There's Nobody Benefiting From You Playing Small...
And A Whole World Changes If You Don't
There's Nobody Benefiting From You Playing Small -
And a Whole World Changes If You Don't.
...our clients realize when they start working with us is...
Most of us don't have a value problem.
We have a PRESENTATION problem, while over-delivering undervalued services trying to make up for that.
we're Nimue and Carina, a mother - daugther team from Vienna, Austria... and here is our story:
Hi, I'm Nimue,...
I'm the mom.
And in "so brand'd" I am in charge of anything design and visual implementation of your brand.
I believe high quality will never go out of style.
(It's how you build a legacy.)
My talent is to make complex things simple, structured and beautiful.
I watched my father proudly show my little brother how his newly aquired computer worked. "That's nothing for women" he said while sending me out of the room.
In his household, women weren't allowed around the electronics.
Computers seemingly had just turned from black and green to technicolor - when I decided to build an online business - back in 1999.
I promised myself - it does not matter how hard I have to work - I would figure this out.
We build an online Magazine for parents:
What to do with the little ones, all the magical places you could go around Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
And... people loved it!
We brought in good revenue - but we weren't profitable.
And there was no amount of "working more" I could do anymore to change that.
I was sleeping less than 3 hours, working through the night, to look after the kids during the day.
My marriage was on the rocks.
The money was not even close to justifying the workload.
I know how it feels to overwork...
...with little return.
We ended up selling the business at a loss.
And with 4 kids to feed and a big desire in my heart - I started over.
Starting over was both terrifying and the only available option.
And in a time when nobody in our part of the world had ever heard of EFT and psychological counseling -
I wanted to open my own praxis for it, I wanted to start a coaching business.
My father in law's estimation: "That's never going to turn into anything."
and still...
6 months later, I had 30 - 50 clients per week.
I was charging 3x more than the industry average.
I had a waiting list.
I was sending all 4 kids to private school
and retired my then husband for the time being.
... in the middle of the 2008 recession.
The business earned me speaking gigs,
an EFT teaching position in the 'Schlossberg Institute Vienna'.
I started my own certification program.
And it continues to run even without much advertising for over 16 years.
(With what I had available back in 2004)
Do you still need a good offer, traffic and tech set-up for your business to work?
Of course - Branding is powerful, not a miracle.
But then...
...act as your business partner:
Or act like my father.
...making you believe made up limits.
...underplay your intelligence and quality of work to everyone.
...slow you down for no reason at all.
...dim your light.
and despite fantastic achievements...
... get you overlooked and passed by.
And that’s why I believe in branding.
I don’t want anyone to ever feel like that.
93% of human communication is non verbal. Even online.
People without brands say 7% of what they could...
...And have 7% of the impact they could have.
I'm the daughter.
And in "so brand'd" I'm in charge of everything Brand Stories, Naming and Copywriting.
I believe in flow over "pushing through".
My talents are to find the easiest, simplest + low effort solution.
I have watched my mum start, grow and sell online businesses my whole life. I was hooked... and also stuck. I joined all these marketing courses, all while feeling like I knew more about marketing than those coaches were. But who was I to talk about this?
At that point I was working as a personal trainer in a tiny coastal town in the UK - physically exhausting myself every day in fitness classes.
I had just come back from my first holiday as a self employed person - a trip to Mexico...
And found myself stuck with no way to pay rent - nobody wanted to pay for burpees and broccoli a few weeks before Christmas.
And I made my first offer to the coaches and yoga trainers and spiritual teachers and nutritionists and EFT specialists in my little community:
If I showed you everything I know... would you pay me $250, and I'll get you from 0 to paid in 4 weeks. ( I KNOW...!!!)
3 people took me up on it, and all 3 got paid in less than that time.
So the month after that, I had close to 20 clients.
and I was completely burned out.
I was on 4 hour coaching calls with them. I revised and supported and broke trauma and limiting beliefs and held the responsibility that a lot of these women needed the money so they could quite literally, put food on the table in the next few weeks.
When I say I know how it feels to over-deliver undervalued services... I really do.
I quit that business and moved to Spain to teach yoga on the beach a few weeks later.
I could physically not sustain this.
I saw no way to charge more - and for people to still be able and willing to join, even though the successes I was having.
