"Mirror, Mirror on the wall... Who's The Fairest One Of
All?" The wicked witch uses this line to ask her magic
mirror about her beauty, and time and time again, the
mirror always says, "Why, you are, of course!" Then, one
day, the mirror answers "There is one fairer than you—and
her skin is white as snow." This simple truth sends the
witch on a rampage. She disguises herself, poisons poor
Snow White, and puts her into a magical coma.
This tale of jealousy and deception cautions children
everywhere that nothing good can come of vanity. But if you
ask the average small business owner what differentiates
their business from the competition, one of the first
answers you'll hear is "Why, I do. I'm the best at this in
the land!"—or some variation on that refrain.
Vanity is not the "fairest one of all."
Vanity, even when backed by your business acumen or
experience, is never pretty. And it's not universally
attractive to customers—unless they've worked with you in
the past or know you socially. The fact that it's you
running your business probably won't mean much to the
average new customer.
Customers and prospects are more concerned about their
needs, their businesses, and their situations than they are
about how good you are. What they want to know is how
you're going to help them. And if you're a one-person
business, they're likely to be more concerned about the
fact that you're the only one there rather than being
thrilled about your experience.
And this is where a brand steps in.
Your business brand's job is to take your one-person
business and make it seem established and stable—rather
than fly-by-night and risky to work with.
A brand should also make your business seem more
"businesslike"— and that means credible, dependable, and
customer-focused. A business brand can help you position
your business as helpful, concerned about clients, and
capable of delivering.
Finally, a brand allows you to speak about and present your
business as a separate entity—instead of constantly talking
about your, you can talk about your business. In other
words, a brand helps to take the spotlight off the
entrepreneur and give the business a personality of its
own. This allows you to do a bit more "crowing" about your
business, without seeming as if you are bragging about
yourself.
Keys to separating your business brand from you.
1. Think about how big you want your business to eventually
be. If you're planning to stay a one-person business, then
your business's brand can probably be closer to your own
personality than if you're planning to grow your business
and eventually hire employees. If you are planning to hire
people, make sure that your employees will be able to
demonstrate the brand characteristics you choose.
2. Look at other businesses in your industry and how they
present their brands. This can help point you in the right
direction for your brand and also help you make sure your
brand will stand out. Look at the things they talk about
and how they talk about their businesses.
See which business's materials and brands you're most drawn
to and the lessons or suggestions you can pull from their
materials and repurpose for your own. Just don't copy them
exactly, or your brand won't be unique. Look at the
pictures they use and the words they describe their
businesses with—both elements contribute to your brand.
3. Figure out which of your personality traits are most
valuable to your business. The best way to do this is to
think about your target audience and the reassurance it
needs to go from being interested in doing business with
you to making the committment.
Some of these traits are likely to be those expected of any
business worth working with—fair pricing, good service, and
the list goes on and on. So you also need to think about
the factors that differentiate you from your competition.
You also want to focus on factors that make you appealing
to the people you want to hire you.
This is a pretty tall order, but try out your brand on your
target audience and see what resonates with them before
"carving it into stone"—which, in the case of your brand,
means before you print any marketing materials. Test your
ideas out with temporary materials or by incorporating them
into an elevator pitch at your next networking event. At
the very least, call up some of your best clients and run
your ideas by them.
4. Consider creating a logo as the face of your business.
If you use a photo of yourself as the primary graphic for
your business, it suggests you're always going to take
personal care of all client accounts—which isn't a message
you should send if you're planning to grow your business or
hire subcontractors or assistants. Using a photo also
brings in the vanity aspect again. "Look at me, I'm here to
do business with you." may not be the best message to send.
If you keep these 4 steps in mind and create a brand that
leaves you and your vanity out of the picture, your
business won't come across as a wicked witch. Instead,
you'll create a brand that will make your business "the
fairest one of all" to your best clients and help you live
happily ever after.
----------------------------------------------------
Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big
visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf
design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand
out in front of their competition and attract more clients.
Her "Define Your Difference Branding Workbook" will help
you with your brand definition - the most important step in
the logo design process.
http://www.elf-design.com/products-define.html
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