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Brand Strategy
Could Your Brand Stand a Personality Upgrade?
John Jantsch | March 12th, 2009 - 11:28 AM
(12) Found this useful. Do you?
Yes, if you have a small business, even a one-person shop, you have a brand. Many small business owners don’t think this way, but when you grasp what a brand really is, I think it may become a clearer.
A brand is little more than the collective perception and association of your business in the minds of your market. So, even if only half a dozen people know your business exists, their thoughts about your business make up your brand.
I like to define small business branding as the act of intentionally becoming more knowable, likable and trustable – in a way, much more aligned with how we might think about a personality.
Let’s face it there are certain traits that make one person a more attractive total package than another – so, I’m wondering, could your business stand a brand (personality) upgrade?
Well, let’s start with who you’re being
Hey, I know you’ve got the best, most synergistic, solution-driven, quality-minded team on the planet, but cut the crap and let us see the real you. In your marketing messages we need to really understand what you have that’s authentic and unique. Consider sharing your personal story of why you started this business and the big vision that drives you to do more than most.
And what about those friends of yours?
It’s tough to create a brand we can trust when you try to be all things to all people. Few things are more brand attractive than a total focus on a narrowly defined ideal customer. Show me through words and actions that you are talking to me and only me and that you get what I have to deal with. Put that on your website and don’t be afraid to dis folks that don’t appreciate the value you can bring.
That wardrobe, it’s so last decade
If I need professional then every detail needs to say, no scream, that. Logo, colors, font, design, office, clothes, response, web site. Do your shoes match your belt? Same is true if I need casual – no detail is too small to overlook when you consider the way it can detract from the connection I have with your brand.
Last thing, let’s back off on that cologne
Can I smell and hear you from across the room? Lead generation is not about seeking out, it’s about being found. Build a foundation of education based, subtle expertise and place where I like to hang out and I’ll sell myself on your brand.
You know when you think about your brand like this, it get a little personal doesn’t it, but that’s the point – brand building for the small business is an intentionally personal strategy.
Want to discuss this very topic with me?
Join me March 18th at 9am PDT for panel discussion – The “Truth” About Small Business Branding – using your small business brand to outsmart the competition – a panel discussion featuring practical branding tips and tactics from leading small business branding experts.
Panelists:
Karen Post – The Branding Diva & Author of Brain Tattoos
John Moore – Creator of Brand Autopsy & Author of Tribal Knowledge
Sam Horn – Author of Pop! – Stand out in any crowd
Aaron Weiss – Chief Product Officer for MarketSplash
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It is pretty scary to brand yourself. It is much easy to leave your customers do it. But I think the scariest part is leaving your non-customers do it!
Your right John, you need to take hold of it and brand yourself with everything you got before someone else does.
John…I was taught that loyalty from customers who support a brand is the result of fidelity created from consistently successful communications and interactions. I agree that a business personality check-up on a regular basis is vital to success.
[...] was just reading an article written by John Jantsch that he posted on Could Your Brand Stand a Personality Upgrade? on the HP Small Business Marketing Guide. He discussed Small Business branding and encouraged you [...]
Great post. Many businesses have logos that SCREAM “we were founded in 1980″ and haven’t changed a bit since then. Recently I revamped a website that looked like it had been written by the owners 10-year old kid. It was a tech company, and (I kid you not!) it had paw prints and blinky text all over it. Even if your website isn’t your primary lead vehicle, it’s a credibility piece, and it needs to be convincing that you’re in a professional business that’s here to stay.
I believe that one of the best, most affordable methods for a business owner to build their brand is network effectively. By effectively, I mean going deep into the chosen networking venue, rather than wide.
Most business owners make many contacts, without alot of real connections. Connections take place by becoming well-known in a couple of specific network venues, rather than the “I think I may have met you before” kind of networker.
Good post John.
@Adrianne – even better, remember that “last updated” June 2001 text that was common on websites. That’s one of the reasons I think blogs are such great small business web site tools – easy to create fresh content.
@Joe – such a good way to view it – it is easier for some to let customers create the brand, but it’s far more effective to put it out there intentionally and then let them curate the brand.
[...] my life as an entrepreneur, I asked myself this question all of the time. However, a recent post from John Jantsch articulates much of what I have come to realize over the past few years and inspired me to share my [...]
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[...] April 15, 2009 in Change | Tags: Duct Tape Marketing, John Jantsch, Knowable, Likable, personality, small business, Small Business Marketing Guide, Trustable John Jantsch wrote a great post on how you as a small business need to look at your personality. [...]