How to Brand Your Small Business

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Are you a creative business owner or solo entrepreneur with a personal brand? 

Whether you are the maker of beautiful things, an event planner with a keen eye, a photographer who captures beautiful moments, or someone else entirely - as long as you are the founder/face of a small business, you have probably grappled with the question of how to brand.

If you own and operate a creative small business and you sell directly to your consumers (NOT other businesses) - read on to learn more about how to build a brand for your small business!

What Is a Brand?

First of all - what even is a brand? 

If you had to define what makes up your brand, your mind might go to these places:

• Logo 

• Personality 

• Tone of Voice

And yes - you would be correct! All of those things are part of a brand. 

However - that’s not all.

The definition of a is a lot more all-encompassing than most of us think. A brand is the way that people perceive a business.

What does this mean? It means that a brand is made up of far more than just a logo, personality, and tone of voice. A brand is all about the way people perceive a business - and this means that EVERYTHING a business puts out into the world for people to see or interact with eventually becomes part of that brand. 

Therefore, all of the following elements make up a brand:

• Logo 

• Personality

• Tone of Voice

• Products & Services

• Packaging

• Price / Value 

• How your products/services are positioned

• Where your products/services are sold

• How your products/services are promoted 

• The journey of booking (or buying) from you

• The experience of working with you (or using your products)

The key to good branding, which most people don’t realize, is understanding that everything you do in your business that is external-facing will become part of your brand.

That’s why branding is ultimately about a lot more than just having a great logo and a personality. Branding is about creating an entire business that is aligned to you. 

Remember that at the end of the day, your customers are going to experience a lot more than just your logo and personality. They are going to walk away with a holistic experience - one that comes from finding, following, trusting, and finally buying from you and using your products & services.

So branding is about curating that entire experience to make sure that every touchpoint you have with your audience is aligned to you and your goals. 

Branding is more than just having a great logo and a personality.

Branding is about creating an entire business that is aligned to you. 

Why Branding Is Important for Small Businesses

If you’re in any doubt as to whether branding is important to your business - just think about the last time you made a purchase. Think about why you bought that thing (or hired that provider). 

Was it because…

• There was something you liked more about that item (or provider) versus other options?

• Choosing that option felt like the best fit for your lifestyle? 

• Choosing that option allows you to meet a goal or perform a task in some other area of your life?

The reason you purchased probably isn’t just because of the item itself. Most likely, you made that purchase because of the role that that item (or service) is going to play in your life. 

For example - let’s say you’re buying groceries. You’re choosing between the organic, six-grain, freshly baked loaf from the Whole Foods bakery - or the premade, plastic-wrapped, white flour dinner rolls manufactured by Sara Lee.

You might be thinking about the functional benefits of this item you’re about to purchase - such as taste of the bread, the amount of bread, etc.

But you might also be thinking about:

• How your choice reflects on your lifestyle - Will I feel better about myself if I buy the Whole Foods loaf, because it’s freshly made and therefore probably healthier? Should I stay away from the dinner rolls because they’re processed and probably contain preservatives?

• How this purchase is going to be used - I’m having my boss over for dinner next week and it’s important to impress him, so the Whole Foods loaf seems like a good choice. But next week I’m also babysitting my nieces and need to have some quick dinner options - so the Sara Lee rolls are probably better for that scenario...

• The value of your purchase - This Whole Foods roll is frickin’ expensive! On the other hand, the Sara Lee dinner rolls come in a huge pack and are so cheap. Could be worth it to go with Sara Lee because it’s just such a better value… 

So you can see that buying something isn’t as simple as it seems. As a buyer - you’re not just thinking about the actual item you’re about to purchase - you’re most likely thinking about how this item (or service) fits into your life, even if that only means considering how you’re going to use it for dinner.

This is where branding comes in.

To attract your customers and be chosen as the best solution, it's important for you to connect your business to the way that your customers live their lives. If you can tie your product or service to the lifestyle or higher goal that your customers are striving for, then you have a higher chance of being hired or chosen. 

That’s what positioning means.

And branding is all about positioning your product or service as the best solution to help your customers meet their goals - so that YOU can make sales to your dream customers.

And That’s not all.

