own little, it's kind of like a refresh rebrand hybrid happening. So I'm sharing about it on the podcast. So I'm just letting people in on like, this is what's going on. This is what's happening in my business. And I think that's such a good way to build trust and not leave your audience behind, I guess, and just let them know these are changes we're making, that kind of thing. What do you think?
Asia Dore
Absolutely. No, I completely agree because we have this, we put so much pressure on ourselves to have it all together and yes, I'm an expert and I know everything about this and I'm perfect really. And it's like, no, we are not. You're a business owner just like the rest of us. So release that pressure. Just because you're tweaking and changing things in your business doesn't make you any less qualified to do what you do. It doesn't change the fact that you're an expert.
Asia Dore
It doesn't change the fact that you can help people in massive ways. Right. So I completely agree. Letting people be a part of that. That's that's how you build a community. That's how you build relationships. And if you don't have relationships and you don't have a community, you don't have clients. Unless you're putting out Facebook ads or something and people are randomly buying. But I think for a lot of the clients that we would have in common, that's not really how they want to do business. Right. The relationships are important to them, whether that's one-to-one or it's one-to-many. So yeah, let people in. Get vulnerable. That doesn't mean you have to, you know, get on Instagram and do a story where you're crying and say, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have my life together. No, you don't have to do that, right? But there's nothing wrong with sharing like, hey, I'm making these changes. This is why, you know, come along with me. We might learn something together. It just makes us more human.
RuthAnn
Yeah, I love that you keep coming back to that. And I just think there is so much power in that because we do change and evolve as humans. And I love that is a focus. So I do wanna talk about this before we sign off, but you and I have this little discussion over on Instagram, ironically, talking about how much Instagram has changed. And I've actually talked about this with other guests too. So this is like a common especially those of us who have been in the online space for a while. This is not something that is unique to me. I feel like a lot of people have this feeling. But when we started our businesses back in 2016, Instagram was a totally different platform. It was completely different. I feel like you could post, you would get followers, you would get likes, you would get everything you wanted, like when you were-
And it would just be photos. Like it would be great photography. And you know, great photography came a little bit later, but you could just post bad lighting, your breakfast. People loved it. Like it was just funny. Well, it was new. That was why, because it was like a newer platform. And things have really, really changed since then. And you were on Instagram as well as I, we were both very active on Instagram. And then when did you decide to like Instagram was not the place for you anymore and like why did you decide that?
Asia Dore
I'm still, I feel like it's a bad, like it's a bad relationship and Instagram is my ex and I'm still like, oh, I don't know, he's kind of cute. We might get together again. And my friends are like, don't do it. So I am still mentally trying to tear myself away. But I believe it was, oh my gosh, the COVID and time made everything weird, but I feel like 2022 was.
RuthAnn
That's so funny.
Asia Dore
when I finally was like, okay, no more Instagram as my main marketing platform. And by then I had been in business for what, eight years, I guess, and I had solely marketed my business on Instagram for that length of time. So that's probably why it's been difficult to detach. But yeah, it just, it got to a point where it's like, this is not fun anymore, and it's not working in the way that I would like it to work, not just in terms of like,
RuthAnn
Mm-hmm.
Asia Dore
followers and likes, but like I never see posts from the people I want to see posts from and I know they're not seeing mine It's just as simple as that and that's another hard thing is I made so many great connections on Instagram I mean you and I for example, and I have so many people like that But I'm just I'm like not in their world in the same way because I never see their dang posts
RuthAnn
Mm-hmm, I know, I know. I love that you think about it as like an X because that's such a good way to think about it, so true. It is tricky because I think the thing for me is like everyone's there. Like you can find pretty much anyone there and you can talk to them like in a text message. And so to me, and I guess you can do that with Facebook Messenger. It feels a lot more complicated for some reason to me when I think of Facebook. And I'm Facebook feels, I don't wanna get into Facebook right now, but with Instagram, it's just so accessible and easy, but I feel like whenever I get on the platform, you're right, I never see content of my friends ever, unless I'm searching for them, which I end up searching for my friends a lot, because I'm like, what are they doing now? And I do have to find them in a search, but when I get on, sometimes I'm just wanting to.
Asia Dore
Okay.
RuthAnn
Well, most of the time nowadays, I'm just going on to like watch Reels and get a laugh and then I get off like I don't I don't go on for education like I used to and I think so many of us um Definitely I was doing a lot of educational content. I was really pouring my heart and soul into like making these posts really valuable and stuff and the fact that they were Not getting likes let alone views like I just don't think
Asia Dore
Yeah.
RuthAnn
I came to the same conclusion. I was like, if this is not helping me in my business, if this is not providing me clients in any tangible way, if people aren't reaching out like they used to, there's just no point in spending all this time, especially now that I'm a busy mom. I really don't have a lot of time to be, and part of me goes back to how when it was, maybe it was around 2018, you were really like, caring about how your grid looked. And I still find myself in that where I really care about how things look on the grid, like next to each other. And this is just because I'm a designer and a perfectionist and who knows what, but I just would find myself like agonizing over my grid. I'm like, there is no point in doing this anymore. Like, why am I doing this? Why am I spending hours that I don't have like trying to make this look good when it really does not matter at all?
Asia Dore
I'm sorry.
