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Small Business Brand Identity Strategies

Small Business Brand Identity Strategies

"Does a brand identity matter when you are a start-up?" Sleepless nights, a staff of three to do the work of 20, and the doubters will test your stamina to survive the start-up game.  I suppose if it were easy, every person with an idea would be doing it. Start-ups require lots more than possession of an idea. They require an uncanny drive to succeed, a fearless spirit, a sense of humor and thick skin.

 

Your company brand may be a mere seed in the beginning, but the day you open your doors for business, you've got at least two brands, 1) your start-up business brand, and 2) your personal brand, both equally as important.

 

Let's start with your personal brand. Will a serious vendor give you the time of day, when you are a small potato with little volume? Will your associates write angel-funding checks without a proven concept? Can you recruit great staff with no office and no benefit plan? Probably not -- unless you're personal brand is rock solid.

 

Make your personal brand a daily project of continuous improvement before you dive into the start-up business pool. Become an expert or seek advice from consultants such as Ethos Mentor. Whether these are academic credentials or life achievements, have your story down, both in written form and be able to quickly articulate it in conversion. Package yourself, look like a successful trusted leader.

 

Fundamentally, your brand identity is the visual interpretation of your cause, business, or products. It is the way in which we recognize and distinguish one company from another. A brand identity typically consists of one or more of the following elements:
- a logotype (the typographic treatment of the business name)
- a logo (a graphic symbol or icon)
- a tagline (a short description, slogan or musical jingle)
- a color palette (one or more colors used highlight your identity).


Streamline your logotype. Is it hard to read? Is your typeface dated? Or maybe it's just non-descript and nothing special. A valuable logo deserves a refreshed color palette that pops. Does it scream the groovy seventies and you're a technology company? Or does it say plain Jane when really; your boutique sells the funkiest stuff in town?

 

If you don't have a tagline or musical jingle, create one. If you do, incorporate it into your brand identity. A creative tagline or slogan is another element of your identity to help the consumer connect with your brand. It may be a descriptive statement about the company's services (like FedEx's - Absolutely, positively overnight) or a call to action (like Apple's - Think different or Nike's - Just do it). Either way, it should be brief, memorable, and should speak to the essential mission statement of your organization.

 

Use it or lose it. Everywhere and anywhere you can. From the doormat, to the screensaver on the office computers, the logo and its elements should be used in a consistent manner, reflecting and reinforcing the brand identity.

 

Remember, your brand identity is the sum of all you do. It's what the market thinks, feels and expects. It's your purpose, competitive advantages, personality and promise. This is why brand planning and protection are so important in young companies. Unless you have a crystal ball, there are a lot of unknowns about the future of your start-up.

 

So, what is a sustainable brand identity? A sustainable brand identity includes ALL of the above "brand identity" elements plus a concept and design that is:
- unique and distinguishable; example, eco-friendly concepts add value
- efficient and effective in communication of key messages and personality stories
- used in a consistent manner throughout all visual marketplace touch-points

A sustainable identity is stylistically and functionally adaptable so it grows with you and your business. The sustainable brand is one that flourishes over time, across product lines and diverse multimedia platforms.

A sustainable brand identity is vital because it can help people to make an immediate connection with your product or service and then retain that connection building a relationship with loyal customers through good times and bad. This is often defined as customer relationship management (CRM).

In this age of technology and communication, we have a virtually unlimited selection of choices. There's little time to make a big first impression. A sustainable identity will communicate more efficiently and effectively your message. As a result, your brand identity will endure enabling your startup to achieve rich rewards. 

 





Small Business Brand Identity Strategies - To learn more about this author, visit Ellisa Brenneman's Website.

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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

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George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website

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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

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John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center.
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Ellisa Brenneman
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Ellisa Brenneman started her career, after receiving her Bachelor Degree from the University of British Columbia, with the Canadian government merging academic rigor and business savvy to produce and disseminate research findings. She has been published multiple times in scientific journals for her research findings. A born entrepreneur; her zeal for entrepreneurism soon took hold. She's started green businesses and has vast experience managing public, media and investor relations for small-cap public companies. Ellisa is the President of Ethos 360. Ethos 360 provides entrepreneurs with affordable one-on-one coaching, business growth consulting, custom business plan writing, branding and capital raising services so they can launch and grow their businesses. Visit www. Ethos360.com for additional information, email inf o@Ethos360.com or phone 503-501-2444 to schedule a free consultation.



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