In my view, branding is one is the most misunderstood and least valued weapons an entrepreneur has on the road to success.
To be blunt, I think one if the biggest differences between really successful entrepreneurs and small business thinkers is their commitment to having a powerful brand. If customers love your brand and your teams deliver on your brand promise, they don’t need to love you… and when customers love your business more than they love you… you’ve really nailed it!
Key number 6. Build a brand that stands for something
Your brand is not just a logo and a bunch of colours – despite what many graphic designers will tell you. It’s not what goes on your business card. It’s everything your company stands for. It’s driven by the difference your business is making in the world and by your company vision. It influences how you stand out from your competitors, how your staff behave, how you approach your marketing and every other business strategy.
The best companies in the world have strong brands. Great CEOs understand what a brand is all about. As the CEO of your own business I encourage you to study branding… look at successful companies you admire, see if you can work out their strategy by studying their brand.
If you are going to invest in anything right now, I’d say invest in your brand. Talk to a good brand strategist and ask them to assess your brand. And if they tell you that you need to do some work on it…. be willing to spend the money. Look at it as an investment in your future, not as an expense.
Exercise: study branding
If you really do want to build a valuable business and be a wealthy entrepreneur rather than an owner operator, then you need to understand the power of your brand. If you do already, great. If not, it’s time to educate yourself. Look at brands you love and see if you can work out their business strategy from their brand. Compare your brand to a brand you believe to be really valuable. How does it stack up? Google articles on branding, see if you can really understand why a whole industry exists just to help people with their branding. Why is it so important? Here are a couple of articles I found on the subject as a starter for 10:
http://www.slideshare.net/liquidbranding/branding-booklet-slideshow
http://www.slideshare.net/coolstuff/the-brand-gap
As always, feel free to email me with questions, ideas, thoughts for discussion at laura@liber8u.com
Happy growing!
PS. Early bird pricing for 2016 Acceler8or Programme ends soon. This is a 12 month journey to accelerated growth you’ll never forget, please email me at laura@liber8u.com for more information. If you are serious about growth or creating financial freedom from your business sooner rather than later, you will want to be involved. Only 5 places left.