Small Business | Small Business Branding

June 5, 2009 By Ed Roach

Do You Possess The Winner Brand?

A Winner Brand is an enviable place to be. It ignites a favorable reaction to all who come in contact with it you. The Winner Brand can be a company, a product a person, or a place. The Winner Brand is hinged on strong brand values and a compelling message. It has outstanding characteristics. The
Winner Brand is the product of a concerted effort to be the best it can be. For the sake of this article, I am addressing the personal Winner Brand.

What can you do to be a Winner Brand?

• Build your expert profile In order for your brand to shine
You have to be taken for the expert that you are. You have to boldly declare your expertise in your discipline. You’re going to have to go against your Mom’s advice and brag speaking engagements, feature writing, pod and video
casts. Find as many portals to get your professional opinion into the hearts and minds of your target audience.

• Be a conduit for the positive
Make it a personal goal to bring positive energy to all you meet. When you see a friend in a glum mood, find the positive and bring them out of their shadow. Point out that opportunity is everywhere if they are willing to recognize and embrace it. Make the statement – “Every cloud has a silver lining” your inspiration for engagement.

• Give of yourself
Volunteer to groups or organizations that you have a personal interest in. Mentor to young minds at the university level. Show that money isn’t your only motivation. Show that your meaning of success includes helping others. It is a way of giving back to your community, and exposing your Winner Brand to all you meet.

• Show your passion
People love to see that you are truly inspired by what you do. Passion is contagious. It is the foundation of strong relationships. Passion has a way of taking them along for the ride. Because you have passion, you have an absolute belief in yourself. That confidence feeds your expert profile builds a loyal following.

• Become a resource
Share your contacts with others. Over the years, you have come to know many great suppliers of goods and services. Sharing this knowledge will really help those you meet making their jobs easier.

• Give valuable referrals
Keep your eye out for opportunities for friends, colleagues, and customers. Giving referrals brightens your brand. As they say – “It is better to give than to receive.”

• Blog your way to greatness
I can’t think of a better way to build your expert profile than blogging. A number of the above initiatives can be achieved through blogging. It is a great way to showcase yourself. Leaving positive comments on other blogs and guest writing are all key elements in successful blogging. It does you NO GOOD to stay silent. Share your opinion profusely. Leaving comments lures readers back to you – guaranteed.

Being a Winner Brand is your best opportunity to draw business to you. It drives away those dark clouds and allows you to recognize and embrace opportunities.

File under: Branding, Featured

April 28, 2009 By Ed Roach

5 Reasons Why Branding Won’t Work.

They’re never going to buy you’re the expert.

Here’s the thing, you really are an expert in your field, but here’s the rub – YOU don’t believe it. If you don’t believe in yourself , don’t expect customers to believe in you either. You have plenty of sales-worthy knowledge and a waiting audience. Roll up your sleeves and jump in. Failing isn’t the problem, refusing to get back up is.

You’ve got a wild idea, but nobody’s going to buy it.

Isn’t it better to try your idea and fail KNOWING they don’t like it, rather than presuming to know they don’t like it and never really finding out?

The timing isn’t right.

That’s the same as giving me a dozen reasons why you CAN’T do something rather than reasons why you CAN.

Branding is expensive.

Ignoring your brand is the real money pit. Placing ad after ad saying nothing special or countering a competitor makes you a follower. The competitor is actually defining your brand and you’re throwing money at defending yourself rather than leading with a strong positioning strategy, which gives your customer a compelling reason to buy from you.

I tried re-branding: I got me a new logo and tag line and guess what? Nothing changed!

What did you expect to happen? Your brand is your REPUTATION not your logo. All you did was spend some cash putting a new face on an old problem. If somebody tells you that re-branding is changing your logo – RUN as fast as you can – they have no idea what branding is!

As much fun as this post was to write, the honest truth is that all of us have to pay very close attention to our brands, how we sell ourselves and be open to new opportunities. Stop blaming the economy, stop blaming yourself and stop blaming finances. If you try and win – great! If you fail – so what? Keep moving, keep learning. You can’t reach your goal by standing still and that I can guarantee you.

File under: Featured

April 20, 2009 By Ed Roach

Texas Brand’em – Your Ace In The Hole!

More and more in the popular media, the term branding is being introduced into the business psyche of the watching/listening audience. The understanding that your brand is NOT just your logo, is still the number one misunderstanding of businesses and organizations that I meet. When you understand that your brand is essentially your reputation, then you will understand that “re-branding” your business with a logo change is simply “putting lipstick on a pig.” Put another way: Let us say that you don’t like Pepsi. If I change the logo and slogan, are you going to like it now? No, of course, not. You have to fundamentally change the way Pepsi does things, and here it is changing the taste. Then they have a chance of getting you to switch. Your brand is no different.

Wouldn’t you love to understand how you could make your brand more powerful? If you could find a way to make your brand a leader, you’d be interested right? What if I told you that strategically positioning your brand with a compelling offer, REMOVES you from commodity hell – wouldn’t that intrigue you? The answers to all these questions are no-brainers.

The fact that you should draw comfort in, is that most – I’ll say that again – MOST businesses, communities, and people (brands) completely ignore their brands. This short-sightedness is your ace in the hole. Even if you were to tweak your brand a little bit, you’d be miles ahead of the other person.

