These aspects all combine to create a brand, your brand. Your brand is your business.
It’s who you are, what you care about, what you’re selling, why your customers are buying. It’s everything.
So take your answers to those aspects from earlier in the chapter and combine them. Look at how they interact.
What Experience Does Your Business Offer?
Everything your business does translates into a feeling other people experience.
The people outside of your business, be it the mailman, a neighboring business, or your customers, will all feel a certain way after interacting with you.
You have some control over what that feeling is. Think actively about what you want your business to deliver and make sure everything about your business aligns.
What Feeling Do Your Clients Get From You?
When your business is built on a strong foundation with a specific mission and values, your actions translate into a feeling your clients get from you.
Those feelings will be exactly what you want them to be, as long as every action stems from your mission and values.
What Does Your Business Represent About You?
Your company’s mission, values, and overall company culture reflect something about you.
You’re responsible for your business and how it runs. If there’s a problem, the solution begins with you and how you run your business. A solid, strong business means you’ve done the right things. Understanding yourself and being able to adjust your actions will give you better leadership to run your business.
A solid, strong business means you’ve done the right things. Understanding yourself and being able to adjust your actions will give you better leadership to run your business.
Who Are Your Clients?
Your clients are your clan, your group, your family in a way. They’re the people to whom your business also belongs.
This also stems from knowing who you are and what your business represents. With a stronger identity, you will find an easier time drawing in customers.
It will be easier to figure out how to relate to them, and you’ll get more referrals.
When it comes to your brand, addressing all of these aspects will lead to coherency. The better every aspect of your business works together, the more likely your business is to succeed.
Easier said than done, of course. One method might work at the beginning and then stop working later.
Circumstances change, and even your customers and your identity shift with time.
To respond to this, part of your thoughts should always be on positive growth. This means changes and responding to challenges with enthusiasm and creativity.
Your brand is something you develop at the birth of your company. But it is also something you should constantly be examining.
The process of branding your products and your business is ongoing and all-encompassing.
Every time you look at whether the departments within your business are communicating effectively, you’re looking at your brand.
When you develop a new logo, thank a customer for feedback or train an employee on a new skill, your actions are communicating something about your brand.
Think about branding then as the way you lead and operate your business, and as the business itself.