Although personal branding and company branding are two different things, every Entrepreneur should have knowledge about how to excel in both. Due to the fact that your personal brand is always connected with your businesses, you should always keep in mind about how to increase each, by increasing one brand your automatically helping the other. Here are few tips on how to increase the brand of your company as well as yourself. But before you read following tips one thing you need to keep in mind is that it takes a lot to become a successful entrepreneur. You got to learn new marketing and branding strategies each day if you want to stay ahead of the competition. Being multifaceted is very important here.
1. Direction
Whether you are currently focused on your personal or business brand, you should always have a general direction you want to take it. Having a vision as how you want the world to see you, will help you understand what it might take to get you there. While every business is different, implementing a branding strategy is key, and the only way to have a good strategy is by knowing exactly what you want. Set up your brand’s goals, visions, potential images, and make sure to have an excellent logo. Chalk out a plan for next few weeks; work on every small detail because that is going to differentiate you from the rest. You have to look into things meticulously specially logo design and the mission statement. Don’t be in hurry; you can always take help from someone who is more experienced with branding.
2. Be an Expert in Your Field
It doesn’t matter which industry you’re in, being an expert or hiring experts will give you a much higher chance at success. When consumers hear that your company has experts that can provide them with exactly what they need, they will be much more interested and will probably end up buying your products or services. You can also use your expertise to market content and show the world that you and your company knows exactly what they are doing, giving you more visibility and also attracting people that would otherwise never have heard of your company. There are plenty of ways to prove your expertise within your industry, such as teaching workshops, helping with questions on social networks, and interacting with other like minded people. You have to prove your mantle in the marketplace. If you want to get new clients then you have to project an image of being successful. You must have a team of experts that are willing and able to solve a problem at any given time. You have to be an expert in your field.
3. First Impressions are Important
The best thing you can do to increase your brand is to make sure you start out with a great first impression. Whether it is your website, your marketing content, or you personally meet a client, having a great first impression will make all the difference of what they think. Once you have established a good connection, it will be much easier to convert them into a sale, or use them to further help your business. It sounds very simpler however in reality creating an everlasting first impression if very difficult. A lot of hard work goes into creating an everlasting first impression especially with your website and logo. Clients will also look into your portfolio and other details regarding your company.
4. Use as Many Social Networking Sites as Possible
The internet has provided us with a great way to meet people, promote ourselves, and also create an overall image for our brand. With the multiple different social networking site options that we have, it should be fairly simple to get started and set your profiles the exact way you want people to view your company. By taking advantage of these sites, you will be increasing your overall visibility, creating good impressions, connect with your consumers, and have the ability to promote content that will further your overall brand. You simply can’t neglect social media especially Twitter and Facebook. The best part of social media is the conversation that happens in both ways. When you say something you get a response right there. It helps you to understand your clients better and improve your brand name in a long run.
5. Don’t Just Focus on The Products or Services you Provide
A lot of major companies have taught us that by promoting the brand’s opinions and beliefs, they can attract an incredible amount of people to go and look at more information about them. For instance, the Clydesdale commercial that Budweiser played at the Superbowl had absolutely nothing to do with beer, but caught the attention of millions of viewers and gave them an emotional response to the company. I mean to say you have to focus on both the quality of the product as well as its promotion and marketing. How good a salesman you are but it really doesn’t matter if you don’t have a solid product to back it up. Yes branding and promotion does matter so the product.
6. Let Your Brand Evolve
After a while the overall brand mission should change and expand with it’s surroundings. The purpose and ultimate goals will be different, so having a new marketing strategy should also be a high priority. Once a brand is established, it can be analyzed to see what it has been doing right, and what could be changed. A lot of the time if a business isn’t thriving, the brand could go in a different direction to help it get to where it needs to be. There is always a room for improvement. If you find that your brand is not being able to relate to the people or has failed to convey the right message then you have to rethink your branding strategy. But before you re-strategise you need to give it some time to evolve.