That's the true cost of a dimmed down presentation.
4 years later, (I had just come back from managing the brand implementation for 2 luxury hotels in Greece,)
I teamed up with mom... and dipped my toe in again.
We did a similar offer - with a much wider time range.
At a 20x price point.
Now you need to understand... Mom is a visual person... she will never put out an offer without it looking good, without it being presented well.
And not only did we close $37,000 from a dead start...
...the first person to sign up was one of the ladies from my community back in the day - at a 5k price point.
Now your current situation might not be quite as dire as mine was back then...
But the question is...
Visual and Design Facts...
It's not just that design matters.
It will save you b*tt.
With Covid, we fell back into some bad habits.
We spend months glued to the computer.
We were working non stop.
We extended so much effort… with very little rewards. (Internally or externally.)
We decided...
We needed more SUNSHINE in our lives.
And we needed more SUNSHINE in our business.
So we packed up our things and 2 cats,...
...bought a little van…
...traveled through Europe...
...refocusing our business on the one thing we enjoyed most: Branding.
That's how we started our sunshine business, that's how we started "so brand'd".
...we could not find a lot of good information out there.
There was...
"Brand strategists"...
...selling clip art logos instead of branding.
...selling graphics instead of branding.
...selling template websites instead of branding.
...selling marketing instead of branding.
...selling social media instead of branding.
That's like selling cherries...
...without the cupcake or the icing.
The Brand Effect comes from a Brand Concept implemented with excellence.
Find out more here...
We decided we want to do better.
Maybe it was time to show what we have found along the way, what helped us create exceptional successes, when we implemented it right:
Like when Jill had a 56% - 135% increase in registrants just from changing her branding. (Relationship Coaching)
Like when Jenkins changed his website design and ended with 2 surprise high-ticket sales inside of 24h and 8 weeks later, he is now closing a deal with the 2nd largest distributor in his niche. (Career Coaching)
Or when Tanzi closed $45,000 in sales after a 2h call with us. (Spiritual Crypto)
Alive Premium Brand - hire us as your sunshine team where we build your brand for you.
Brand Done By Yourself
...Archetypes to create "in the gut" brand concepts (read more here...)
...Color pallet types,
...Customer desire containers,
...Brand relationship types,
...Brand impulse types
...all to help specifically coaches, consultants, and holistic helpers...
All, so there is less convincing energy.
Less sales effort.
Less pushing.
Less hustling and running after prospects.
More ease.
More reach.
More traction.
The kind of money that allows us to build new schools and start new wells and buy rainforests just to leave them standing there.
We also believe in following your inner guidance, following ease.
And what we have seen over and over, for people who are doing great work:
Alive, Premium Branding can be
the door to that.
Because despite of what we tell ourselves, us empathetic, creative, spiritual folk:
We don't have a superiority ego problem, we have an inferiority ego problem.
So we, mum and I, are on a mission to make sure that all the high-quality work you are doing out there in the world,...
the life-changing impact you are creating for your clients...
...gets an appropriate LOOK and package.
...For you to get the RECOGNITION you deserve.
...For your efforts to get the rightful TRACTION online.
Because nobody is benefiting from you playing small.
And a whole world changes when you don't.
And if you are just starting out with your first sales...
(And it is a little premature for you to build a whole brand...)
(For people that help people, animals or the environment.)
They just pay for hosting + our customer care package so we can keep their website running and backed-up.
We call them Credibility Websites*, because that's what they are here to do:
Give you credibility when you need it in the beginning.
Putting your business on the map NOW, not in months or years.
(That's how long it takes most coaches to put their website online.)
Are you our next website project? See if you qualify here.
...are simple websites build on templates we've seen work best for coaches and consultants. They are NOT branding!
Building a brand for a new or slowly starting business is like trying to create a tailored suit for a baby.
It'll keep growing and change shape faster than you can design it.
So instead of branding - we start with a simple Credibility Website. They are made so you can adjust them yourself as you go.
And as soon as your business starts to "keep it's shape" a bit more, you are already set up with all the back-end tools and tech you'll need to start building your unique branding.
We Believe In Branding...
Because it helps people help more people.Â
Because it brings ease.
Because it makes sure that high quality work gets seen and recognized.
Because it helps great people build empires.
