Get out of the Crowded Room

Content building is very important when it comes to “standing out” of the crowd! Every brand has a voice and it’s your job to find what’s unique about your brand or small business through words. I’m a firm believer that every company, brand or even nonprofit should have a blog on its website. It helps your customers and audience members get to know you and your service. It also helps when it comes to Google searches. EBooks are very popular as well. Put your skill or service on paper and give it to your audience for free or for sale. Newsletters are also another way for your customers and audience members to stay engaged. Don’t think that everything has to be perfect. Being unique with your content is what’s going to create your brand’s voice. If you want to sound personal, do so; if you want to sound on the level of one with a master’s degree or higher, check your spelling and do so! This is your business and no one knows your customers and audience members more than you. So, think about what they want to see and create it!

o Design Development

A brand strategy is a business strategy. Your brand’s visual presence is the first thing people see due to social media, industry competitions and digital marketing. Pay close attention when building the design of your brand. Put meaning behind your logo! My first business name had a red line underneath it because it was spelled wrong. A graphic designer did not give me that idea; Microsoft Word did when I decided to spell Ingenious as “inGENEus” throughout the first three years of my business. Now my company’s name is iGN which stands for Ingenious. My brand is a representation of me and my work, so make sure yours does the same.

o Brand Touchpoints

Pay very close attention to the touch points of your brand/business: social media accounts, front desk representatives, customer service, email signatures, email communications...shall I continue? Yes! Take every chance of someone seeing your brand seriously. Do you want an 800 number or do you want a local number for your customers to call? Do you want a PO Box? Do you want to display office hours? Tons of people work from home, so having a PO Box and office hours are not a bad thing (in my opinion). In my case I gave my clients a different set of office hours than what I advertise to the public and that works for me.

o Don’t Rush the Foundation

Your house is built on cement which is laid on something steady. Although the ground (your idea) is steady and makes sense, that doesn't mean you can start building the house (creating the plan) right after you lay the cement. First, you must wait for the cement to dry so the house can be built as strong as possible. If there is a mistake or different direction in which you want to go while living in your house, you can always add on or tear down because the foundation and cement is steady. It’s not going anywhere. It's firm and you trust it because you stand on it every day.

Your customers and audience members need to think the same way about your brand and business. It’s okay if you want to build multiple businesses, big or small. However, your consumers have to trust that whatever direction you go is the right direction. You build that trust in the beginning stages of your brand development. Take the customers and audience members on the journey with you. Post evidence of you building your office space or your growth from one state to the next on social media. Audience members love to be a part of something they invest in. Don’t fake the funk! Tell it like it is! You never know the possibilities and you may inspire someone as well. That’s the point of it all, right?