RuthAnn
Yes, I decided to hop off. I'm still on, you know, like I message my friends and stuff and it's great for like voice notes and stuff. So I am in there and I do, you know, sometimes at the end of a podcast episode, I will say, hey, chat with me on Instagram. And so I do think it's still a great place to connect and people connect with me there, which is great. But yeah, it's not where I'm putting all my eggs anymore. Same to you. Like I was, all of my eggs were in Instagram and now focused on the podcast, I'm focused on LinkedIn and Pinterest is where I'm hanging out now. Where are you hanging out now?
Asia Dore
I made a promise to myself that I would get back into blogging, because like I said, I love writing, but I just, you know, you just avoid for some reason. It's like, oh, but I like doing this, so it can't be right. I have to go do all those other things. So blogging, I'm on Pinterest as well. I'm kind of dabbling in LinkedIn. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. And also on YouTube, I started a YouTube channel as well, so we'll see what happens there. But...
You mentioned that you pretty much just use Instagram as like, OK, watch some funny reels and then hop off. And that's so sad to me because that's what they want. That's that's the app they want to have. They want to be an entertainment app now. Unless something changed. But last I heard that was their main thing. And it just makes me so sad because I remember when TikTok blew up and I can't remember the guy, the head of Instagram. I can't remember his name, but he did a video and he was like, we're really going to push video content video. This is a video platform now. This is what we're pushing. And it's like, if you want to be like TikTok, just say that. But also what like you're saying, oh, this platform works and it's so successful, therefore, we're going to do the same thing. It's like, but why there already is that like.
RuthAnn
Yes.
Asia Dore
Why wouldn't you use that opportunity to double down on what you were doing so well? I mean, again, I'm not saying that it wasn't a profitable change. I'm not saying that it wasn't successful, but I think that they're missing out on a massive opportunity by trying to be like another company when they had these users and this audience that was already using the platform so well in one way.
It seems like such a missed opportunity, especially because I don't even think that we would be mad about the increase in ads on the app, as long as the app was still working like we wanted it to work, where we can actually connect with each other and see each other's posts. It is just a huge missed opportunity, because there are, there's all of these people like us now who are just kind of stuck there, but they don't really want to be there, so they're not really using it, so they're not creating content, but they're still talking to people. It's just weird. And now we don't have anywhere to go.
RuthAnn
Yeah, it does feel that way. I love that you mentioned that and I want to say that, say this really quick. I think it's so important because we see someone else successful at something does not mean we should do that thing and be successful. I know in the beginning I definitely did that so many times. I would like see someone being really successful. I remember this in the first year in my, I think it was the first year.
Courses were huge then in 2016-2017. Courses were like blowing up and I was like, oh, I'll just do a course. And I created a course and I just, I didn't have an audience. Well, I didn't know what I was doing also. So I was making a lot of mistakes doing everything wrong. But I feel like just because you see someone doing something a certain way to get success does not guarantee that you will have the same success doing the same thing. And I think, you know, that's why I love, Asia, what you talk about in your whole message is being unique to who you are and finding what you're passionate about to talk about, like, that's how you should market, that is what you should be doing more of, is what you love. And so I think it's so important to stay in your lane, even when you see other people successful, yes, it's great to take ideas of what they're doing and learn from other people, but you have to have to do it your way and find something that you really, really love to do. Because then it'll shine and come through and people will see that and follow that passion. But I think if it's just kind of lifeless, if you're like, well, this worked on that person, so I'm just gonna try it for myself. I mean, you can tell that energy is not there, I think.
Asia Dore
Absolutely. It's like that quote, be yourself, everyone else has already taken. It's like, yeah, okay, you see this successful business, the successful brand, and then you go and do the exact same thing, you're not gonna stand out. You're doing the exact same thing as someone else. Like successful brand positioning is all about finding the gaps and then filling those gaps. That's how you differentiate yourself. It's like, okay, TikTok is doing this. How can we still be successful and give something completely different?
Like, how can we leverage the users we already have? How can we leverage the platform we already have? How can we make that better? Like double down and make it better. And so yeah, I do also want to encourage anyone listening who's like, oh, but they're doing it like this and they're so successful. Like, no, find your own way. Like you are unique and you are an expert in your own realm. Just leverage the heck out of that.
RuthAnn
Yes, Asia, this has been such a great conversation and I really hope our audience benefits from this. I definitely think they will. I thank you so much for sharing all your tidbits of wisdom and knowledge with us. Please tell us about the freebie you have so people can go download that immediately and get on your newsletter list. You will not regret it because her newsletters are the best. So yes, tell us about the freebie.
Asia Dore
Okay, well, I guess I have two. If you wanna get on my email list, I have a free ebook called The No BS Guide to Branding, which really just walks you through exactly what branding is, why you need it, and then the four steps to really figure yours out so that you can start building with strategy. The other thing I would love to invite your listeners to is a free 30-minute brand audit, where we're basically going to determine whether your brand is actually communicating all of this expertise that you have. And I know that an audit does not sound fun. It does not sound fun and exciting. But the thing about brand strategy is that you really need to focus on bringing all of your scattered ideas and all of this energy that you're putting out, all of the spaghetti you're throwing and really honing it down into something tangible so that you could build a foundation on top of it.
RuthAnn
I love that. So just anyone who wants one, they can sign up.
Asia Dore
Anyone who wants one and they're totally free.
RuthAnn
That's fantastic. So you can go to asiajor.com slash brand audit and we're gonna link that as well. Asia, thank you so much for being here. This was such a delightful conversation and I really hope everyone goes and checks you out and thank you again so much.
Asia Dore
Thank you for having me.
