Here are the 3 steps to branding:

Step 1 - Get a logo.

There are professionals that do nothing more than logo design. Google “logo design” and see if you can find one at a decent rate. They’ll usually give you one main design and maybe a simplified version for printing. You’ll get your logo in all sorts of different formats, sizes, backgrounds, and just about anything else you’ll need to put your logo on everything you own. Get it on your business cards, packaging, website, stationary, and anything else you can think of. Everywhere you look you should be able to see your logo.

You can do this yourself with some pretty cheap software. Take a look at Laughing Bird Software’s “Web Graphics Creator”. If you can find an old version, you can probably pick it up under $20.

Step 2 - Litter.

No, don’t go throw you business cards out of your window on the freeway. Get fliers and discount coupons printed. Then hand them out personally if you aren’t afraid of rejection. If you are afraid of rejection, stick them under windshield wipers. If you can target your competition’s parking lot (if you have the guts) that’s the best. If not, go for related businesses.

Believe it or not, you’ll get a better response from tagging cars with coupons than you will in the mail.

Step 3 - Create Buzz.

Speak up for yourself and your business. No one else will. Go to any trade show you can find. Get a booth and promote yourself. It doesn’t matter what kind of widget you sell, there’s a trade show for it.

Just don’t burn yourself (or your customers) out or give up too soon.

I had a client once that came to me after he claimed that he spent $500 a week on mailers, fliers, and marketing for three months and didn’t have a thing to show for it. I asked him where he was promoting himself. He said that he had been mailing the same list of people, hitting the same two parking lots, and using the same materials each time.

The answer to his problem was obvious. His customers had been spammed to death! Even worse, they were spammed with the exact same thing each time.

He and I sat down, came up with a new business name, new phone number, and new marketing materials that were completely different from his original ones. We cut his budget in half and diversified. He mailed once to each address and got a new list every week. We never went back to those three parking lots, but hit cars everywhere else in town about once every two weeks. Within a month, he had a steady stream of calls and within three months he was off and running completely on his own.

If you burn your customers out with spam, they won’t come to you even when they do want what you’re selling!

Creating a new brand is sometimes the only way to fix it!

- John