Our Official Sounding 3rd Person Bio
Nimue went from being told "This will never turn into anything" and building an elaborate Website on hope and blind trust, to growing the biggest psychological counseling praxis in Austria, in the middle of the 2008 recession.
Building online businesses since computers have started to turn techni-color, she has build the visuals and branding for coaching and service businesses in every niche between biz-op, life coaching, career coaching, relationship, spiritual, real estate, crypto and fitness.
After moving to a tiny coastal town in the UK, Carina went from "outsider with a weird accent" to becoming one of the highest-paid personal trainers in the area, starting to help other coaches and trainers to do the same online,...
...to then in 2019 being hired as a concept manager for the biggest travel company in the world, managing the brand implementation for two 4 + 5* hotels in Greece.
There is more competition every day...
The coaching industry is expected to keep growing at 5.4% per year.
(In 2022)
And everybody is coming online. Your prospects...
... Why should they pick you?
Content published every minute:
How are YOU standing out?
We have 2 black cats - they are 16 now. Don't tell them that though.
Minko, the devourer of any cheese and cake, who can howl like a wolf, and defends the van. And Mona, the death by cuddling type, our HSP cat who hates loud noises but loves to explore new places.
#5
#4
We have been on a crazy 1.5-year cleanse just now - vegan, no sugar, no dairy, no gluten, no wheat, no nightshades - we essentially party with watermelons 🙂
#6
"Personality type quizzes" are our thing.
So much, that we developed our own...
Check them out here:
What is your premium brand type?
Nimue, tell us...
About Carina
(I call her Nina!)
HER WEAKNESS: Sleeping in… especially when I have a new idea!
HER STRENGTH: Instantly finding the “least amount of effort” solution.
I GO TO HER FOR: When its important that the message hits the nail on the head.
GUILTY PLEASURE: Vampire books… and coffee with honey and lemon.
THINGS THAT ANNOY HER: Small cups and slow people.
WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR: Her unwavering belief and support
Capricorn, Enneagram 4 /Wing 3, Projector, INFP
Archetypes: Diplomat, Explorer, Veritas,Â
Carina, tell us...
About Nimue
(sounds like Nemo- ah!)
( I call her mum)
HER WEAKNESS: Reusable, double-sided tape
HER STRENGTH: She can make anything look amazing
I GO TO HER FOR: She knows how to make any hurt go away.
GUILTY PLEASURE: Books… and Burn Notice.
THINGS THAT ANNOY HER: Artificial smells and wish.com
WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR: That she’s quite short - so she takes up less space in the van.
Gemini, Enneagram 3/Wing 4, Manifesting Generator, ENFP
Archetypes: Royal, Veritas, Aesthete
Your visual representation is either your business partner, helping you reach levels you’d never been able to reach by yourself.
Or sabotaging you every step of the way.
Marketing sells to the 10% of people that are ready and looking for a solution.
Branding markets to the other 90%, without having to sell.
Branding protects businesses in wobbly economic times
It’s when people spend money on necessities - and on people they trust.
77% of consumers buy based on a brand name (crowdspring) - because your brand builds your trust capital.
Most market to the people that are ready and looking to buy.
Branding positions you so you are the first and only choice, before they go looking.
Your visual representation is either your business partner, helping you reach levels you’d never been able to reach by yourself.
Or sabotaging you every step of the way.
Marketing sells to the 10% of people that are ready and looking for a solution.
Branding markets to the other 90%, without having to sell.
Branding protects businesses in wobbly economic times
It’s when people spend money on necessities - and on people they trust.
77% of consumers buy based on a brand name (crowdspring) - because your brand builds your trust capital.
Most market to the people that are ready and looking to buy.
Branding positions you so you are the first and only choice, before they go looking.
Your visual representation is either your business partner, helping you reach levels you’d never been able to reach by yourself.
Or sabotaging you every step of the way.
Marketing sells to the 10% of people that are ready and looking for a solution.
Branding markets to the other 90%, without having to sell.
Branding protects businesses in wobbly economic times
It’s when people spend money on necessities - and on people they trust.
77% of consumers buy based on a brand name (crowdspring) - because your brand builds your trust capital.
Most market to the people that are ready and looking to buy.
Branding positions you so you are the first and only choice, before they go looking.
