Branding Yourself. What makes it successful?

Well, think about it like an exquisite box of chocolates!

Recently I gave a presentation on 10 Ways to Make a Brand Sizzle to a local women’s networking group. Being a homeschool teacher, I had to have an object lesson.

I chose Dove chocolates. They are, after all, my favorite treat! It was truly divine!

Before I spoke, I gave each lady a chocolate and requested that they not eat it until I spoke.

So following is what I had the ladies do with the chocolates and how I used them to illustrate my teaching on how to make effective brands. All about branding yourself. You might want to get a Dove chocolate and follow along:

Open up your chocolate. Imagine that this chocolate represents your brand. It is a treasure. It is precious!

Indeed, big corporations recognize that their brands are their most important asset. So why don’t we as small business owners?

Because if we want to be taken seriously by our prospects, we need to take our business seriously. And that includes branding yourself.

I think Dove takes their brand very seriously. You know exactly what you are getting when you bite into one!

And it is a quality product! So often, small business owners settle for what is easy, cheap, and free. Instead of thinking outside the box, especially when it comes to creating logos, they think of taking short cuts and making it as easy as possible because they want it right now and they don’t want to invest anything into it.

What are you thinking of when you are branding yourself?

It should be the same with your business. What you offer, your brand, needs to be reliable to your customer. It needs to be built on a foundation of quality. A promise they can count on!

That’s what the Dove chocolates are called, Promises! That’s why I love to use them for this illustration. Branding yourself is like a promise to your prospects and customers. Are you going to deliver? If you don’t come through, then you will be fostering a sense of distrust. And this is going to be branding yourself in a negative way.

The perception of your brand needs to fit with reality. If you want to be perceived as making the best widgets out there, then make the best widgets out there!

So now eat the chocolate. Didn’t it bring you satisfaction? Aren’t you pleased? That’s how your customers should feel after they have purchased your products or services. That’s the power of branding yourself!

Okay, you’ve examined the chocolate, eaten it, and thought about how it relates to  branding yoursef. Now I want you to read the message on the foil wrapper.

But instead of the usual promise that Dove prints, imagine that the message contains this: five words that describe you and your business. What does it say?

Discovering your unique words is going to give you a clue to what your brand should look like. It’s going to help you brand yourself. Because with your brand, you are always communicating a message, from the moment your prospect enters your store, visits your website, or looks at your catalog.

I’m sure you have enjoyed this yummy exercise! And you have learned something valuable to boot–all about branding yourself!

Apply this lesson and you will have a brand that sizzles and a future that dazzles!

Want to find out more about how you can create a quality brand? Sign up for my free mini-video course and free report on how to brand yourself by clicking here now!

BOX OF CHOCOLATE
© Cristian andrei Matei | Dreamstime.com