STARTING YOUR BRAND

Repost from Linkedin.

WHY? 

Why have you started your brand? Why will this help people? Why should I invest monetarily and emotionally? Why should I care? Answer those questions in the notes of your phone, tablet, notebook, etc. If you have the answers to these questions and can answer each one in under two sentences you’re ready to start. You’re going to get these questions from different people, friends, investors, strangers and it’s important that you are sure of yourself and confident in what your brand is and stands for. No one is going to be invested in your brand if you’re unsure of it. 

LOGO 

It doesn’t need to be super artsy. It just needs to be easily recognized. It is the name tag for your brand. You do not need to break the bank and spend a bunch of money on a logo. The people care about the product more than the logo. You can have the best logo but if the product isn’t good then what good is the logo? The logo is the icing on the cake. Just keep it simple when it comes to your logo. 

WEBSITE 

People need to find you. If you don’t have a website you are literally running a marathon with cinder blocks attached to your feet. Look at it this way. Your website is your house. Your clients are dates. You’re on a date and it’s going great. If the date is going good and you both want to continue having a good time you can take it back to your house. You can’t do that if you’re homeless. So let’s flip this. You’re at an event networking and the people you’re networking with are interested in your brand. If you want to continue business beyond the event you invite them to your website (your house).   A website showcases your work and people can learn about you. You don’t want your brand to be homeless. Hire a photographer and videographer and get some photos and videos for your site. 

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Get your brand on everything. You’re reading this on LinkedIn so that’s great. You’re in one of the right places but you need Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter too. You need the big 5. Post on at least 4 out of the 5 religiously. Each platform is different so you have to adapt how you post on each one. Linkedin is a professional/business platform so writing about business and posting my business articles would be the best route for me to take. It wouldn’t make sense for me to write about anime and post it on LinkedIn. The audience of this platform aren’t here for that. Think of each social media platform as a party and you have 5 different outfits for each one but you’re still yourself. 

CONTENT 

You need 3 forms of content. Writing. Audio. Visual. Can you get away with only creating 2 out of the 3? Yes but only if you’re posting constantly 4-5 times a week. You have to treat yourself as the star of the show. You’re the leading role and your brand is the sitcom. Seinfeld isn’t a show without Jerry Seinfeld. He has to be there. Your brand isn’t your brand without you. People need to hear from you. They need to see you. Having a brand without any content is like driving a car with no oil. It won’t last. No matter how boring you think you are somebody will be interested in your content. 

PATIENCE 

When you start a brand you won’t own the market in 4 months. It’s just not realistic. Is it impossible? No. But you need to have patience. If you have only 4 clients then you go all in on those 4 clients. The only way you’ll get more clients is caring about the clients you already have. You don’t get 4 clients and wish you had 400 clients instead and give up. That’s a losing mentality. You’re building a business. Just keep working and think long term. Long term thinking is always the move. 

Okay. Go build that brand. 

Peace.