Branding 101 : Small Business Strategy to Earn More and Save Time.
So you’ve got a small business idea, built a prototype, sold a few coaching sessions or products through word of mouth or even have a few steady clients. Now what? Now, it’s time to establish basic branding & marketing for your small business.
Branding in this sense will refer to having a cohesive service or product so that your customer knows what to expect and can easily recognize your company aka hustle.
Marketing in this sense refers to how you are going to share your product or service with your target client in order to both A. Inform them of your service / product and B. Encourage them to purchase through a mixture of promotional activities, price, and distribution strategy. (I will write a separate blog post to cover this. Stay Tuned)
Let’s get started.
Your Small Business: Brand
The idea of a “brand” may encompass your small business name, words that you want associated with your company, or symbols that allow your client base to recognize your company or service.
I will go a little more in-depth here because I think the basic tips are only going to get you so far. Stick with me! You will grow and your brand and company will earn more. Don’t leave that money on the table.
Keep It Simple & Clear
I mean this – if you have a brand idea or love ten colors and ten pictures you need to take a breath. And then subtract, friend. If you have trouble finding the essence of your company, how can you expect your customer to get it?
Pick a maximum of three colors and one nude, one logo, and one theme (whether that be blocked, black and white, pretty floral, tropical, whatever). Use my free branding template page below to help get organized. Sort of like a vision board? But a brand board. This is key and it’ll help save you time later, whether you are designing sales pieces, products or thank you cards – to directly have a resource where you can find the CMYK colors of your brand and no, you don’t need to search all themes because you want straight lines, not curvy twists. See? Time is money and you’re saving time.
Give your Brand a Personality
Think about the purpose behind the small business you are creating. Your business is not only health coaching or auto-repair or marketing services or spicy salsa. It is also you – so what pieces of you are important to come through here? Trust, reliability, strength, fun, trendy, creative, environmentally friendly, knowledge on the subject? List the top two to three personality traits of your brand. Be sure to emphasize the personality traits that are important to the target customer.
Remember, YOU as business owner will make or break this business. You will be putting time, sweat, and late nights in. As self-made billionaire and founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely said, “I did not have the most experience in the industry or the most money, but I cared the most.”
Now think about how you will include these personality traits into your daily operations. Writing tone of voice (fun)? Speed of service (reliability)? Supplier base carefully selected as using sustainable resources (environmentally friendly)? Logo and website are wacky (fun)? You see where I’m going with this. Pick two to three to emphasize and include these in your resource page to come back to again and again.
Later when we move into marketing you can thinking about brand positioning. Where do you see your brand positioned against competition? High-tier, middle-tier? Cater to your client and keep them in mind but do not lose the personality of the brand. This will set you apart and help your customers grow to know you, recall your product, and recognize your emails. And guess what? Before they take the time to learn about your competition, they’ll choose you.
A Memorable Moment
Lastly, decide how you will include a special twist to make your brand more memorable. Is it a personalized thank you card? A unique box or bag for the customer upon sale or shipment? A shout out on social media to recognize your supportive clients? Whatever you choose, it shouldn’t have to cost much. But I encourage you to think of something NOW and follow through so that you can give your customers the connection with your brand and service quality. Pick one thing and make it your signature standard memorable moment.
Implement these steps and you’re off to a solid start. You will end up with a branding resource that you will keep coming back to and that will save you so much time in the long run. In summary: standardization on colors, pick a theme, create a unique and memorable moment. Some deeper idea of how the essence of your company will come through to help you stand out and be easily recognized and identifiable. And maybe even encourage your clients to share via word-of-mouth.
Yes. That is what we’re going for – strong and clear branding for your small business.
Don’t forget to comment and download your free template to help you get started in defining your company brand. Remember, dream big & work hard to help you get started in defining your company brand. Remember, dream big & work hard.
