Cash Color Brand Details Meeting Exercises
Exercise No. 1
Value Proposition = Your Customer's Why
Shift the Focus
Remember, your mission statement is YOUR why, but your Value Proposition is your CUSTOMER’S why. It’s the reason your customer connects with you and believes that you are going to be able to solve their problems or make their lives better.
Keep Your Customers in Mind
If you don’t build your company with your customer in mind from the beginning, there’s a good chance that you will have to shift gears at some point to get in sync with your customers.
Use Your Value Proposition as Your Filter
Creating a strong value proposition NOW will save you time and money LATER. Answering these questions will help give you the confidence to tell your customers why they should buy what you’re selling with confidence. Use this value statement as a filter to help you make decisions that are aligned with your customer’s needs. This will become the foundation for every single marketing move you make. (Plus, it will lay the groundwork for all the copywriting that awaits you as you begin to create landing pages, emails, social profiles, and blog posts!)
Be Flexible
It is important to stop here and note that value propositions can (and should) change as your business grows and evolves. In fact, they should be tweaked and refined periodically as you get to know your customer better.
Defining Your Value Proposition
Answer the following questions in the fields below. You will receive a PDF of your answers once you have submitted your answers for this section. If you want to write more than one version of your Value Proposition just refresh the page, enter the new information, and submit again. It would be great if you had a couple of versions of Value Propositions to review when we meet!
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
How are you proposing to solve this problem?
Who has this problem?
Why will they care if you solve their problem?
Here are two examples to help you get started
Our abstract letter prints are personalized moments designed to help modern families celebrate and remember their most important milestones.
More than just a line of fun, affordable abstract art prints, Cash Color designs are personalized moments that help people celebrate and remember their most important milestones.
Exercise No. 2
Mission Statement = Your Company's Why
Define Your Big Picture
It’s important to put the right parameters in place in order to collect the data you will need to define your big picture. This is a snapshot of your company, and lets people know who you’re trying to serve.
No Overthinking!
Just write down the first thing that comes to mind when you answer the following questions. We will walk you through the purpose of all three parts your Mission Statement needs. And we will work on cleaning up any loose ends you have when we meet, so no pressure! Let it flow.
Mission Statement Formula
Part One: What is your company’s purpose?
Part Two: How does your company execute this purpose?
Part Three: Why do you do it this way?
Your company’s purpose
The word “purpose” tends to throw a lot of people into an existential crisis, but try to keep it simple and literal.
Example: If a company builds furniture—even if it’s built out of the most fantastic, locally-rescued and lovingly restored wood you have ever seen—it’s still, at its base level, furniture, right?
What is the company’s base purpose? To build furniture.
How your company executes this purpose
Now, you’re going to need to get a little existential. This is the part where you need to describe how the way you run your company will add value to the product you are making or service you are providing.
Example: The company’s purpose is [Part 1] to build furniture [Part 2] using wood from trees that were felled during natural disasters.
How does this company fulfills it’s purpose? By using wood from trees that were felled during natural disasters.
Why it is important to do things this way
Here is where you tie everything together and create your big picture for everyoneto see. This is your secret sauce: the thing that will set you apart from your competitors and give you the edge. THIS is why you got fired up enough to start a business in the first place!
Example: The company’s purpose is [Part 1] to build furniture [Part 2] using wood from trees that were felled during natural disasters [Part 3] to create one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality pieces.
Why do they make furniture this way? To create one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality pieces.
Final Mission Statement Example for the Furniture Company
Our company’s purpose is to build furniture using wood from trees that were felled during natural disasters to create one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality pieces.
Defining Your Mission Statement
Same directions as Exercise No. 1: Answer the following questions in the fields below and after you submit your answers for this section you will receive an email with a PDF of your Mission Statement responses. If you want to write more than one version? Refresh the page and go for it!
Here are two examples to help you get started
To create meaningful, unique art that helps bring memories into living spaces as a reminder of a moment in time that they loved.
I make art to hold on to a moment in time that I loved. It helps me remember different stages in life. An art collection is like a life story. Each piece representing an impactful time.
Exercise No. 3
Customers = Revenue
Find the People Who Want What You Are Selling
If you think your ideal customer is a 24- to 55-year-old married woman with kids who owns a small business, then congratulations! You just targeted millions of women all over the world. Focusing on an entire market is way too broad. A mother starting a business with toddlers from a second marriage and teenagers from the first marriage is going to have very different problems than a woman who has an empty nest after her kids are now in college.
By focusing on one customer at a time, you are providing valuable solutions to THEIR problems with a clear, consistent message. Do you already have clients or customers that you love working with? Describe them! It’s tempting to go broad and see who takes the bait but remember: it’s expensive to market to everyone, and you don’t have solutions to everyone’s problems.
You are looking for people who will
- Benefit most from the product you described in your value proposition
- Resonate with your company’s mission statement because they have similar values and beliefs
These are the people who you want to follow you and like all your posts because they might actually buy what you’re selling! If you have detailed information about your ideal customer, imagine how much easier picking images for your Instagram feed is going to be, or writing a blog post, or researching relevant keywords.
So go ahead, splurge! Take the time to dream up your ideal customer. You won’t regret it.
Defining Your Customer Persona(s)
This exercise is broken out over three pages. Once completed you will, once again, receive a PDF with your answers after you submit your answers.
Answering all these questions with a real human being in mind, that already loves, and has purchased your prints will help this exercise be more realistic. So, conjure up a modern momma and somebody who just bought one of your prints for their new home and start channeling them for this exercise!
We would love for you to focus on these two customer personas for starters:
A modern mom.
A new homeowner.
This video explains how to answer questions about your ideal customer by focusing on three main factors.
The Three Factors
1. Demographics
Name
Age
Gender
Marital Status
Children
Culture/ Ethnicity/ Religion
Unique Identifiers
Occupation
Education Level
Location
Household Income
Pets
2. Psychographics
Values
Fears
Beliefs
Expertise
Desires
Frustration Level:
Influence
Trust
3. Behavioral
Lifestyle
Information
Hobbies
Buying
Socializing
Brands