Creating a personal brand isn’t just for attention seekers or wanna-be celebrities. Everyone has a personal brand, whether they take actions to shape it or not. Sure, choosing to nurture your “brand you” is risky, but the alternative is obscurity. Do you want to stand out or be ignored?
Many small business owners try to build a branding strategy around their logo or tagline because they believe these are all it takes to differentiate themselves from their competitors. While these things may be part of how you package yourself and your services, they are not, by themselves, differentiating factors.
“Branding” and “positioning” are two commonly used buzzwords in marketing. Let’s look more closely at the difference between these two terms. What Is Branding? Branding refers to what your customers think or feel when they hear a specific word. When you hear “Apple,” you have a specific impression of what that company stands for. It [...]
When it comes to branding, most companies talk the talk, but they miss the heart of what branding is – creating “a workable, believable, #1 position in the minds of your targets.” Sure, everyone strives to be “top of mind” to their target audience but their marketing materials are a jumbled mess of me-too’s and corporate jargon that means nothing to their audience. Why Johnny Can’t Brand – named after the 1955 bestseller on education reform, Why Johnny Can’t Read – points out the flawed thinking with most corporate “branding” initiatives and how to create a meaningful brand.
Branding is one of the most misunderstood and over-hyped marketing buzzwords out there. In A Clear Eye for Branding, Tom Asacker has written a concise guide to branding that clears up many outdated misconceptions. The book is written as a dialog between Asacker and an executive while on an airplane flight. The executive holds a number of outdated ideas and misconceptions about branding that are addressed throughout the conversation.
Small business branding is one of the most misunderstood terms in marketing. Many people believe that if they have a consistent look to their marketing materials or if they put their logo on everything they send out, they are building their brand. Unfortunately, those actions alone will not build you a brand.
