This book is a map. An outline, a process. It’s one that I’ve used for myself, and it works for me. Over and over again. But it’s not all my genius. It’s all cobbled together from books, webinars, psychology, YouTube videos… it’s all out there for anyone to find.

Books like ‘The One Page Marketing Plan,’ ‘This is Marketing,’ ‘Storybrand,’ ‘Marketing: A Love Letter,’ ‘Find Your Yellow Tux,’ and ‘Marketing Rebellion,’ ‘Marketing Like We’re Human,’ and others. Then I went and tried it all myself. Tested it with clients, and figured out what I think by field-testing it on my personal projects. And learned from it all.

I’ve put it in one place for myself. And now, for you.

This book is not a manual. Unless you want it to be. It works that way for me, but I will often move things around, and reorder them.

I’m outlining my processes and ideas to prompt you to think of your own path. You don’t need someone new to tell you what to do. You might need someone to give you permission to see what you already have. Who you already are. And then pick and choose the things you can do, with the time and energy you have.

As you read each section, I’ll highlight an action item. You will find yourself coming back and tweaking your answer. That’s good. As you work through each section, you’ll get more clarity.

But first, don’t create pressure for yourself. If you feel moved to stop and write notes, do that.

It’s important just to read everything through once. Get the overall idea. Know the outline. Then come back afterward to reread and do the action items.

An overview of the sections

Here’s an overview of the upcoming chapters. My branding and action process is built around an acronym, DREAMS. Each letter works together creating a human-centered, story-making adventure.

Most importantly, these letters can help you start from the right beginning place.

Dreams: this begins your brand. Outline your hope and vision. Then, start working on building a home online. We’ll cover how story works, how to craft a compelling homepage, and think about what makes you stand out.
Relevance: What are you doing to show that you are relevant to your community? How are you pacing yourself to share what you’re doing? Use content to inform, inspire, entertain, and build trust.
Empathy: Who is your audience, the people you love working with? How do you serve them with your skills? Create products that generate income.
Affinity: Your brand is also made up of your audience: what are they doing to engage with you? How are you creating a platform, or a space, where they can grow and change with each other? Leaders give voices to their followers, and sit with them.
Meaning: This is your ‘why,’ which can get lost or buried in fun and busy work. Challenge yourself to keep digging into meaning, to see what new ideas emerge. Look for partners and create collaboration around the meaning beneath your brand. This might come with time.
Story: Your brand is more than you. It’s the sum of you, your vision, and the community you’re building together. And together, you’re creating stories. Tales of transformation, experiences, moments. Share them with each other, and share them with the world to inspire new followers.

“But wait… where’s the money-making part? Isn’t this a whole lot of busy work?”

First, you decide what you want to do. This is a roadmap, not a recipe.

And second, we’re building something for long term success. Not short term wins.

When you know what makes you stand out and interesting to the right kind of people, you’re empowering them to find their voice, and you’re collaborating with partners to grow your reach, you have a ton of ways to create income and monetize.

You might surprise yourself how much you can make, or who sits up and hires you.

Every section ends with a short block like this one, prompting you to think about your answers:

Take Action

Try to spend only an hour, two at most, on this exercise.

Upcoming chapters will come back to these, and you can deepen them. It is good to just start getting ideas down. Not clear yet? Come back to it later.

What’s the dream? What are you feeling called to do?
Who do you enjoy working with most?
What’s a story about you that led you to starting this mission?
What happens to people when they work with you?
What are three things about you that make you stand out?
What are the services you offer that people will pay for?

My 6 steps to being a rebel dreamer