A Few Simplified Thoughts on Branding

image by jbarreiros
Have you ever wondered why actor and actress names are what they are?

Actress names in particular once boggled me to no end. Take for example, Elizabeth Taylor. She must hold a world record in remarriages, but what’s her name, no matter what? Elizabeth Taylor. Why on Earth does it work that way? Because with actors and actresses, their stage names are their brand.

All the fame and star power they earn is represented in their stage names. If those stage names change, they’ve damaged a huge part of their branding and the sellability of any movie or show in which they star thereafter. If you’re an actor or actress, the size of your paycheck depends greatly on whether or not you can get viewers to movies or television shows, so this damage is grievously undesirable. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what their real names really are, or if they change once they marry. They never change their stage names because it would be dumb and costly to them if they did.

Your business can be branded the same way. While your business model may not be dodging paparazzi or walking down the red carpet in a million dollars of jewelery, the end result is the same. A brand can pad your future paydays because it’s recognized and actively sought by customers in your niche.

Branding yourself isn’t hard to do. Find out what you are, then brand it. There are a few things that can help, and possibly have that brand do some of your selling for you.

• Your company name: Take some time in choosing it, because if it’s catchy (like ‘Google.com’, which I mentioned last week), the fact it’s memorable can help put your cash flow in the black.
• A logo: These are helpful, but not enormously necessary. There are plenty of examples of people who grow wealthy without one (particularly the one-man entrepreneurs working on the Net), but if you have the money, consider getting one designed.
• A tagline: These usually appear under the company names, and is a catchy sentence you want to represent you. They are usually repeated by the big companies over and over, and if you can think of a company name and hear the ring of the sentence they use to describe themselves, you know what a tagline is.

Once you get them, and they start selling for you, look into trademarking them immediately. You don’t want someone to come along, realize that tagline, logo, or company name that’s making you so much money after all your hard work isn’t trademarked and take them from you or abuse them.

And last but not least, remember branding works both ways. You can become branded to something awful, like Microsoft to its oversized and cantankerous software, if you fail with such consistency it becomes the general perception that you fall short. This is not desirable, so be sure to have your product or service in order before you begin.

I’m not the world’s biggest branding expert, but the basics of branding aren’t hard to understand. Your brand is the something recognizable about your business that can help you sell or make money. It can also chase potential customers away if it become associated with something bad, so don’t let that happen.