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All systems are go. You’re ready to launch your new business. To make sure the launch is successful, Part 6, “Market,” shows you how to spread the word about your company. First, you’ll learn how to create a brand identity that will get your new business noticed. Then you’ll find out how to create a marketing and advertising campaign that works … without spending a fortune. From print ads and direct mail to TV, radio, and social media websites like Facebook, we share smart strategies to build buzz about your business. You’ll also learn about the single best way to promote your business: public relations. From special events and community projects to media coverage, we show you dozens of ways to get your business noticed—many of them virtually free.

If the idea of selling scares you, you’re not alone. That’s why we provide everything you need to know to sell like a pro. Then once you’ve made the sale, the game isn’t over: You’ve got to keep the customer coming back. Our secrets to great customer service will give you the edge you need to win repeat business … over and over again.

No marketing and advertising plan is complete today without including the internet. In Part 7, “Engage,” we introduce you to the must-know world of social media and online advertising and marketing. We start by showing you how to get visitors to your website, keep them there, and when they leave, make sure they return for more. From search engine marketing and paid search services to email marketing and affiliate promotions, you’ll learn valuable tips and techniques to make your website a roaring success.

What’s all the buzz about social media and why should you be listening? Social media has changed the conversation between businesses and customers. It’s also changing the way brands are marketed and the way customers engage with your company. We show you how to use social tools to network with potential customers and connect and engage with your audience—because in today’s marketing landscape, that’s how brands are built. We cover all the social sites you’ve probably heard of, such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest, plus numerous other tools to help you reach out and connect with your target audience.

If you’re doing everything right, you’ll be dealing with a bundle of money. In Part 8, “Profit,” we show you the strategies to make the most of your money. Whether or not you’re a math whiz, you’ll want to read our bookkeeping basics, which contain everything you need to know to keep track of your finances. You’ll learn the accounting methods that can make a difference come tax time, what records to keep and why, and whether to computerize or do it by hand. Check out our step-by-step look at creating financial statements, income statements, cash-flow statements, and other important indicators that help you measure your money. Then learn ways to manage your finances, including secrets to pricing your product or service, how to get short-term capital infusions when you’re low on cash, and how to determine your overhead, profit margin, and more. We’ll answer your most burning question—how much (and how) to pay yourself. We also show you how to stay out of trouble when the tax man comes calling. Get the inside scoop on payroll taxes, personal vs. corporate tax returns, and what to file when. We’ll also cover what you can deduct … and what you can’t.

Finally, at the end of the book, you’ll find a handy glossary of terms in case you need a refresher on any of the concepts we’ve covered in the book, as well as an appendix chock-full of helpful business resources.

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CHAPTER 29 Brand Building

How to Build Your Brand

CHAPTER 30 Genius Marketing

Advertising and Marketing Your Business

CHAPTER 31 Talking Points

How to Promote Your Business

CHAPTER 32 Sell It!

Effective Selling Techniques

CHAPTER 33 Now Serving

Offering Superior Customer Service

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You’re really excited about your new business. But do you have a potential brand in the making?

Unfortunately, it’s a question too many small-business owners ask far too late, or never ask at all—not a good idea in a world full of savvy consumers and big companies that have mastered the branding game. Great brands are all around us, and it’s no accident they make us think of certain things. Think FedEx, and you think of overnight delivery. Apple Inc. brings to mind cutting-edge products, music, and must-have phones and devices.

Even celebrities are brands. Would you describe Bradley Cooper the same way you would describe Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson? Their differences—charming vs. gruff, refined vs. rough and rugged—help define their particular acting “brands” and let the public get a grasp on their personas. Corporate brands are no different. They have their own “personalities.”

We like to categorize everything, whether we’re talking about people, printers, or pizza places. Test this theory yourself. What draws you to one local business instead of another selling a similar product? One local restaurant might strike you as quaint and inviting; another might hit you as chaotic and overcrowded—even though both restaurants serve the same type of food. You’re not alone if you find yourself categorizing each business you pass.

As a startup entrepreneur, you’ll be branding whether you’re even trying. If you don’t have a clear idea of what your new company is about, your potential customers will decide on their own—a risky move for a new company without many, or any, customers. You’ll need to have a branding strategy in place before your launch or grand opening. However, before we start strategizing, let’s answer the most basic question of all.

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tip

Make your company’s website more than just a boring online brochure by adding an enewsletter, a weekly or biweekly blog, or a monthly podcast from the founder—anything that conveys your brand’s personality and humanizes your company in the eyes of potential customers. People want to know whom they’re buying from, especially if it’s a new company. And if you’re not offering this, remember your next competitor might be.

What Is Branding, Exactly?

Branding is a very misunderstood term. Many people think of branding as just advertising or a really cool-looking logo, but it’s much more complex—and exciting, too.

■ Branding is your company’s foundation. It’s not just about awareness, a trademark, or a logo. Branding is your company’s reason for being, the synchronization of everything about your company that leads to consistency for you as the owner, your employees, and your potential customers. Branding meshes your marketing, public relations, business plan, packaging, pricing, customers, and employees (the last element is often the most overlooked; read “In the Loop” on page 559 for more on this).

■ Branding creates value. If done right, branding makes the buyer trust and believe your product is somehow better than your competitors’. Generally, the more distinctive you can make your brand, the less likely the customer will choose another company’s product or service even if yours is slightly more expensive. “Branding is the reason why people perceive you as the only solution to their problem,” says Rob Frankel, a branding expert and author of The Revenge of Brand X: How to Build a Big Time Brand on the Web or Anywhere Else, Round 2 (Frankel & Anderson, 2010). “Once you clearly can articulate your brand, people have a way of evangelizing your brand.”

■ Branding clarifies your message. You have less money to spend on advertising and marketing as a startup entrepreneur, and good branding can help you direct your money more effectively. “The more distinct and clear your brand, the harder your advertising works,” says Frankel. “Instead of having to run your ads eight or nine times, you only have to run them three times.”

■ Branding is a promise. At the end of the day, branding is the simple, steady promise you make to every customer who walks through your door or visits your website—today, tomorrow, and a year from now. Your company’s ads and brochures might say you offer speedy, friendly service, but if customers find your service slow and surly, they’ll walk out the door feeling betrayed. In their eyes, you promised something you didn’t deliver, and no amount of advertising will ever make up for the gap between what your company says and what it does. Branding creates the consistency that allows you to deliver on your promise over and over again.

“Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.”

—GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL, FOUNDER OF CHANEL INC.

>> Creating an Awesome Brand

When creating your brand, you will think about everything from your logo to color scheme to the tag line. You also need a memorable brand name, strong message, support system, and all the necessary legalities, like getting trademarked, in place.

But that’s only the beginning of your branding process. To help you complete creating a spectacular brand, follow these four tips, says entrepreneur John Rampton, founder of payment processing company Due.

1. Consider how people see you. Google yourself, your industry, and your line of business. Hold a focus group of close friends. Get a sense of the words associated with you and the line of business you’re going into, and begin to get a picture of how you’re seen—and want to be seen.

2. Amplify yourself. Use LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, or even Pinterest and Instagram to amplify your message and further establish your brand. Real replies to your postings let you get a feel for how people are perceiving you on social media.

3. Wea...

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What Is Branding, Exactly?

References