7. Network Within Your Industry
Connecting to other people within your industry can really help you in many different situations. Industry leaders will be able to shed a light on you and also give you access to their audience. Working with them to do guest blogs and other marketing strategies, will increase your visibility and show people that you are an expert in what you do. Even if they are considered as your competitors, there are multiple different tactics that can be mutually beneficial, and will also give you some insight on what they do to be as successful as they are. Networking helps you to learn about your competitors. You can always remodel over your competitors. It is smart to learn from mistakes of your competitors. You also get to make new friends that are genuine. So build a network and always stay in the loop.
8. Be Unique
Perhaps I should have mentioned this in the beginning of this article. Innovation is the key to success. If you have new ideas that your competitor’s don’t then you have better chance of succeeding. There is always going to be other companies that are selling similar services that you are, so you need to find a way to stand out and grab people’s attention. If you provide mediocre content and don’t really offer fresh and new reasons for them to be interested in your company, they will most likely turn to your competitors. Research your competitors and see what they are missing. By marketing differently than other companies within your industry, you will be attracting new customers and also increasing your brand at the same time.
9. Respond to Negative Feedback
Usually it happens and we overlook criticism. However if you are getting a negative feedback then don’t let it go. You have to convince your customers that your product is right and it does solve the problem. If you run into some reviews that are about you or your company, make sure to defend yourself. With a lot of review sites like Yelp.com, you can make sure that no misinformation or bad situations hinder the future success of your business. If you don’t respond to them, it looks as if you either don’t care about your customers’ opinions or what they are saying is true. Review sites are a large part of the consumer process in finding the right companies to do business with, so don’t let a few bad reviews push away a large amount of potential sales.However if the criticism is uncalled for or below the belt then you can let it go.
There is a countless amount of other branding tips, but hopefully these will get you started. Branding will always be a large aspect of any business, so make sure to spend some time and figure out exactly how to make your dreams come true.
This article is contributed by Pritam Nagrale who loves to write on make money ideas & business related topics on his blog MoneyConnexion.com. Most of the posts on his blog comes through his experience only.
These are great tips! I maybe quitting my full time job in August so I’m looking for all the help I can get. I pinned this post to keep a heads up, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the tips. I agree about having a clear direction and creating a good first impression, but I’m not sure there is value in being on all social media channels. I think picking those that suit your brand and are most useful is key.
very informative post and great tips, thanks for sharing this with us
http://www.mssparkleandglow.com
very informative and all good points. Your audience must know what you can do for them
Super helpful thank you so much!
xoxo, Sam | thehauntedhousewife.com
Nice tips. I especially like your starting point, direction. You have to understand why you’re doing things in the first place. Looking at your competitors and providing unique content is a must in a crowded marketplace.
Good tips! I agree that you must let your brand evolve, if not you may become stagnant and that is extremely costly.
Ah, love this. I think the most important part on this is to be unique 🙂
Great tips. I especially like the mention of letting your brand evolve. I think that’s important whether something isn’t working, or it is!
Love this! Your posts are always jam packed with great information.
These are great tips and I like the last one, respond to negative feedback. A few of these I will take to heart, thanks for sharing!
Great tips. Letting my brand evolve is the one I’m having trouble with. Right now I’m focused on fashion but I wanna expand the blog to include travel and lifestyle
Great tips and definitely ones to keep in mind if you’re trying to progress your brand – networking can be huge if you do it right! 🙂
Good tips. Branding is so important for every kind of business these days.
These are amazing tips! I definitely had to do a lot of research on branding when I launched my jewelry boutique, but the time spent is well worth it!
xo, alice / T Y P E N U
Being unique is so important! I’ve seen a lot of bloggers/groups lately start that have identical branding/nearly identical names to some of the big bloggers and I don’t even join or check them out. I love seeing the personality behind brands, not cookie cutter success attempts.
Such an informative and great post! Branding is definitely one of the most important aspects of owning and running any type of business these days, blogging included 🙂
Good info. Thank you for sharing. I have tried some of the things on your list but there were others I had not but I will.
