Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Branding Your Business

Branding Your Business

You can walk into any McDonald's in the world and you know how the restaurant will look, how you will be treated by the employees and what to expect in terms of value. This is the McDonald’s promise—their brand.
Unlike large corporations who spend millions of dollars on branding, as a small business owner, you have to work harder to get your name in the public eye.
The way the game of business is played today is not like it was 20 or 30 years ago where you could drive down any main street in America and see lots of small, entrepreneurial-type businesses, according to Neil Ducoff, founder and CEO of Strategies, a consulting company dedicated to helping businesses grow. "Today you see franchises, chains, big-box stores, and all of them work very heavy on brand identity," he said. "When entrepreneurs go into business, they need to take a look at what they are building and what they want their businesses to communicate, and they need to do it at a level where they can at least compete with these bigger stores. You're always being judged against what's out there, and what's out there are some serious players." »

What Makes a Brand?
While a logo is very important to branding, it is not the only thing that matters, according to Rob Marsh, vice president of operations for Logoworks by HP. "Branding isn't just the logo; it's the look of your store, your marketing materials and business cards,” he said. “It’s everything your business stands for. It's the way you treat your customers, the way you answer your phones, the quality of the products that you sell and of course the look of your logo—all of these help create a customer's experience. Over time, a logo acts as a kind of 'short-hand' to represent all of the things that make up your brand."
According to Ducoff, the importance of branding is defining who and what your company is in a matter of an instant to potential clients. "A couple of months ago, we went to go see a Cirque du Soleil show," he said. "They set up right alongside the highway on the edge of the city. Although their logo is printed very small at the top, the yellow and blue tents they use are instantly recognizable as Cirque du Soleil. People know that they will pay a premium price, but they will get a high-quality show with some amazing and unique acts that are more geared toward an adult crowd."
There are definite advantages to creating a strong brand image for your business, according to Mark Gilman, president of Decus Communications. "I think first and foremost, if a brand is associated with a message the business owner wants to get across, it's a huge benefit in that when people see a brand, they think of a product, a way of life, a slogan, and what that particular business stands for," he said. "For example, if I own a landscaping company and I've got my brand out there, when people see my brand they think, 'Wow, those guys are quick. They're effective in getting me a lot for what I pay and I know they have qualified workers that go above and beyond what they are required to do.'"
Another very important thing a good brand image creates is value for the company in and of itself, added Ducoff. "When I first started Strategies almost 15 years ago, I worked by myself for about the first year," he said. "Although we were small, we had really powerful graphics and really great mailers. I worked very hard in creating that brand look to represent Strategies. For many years, a lot of people thought we were a heck of a lot bigger than we were."
A good strong brand also makes you more attractive to an investor or someone that wants to lock horns with you, according to Ed Roach of The Branding Experts. "If you have all of your ducks in a row and have a good strong brand, you come off looking a lot better in the eyes of investors," he said. "If you have a weak brand, that's going to be very unattractive to an investor. You look like an amateur, not a big player."

Where to Begin
A business should never spend more on a branding campaign than they can afford, according to Gilman. "A small business should not take out a loan to do a branding campaign. Out of the box, I would say, if my revenues are $200,000 a year, I wouldn't spend more than $5,000 on a branding campaign."
You don't need to break the bank, but unless you're qualified in graphic design, you should be prepared to treat it as an investment in your brand. "If a business owner feels that it's too expensive and can't afford the graphics or marketing, then he needs to question why he wants to go into business in the first place," noted Ducoff. "The brand is something that's above and beyond the owner, and you need to be prepared to invest in not just the physical space, but be prepared to invest in the people and training."
Roach agrees that branding doesn't have to be extremely expensive. "Every company already has a brand; it didn't cost them anything to create it," he said. "What they want to do is to build up their reputation, and they have to determine what they want to do with that and how much they are willing to
do themselves."
There are some important questions that business owners need to consider when trying to brand their business, according to Ducoff. The biggest thing they need to consider is what their goal for doing this is and why customers should care about you. Plus, as a business owner, are you prepared to accept a negative result? Roach suggests picking up the phone and calling your 10 or 15 best customers and asking them honest questions. He said you need to think about how honest you are with yourself. "If you get a negative answer, are you prepared to address that?" he asked. "If all you're concerned about is your logo, that's not going to solve anything. You can have a new logo and you will have the same problems, just with a new face. It really involves a lot of soul searching."
Gilman said another thing business owners need to consider is whether they can afford to lose money the first year. "There are a lot of upfront costs when you're branding and marketing," he said. "How many hands do you want in the pot? I always think it's a bad idea to go out right away and look for tons of investors. If you really know what you want to do and bring investors in, they are going to steer your company."

