What Is Your Branding Trying To Say?

I was out the other day and decided to stop into a new bakery that opened in my neighborhood.  I was particularly excited for the young owner.  I met her a couple of months ago at an event.  She was very enthusiastic about her business. So, when I went in to her shop I expected to see a lot of strong branding.

What I encountered was a drab offering.  Not only did she not have enough product( a few cupcakes and about a dozen cookies) but the furniture in the store looked like she had gotten it from someone's basement. There was no color on the walls, her logo was only on the window glass that faced to the street, and she had run out of business cards.  Her bakery cases had no decorations inside to entice me to buy. There was little that would make me want to return. There was no brand identity at all.  Or should I say her brand identity was not good.

A UCLA study proves that 85% of all decisions are made with our eyes. That's right: the visual you have has the most impact.  And particularly food needs to be appealing.  In a sense, you need to strongly brand your products or services.

I think there are three basic branding categories that business owners have to think about:

• Marketing materials -- brochures, business cards, website 
• Business decor -- wall colors, furniture, interior design
• The way employees look and present themselves -- uniforms, identifiers, customer service 

What do you want customers to think about you? What image of your company do you want to put out there? That is your brand -- good or bad.

If your brand is not professional and congruent, attractive and attracting you will be passed over - guaranteed. To be competitive, to have a greater influence on others, to attract more business and be more successful it's essential that you develop a well-thought-out  brand.

The Six Pitfalls of Starting a Business

So, you think you are an entrepreneur.

I have come across so many "entrepreneurs" who claim to be ready to start their business but when you tell them what it will require they balk at doing what is needed.

I tend to think of these people as over enthusiastic "hobbyists" and they end up spending a lot of money on useless tools with no return on their investment.  Of course, I realize that YOU are not one of them.  But let's look at some of the signs, shall we:

1. Have not determined what the product or service niche market is for their product or service. They are convinced that somebody will like what they are doing or selling, after all they do.  And there has been no evaluation of their competition.

2.  Didn't invest in a website because they don't understand how it works or just thinks it's a waste of time. OR...they get someone who doesn't know how to build websites to build theirs.

3.  They spend money on an office and letterhead, but won't think about using money to develop marketing materials or business processes.

4.  Won't network to get their name out there (which by the way is free).

5.  Won't spend time or won't ask how to use social media. This goes back to marketing, but I had to say it again since so many people get hung up on this.

6.  Won't seek out credible organizations that can provide information to help them get going.

So, if you are an entrepreneur, you have to develop a plan, follow the plan and evaluate the plan.  You also have to have resources that will help you along the way.  Get to know your business, product and service.  Then RESEARCH what others are doing and have done to get their business going.

WARNING: As an entrepreneur myself I can tell you, don't buy anything until you have researched the product or how it works.  I spent quite a few dollars on some things that were useless or did not provide what they said.

Here's a FREE resource. So click here for a free download of my Media Buying Guide.