Branding

Branding is by far the most under appreciated and least understood aspect of business, particularly among small and medium sized businesses. Part of the reason is that the biggest companies are the only ones who can afford to spend millions of dollars on “an image”.

Business Branding

It seems like the smaller the business, the less awareness or care there is of branding. I think in many cases it’s because of the cost (or assumed cost) of branding. In other cases it’s because businesses don’t think it matters, this holds especially true in service industries. The few cases where branding is actually attempted it usually falls short.

A good brand:
-Motivates customers
-Invokes an emotional response
-Gives you credibility
-Is concise and clear
-Creates customer loyalty

Personal Branding

Personal branding is a completely different beast. The reason being that you’re trying to brand a person rather than an entity. However many of the same principles still apply, you must be very clear with your brand, who are you, whay do you do and most importantly why does it matter??