The best brands always try to do the right thing, so that their reputations will remain unsullied. But beyond that they grow, evolve and get better with time, while maintaining their special qualities from the past.
We all have a personal brand with social, cultural, intellectual, and personal needs that may not necessarily be addressed in our daily work. Address these needs and you begin to improve your brand. Here is my agenda for building your brand.
Join and participate in community and professional organizations
Generate media coverage about your brand
Stay in touch, or renew old ties with friends, family and business associates
Let's examine how each one improves your brand.
Join and participate in professional and community organizations The best brands grow, evolve and get better with time, while maintaining their special qualities from the past.
Professional and community organizations provide ample opportunity to learn and grow.
They provide professional development opportunities. They allow you to network with peers as well as with people you would not necessarily ever meet in the normal course of your workday.
For instance, I am a member and served on the board of our local International Association of Business Communicators chapter. This allowed me to broaden my contacts in the corporate communications world, as well as form a number of friendships I probably never would have developed. I'm also a member of the North Carolina Citizens For Business and Industry. Here I meet people from all walks of life and all work disciplines. Finally, I am involved with Charlotte Reads, a local non-profit that focuses on literacy issues. This allows me to use my communication experience in support of an issue I feel very strongly about.
But it's not enough to just join groups: you must participate to benefit fully. As a participant you have the opportunity to stretch, to gain confidence in yourself. Learn to lead by involvement on the board or in a special project.
If you are a communicator by trade, try being treasurer for the group to exercise the other side of your brain, or take on a special project about which you feel strongly.
Generate media coverage about your brand All that professional and community involvement will certainly lead to opportunities to leverage that involvement into news about the brand called you. And, of course, there will be promotions, new assignments, and awards at work, too. More opportunities to make headlines.
Your achievements are of interest to local print, broadcast, and online media, particularly the business pages. In Charlotte, the Observer has a weekly feature called On The Move spotlighting someone in a new position. The Charlotte Business Journal has a similar feature called Moving Up. If it is a big enough move and your company won't do it, pay the estimated $150 to place it on BusinessWire or PR Newswire. Consider it an investment in your future. Don't forget trade publications serving your industry and alumni publications.
Seek out speaking engagements and write guest articles, too. This is yet another way to publicize your brand. And don't forget to do news releases when you make a speech or write an article. It's all about merchandising.
To stay top of mind, you might even want to develop your own monthly e-newsletter like Think, the Hoover ink publication. Keep it mostly informational and limit the commercial material.
Stay in touch, or renew old ties with friends, family and business associates Everyone you know can be a brand ambassador for you, so stay in touch or reach out to those you haven't talked with for a while.
Yet another reason for having a monthly newsletter that shares your expertise.
The network of contacts you have built over your lifetime will be instrumental if you decide to start your own business, or change jobs.
So, heed this word of advice: always deal fairly with people. One bad experience with your brand can negate 10 positive ones.
Now, get out there and start branding.
Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR,
http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy,
Levolor, North Carolina Tourism, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX and Verbatim.
The word 'logo' is an abbreviation of the word 'logotype' (or logogram). It could be better defined as 'a symbol representing a phrase, word, or an idea'. Over the times, a logo has represented many things. The McDonald's logo is an identification of the company and can be understood from a distance even in a different country altogether.
Unless you just don't have an appetite for fried chicken, or you've been living in recluse for the past few decades, the phrase "We do chicken right" should immediately conjure up the fast-food restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken. The reason you wouldn't think of Popeye's, Church's or Zaxby's is because that simple little tagline helped to establish the KFC brand. As an entrepreneur, it is essential that you pay attention to branding as you develop your business, preferably as a start-up.
This is the best way I know of to design a logo or to just generate ideas to hand over to your designer. Decide if you want a text logo or an illustrative logo, or a combination mark. Get out a pen and a pad of paper and brainstorm.
Business logos are much more important than many business owners even realise. They are the physical representation of your business in the marketplace and online. Hence, your logo needs to be...
Branded pens work for your business. People will continue to need and use pens. Pens are used in all walks of life but particularly in the business world, where the need for a device to quickly get down an idea or a phone number is crucial to the ebb and flow of making contacts and doing business.
After the wild ride that was '08, many business owners are asking themselves just where to invest their time, energy and money in the new year. From dealing with hundreds of business owners each year, here are a few suggestions.
The plain, two-dimensional look of the past century has been put to rest. Many customers seek a more creative and up-to-date logo which they feel comfortable with. It's like the front cover of a book. When someone sees an intriguing, detailed illustration as a front cover, it sparks interest. In the business world, this quick interest equals sales. And in turn means more profit.
Naming your catering business will be one of the first important decisions that you have to make upon deciding to enter the catering industry. Here are five tips to consider when looking for a name for your catering company.
Coin collecting has been around for many years. You might have started collecting coins when you were younger at the encouragement of your parents, you might still have a dusty book of them somewhere too. There are many types of coins to collect, you can start with your birth year and collect a coin for each year of your life or start with a centennial.
In order to have a successful business, you need to have a recognizable brand. One of the easiest ways to brand your business is by having a custom logo created just for you. Find out how you can get an inexpensive, totally unique logo that is designed just for your business.
The Brand Called You
Diigo
