Brand Me, Baby!

What is branding? The official definition:

1. To mark with or as if with a hot iron.
2. To mark to show ownership.
3. To provide with or publicize using a brand name.
4. To impress firmly; fix ineradicably: “Imagery of the war has branded itself into the national consciousness.”

How does this apply to your Web site or online business? By being aware of and working to brand your business, you are setting yourself apart from all the noise and competition out there going after your market.

I’ve been asked about my competition. To which I always respond “I don’t have any.” There may be perceived competitors but there are a rare few who have been doing this as long and as successfully.

Notice how I said “perceived” competitors. Your branding efforts depend on you doing all you can to ensure that your brand, your company name, your methodology when logically compared to others in your industry will not be perceived as competitors. Because your brand sets you apart and there is no comparison!

But there’s the rub… We live in a culture with the attention span of a gnat. Onliners don’t want to read, they don’t take the time to pay attention to details and unfortunately, they don’t have much of a desire for knowledge acquisition. So how do you tackle that?

Realize there is only so much you can do and that you can’t be everything to everyone — so brand yourself to cater to your target market. But brand you must!

Figure out what is unique about you, your company, your product or service and use that consistently in everything you do, in every marketing effort you make. You need to clearly be different than any other Web site or similar business — you want to stick out like a sore thumb and be remembered! That’s how you brand! Whether it be a slogan or a methodology that carries over to all actions and reactions that involve your business, sit down right now and determine what is going to represent your brand.

Being I am a one-woman-show, I am my brand and I do not hesitate to let my personality shine through. That in of itself sets me apart from most techies who lack in the personality department. Combined that with my particular set of skills and experience, there really is no other “me” out there to directly compete with me.

Some of the ways I brand myself is using the same handle on all forums and social media sites, my sign-off and the name of this site “At Your Service…” and by having the best and most responsive customer service out there (when that is a rare commodity on and off-line).

Once folks begin communicating with me, compared to most they’ve run into, I make an impression. I’ve made my “mark with or as if with a hot iron.” And, I deliberately reinforce that branding as our relationship grows and matures.

Check out this interesting report Trends in Branding, 2009. You might become inspired or at the very least learn a bit more about the importance of branding and how it can work for you!

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