I recently gave a lecture to a packed house (and more on the waiting list) to the Center for Business, Advancement, and Research in Windsor Ontario. It was a one half hour discussion on “Branding Yourself Online.” I was very well received. So much so, that a line following the event formed in front of me and took 1-1/2 hours to clear. But, the simple truth is, MOST of these well-meaning entrepreneurs will do absolutely nothing about their lack lustre, follow the leader brands.

Take place branding – how many communities in your area could use a boost in their economic development portfolios? How many would love to be considered first choice for convention business? (more no-brainer questions). BUT, most would rather ignore their brands and turn direct their priority to changing logos and tag lines. Instead of analysis of why their brands are attracting negative attention and fixing the problem, city fathers again and again opt for short-term, same old, same old strategies creating the perception of doing something. The fact will remain that when the audience reacts negatively to your community brand, it’s too late. The same holds true in business branding. In both cases, it becomes a commodity issue. You have to buy their business. You’ll have no staying power. Their business moves from price to price. No powerful relationship to retain them.

If you want to stand out and play a different game, you might want to get in on Texas Brand’em and leave 52 Pick-up to the amateurs.

Here’s your winning hand, in a game of Texas Brand’em:

CARD ONE: Establish you brand values and personality, as the foundation of your brand.
CARD TWO: Establish your brand message. What is it you do that your customers value the most.
CARD THREE: Have a positioning strategy that compels your audience. Establishes you as a leader not a follower.
CARD FOUR: Make sure that your brand image is consistent with your values and personality and is consistent across all materials.
CARD FIVE: Live the brand, it has to be authentic. Build relationships with integrity.

Business is a high stakes game. Picking up the hand above ends the temptation to bluff your opponent. They’ll have no option other than folding.

File under: Featured

February 24, 2009 By Ed Roach

How To Develop A Mini eMail Trade Show!

No matter where you look on the web, the key to making any money online is wrapped up in the list. Without one, you’ve got a major hurdle to clear. The following concept, may be your answer to fast-tracking exposure!

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At some point in time, you have probably visited a trade show within your industry. You saw legions of companies within your industry, selling goods from booths and visitors looking to buy or develop leads for themselves. Using this model, why not create your own mini trade show with friends or colleagues who compliment each other’s businesses?

By combining the lists from say five to ten companies, who share the same target audience, put together a promotion to present a series of services to this body of contacts and feed off of each other. Here is how you could approach it:

1: Gather together businesses who have a growing list of emails from contacts that the group as a whole might benefit from. For instance: Accountants, lawyers, business consultants and financial people would all share the same target audience – small business. Put together a joint list. Make it a rule that your list is not for sale, but only to be used within the confines of the trade show arena. The joint list only mails from one location. Once the show is over, all parties return to their own lists.

2: Put together some teazer emails, and start to push them at this joint audience, to prime the pump. Let them know the time span the “Trade Show” will occupy. Also give them the opportunity to opt-out of the mailing if they so wish.

3: The day of the “Trade Show” launch send out the first of many consecutive mailings. Encourage each of the participants to offer something of value to contacts. An example would be to offer something, that could be used to harvest new emails for your own growing list.

4: Once the span of the “Trade Show” has expired, follow up leads, and send out thank you emails with announcements on the date to expect the next one.

5: Send out a web survey to gage awareness of the show and see what needs tweeking.

How ever you do this, be sure to take your best shot as it could expose your product or service to a large audience. In the lead up, your list could be told of your valuable contacts, and your desire to provide meaningful assistance to them from a variety of positions. Benefit from a larger list without the grueling years of building one. It is a great way to boost your brand by helping others to succeed. The true spirit of networking.

File under: Featured

December 28, 2008 By Ed Roach

How To Snatch The Golden COIN!

COIN – Circle Of Influence Networking.

On a regular basis, I am on the look out for new opportunities for companies and individuals within my circle of influence. Whether they are located within my immediate market, across the continent or around the world, I am keeping their best interests in mind. As you might imagine, I speak with CEO’s from many different types of companies all the time. If for instance, I speak with a manufacturer, I immediately curious as to who supplies their pallets or wood packaging? I have a client contact who does that. What about corrugated packaging? Looking to tie the knot, perhaps it would benefit you to speak with Atlanta’s ONLY Intimate Bridal Salon? No matter what the situation, I love the idea of my clients doing business together.

I subscribe to a service that looks for news sources. Whenever I spot a topic that a reporter is looking to research and one of my clients would fit the bill, then I pass it on. I consider these efforts part of my overall marketing strategy. One thing that it helps to spur is additional business. It keeps me on their radar. We are referring each other. Much of my new business is from referral. I see it as a two-way street.

Don’t forget that branding is all about the relationship. Take a look at your typical week. I’ll bet that you too trip over situations where your customers could benefit. Take for instance a retailer – if you’re smart and you’re building a customer database, find out what they do. Imagine if you were able to link them up with an opportunity? How golden would you be to them?

If you send out a monthly html newsletter to your list, feature a customer. It’s the little things that make a huge impact. When you’re in their company, pay close attention to what they’re saying about their daily lives. An irritant might possibly be addressed by someone within your circle of influence. What you will definitely find happening as a result of this, is that your customers will start looking out for you.

None of us are any different – we are all looking for new business. Ask your customers what they’re looking for?

Make COIN pay off for you!

File under: Featured