Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in branding and marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ryan Rhoten, Founder of The Distilled Brand, located in Golden, CO, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

At The Distilled Brand, we help entrepreneurs clarify their messaging, so they say the right things everywhere and become the obvious choice in their market. Many of our clients are small businesses or businesses of one who struggle to talk about their business in a way that resonates with their audience. From their website to their offer to their marketing materials, what is clear to them is often confusing to others, which is super frustrating. Unfortunately, when you are confused, you lose.

The good news is that when you clarify your message, everything else becomes easier, from your offer to your marketing and overall business. But, while a clear message avoids confusion, we understand that getting your message clear on your own is hard; you're just too close to it. We understand this frustration, which is why we use a proven, structured program to help you find focus, alignment, and clarity in your message and business, so you capture your audience's attention and make more sales.

Tell us about yourself

I started The Distilled Brand two days after leaving my corporate job. I saw a need to help businesses get really clear about who they are and what they do. A common pitfall for most businesses is talking too much about themselves, their products, or services and not nearly enough about the problems they solve for their clients. The truth is your prospects don't care about you, they care about themselves, and if you spend too much time talking about yourself, it's hard for them to see themselves in your solutions. And this is what gets me up every day the opportunity to help our clients tell their stories through their client's eyes.

Prospects don't need you to justify why you are the best; instead, they need you to help them understand the problems you can help them solve and how you make their life better. It's a subtle shift in how you articulate your value, but it significantly impacts your business and brand when you get it right. It's those lightbulb moments where you know your client just connected the dots, and as a result, they will never look at their business the same way that drives me.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Helping my clients get really clear about their message and their business. Many entrepreneurs do things in the wrong order. It's not their fault there are way too many gurus willing to sell you something before you and your business are ready. At The Distilled Brand, we call these purchases puzzle pieces. The problem with these individual pieces is they add unnecessary complexity to your business because they lack the picture on the box to see how they all fit together.

At the Distilled Brand, we believe you grow through subtraction, not addition, which is why I developed The Brand Messaging Systemâ„¢. It's not only the picture on the box for our clients but the only step-by-step path to building awareness and authority for your business and brand the right way.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Juggling. You're responsible for everything when you're the only one in your business. So every ball needs to keep moving, or things can quickly fall apart, which is why we help our clients focus on doing the right things in the proper order, so they feel less like jugglers and more like owners.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Sticking with the theme of doing the right things in the right order, here are my top three tips.

  1. Messaging - Getting your message right requires understanding two things: your audience and the problems you solve. Without understanding these two things, your messaging will become muddled and confusing to everyone, including yourself, which will hamper your ability to grow.
  2. Offer - Your offer is not what you sell; it's the problems you solve with your service. Unfortunately, many businesses fixate on what to sell vs. understanding what problems they solve. As a result, you say yes to every request and end up juggling too many services, which eats at your time and patience. Instead, figure out what problem(s) you are the best at solving and create one offer specifically designed to solve that problem for your audience.
  3. Marketing - Never stop marketing. Marketing is not a one-and-done deal. You need to market your business every day. While marketing is critical to business viability, marketing alone will not get you clients. Marketing raises awareness for your business and brand, so you attract the right audience, but you'll still need to make the sale. So to keep your pipeline full of prospects, never stop marketing.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://thedistilledbrand.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanrhoten
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrhoten/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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