Good branding is not only external facing (in the sense that you are marketing outwards, to your ideal audience). Good branding can also be internal - meaning that branding can help you, the business owner, gain clarity on who YOUR ideal audience is, and what products/services you should be providing to best fit their needs.

In other words - having a brand will help you attract your target clients… while developing your brand will help you as a business owner get clear on your business goals.

After all - to create a brand, you first need to get clear on who your target customers are. And once you do that, it becomes much easier to identify what products & services you should be selling, and how you should be selling those services. And before you know it - you have an innovation strategy or action plan for your business.

So as you can see, branding is much more than just a pretty logo and a personality. 

Branding is strategy. 

Branding is a tool you can use to connect what you love to do with customers who love to buy. 

Branding is the heart of your business.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

How do you create a brand?

If you’re at the beginning stages of launching your business, you may not have thought much about your branding. In fact - everything you’ve read in this post so far might feel a little like drinking from a firehouse. And that’s okay! 

For a completely brand new business, I have one piece of advice. Don’t worry about your brand.

Just go for it and launch! 

The best way to learn who your dream customers are is to simply get out there and start SELLING. Trust me - you can get so tied up in trying to create the perfect brand that it actually hinders you from just getting out there and starting your business. 

So if you’re literally just starting to build a business from the ground up - my advice is to bookmark this page to come back to later… and just get out there.

You’ll learn so much along the way. And after you’ve gotten some experience selling and have learned more about what you like and don’t like in business - THEN it’s time to come back and do some work on your brand.

You see - branding doesn’t just get created in a vacuum. As you know from the example about bread above - when people make a purchase, they don’t just buy based on rational facts. They buy based on feelings, beliefs, and goals. 

So to create a brand, the first step is to get in touch with your customers’ feelings, beliefs and goals. 

Step One: Get out there, start selling, and over time… hone in on who your ideal customer is. Get to know them. 

Getting to know your ideal customer doesn’t mean getting to know their demographics, like age or income level. What really matters is who these people are - what is important to them, what their values are, what they love and what they are striving for. 

And most importantly,  you need to identify a problem they have, that you (as a product or service provider) can help solve. 

Step Two: After identifying the problem your customers are struggling with, get clear on how your products help them. 

This part might seem obvious, but the reality is that after you’ve been in business for a while - the way you view your products and services might change. As a photographer, you might start out just shooting all weddings that come your way. But after a while - you might realize that you want to start narrowing down on adventure elopements. 

Narrow in on your niche. Identify what kind of product and service you are providing, and then narrow in again. If you’re selling candles - what makes your candles unique and different from the next shop? What is that special factor that you offer, which no one else does?

As a small business owner, the things that set our products & services apart can actually come down to our personality and the way we run our business. Working with one photographer can feel much different than another photographer just based on the personalities of the two (not to mention your unique styles). 

So don’t be afraid to think outside the box here - be creative on how your offerings are unique. 

Lastly, create a brand purpose. Your brand purpose summarizes why your brand exists.

A brand purpose statement is more or less a sentence describing your mission as a business. This is the reason your business exists.

Once you have established your brand purpose - it’s time audit your entire business! Go through each area of your business and assess whether your offerings are aligned to your purpose. This is the key to building a cohesive brand.

Remember: cohesive branding isn’t just about having a cohesive visual identity. It’s also about being recognizable and cohesive in the way your show up and provide value to your customers (whether that be through a variety of products, or a range of services).

That’s why everything you do in business - from sales, to pricing, to the actual products & services - should always tie back to your brand purpose. Your brand purpose is like the “north star” of your business. And if you do everything with your purpose in mind, you will create a business that is recognizable, distinct, and unique to you.

In Summary

As you can see - branding is a lot more far-reaching and foundational than most people realize! 

If you understand what a brand is, you’ll understand the importance of having one. A great brand can help you to build the business of your dreams by connecting you with ideal customers, AND giving you a strategy and vision.

If you’re interested in learning more about branding for your small business, you can:

• Catch me at “Branding & Bagels”, a monthly free masterclass where I go live on IG to talk about branding (while enjoying breakfast)!

• If you’re a small business owner who’s been in business for a while and is thinking about pivoting - check out this post on rebranding.

For any questions or inquiries, you can learn more about what I do here.

Cheers,