With technology in the world nowadays, going to a logo generator from Google or even to sites like Fiver to give you a basic logo can be very easy. The problem with “borrowing” logos from the internet is that you need to keep in mind how easily you acquired that logo; it was just as easy for thousands of other people to acquire that same logo. If you are wanting to stand out in your occupation and build a community, you must understand the importance of having a good, strong brand.
First of all, keep in mind that the main purpose of a brand is to build a community. Companies like Apple, Google, Nike, and Coca-Cola all have their consumers eating out of the palms of their hands, purchasing any product the companies produce. Why? It’s because they have built a strong brand, and their consumers latch onto the brand and are proud to show off the logo of those brands mentioned. So the main focus is to build a community which starts with your brand.
I am going to give you a few things to think about:
Your brand is the identity of your business. It starts with a name.
Just as we humans have a name and a reputation that goes along with that name, companies have names and their reputations are built on their names as well. Are you proud of your name and reputation? Are you proud of the brand name you have created for your company? Are you embarrassed to tell people your business name, and do your employees feel that way too? As we educate the real estate investing world, we often come across so many brand names such as “Max Buys Homes”; “Northwest Indiana Investments”; “Mary Buys Houses,” etc. With those examples, there is nothing that stands out, nothing unique or attention grabbing. It appears as if there was no thought into developing the company names.
The name of a business/brand should be well thought out. The name doesn’t necessarily have to explain what your business does. Sometimes people get caught up in trying to explain what their business is within the name itself and lose focus of a quality and unique brand name. Take Apple for instance. What does an apple have to do with a computer, phone, tablet, or even technology at all? The meaning behind the name overcame explaining why it was chosen as a brand for the business. Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak shared the following story as to how Steve Jobs created the Apple name: “Steve was coming back from a visit to Oregon to a place he called an ‘apple orchard.’ It was actually some kind of commune. Steve suggested a name – Apple Computer. The name sounded ‘fun, spirited and not intimidating.’” The Apple name may not have anything to do with technology, but from the meaning behind it, emerged a name that the whole world knows without even considering “what an apple has to do with a computer.”
Take time to develop a name. What describes you? What do you feel your business provides for your consumers? What are words that explain the feeling of your business? These are all questions that will help you get your brand name nailed down. Be proud of your name. Have fun explaining to people what the meaning of your name is. Don’t be afraid of doing that.
Your brand can be a momentum builder.
Building momentum with marketing should be one of the main focuses of your business. Having a strong brand will allow you to build momentum faster. If people have a brand to connect with that they are proud of, that they are willing to follow, then they will without a doubt, go tell their friends and network about the brand experience they are having with you.
Once you start building a community, your name will get out there faster than most marketing methods. That’s momentum. With momentum, comes leads; with leads come sales. Your ultimate goal is to get people to the end of the funnel and to be a part of your community of business.
We frequently come across companies that have changed their names 4 or 5 times in the past 4 or 5 years and they wonder why they don’t have a strong community. The reason is because every time a company re-brands themselves, or even as much as changes the name of the business or colors of the logo or the logo itself, your current community that has gotten familiar with your brand, now must get familiar with another brand. You may think, “It’s all about how we care for our customers,” but your customers want a solid brand to latch onto. We as a company are guilty of doing all I just mentioned. We’ve changed names 3 times and logos twice. We had to explain to our audience of a couple thousand, that we changed names. We would have customers call us or email us confused regarding the name change. With all those changes, you will lose momentum in your marketing and start losing your community which is something you definitely want to avoid.
So it goes without saying if you are lucky enough to come across this blog before you have even started your business, be sure to do the upfront work to discover a strong and unique brand name. If you have a brand already but are unhappy with it, then it is better late than never. Again, be sure to do the upfront work so that you don’t have to rebrand 5 years down the road. Your goal is to create a “timeless” brand.
Your community marketing for you.
The power of referrals is a very underrated form of marketing. We often focus so much of our marketing efforts on new leads that have not been touched by the business, that we don’t give any thought to the possibility of having the current community do some marketing for the business. While acquiring new leads is important to grow your community, be sure to not underestimate referrals. Have giveaways, offer prizes or free content for your community to share your social media posts or refer a friend to your products or services. At Good Success, we have a referral program that promotes our events; for instance, if someone brings an event attendee who pays full price, we will give $1,000 to the person that referred him. Don’t be afraid to offer incentives.
With these ideas in mind, remember that if you don’t build a good community in the first place, then leveraging your customer base to bring in more customers is not going to be a viable option. With the momentum that creates a community comes customers who will be proud to promote your brand because they experience something that makes them feel good. If you don’t have a solid brand, to begin with, then your community won’t be proud of it, and therefore they won’t promote you.
We recently had our Good Success Mastermind and Belief Event. Nearly all the members mentioned our brand and how it felt exciting and looked great. After expressing that sentiment, they would go to their social media platforms, share our content, and tell others to check us out. They were excited about our brand, and then proud to promote it for us. Their actions were a response based on our brand.
With those things in mind, you may be asking how to acquire such a brand to be proud of. There are a couple of branding companies we suggest, and they will walk you through branding exercises to bring out the most distinctive brand for your business. You can e-mail us at marketing@goodsuccess.com for more info about our sources.
One final point is that if you do go with a branding company, be sure to allow them to do their work and don’t look over their shoulder trying to direct them on what YOU want. The designers know what they’re doing and will give you the best brand you can get. You need to trust their expertise.
Thank you for this post. Its very inspiring.