The Brand Basics
Ducoff believes a brand image has to communicate not only a level of quality and professionalism, but also an idea for the buyer or consumer of what they should expect. "For some reason, all of the TVs that I have ever bought have the Sony name on it," he said. "I know that when I buy a Sony product, it means it's going to be top-quality and state-of-the-art. Another example of a good brand is Southwest Airlines; they communicate fun. For instance, they painted one of their planes to look like the Sea World orca whale, Shamu, and they have pictures of airplanes drawn by children in their gate areas at the airport."
Ducoff stresses that when building value in a brand, it is important to incorporate the business as a whole and not just the leadership. "When the leader of a business is the brand, it takes away value," he said. "There is a great value when they are present, but it takes away value when they want to move on. If their business was built around them and not the brand, it just degrades value."
Marsh added that a great logo helps a small business look professional. "It helps instill confidence in a business' customers. And it can help customers easily recognize you, so when they need you again, they can find you. Your logo should be a simple, visual representation of all of the things that make up your brand."

Beyond the Logo
Branding is so important because there are a lot of companies that have failed because they did a lousy job marketing their product and they didn't differentiate themselves, said Gilman. "Branding is all about visibility," he said. "People think branding campaigns are all about buying advertising and billboards. It's also about having a good looking business card, giving presentations and sponsoring charitable events. It always boggles my mind when companies want to sponsor events and they don't bother to ask what they get out of it. If you're going to sponsor an event that represents who you are or the client base that you want to go after, you should be able to set up a table in the lobby. If it's an awards ceremony, you need to be able to pass out an award. There are some charities out there that really need your support, and they are willing to give you some major exposure out of it."
Just because you are a small business owner does not mean that you have to think small, adds Ducoff. "A lot of people go into business and they think too small," he said. "They create their own limitations and it's sad to see it. It's so easy for them to think small and believe they can't play the game at that level. There's always a way to create the business of your dreams. Don't get locked into small thinking. Just because you think big doesn't mean you need to spend big."

Step By Step
Ed Roach of The Branding Experts shares the branding process he does with companies that hire him.
1. Put together an effective team consisting of stakeholders, employees, suppliers and customers to look at the brand. Once this team is in place, the first step is to identify what the brand stands for. What's the personality of your company? What's your brand's story? What service or product are you offering and what differentiates you?
2. After that, do an image survey. Where are you consistent and inconsistent? Sometimes a lot of companies have one company do their logo and a different company do their signage. Logo is such a small part of it. It's important, but once you go deeper, that's what the brand is all about.
3. Make a note of these deficiencies and correct them.
4. Do an analysis of the competition. What brand positioning are they involved with? Do a small brainstorming session with your team.
5. Establish an image strategy. Once you determine your brand colors, fonts, logos, photographs, general theme and feeling, put it all together in a document that would be set in stone. The team could then follow this strategy.

Success Stories

Poppy
When Leslie McKeown first opened her New York clothing boutique Poppy, she enlisted the help of a friend to design the visual aspects of her branding like her logo and packaging. "I first wanted to put the money that I had towards merchandise and stuff like that," McKeown said. "I didn't spend a lot of money on the logo or brand at first, but I was perfectly happy with the first logo. As the store evolved, it took off really quickly and I wanted to take it to the next level."
McKeown got some help with her rebranding effort from OPEN from American Express. "I'm an OPEN card member, so I had that relationship there already. They were interested in really learning about small business from a down and dirty type of perspective. They helped put me in touch with a firm and helped me be able to afford this level of branding. I wouldn't have put that type of money into branding on my own."
McKeown added that she never really thought that she was building a brand. "I kept hearing customers tell me not to get rid of everything and to try to keep something from the old logo. I started to notice that my customers got very nostalgic." McKeown kept one component of her old logo; a Poppy painted in the front window of her store.

