think about your business as a brand from the get-go. Branding shouldn’t be an afterthought. If you already have a business, though, it’s never too late to benefit from branding.
Promoting an existing business
People commonly launch successful businesses without branding even crossing their minds, especially freelancers and other sole proprietors or one-owner operations. Most of these same people eventually reach a plateau with their business, or they start to see that they’re losing business. For whatever reason, they realize that their business needs a boost and that they need to take a more active role in promoting it. They need a brand.
Creating a brand for an existing business is nearly the same as creating one for a new business. You’re essentially rebranding your business. You may keep the business name (so as not to confuse existing customers) or change the name to something that aligns more closely with your vision for the brand. But you perform the same first steps that you would for a new business: identify your niche, define your brand identity, and clarify your branding goals.
Introducing a new product or service
If you have an existing business and are introducing a new offering, you probably don’t want to rebrand your business to accommodate it. But you do need to think about how your new offering fits in:
Decide whether to introduce the new product or service under your existing brand or a brand of its own. If the new product or service strengthens your existing brand, introducing it under your existing brand name is probably best. If it’s likely to weaken your existing brand, creating a separate brand is probably best. See the earlier section “Grasping Brand Architecture Basics.”
Identify your market niche for introducing the new product. How is the new product or service different from and better than what’s already available? If you decided to introduce it under your existing brand, how will it support and extend your brand?
If you’re introducing the product or service as its own brand, be sure to position and define that brand. See Chapter 3 for details.
Furthering your career
You don’t have to start a business to benefit from branding. Just about anyone in the workforce who’s looking to advance their career can benefit from creating and managing their own personal brand. As I mentioned previously, your reputation is part of your personal brand. You just need to be more active and intentional about the content you’re putting in front of potential employers and clients. Here are a few ways you can start to strengthen your personal brand:
Create your own website or blog, and post regularly to it to demonstrate your knowledge, expertise, commitment, and generosity. See Chapter 7 for guidance on creating a website or blog. Unless you’re consciously building a career as a critic or political pundit, don’t post negative content or attack any person, group, or organization. Remain positive. As your parents probably advised, “If you can’t say something nice about a person, don’t say anything at all.”
Post a unique and engaging bio on your website or blog and all your social media profiles. See Chapter 8 for information about writing copy that promotes your brand.
Include your website or blog address in all your social media profiles.
Create a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn is the best social networking platform for professionals.
Join and participate in popular online discussion forums (including those on LinkedIn) that are relevant to your industry or areas of expertise.
Post regularly on your favorite social media platforms. Before posting anything on any social media platform, assume that a potential employer will read it. Ask yourself whether your post would impress that person or turn them off.
Solicit testimonials from people you’ve worked with or for to post on your website or blog and social media accounts.
Becoming an influencer or a celebrity
If you’re famous or influential (or want to be), building a strong personal brand is a key to your success. Your branding goal is to become popular — to have tens of thousands or even millions of followers on social media and to be in high demand due to your influence or celebrity status.
The key to building a personal brand to become famous is finding topics that resonate with large populations and that align with your own personality and goals, so that you can develop content that’s both genuine and engaging.
Fundraising for a not-for-profit organization
People give an organization money only when they believe it’s going to a worthy cause and trust the organization to use the money wisely toward that cause, so having a strong brand is essential.
When you’re building a brand for a not-for-profit organization, focus on three areas:
Storytelling: First and foremost, people need a compelling reason to donate to the organization. They need to believe that the organization will make the world a better place in a way that matters to them.
Credibility: The organization must demonstrate that it uses money wisely to fulfill its mission. If money or projects are mismanaged, people will be reluctant to donate.
Transparency: The organization must keep donors informed about where the money is going and about successful and unsuccessful projects. Transparency builds trust, and people won’t donate to an organization they don’t trust.
Raising capital for your business
Whether you’re trying to attract private investors or planning to take your company public, branding is an important
