PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: How Is Your Personal Branding Strategy Going?

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

It may seem an odd place to start – a post about Prince, but Prince was someone who knew exactly what brands were about.

He was certainly an interesting and flamboyant character to say the least, and he exuded an heir of mystery but also of uniqueness and he was an androgynous character.

Some people thought he was Bi-sexual, and others weren’t sure at all. 

Others said it was just a persona to stand out.

So, in other words – he got people talking.

There were those who thought that he was branding himself in order to stand out more.   And we can all relate to the colour Purple when thinking of him.

But I say – who cares what he really stood for anyway, he did it very well and it worked.

His business was his business!   And it worked!  He kept us all guessing.

Whatever his personal life was about, or his sexuality, it remains somewhat of a mystery and I think that’s awesome as an artist. 

It kept people guessing, and so the point here is ‘this was branding’ in a way which worked for him.

Our brands are extensions of us, of our identity, of our message, vision, ethics and connection so, we must ensure that our brand speaks directly to our target audience.  Obvious?  Perhaps, but many never really get this when building their own enterprise and they even quickly create something just to get out there.

Whilst a name of a business can be almost anything it has to exude a feel that we can connect to it.

Sometimes a Brand name is obviously relating to its product or service but other times its more of a poppy, snappy name which does its job to get people’s attention.

Look at Amazon.  This is a word which essentially means;

A Brand name is important, but it doesn’t have to have anything to do with the product or service it simply has to stand out and pop just like a the colours and style of the writing or wording.

The greater the reputation YOU create the greater people will associate you with what you do regardless of ‘if’ the name specifically rleates to the the product or service type or not.

As I touched on different colour’s play a huge role in how we perceive certain brands and how we associate with them.

If you think about it – most of us know the ‘Coca Cola’ wording brand and colour Red don’t we.

Love it or hate it, is etched into our minds from a very early age as are many other brand names.  So, you and I buy into things we LIKE, KNOW and TRUST.  The same as in all of business.  These products or services many not even be very good for us or healthy, such as McDonald’s – but we know them nevertheless.

So, some products or services are bad for us YET we still buy into them.

Call it addiction, obsession, comfort, or whatever – we want that brand product.

This is particularly true for premium brands and fashion.

Designers such as Dior, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld.  And many more – we want what they produce.  So, no matter what that item is we can desire something from their name.  Same with Cars such as BMW, Mercedes, VW, Audi and many more which hold that name of style, performance and largely of quality.

So, you can get a feel for premium brands just by looking at your own choices.

Again, they may not really add any value to our lives ‘or’ be good for us, but we still desire them.

Through marketing, promotion and repeated  exposure to the names we start to feel emotional about them.

Let's go back to Prince for a moment:

He was certainly different from the crowd, so he stood out, agreed?

He aimed to be the best he could be, agreed?

He used certain styles and colours to represent his persona, agreed?

He used a great deal of visual exposure to express his image and name, agreed?

he disrupted the market with his own brand of uniqueness and was like nothing else, agreed?

So, he knew how to market himself with his brand name.

This is very much like any business.

It could be that you are more of a local brand, or an online brand.  A tech startup with a large team or a globally motivated brand.

That’s down to what you choose to become, but your job and your teams job is to ensure you do your thorough research here to get this right.

So let’s say you love to buy from a local brand;  ‘you and I’ may prefer to buy from those we know personally, and prefer not to always pay corporate companies, so we will go to Fred’s bakery down the road.

Personal brands like this need to work hard to gather that repeat custom in a smaller business in order to stay in business and to create repeat sales and grow.  They may need to stand out from others offering different products, and ensure that their name works with the community in some way.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

Creating the edge

With a Small Business, their edge is often in meeting locals, being trust worthy and caring.  And a consumer or customer wants to be able to physically go and buy from the as they trust the source of the product.  They have to have great customer service and be real.

Make sense?

So, what could your brand be trying to convey?  Who are you aiming at anyway?  What do they already buy and from whom?  How might you stand out from others?

Research in this area is of utmost importance because if we miss the mark we could be missing the point entirely of our message and lose out to our nearest competitor.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: How Is Your Personal Branding Strategy Going?

Now, you and I both know that the branding I am talking about is ‘not’ putting a red hot poker on a cow’s backside!  Although that was certainly a kind of branding and still is in some places.

I might write about that another time – but for now I am sure you are getting the importance and value of a great brand.

So let’s talk about branding yourself.

Things like with Websites, logos, social media tools and Blogging.

Once you have committed to drilling down and digging deep into narrowing down and defining your brand name and look these questions may help you to better understand what you actually stand for.  You can hire logo experts as I did, or you can try it yourself.

From there – you can then set about getting your logo’s made and your website built.

But let’s now go over a few things to help with defining your brand a little.  Let’s look at some questions you will want to ask yourself to ensure you can start right.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation:  First Off You Have To Know MORE ABOUT YOU:

How will my name be associated with my business and what use of wording best describes that?

