A major factor for new businesses especially, but is important for all businesses is, Branding.  People are serious about their brand, yet, sadly many do not have enough knowledge to get it right.  Entrepreneurs often think that marketing goes hand in hand with it, however, the brand is most important, and marketing is a subdivision.  Building their brand is one of the most important parts of every business.  It encompasses your company’s identity and sets the image.  It contains marketing, advertising, and more. 

When you are creating a brand for your business you are telling your company’s story, through colors, graphics, content, and yes, your logo. 

When you are designing your brand you must keep the basics in mind:

1. Colors – what do you want your brand to represent?  Color plays an important role in this.  Some people believe emotions are invoked by color.  Whether you believe this or not, they still play an important role.  People expect certain colors for certain types of businesses.  Never limit your brand to two colors.  Black and white are a given, you should never exceed five in total, three beyond black and white.
2. Logos – should be the HEART and SOUL of your brand.  It can never be as simple as wording done in an artistic way.  You want to stand out.  The picture you use should, in time, be something people recognize when they think of your brand.  Apple’s® use of an apple is a good example.  My logo, for instance, is pretty simple, it contains words and my picture, but also tells you a little about what I do, and perhaps if you are inquisitive, you will click on it to see more.  A logo helps to tell part of the story – not all, but it is all part of the brand.
3. Tag Lines – can be tricky and at times change. Mine, for instance, just changed. I did not think my story was represented correctly with my old tag line: ‘Virtual Services With Purpose’. It did infer my passion to help disabled professionals in the word ‘Purpose’ because it is part of our purpose, however, many did not understand or worse, did not seem to associate themselves with it. Remember, all branding (and yes marketing) is for the potential client, not for ourselves. So, my new tag line: ‘Uniquely Personal Virtual Services’, hopefully, says that I provide personal service. In doing this, I am appealing more to the consumer/client, rather than revealing our story. Once I have gotten their attention and they look further at the brand, they will also find that I have a passion for disabled professionals.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in branding your business.  We will continue our series with more to come.  We would love to hear your thoughts and comments about the subject.   Share your taglines, logos, and tell us why you chose what you did.

I want to say a special thank you to my friend and colleague, Dennis Thorgesen, of Lisech eMarketing Services, for his editing, as well as, important input for our Branding Series.  Dennis has been Branding companies for over 30 years.  He does not consider himself an expert in the field. As Search engine optimization (SEO) is part of branding, he says “SEO sometimes changes faster than I can change my shirt, there can be no expert, only professionals.” I truly appreciate his expertise and help with this project.