Having a strong brand is important. It doesn’t matter if you are an author working from home or a huge marketing consultancy with hundreds of staff. How you present yourself to your customers, clients, and staff, as well as online is always important.

Brand Guidelines

You’ll probably find that when you started your business you already had an idea of how you were going to conduct yourself and show off your company.

You should take these ideas and write them down. These are your brand guidelines. They could be as simple as using your logo on all correspondence or you could go into more detail with the fonts you use, the way you speak and the clothes you and your staff wear.

Ask Your Customers

If you are unsure as to what you brand is, or should be, then ask your customers as they’ll be able to give you a less-biased opinion than your friends and family. Market research like this gives you a good idea of where you stand in the market, how your customers perceive you and if your actions are portraying the right image.

Instantly Recognisable

The great thing about building a brand is that you can create something that is instantly recognisable, even when your brand name isn’t visible. For example, if people know your logo well, they’re likely to think of you when an envelope arrives on their desk in those colours.

Expectations

Your branding can also tell customers what to expect. Elegant, swirling fonts and colours such as gold and deep red just scream opulence. You must live up to these expectations though, if your branding doesn’t match what you sell or the service you offer then you’ll either end up disappointing your customers or attracting the wrong ones.

Cut Through The Noise

If you do something controversial, different or exciting with your brand then you are likely to get noticed. This might be an amazing advertising campaign, an unlikely mascot (meerkats, anyone?) or a very honest approach to the business and customers.

This is how people will remember you and there’s always the likelihood that something you do might go viral and sky rocket the brand to fame.

Brand Advocates

If you can get a high profile figure on board with your brand then people are going to start to take note. It’s no good asking a footballer to be the face of your new chocolate bar as the two don’t really fit together. However, a celeb chef known for her love of chocolate would work brilliantly.

Stick To It

Once you have some your branding sorted, stick to it. People will come to recognise the brand and that’s only useful if you continue to use it. This might be on promotional material, uniforms, stationary, or on your website.

There might come a time when you want to rebrand but this should be done carefully and only when your current brand is so out-of-date that it no longer represents you and your company.

Take a look at this article on Richard Schaeffer Liquid Holdings to give you an idea of how to brand yourself as an individual.