There is no better time to be a small business owner than 2021. The pandemic has allowed so many people to pursue a life dictated by their own terms instead of large corporations. But building a brand is difficult and this article was written with the intent to clear up the confusing business world.
It is not easy to create a personal brand and there will always be questions and doubts. You may just have a business idea but with these steps you can work towards building a brand for yourself.
Your brand is who you are in the business world. It is your name and your logo. It distinguishes you from your competitors and it also is your style and traits.
Remember that your brand will make different impressions on different people. Consistency is the key to building a sustainable brand.
Step 1: Know Who Is Your Audience
The first step to creating a business is knowing who your audience or crowd is. A business is an exchange of a goods or service for money from their intended consumer. WIthout knowing your consumer, how could you appeal to them? This is especially true if your market is very competitive.
Do the legwork before you start your business and understand who your audience is. It will help make business decisions easier especially if your market is rapid-moving and highly competitive.
Be intentional and always seek to improve. Google and Reddit are great sources to learn about your competitors and audience. People are likely to open up on online forums about how they really feel.
Seeking real life advice from friends and family who could be potential consumers is also a great way to receive feedback. If you are selling a product or service, try out your competitor’s! You never know how good someone truly is until you experience it yourself.
Step 2: Know Who You Are
You cannot build a personal brand without knowing who you are. Staying true to your brand is especially important as your field becomes more competitive and there is an increase of look-alikes. Your brand cannot appeal to everyone so know who you are and appeal to yourself.
Find your focus and who you want to be in the business and everything else will come. Make your mission statement and let your audience know what is the intention of your business. Remember to state what makes you different and unique because business is a competitive field.
To create your personal branding you must envision the future you. Know what kind of effect consumers will get from hearing your name and emulate the words you want to be associated with your image. Your brand is extremely personable but you get to choose the personality.
Choose some adjectives that you want associated with your brand and use them as motivators for your company’s name, design and logo. Knowing your brand identity is crucial to creating a successful brand.
Step 3: Choose Your Name
Arguably one of the hardest choices in creating a personal brand is choosing your name. It is not the end all be all for your brand but it will be the most used way for people to refer to you. It is a big commitment and it is a choice that will translate to all other forms of your business (i.e., your website, logo, and trademark).
Choosing something unique will be the easiest way to stand out in the market but you may want to go broad for the name in the case that your business expands in the future and specialized lines will appear under the name.
There are many ways you can get a business name. If you want to go the extra mile, it might be a good idea to test multiple iteration’s popularity with a focus group.
Step 4: Choose your Style and Logo
Now that you have chosen your name, it is time to decide the style and logo of your brand. Choosing your look is not complicated but you want your colors to evoke a certain feeling for your brand. Doing some color study before starting your brand will be helpful in developing the right “look” for your brand.
An important and defining piece of a brand is their logo. It’s your company’s face and it can seem daunting to be creating it from scratch but there are many websites that can help you build your logo. Designhill is a great website that can help you create your logos in minutes.
The rates are more competitive than other websites and there is also a print shop attached to easily create physical logos like business cards.
Step 5: Start Your Business!
Congratulations on building your brand and launching your business, good luck!
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