Building a Brand:
The Decisive Edge for Your Small Business
Build a brand that establishes
your reputation as
the most trusted source in your market
Do you have a branding strategy to grow
you business?
Building a brand is one of the most important
things you will ever do in your business. Marketing doesn't happen
without a brand and sales don't takes place with out marketing.
Without these two key ingredients you will soon be out of business.
Don’t think that you need a brand to survive? Too
late---You already have a brand whether you know it or not.
You started building a brand the moment you r opened your doors for business
and sold your first product or service. From that point
on, anyone who has come in contact with your company, directly or indirectly,
has experienced your brand and has formed an opinion about your business.
For better or worse, you are constantly projecting who
you are, what you do, and the value you offer. Every time someone sees
your logo, hears your name, or reads your brochure they are forming an
impression about you and your worthiness as a solution to their problem.
From these impressions your brand reputation is being formed and
your future is being determined.
Yes, dear entrepreneur, your business is always being judged!
The important question is:
what do they think of you and
how does it affect your sales? If you don’t have a clue
how to answer this question, you currently have no control of your brand.
Without any control you marketing, and the ultimate success of your business,
is at the mercy of your competition and other unseen forces in the market.
You have set your company up to lose simply because you chose not to play
the branding game!
Look around, the most profitable companies in your
market understand how to build a brand that wins. Their marketing is held
together by the strength and character of their brand presence. You
can directly trace their success back to how well they execute their branding
game plan. They have worked to build a brand that communicates the
unique value they offer and enjoy a reputation that always precedes the
sale.
What’s your branding game plan and how well do you execute
it to win the game?
Building
a Brand That Wins Sales
Building a brand for your business is like building
a winning sports team. It takes hard work, planning, and execution.
The best teams always have a game plan
that allows them to compete at a high level. The ones that work hard
and execute their plan win the most games and become champions. You
must have the same qualities to build a brand that wins sales in you
marketplace. With the right approach and attitude your business can be a branding champion too.
Let me be clear on one point -
banding DOES have a direct
influence on building you sales.
Many marketing experts believe building a brand is only a function of
developing an image. Nothing could be more from the truth. Branding
plays a critical role in the sales process because it establishes your
reputation. Your reputation is
often the first interaction the eventual buyer has with your company.
They initially determine your ability as a solution provider based on
how they
perceive you.
The success of your sales totally relies on having a solid reputation
for
your business. Without favorable brand reputation your product or
sales offer will not even be considered and you are out of the game.
Your brand boils down to
one key point: creating trust.
If they don’t trust you and don’t believe your marketing message,
there is little hope that you will make a sales. Trust can only be
built through the careful nurturing the relationship you have with all
of your prospects and clients. You must keep your word and deliver
five critical benefits to them each and every time you interact with
them.
These five reputation-building benefits to build your brand
are:
-
A quality of product or service.
-
Product and services that are available when they want
it.
-
Honesty and make it easy to do business with you.
-
Friendly and helpful people in your business.
-
Your product or services provides a satisfying result
to their need.
These five benefits are not optional!
They
are the minimal requirement to making a sale and creating a loyal,
satisfied client. In today’s hyper competitive marketplace,
having these five reputation-building benefits must be the foundation
for building your brand.
Invest
the Time To Build Your Brand
Why should you invest the time to build a brand for your
business? Just for a moment, stop reading and look around you. No matter
where you are, it’s safe to say that you will encounter up to a dozen
or more branding elements at work. These can range from a small logo on
your computer to the pen you write with to the logo on the clothes you
are wearing. Each of these companies is actively seeking to influence
how you perceive their products and services. The branding game is
constantly being played around you, all the time.
Many of these brands are the work of huge multi-national
conglomerates such as Coke, Nike, Apple, or Sony. They spend millions
of dollars to ensure that their names are always in front of you. Their
goal is to “own” a share of your mind so when you need the product or
service they sell you recognize their name and are likely to purchase
from them.
However, the
need for building a brand is not just for huge corporations with massive
budgets. It’s also a valuable, and necessary, part of every
small business who desires to be profitable. You don’t need a million
dollars to brand yourself, only a smart branding game plan that works
for you.
Many people, especially advertising agencies, think that
the best way to establish your brand is advertise. They are only partially
right. Reputation is a much more powerful force than typical advertising
and leaves a far greater impression. The best kind of advertising is a
result of carefully building a brand through trust - word of mouth advertising.
Building a business would be much easier if only word of mouth was easy
to create.
Every company, large or small, has some form of branding
at work. Whether you are actively participating in the branding game is
another issue. Where does your brand stand at this right now? How well
is it working to create sales for your company?
From here, let’s move on and look at the importance of
creating a brand strategy.
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Creating Your Branding
Strategy |
|
1.
What's your Branding Strategy
A branding strategy is the most overlooked part
of a small business. Without a strategy, you allow your
competitors to dictate the character of your brand in the
market!
(more)
2.
Branding Strategy: Perception is Reality
You
cannot control your brand you can only influence it.
Ultimately, your prospects, clients, and customers control
the
success of your branding.
(more)
3.
The Branding Process
Successful small businesses approach their brand marketing as a
critical
process. What have you done to brand your business today?
(more)
4.
Elements of Your Brand
Your brand
identity consists of several key elements that define your
offering. It’s important to use these elements in combination to
appeal to your target market.
(more)
5.
Critical Branding Questions
Not
sure where to start when creating your brand? Answer these
important questions to help with your brand strategy.
(more)
6.
Brand Marketing Resources
Find
brand marketing resources that will help you create you create
brand strategies to help your small business marketing succeed.
(more)
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Coach Ron's Recommended
Resources:
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