When we speak of branding most of the time people try to relate
it to big business house, however, the fact is that every business needs
to establish their brand in order to survive the competition. This is
nothing new; experts and management gurts had been preaching the same
sermon for years now but what they have not told is why you need to
brand your small business? How is branding going to help you to
establish your business? How can you establish your brand without
spending a fortune on it?
You
might be having a very small business but would you like your client to
perceive your business as a small time entrepreneurial effort?
Definitely not, and your business cards, letterheads and other marketing
collaterals does just that. They create an impression to your clients
that you are an established business house of considerable strength and
not just a mom-n-pop shop.
While you have read till this much, you
might have started to plan to get a few home printed business cards or
visit the website where you saw the preformatted business cards being
sold for peanuts. Beware! The quality of your business card is an
indication of the status of your business and your clients are
intelligent enough to understand the difference between a standard
designed perforated business card and a professionally designed business
card printed on good quality card stock.
Most of us, including
you, would prefer to consider the stability of a company before making a
purchase decision. Once you have established your brand with a
professionally designed logo, business card and other marketing efforts
it becomes much easier for you to build your credibility among the
customers.
Getting a professionally designed custom logo is one of
the very important elements of branding a business. A logo is not just a
symbol or a piece of graphics; it is actually your corporate identity. A
properly designed logo can leave long lasting impression on your
clients and will never let your business slip out of their minds. It
also makes your business easily recognizable. Just think, wherever you
see the Golden M of McDonald's do you really need to think twice, what
company is that referring to? A good logo should ideally exude the
nature and attitude of the business.
Once you have got a logo for
yourself it becomes easier for you to establish your brand. You can use
that logo in your business cards, letterheads and other accessories.
Don't you think it is going to make a difference if the pack that you
use to deliver your products to your customer has the logo of your
company on it? And if you are using a reusable pack, your customer might
just use the same pack to pass on some other goods to one of his
friends- what happens then? Yes! Your logo gets noticed by one other
person, you add one more name to the list of your potential customers.
You are on your way to establish your own brand.
Similarly with
business cards, as they get passed on from one person to the other, more
and more people knows about your business and the potential customer
base increases.
Having a business card or professionally designed logo also shows your commitment towards your business.
A
short, easy to remember punch line is another useful tool for branding.
Getting a tag line printed on your business cards or your business
stationery makes it easier for people to understand the nature of your
business. Ideally, your tag line should not only say about what you do
but also speak about your USP.
Having said all that, the ultimate
question that most of the small business people would have is, how much
does it cost to get all these things done? I'd say, "not much". Money is
always a problem for most of the small businesses (that's why they are
small, otherwise most of us would like to open a Microsoft and be as
rich as Bill Gates) but if you know where to look for, you really don't
need to spend a fortune to get a professionally designed logo or a
business card. There are loads of websites that offer them really cheap
and some even allow you to decide the price that you want to pay. (Check
out this twin sites, http://www.mycorporatelogo.com and http://www.mycorporateidentity.com ).
So, if you think you are tired of being a "small business" and its time to grow up, take the first step; establish your brand!
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