Be Your Own Brand
“A brand is a story that is always being told.” – Scott Bedbury
Are you interested in business, just a beginner or building a company from the ground up? Either way, you are a walking brand or you are representing one. You are basically putting a value on yourself as an individual. With recent networking, it’s even more important to represent the job you work for or the brand you are building. When asked what is branding and do I have to be fake to do so? My answer is no. You don’t have to feel like you’re selling yourself out, but instead believing in a force that will drive you and inspire you. Some people fake it till they make it, but it’s always better to get to know the bones and foundation of what you're selling.
Unfortunately, there’s more to branding than having the logo but the logo is the first point of contact with the public. Some say this isn’t a big deal, while others say this is just as important as the product. It’s important to know the strategy, identity design, and market. Focus on the process of creating a strong, positive perception of the company, its product or services.
With so much branding going on in the rat race, how can you be that quality brand? An established brand can be an asset in bringing customers back repeatedly and generating profit. It must be well worth the hard-earned cash and limited time that customers have. Being loyal to a brand hasn’t been totally lost, there’s a lot of competition but a unique brand can have a significant impact on your business by giving you a competitive advantage over other companies. If you believe in it, don't waste time.
When I started my small business, I started with reading up on Steve Jobs on the secrets of branding and entrepreneurship, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptD0T-ZcF2M. I also looked into Dave Aaker on social and higher purpose for your brand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9qZ6EVQxhQ.
It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, there are many ways to build a page at low cost online. But if you are planning to create something that will last, it will take hard work and some investment. You have probably paid for a logo or logotype, signs, business cards and the whole works. Branding is the ongoing process of representing your business to your customers. Your brand communicates the feel of your business to others. Learn to market and take advantage of advertising.
It doesn’t have to be tedious, it can be fun. The brand needs a way to express itself. We must be clear on what we want customers to know about us. Research the market and create your brand. The best advice that helped me and motivated me was a video from Gary Vaynerchuk … GaryVee, it really helped me move on with my mindset. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Yst1Si3fw.
Brand Building:
- Target a niche, be known for something. Develop a unique brand to stand out.
- Get a logo and place it everywhere. It’s the first point of contact with the public.
- Write down description or brand messages, attributes that help the customer relate to you. The pitch.
- Be your brand – Integrate it everywhere in person and on the web. Always promote yourself within. We should always uplift rather than beat down.
- Create a “voice” for your company that reflects your brand.
- Develop a tagline, pitch. Capture the essence of the brand throughout.
- Be true to your brand. Deliver on your brand promise. Provide features – product or service.
- Be consistent. What you visually & verbally represent. Brands visual asset is all the front facing elements, such as the website design, fonts, and typography, color palette, logo and Ad design as well as the packaging.
- Distribution channels & Advertisement – have a mission. What qualities link to your company. Work on new channel distributions. Think sales and push your brand always.
- Always refine customer experience. What feedback have you gotten so far? Reviews and prospects. Always get back to your customers, hustle and reach out. Audio is a great way to reach more people.
- Humanize your brand – Add value, hope to transfer an emotional attachment from person or situation or theme to the product.
First and foremost, you are the brand and you represent the brand you believe in or the one that signs your check. Construct your brand carefully through experience, sharing testimonies, stories, relationship, marketing blogs, visual and audio assets. Positioning yourself and the way people think of you gives you a way to stand out. Get to know the in’s and out’s. You have the opportunity of shaping your customer's expectations and creating a unique bond beyond the buying-selling relationship. Your brand is your promise to your customer. Look up the differences between branding vs marketing advertisement. Do your research on your target audience, what attracts them? Learn their habits, interests, needs, desires motivations. Always keep your eyes on how the market changes, adapt to it.
Logo, design, mission statement, all need a consistent theme throughout all marketing communities or sources. Your brand stems out who you are. Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is apart of your brand strategy.
That’s why values are good to have. No one trusts anyone anymore because everyone has been burned by someone else or have had been blinded by someone who thought was one way and then showed to be another way later. They bought into that person, brand lies or untruths that was sold to them. Don’t soak your customers imposing them with heavy charges, instead, give them a chance to get to know the brand. People will pay a little more for quality once established with promise. Your product may be quality, but it takes time for quality service or becoming loyal to a new brand.
“Don’t sell yourself short” means, do not undervalue yourself. When you talk to other people about yourself, do not talk bad or in a negative way about yourself or the brand. When you meet someone for the first time for example and you want to impress that person you are pretty much selling yourself in a way. When people ask, you talk about the good qualities about yourself. Hence, you are selling yourself. It’s up to the other person to decide what they think about you later. So, they are buying what you are selling in a sense.
Build trust and show value. You are selling yourself on how you are as a person. It is the impression that you are giving about the brand. Marketing is a long-term relationship, it’s not a one-night stand. Even though brands seduce, look at them as platforms, use brands as management tools. Align marketing strategy with business goals. Positioning your brand is key, research as much as you can. Sometimes positioning yourself with media and starting a podcast is one of the best ways to help your brand. Here is a video that I found helped, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu2QNUY5iyk So, have fun with it and grow, grow, grow.
I've started the process to create a foundation for my business and I'm slowly building momentum. I'm still in the baby steps of building my brand, products, and services but I am loving every minute of it and I am grateful for all the encouragement and advice online. I read an article that inspired me and I'm linking it to this article because it's got great advice and I want to share it from the source and not just regurgitate it. It's important not to take the credit but to pass on the knowledge and put it into practice. I am growing through what I go through. Networking is what it's all about and this motivates me. https://www.forbes.com/sites/piasilva/2018/06/06/this-one-simple-thing-is-absolutely-necessary-to-be-an-expert/#5c3672af6222.
“If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” - Howard Schultz