You might think you’re saving money… but you aren’t! It’s so easy when you start your business, to want to do it on as little cash as possible. It’s only human nature! However, consider this, if you try and start a business on $1000 that should, if done properly or close to should cost three times that, I’m willing to wager, your business won’t last. Sorry, it’s the truth. Watching business after business open their doors with signage created by ‘their buddy‘, business cards that were $10 for 500, and an email address that is yoursupercoolbusiness at hotmail.com. Really? Hotmail?
Biggest Branding Faux Pas: A quick story about my pet peeve, the Email Address! Let’s say there is this Real Estate Agent in my town (and there is), her name is, lets say Sue (not her name). I don’t know Sue, but I’ve been known to see an advertisement here or there. She could possibly be the greatest Real Estate Agent on the planet, but if you think I’m going to give the responsibility of selling my $300 000 home to someone who’s email is… kittenlover(at)gmail.com (not a real address, but it IS something along these lines). That goes for any professional service, company, product or any business for that matter! Should I assign my life savings to be put into investments and stocks by… jimsmith44(at)yahoo.ca? Do you know how much it would cost to have an email address like… Info at yourname.com? Under $50… and probably $4 a month. If you don’t take YOUR business serious enough to make this sort of investment, how can you expect me to take you seriously enough to make you responsible for my most valuable possession? My life savings? Insurance? My pets? etc.
OK Rant Over… So, now what? A List of a Brand ‘Musts’ before you get started!
- A Name – Sounds silly but somethings you must consider: is it easy to spell? is it catchy? does it tell customers at least a little of what you do? and could you sell it? Many people like to fuel their egos by naming their business after themselves, but remember, the name is the keystone to the brand. If name your business, Rick’s Auto Repair, you limit the potential future of your buyers of your business(when you want to retire to the beaches of your favorite warm climate) to mechanics named Rick.
- Logo & Business Cards – Couple rules: a) New Times Roman Italic is not a logo. Anything that someone can replicate exactly with little trouble is never a good idea AND makes it infinitely more difficult to trademark should the need arise. Also, without professional image files, future use of your logo for branding images, putting on billboards, print materials, etc is very limited! b) the quality of your business cards should reflect the quality of your service or product. Cheap cards go in the trash… not good for business. You can get some great cards for 15-20 cents each, a small cost to not get thrown out!
- Website – With the quality of open source solutions like WordPress, Joomla and Magento, you can get a great product at a very reasonable cost. I know you are going to be tempted to turn this into a do-it-yourself project, but DON’T. Trust me, for the cost, its worth it to have a professional do it. I learned the hard way. I spent days trying to perfect my website and it looked like crap, and had so many flaws. If I had spent that time trying to find customers and finishing projects, I could of paid a designer twice with the time I wasted.
- Marketing Materials – Depending on your business, your marketing materials can come in the form of: rack cards, billboards, brochures, online banner ads and so on. Identify what will relate with your market and again, have this one professionally designed and printed. With the time it takes you on Microsoft Word, folding your brochures, and paying for the ink and paper, you could of easily gotten a better quality product, and better results.
- Social Media – Don’t put photos on your website “for the heck of it”. Don’t post images that are out of focus. Know exactly what size the optimal image is for various social media platforms, and concentrate most on the social media sites that most closely align with your business. Interact with customers, but always remember, you’re acting on behalf of the brand, and not your personal views. Don’t get lured into arguments online by ‘trolls’.. deflect, deflect, deflect!
- Tie It All Together! Bring it Home… Last but not least, make sure everything works together. Make sure the vision behind the business, aligns with your graphic design, which flows into your website design, and into your marketing materials and social media pages. There’s nothing worse than seeing the blue in a logo, not match the blue in a website or the marketing materials. A professional can make sure that all your branding elements work together in sync.
If you take something, or anything away from this, I hope it is this. 1) you have a list to approach a marketing company or designer and know what you need and 2) I hope I have discouraged you from immediately making it a Do-it-yourself project. Take some time, contact some professionals, and get an idea of the cost. I’m not a flooring expert, and in all honesty, my time is much better spent doing what I do best, then trying to teach myself to lay tile from YouTube and online DIY articles.
