Getting a brand design that totally complements your brand is a must if you want your products and or services to create an impact in the hearts and minds of your customers and prospects. We all agree that first impressions last and that most people make a big deal out of outward appearance or packaging. This is the reason why as a business entrepreneur, whether you are seasoned or just a beginner in business, you need to make it a point to have exactly the best fit when it comes to the design of your brand.

One of the myths in business is that the need of creating a brand design for products and or services can only be applied to giant business firms or organizations. Well, most experts believe this is a wrong notion. The fact is that whether you are aware of it or not, your business and the products and services you sell already has a form, a design that makes it unique from other brands. However, there may be just a little need to reconsider things like redesigning your brand, giving it a little retouch to make it more updated and can compete with the newer brands that are currently sprouting up in the market.

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A lot of things need to be considered in creating or recreating your brand design. Whether you make a new one or just redevelop a design that has been existing for a while, it has to be something that would tell people who you are as a business entity and what are your vision, mission, and goal. It must be a design that would help validate your existence as a distinguished firm and not a copycat. The moment you establish your brand, marketing your products and or services would not be that hard.

Creating an entirely new brand design or just redesigning an old one requires that you have a clearer perspective on where your business is heading to. There must be some directions you need to follow in order to arrive at whatever you want to carry out in the future. There must be some goals set before you and focus on accomplishing these goals.

Understanding who your are as a company or organization is also crucial to establishing your brand. Recognizing all your potential qualities and working towards giving the best that you can offer to the people is a choice that you have to make and need to work out. Acting contrary to the real you would not help because it could be a struggle of a lifetime to be something or someone you are not. So focus on developing your unique characters because that would make you stand out from among the rest.

Finally, make a conscious effort to get to know who your prospective clients are. Doing this would spare you from wasting time, effort, and money talking to non-potential clients. Make a research on the latest trends that surely catch the attention of your intended audience. Then work at finalizing your brand design.

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A brand is created using a variety of different marketing messages, images and touch points to create an emotional connection and an impression in the minds of your customers. When companies have successfully connected with their customers and live and breathe every moment in support of that connection, is when a brand is created. – an emotional element connected to your company, its people, its process and all of its points in between that support that emotional connection. Here are 7 steps to creating a powerful brand.

Step 1: Assess your surroundings, market and audience

If branding is about making an emotional connection with your customers, the first step in branding begins with understanding your market and your customers.

Step 2: Create a compelling and unique brand promise

Once you understand your market and your buyer, the next step is to make a compelling promise to those customers. This will be the basis of your company and the point from which everything else will be created.

Step 3: Develop your outward identity

This is how the outside world will see the company. It is the image you create, the logo you design, the colors, fonts, messages and everything else in terms of your external image. This is called your brand identity.

Step 4: Develop a customer experience touch map

The next step is to identify every area within your business where your customer has an opportunity to experience your company and determine if that touchpoint supports your brand. There are three types of touchpoints; Product touch points which are the experience your actual product creates, System touch points which are the systems you use, both manual and automated such as your website, your catalogues, your invoices, your thank you page, your shipping/returns etc…… And your human touchpoints – you customer experience, your staff, your service partner ect..

Step 5: Train your internal team to deliver the promise

As leaders you must make sure that your team is delivering on your promise. You relationship with your customer is based upon trust and you achieve trust but delivering on your promises. So it is very important that you develop an internal system that your staff can execute.

Step 6: Translate your brand into creative communications

Now that you have identified your market and really understand what makes them tick enough to create a compelling promise to them that you and your team deliver on…. Including controls. Now it is time to develop a marketing strategy to get the word out about your products and services and create specific communications and messages that speak directly to your customers and attracts them to you like a magnet.

Step 7: Execute your brand strategy

The last step is pulling it all together and delivering on your brand every day… Once you get them in your doors and execute your touchpoint branding strategy delivering that WOW experience, you will convert them to loyal customers.