This is so content rich I am going to PIN to reread for later. Thank you for such great information!
Great tips and so much good information in this post! I think branding is a bit difficult at first, but it is definitely necessary!
Shannon
Clothes & Quotes
These are such important tips to keep in mind when you’re branding yourself. I’ve struggled a bit at figuring out how to brand myself. I’m definitely getting better, but it’s a process, for sure!
These are such great tips! Self-branding/promoting can be so hard! Thank you for this! I’m pinning this!
Great tips! I love that you said to let your brand evolve. You might not be the same as you were when you started, and it’s so important to let everything evolve and grow.
Brian I agree with them all except point 4; Use as Many Social Networking Sites as Possible. I think theres alot more power in focusing on 1 or maybe 2 social networks. Mastering them & conquering them! As opposed to spreading ones self too thin. The other 8 points are ‘on point’ man nice job.
These are great tips! As a small business owner, I’ve had to work hard to ensure that our brand continues to grow with most of these tips!
Thanks, Im glad you found it useful. You might also want to checkout my post on why social media is important for small business http://brianmanon.com/social-media-important-small-business/
Thanks for these tips. I’m in the middle of a re-brand right now, so I appreciate the guidance.
Thanks! I needed this!
Awesome tips!! I’m pretty much on all of the social media sites, my only thing is that it’s hard to keep up with all of them.
Great tips Brian! It is very important to respond to negative feedback in a positive way as to encourage your readers to trust and respect.
Great article! It’s indeed important to leverage the power of negative feedback. Thank you for sharing this list with us!
These are very good tips! I’m going to print it out and follow it as much as I can!
Thanks for all the tips! Some of these are things I’m already working on and some are things I hadn’t considered, but all of them are things I want and need to keep in mind moving forward.
Definitely agree with being up on all of the social media sites!
Such valuable information, and great tips! I’ll definitely have to pin this ASAP.
Brian, you write such excellent articles, always informative and packed full of practical, useful information. Thanks so much.
Networking within your industry is so important. And often overlooked.
Super helpful post!
Hey Brian. Branding is such a critical factor in our online success. Awesome 9 points and in particular I really appreciated the “be unique” and “First Impressions” aspects you so cleverly introduced.
Both of these key branding issues can make or break you so its critical to get them right.
One this I’ve found helpful as part of differentiating myself from other bloggers and marketers concerns first time blog readers. Everytime I get a new reader to my blog who also then takes the time to leave me a valuable comment, I create a quick 45-60 second “thank you” video, post it as an unliusted video to YouTube and then send out the video link to that commentator using the email address they used to leave their comment.
Re “first impressions” – initially my blog was not very welcoming and had way too many banners and popups etc. I have tried to make my place far more welcoming and have added a special menu item called “Start Here” that talks all about the reader and not about me.- this is really starting to work for me.
Many thanks for sharing your experise and experience Brian – much appreciated
Best wishes from the remote Thai village blogger
Peter
I’ll definitely be utilizing these tips, thanks for sharing your ideas. I think #9 is one people often overlook, instead letting their egos get in the way of improvement.
These are all fantastic tips! #2 is the one that sticks out most to me because sometimes I have so many things going on to forget what my main goal is.
Great article, Brian. I like #4 the most. You need the community and the personal interaction.
Great tips Brian, Branding is such an important thing that all entrepreneurs need to take into consideration!
Such great tips! My brand is incredibly important to me so I make sure that everything I do, all of my platforms, branding and logos are the same and that I focus on what makes me unique.
La Belle Sirene
You couldn’t have emphasized the need to be unique any better! Being unique is super important if an entrepreneur wants to stand out from the other 10,000 entrepreneurs in the same industry.
Louisa
BLOG: LA PASSION VOUTEE
Couldn’t agree more! This is such a great list of highlights for rocking the industry.
I try to use as many social networking sites as possible, but also maintain quality. It’s a never-ending struggle…
Great points. I think the one that I agree to the most is ‘responding to negative feedback’
i use to speed a lot of time on social network, but it seen not very work for me, nice tips