Kodiak Entrepreneur Talks Personal Branding

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

A Kodiak resident is reaching out to other women who are entrepreneurs, artists, and independent business owners to help them create a brand for themselves. “Branding” in the modern sense is an internet phenomenon.

For many small business owners, it’s vital that people can Google their names and end up on a website that will explain what they do, what services they can provide, and even who they are. That’s why many professionals and celebrities maintain Twitter accounts. Many even keep two: one personal Twitter account, one to connect with business partners and consumers.

Astrid Mueller has a branding and design consulting agency, and says before you can go out and market yourself, you need to get organized and create a vision.

“First comes the clarity phase where you actually think of some strategic questions. You just figure out, okay, what sets me apart from others? What are my superpowers? What makes me cool? Who are my ideal customers? That kind of thing, so that’s the clarity phase. And then you kind of create all the things that you need like Facebook page, website, whatever it is, business cards.”

She says the branding package, from creating a professional Facebook page to a LinkedIn Profile, is much like introducing yourself to a stranger in real life. It’s about first impressions and presenting what you do and what services you can provide.  She says before you can communicate that to others, you have to figure out what you’re all about.

“So, if you have a small business then and you’re not clear about what your specialty is or what your passion is, you don’t communicate that, you don’t know who your customers are, then it’s really hard just to sell your services because people will have a hard time getting what you do, and they don’t know why they should come to you, you don’t know who to sell to, it’s pretty much just like everything’s muddled.”

Mueller says she’s been hosting meet-ups since last year where women can network, talk about branding, and find solutions for problems they’ve run into.