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By developing and defining a small business brand allows you to present the vital facts of your business. However most people that start a small business find it difficult to design a logo as it is easier said than done. If your business does not have a brand definition you will not be able to communicate clearly to the consumer what you are selling.

When creating a brand definition you need to define:

What your business stand for and the motivation behind your brand
Why is your brand different to other brands
What type of audience are you targeting

Now you are probably wondering how to do this. Here are some tips that may help you get started:

The first thing you need to do is a SWAT. Write down your thoughts and ideas. What are your aims and objectives? Outline all the basics and once you have done that then

If you are really clear about what you are doing then you need to start with the easiest section. Find a section of your brand definition that is easy to articulate. Start with something quick and easy as a starting point then

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Go to your website and have a really good look at your marketing strategies and see what they are really saying about your brand definition. What kind of a picture are you portraying to the consumers? It your marketing techniques appealing and is your strategies attracting traffic to your website. See where you could improve your marketing strategies.

Go back and read through the customer reviews and reiterate on what the consumers are saying about your brand and then try and improve your short comings and work on your strengths

If you have a link whereby customers can ask questions sift through all the questions as these questions could contribute to your brand definition and this will also give you an idea of what your targeted audience are looking for

It is also advisable to check what type of marketing strategies your competitors are using as this could help you to identify your brand more explicitly. Express to your targeted audience how different your brand is compared to your competitors

Now you look at your long term objectives where do you want to see yourself in ten years from now. Your brand definition should ideally be focused on the now as well as into the future and in which direction is your brand is heading five years from now. You need to create a lasting impression.

Once you have established the above approaches and you have established you weaknesses and strengths then start to work on your strengths and work out what you do, who you are, what makes your brand different and who are the targeted audience.

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Your resume is a powerful self-marketing tool. It’s your calling card — your first opportunity to impart a lasting impression of yourself.

Hiring managers will typically extend only 10-15 seconds to glance at your resume and make a judgment call as to whether or not to read the entire document.

With such fierce and daunting competition for quality jobs during these difficult economic times, a resume must immediately inspire and grasp the attention of the reader, positioning you above the competition. The secret is to define your unique brand in your resume.

 Your personal brand

Branding is best defined as a promise of value — a consolidation of the key strengths and benefits you bring to a prospective employer. It’s a combination of tangible and intangible characteristics that defines your unique image, one that differentiates you from other candidates. Your branding statement should sum up your value proposition, encapsulate your qualities, showcase what sets you apart from others and describe the added value you bring to the organization.

Your personal brand is comparable to a sales pitch and will make you positively stand out in your job search. Consider celebrities Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno. Their names communicate a clear message about who they are, what they represent and what makes them unique.

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 Starting at the top

Since the top part of the first page of a resume introduces the candidate, it should pack a powerful punch to quickly draw-in and seize the reader’s attention. It encompasses your branding “title” (e.g., registered nurse), and your profile. Your profile should contain promotional “ad-like” comments that immediately convey what you bring to the company. Some of the vital elements the job seeker should consider when crafting a branding statement are:

  The qualities or characteristics that differentiate you
  Your consistent track record of growth and accomplishment
  Your most noteworthy personal traits
  Your problem-solving attributes
  Your passion, energy and innovation

The branding message at the top of your resume should be woven into the fabric of the resume with the same consistent theme to avoid any ambiguity or contradiction. Every subsequent word and bullet point should support the branding boldly conveyed at the top.

The most effective way to prove your value to prospective employers is to provide three or four bulleted points under each employer in the “Experience” section. These should demonstrate what you have achieved, in terms of measurable results, if possible:

“Captured unprecedented market share in poorly performing territory, achieving 110 percent of quota”

“Developed innovative training manuals and programs to streamline employee orientation”

The payoff

A well-branded resume often means the difference between landing just another job and winning a dream job at the salary you deserve. Investing the time and effort to ensure your resume is personally branded will pay dividends. It’s your opportunity to be prequalified by hiring managers as a good fit for their organizations and gain a competitive advantage over other job candidates. A winning resume always stands out from the crowd.