Sinful Creations Chocolate
In today's marketplace, appearance is everything, according to Amanda Ehrlich, owner and pastry chef for Sinful Creations Chocolate in San Diego. "We pretty much put our entire nest egg for the business, which was $25,000 towards the branding, printing, design and marketing materials," she said. "I believe that you have to. If I'm going to compete with companies like Godiva that have a multi-million dollar marketing campaign, it's really important to put your all into the branding campaign. It takes money to make money. If you're going to be doing any sort of branding, if you even want a half a chance to stand up, you have to put up a large chunk of money."

Revamp Your Brand
When many small businesses first start out, they don't have a lot of time or money to put into their branding efforts. While their initial campaign might work for a while, eventually as the business grows and matures, they find they want to take a more focused approach and look to rebrand their business.
There are several different ways to go about this, according to Rob Marsh, vice president of operations for Logoworks by HP. First, there is the traditional way: a small business goes to an advertising agency or design firm. These services can generally range from $5,000 to $250,000. They have very creative people who do good work, but for most small businesses, the costs are prohibitive. In some cases, if you are a small account, you may only work with a few junior people and not really benefit from the agency's experience. However, in other cases, you may get the personal service and the design you need.
The second option is to hire a freelance designer. There are hundreds of very good designers who don't work for "big agencies." They generally cost less and still provide
great design. However, the range of design you will receive is often limited to the ability
of a single designer.
Lastly, you can use a company like Logoworks. They don't have the big agency overhead, so they don't charge big agency prices. On the other hand, they take care of finding great designers who want to work on your project, so you don't have to worry about the quality of work you will receive. However, Logoworks isn't perfect for everyone. If you need a lot of hand-holding through the process, one of the other options is probably better for you.





Branding Your Business - To learn more about this author, visit Lynn Celmer's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Casey Gollan
Casey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website

Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
- Visit Jeff Foster's Website

David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

- Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Lynn Celmer
(Visit Lynn's Website) Lynn Celmer is the Managing Editor for America's Best magazine, a nationally-distributed publication geared towards small business owners. Before coming to America's Best, Lynn was a Lifestyle Editor for Gatehouse Media in Illinois. She covered various topics, including Business. Read the online version of the magazine at www.gowithabc.com/magazine

Lynn Celmer is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Lynn Celmer's

Complete
List Of
Small-Business-Consulting
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Lynn Celmer's Complete List of Small-Business-Consulting Articles For FREE!

More Lynn Celmer
Head of the Class
Simple Gifts
Branding Your Business
15 Ways to Reduce Your Stress at Work
Protecting Their Property
Food for Thought
Women in Small Business
Part of Their Nature
In Their Honor
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Cheryl Matthynssens  
Casey Gollan  
George Ludwig  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Referral Networking Solution Icon Referral Networking Solution
Maximize Trade Shows Icon Maximize Trade Shows
Fortune Small Business Icon Fortune Small Business
Radio Campaigns Icon Radio Campaigns
Entrepreneur Flight Manual Icon Entrepreneur Flight Manual
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 Business Plan Blog Posts for 2008
Top 50 Business Plans
Top Business Plan Blogs
 
Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2008
Top SEO Posts of the Year
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Oulimata GAYE THIES, Senegal,
Oulimata GAYE
THIES, Senegal
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Robert Iachetta, $372k to $921k in 2 years
Robert Iachetta
$372k to $921k in 2 years
Jeff Roick, $1.4 to $6.5 Mil in 2 years
Jeff Roick
$1.4 to $6.5 Mil in 2 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Ty Warner, Beanie Babies
Ty Warner
Beanie Babies
Duncan Hines, Duncan Hines
Duncan Hines
Duncan Hines
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Brad Feld, Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld
Venture Capitalist
John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing
John Jantsch
Duct Tape Marketing
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Media Matters: Why talking to reporters makes good business sense
By Aileen Pincus
     Crisis Preparation: It isn't just for Fortune 500's
By Aileen Pincus
     Executives and Elevators Perfecting That Pitch
By Aileen Pincus

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information