Add Personality to Your Brand
You certainly have a strong definable character. Your product and your company too must have a few strong hits that are typical of it. Then add those characteristics to your brand.
Let your values, beliefs, and goals be reflected in your brand.
Let's say you are a quiet type of person. If you run a book store and allow people to browse and read books in the store in complete silence then make it known. If people love visiting your store because 'it's so quiet and peaceful there', then capitalize on that. Distribute fliers in the neighborhood emphasizing the point. Additionally, if you love soft romantic music then play it in your store. There is nothing more peaceful and enjoyable than browsing books in a quiet atmosphere with soulful music playing softly in the background.
Be Open about Your Ambition
If you have the ambition of becoming the best brand in your category then announce it. Open your ambition to people; they may help you in achieving your goal if they love your brand. When you are open about your business plans and goals, help arrives from unexpected quarters. Of course you need not be explicitly open for reasons of competition. Or you may not be open at all if competition is the cause. Virgin's chairman Richard Branson makes no secret of his ambition: to make Virgin the best brand of all.
Design a Logo
Find a local graphic designer that can design a logo for you (personal brand) or your business. You can hire an ad agency or a local graphic designer depending on your budget. In case you are a small start up you can design your own logo if you have some creativity and a little time.
Many free internet sites offer free software (freeware) so that you can design your own logo. All that is required for you is to invest a few minutes of your time researching the various sites via the internet and Google to determine which one is best for you. Otherwise you can draw and design a creative and inexpensive logo on paper. Add color to it and get it scanned. As a start up, you will just need a logo to stand out. By designing on your own you can save several hundred, if not thousands of dollars.
But if you are ambitious and really want your logo to speak out then you better hire a professional ad agency. Tell them in detail about your product or service, your core competencies, your values, and your mission. Give them ideas as to what direction you want to move, who are your target customers, and even about your competitors. Suggest to them what you would like to have. They will come up with a qualified logo and tag line.
If you have employees ask them to contribute their ideas. Sometimes employees can come up with brilliant ideas. Invite them to join in the process of building your brand. Make sure that there is no gap between what you promise in your brand and what you actually deliver. Rather under-promise and over-deliver.
