interpersonal
branding
Evidence-based marketing for therapists who want success without selling out.
interpersonal
branding
No marketing strategy will work
until you know who you are
personally, professionally,
publicly and interpersonally.
I’m Carrie Wiita.
I have a master’s degree in counseling, but I’m not a licensed psychotherapist…
I’m more like a branding therapist!
Just like a psychotherapist helps you become the person you want to be, I’m here to help you become the professional you want to be.
Knowing who you are and what you’re selling is the often-overlooked starting point for ANY successful marketing strategy.
And just like psychotherapy sometimes requires understanding how we impact the people in our lives, this work requires you to develop an awareness of how you impact your clients, so you can leverage that impact to achieve your business goals.
Interpersonal Branding is the marketing and professional development framework that I developed for my graduate thesis in my counseling program. It is based on the latest research and trends in marketing, business, psychology, and more.
Outdated marketing approaches have left us hyper-fixated on the bottom-line and tools like social media, SEO, and sales funnels. It’s time to get human again and refocus our attention on the person-to-person service at the heart of every exchange.
And that starts with you.
Hi! I’m Carrie Wiita.
I want to help you stop agonizing over your marketing.
And that starts with you.
The Framework
-
AWARENESS
Interpersonal Branding starts with you. No marketing strategy or tool will work until you figure out who you are personally, professionally, publicly, and interpersonally. Every exchange is an act of service, so if you're trying to sell something, the question you need to be asking yourself is, "how am I of service to others?"
-
DISCOVERY
No niche? No problem!
Interpersonal Branding goes beyond “your ideal client” or “niche,” because it is rare for any service provider to sustainably hyper-focus on a very narrow market segment. Instead, we consider your audience segments—all the people you serve in different ways. We use service-dominant logic to understand our place in the world and our relationship with those we serve, eliminating imposter syndrome and “the hard sell.”
-
COMMITMENT
At the heart of Interpersonal Branding is your Commitment—your promise to your audiences about what they can reliably expect from you and who they can reliably expect you to be. This is the North Star that will guide all of your marketing activities as you develop your Service Presentation (the sum total of your brand architecture).
-
INFRASTRUCTURE
It doesn’t matter how effective a marketing tactic can theoretically be—if it’s not a good fit for you, you won’t do it. Fortunately, there are no marketing activities you HAVE to do (I’ll make a vehement case for a website, but even that is negotiable). You need a personalized marketing strategy that is as unique as you are.
-
EVALUATION
Because Interpersonal Branding is designed to constantly incorporate feedback, evaluating audience response to your marketing activities is critical. Without this responsiveness, you’re just putting out content that pleases you, regardless of how useful it is for your audiences—and that’s not good service.
-
REFLECTION
If you feel icky doing this work, something has gone terribly wrong. Some people will say you just need to “fix your mindset,” but I don’t think that’s always the case. A critical signal to listen for is your own reaction to your Interpersonal Branding. Sometimes responses like procrastination and avoidance steer us away from something that isn’t authentic or resonant—this is more feedback that needs to be incorporated into the Interpersonal Branding system.
-
SYNTHESIS
We are all constantly working on the project of the Self, a lifelong journey of identity-crafting. A fundamental component of your Self is your professional identity. It is a part of how you understand you, and how others understand you. Marketing activities are symbolic contributions to this project—it’s so much more than just a blog post or a website or a tagline! Interpersonal Branding gives you the chance to forge a professional identity that is meaningful and authentic to you AND useful to your clients, so your business success and personal sense of fulfillment are aligned.
The
Framework
-
AWARENESS
Interpersonal Branding starts with you. No marketing strategy or tool will work until you figure out who you are personally, professionally, publicly, and interpersonally. Every exchange is an act of service, so if you're trying to sell something, the question you need to be asking yourself is, "how am I of service to others?"
-
DISCOVERY
No niche? No problem!
Interpersonal Branding goes beyond “your ideal client” or “niche,” because it is rare for any service provider to sustainably hyper-focus on a very narrow market segment. Instead, we consider your audience segments—all the people you serve in different ways. We use service-dominant logic to understand our place in the world and our relationship with those we serve, eliminating imposter syndrome and “the hard sell.”
-
COMMITMENT
At the heart of Interpersonal Branding is your Commitment—your promise to your audiences about what they can reliably expect from you and who they can reliably expect you to be. This is the North Star that will guide all of your marketing activities as you develop your Service Presentation (the sum total of your brand architecture).
-
INFRASTRUCTURE
It doesn’t matter how effective a marketing tactic can theoretically be—if it’s not a good fit for you, you won’t do it. Fortunately, there are no marketing activities you HAVE to do (I’ll make a vehement case for a website, but even that is negotiable). You need a personalized marketing strategy that is as unique as you are.
-
EVALUATION
Because Interpersonal Branding is designed to constantly incorporate feedback, evaluating audience response to your marketing activities is critical. Without this responsiveness, you’re just putting out content that pleases you, regardless of how useful it is for your audiences—and that’s not good service.
-
REFLECTION
If you feel icky doing this work, something has gone terribly wrong. Some people will say you just need to “fix your mindset,” but I don’t think that’s always the case. A critical signal to listen for is your own reaction to your Interpersonal Branding. Sometimes responses like procrastination and avoidance steer us away from something that isn’t authentic or resonant—this is more feedback that needs to be incorporated into the Interpersonal Branding system.
-
SYNTHESIS
We are all constantly working on the project of the Self, a lifelong journey of identity-crafting. A fundamental component of your Self is your professional identity. It is a part of how you understand you, and how others understand you. Marketing activities are symbolic contributions to this project—it’s so much more than just a blog post or a website or a tagline! Interpersonal Branding gives you the chance to forge a professional identity that is meaningful and authentic to you AND useful to your clients, so your business success and personal sense of fulfillment are aligned.
The ultimate goal
is a sustainable professional identity,
meaningful and authentic to you and
useful to those you wish to serve, that
will guide your career and self-marketing
for the rest of your life.
Why “Interpersonal” Branding?
The ultimate goal
is a sustainable professional identity,
meaningful and authentic to you
and useful to those you wish to serve.
that will guide your career and self-marketing
for the rest of your life.
Why
“Interpersonal” Branding?
Are you a psychotherapist?
Learn how to apply the Interpersonal Branding framework to your own career in my online program, Interpersonal Branding for Therapists!
Finally know how to talk about yourself as a professional with your clients, colleagues, and other stakeholders
Improve the quality of your therapeutic work by using marketing to optimize the therapeutic relationship and leverage client expectations and preferences
Create a personalized marketing strategy you’ll actually do
Develop the tools to conquer burnout and imposter syndrome whenever it might show up in your career
Are you a psychotherapist?
Learn how to apply the Interpersonal Branding framework to your own career in my online program, Interpersonal Branding for Therapists!
Improve the quality of your therapeutic work by using marketing to optimize the therapeutic relationship and leverage client expectations and preferences
Finally know how to talk about yourself as a professional with your clients, colleagues, and other stakeholders
Create a personalized marketing strategy you’ll actually do
Develop the tools to conquer burnout and imposter syndrome whenever it might show up in your career