How Are Your Values and Objectives aligned With Your Personal Branding?
What Are Your Strategies and Business Planning for Reaching Your Goals?
How Are You Going to Measure Your Success Moving Forward?
What Do People Think Of You And Your Passions and How Do hey See You?
Who Are You And What Do You Stand For Really?
Why Will People Want To Trust You And Why Will They Like You?
Why Will People Become A Supporter Of YOU?
How Will Your Daily Actions In A Role Align With YOU?
How Are You Known To Others?
How Will You be Increasing Your Visibility?
How Are You Improving Your Online and Offline Network?
What Are You Trying To Achieve and Why?
How Are You Researching Your Buyers Details and Pinpointing Their Desires?
How Are You Researching Your Niche/Industry and why Howl you have the edge?

What kinds of LOGOS appeal to you and why?

 

All of these questions can help you.  And others also.

I recently watched a program talking about the origin of the Extinction Rebellion Logo which was taken from a past movement.
Its a powerful logo, but, it’s not just good looking it has meaning. It has impact and once adopted by Extinction Rebellion it went viral.

So, logo’s are very powerful, sometimes very simple yet striking images.  

Alongside that go names.  How might your brand name be striking, impactful and relevant?

What doe sit say about YOUR MESSAGE?   How will others feel confident, safe, comfortable, happy, trusting and even excited by your name?

Some more local businesses will use names such as the persons name who owns it – giving it that personal feel.

Others will use names which feel modern, fresh, short, zappy, memorable and so on.  That’s why we need to know the market inside out.

We need to know WHAT THEY FEEL!  And what they think.

Study others:

Something we can do is start first thing in the morning with looking around at what WE USE.  Look around your home – what have you bought into? Who do you trust and why?  What makes you LOVE this brand and WHY?   Get a feel for brands on TV, online, and anywhere where you can gather ideas.

These sites  may help you:

15 EXAMPLES OF BRANDS WITH A BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL VISUAL IDENTITY 

CLICK HERE TO SEE HUBSPOTS INSPIRING EXAMPLES OF SMALL BUSINESS BRANDING

36 GREAT BRAND GUIDELINES EXAMPLES

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation:

The best artists, performers and companies in the world are very good at knowing these things, and they have a great deal of resources to help them.

They have teams, advisers, managers and more to help them define their look and feel.

They will apply various strategies and plough in thousands of dollars which is thrown at research, advertising and marketing costs in order to share their products of course.   

BUT; THE GREAT NEWS IS – YOU AND I DON’T NEED TONS OF  MONEY TO BE SEEN OR HEARD NOWADAYS.

Look at Facebook and YouTube

USING FREE MEDIA. When a product sells IN A HUGE COMPANY and the company makes great returns on their investment they can afford to spend the big bucks – and they can afford to run big ad’s that grab our attention and seduce us into buying what they offer.  You only have to look at places like Tokyo and Times Square.  It is a multicolored intense brain washing of products and services being fired at us and all around us.

YOU AND I MAY NOT HAVE THAT KIND OF POWER – SO WE MUST USE CHEAP OR FREE MEDIA.

All of us at some point and quite often are slaves to advertising whether we like it or not LOOK AT WHAT SELLS YOU INTO THINGS.

Also Bear In Mind That Many Big Companies Are Now Using Social Media, So, Be There!

So – what Are You Doing To Create Brand You NOW?

What I do now and you might want to do is to get yourself into a position where you can leverage that free media.  I use content such as blog posts like this, videos, social media, word of mouth, referrals, and more,  but most of it is FREE.

You can build a great fanbase and have many loyal followers loving your brand or your ‘name’ pretty cheaply.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: How can you achieve this?

Firstly, you need to get your Personal Branding name to be associated with trust and quality products so golden rule No1 is ‘stop trying to HARD to appeal and think more about WHO CARES’.  Remember, it’s not really about what you like as such as much as it is about WHAT OTHERS LIKE.

You may have a really pretty brand and logo which looks sweet, but does it work?

People are sick and tired of people pushing them to buy, myself included.  They want to feel a gentle connection which they want to be involved with.

Gone are the days of the hard sell – at least with much of offline sales and with experts and big brands online.

All companies are seeing that PEOPLE need to be cared for:

PEOPLE OVER PROFITS!   I the new way to be.  We all need more compassion, attention to provide and over deliver great quality and delivering immense value.   Now this value may be ‘perceived’ for us that ‘you and I’ can deliver what feels HUGE to customers but in reality is not that huge.  So, the value we can deliver can SEEM massive to others but it may not take that much work.

I am sure you have seen these businesses who say they will THROW IN FREE this and that, add bonuses, give discounts, offers and so on, so that it appeals.  And as long as ‘you and I’ can draw a profit from our offers then it’s win win.

SO, we have to learn how to send people more VALUE AND information ‘we can’ offer so that they associate us with IMMENSE VALUE, and become an investor in us for the future. Sometimes a customer can be for life. SO POSITION YOURSELF!

Secondly you can become a premium brand:

Many companies and businesses offer premium options.  It shows that a consumer can go ‘high end’ as it feels luxurious to the consumer.

Sometimes it doesn’t even have to cost that much more either to give that ‘perceived’ luxury or high end feel.

Remember that it is HOW a person feels that matters.

So we can offer huge value without expecting anything in return in order to bring them in, and then up sell on higher end products/services.

You want to build a solid relationship, so don’t get greedy – just be a friend and share ‘or’ offer your advice ‘if’ you are a Coach or mentor like me for example.

I have always found that FREE is not always a great thing, but it can certainly build a list, grow an audience and gather valuable data.

So whether you believe it or not, giving is the way to get more back.  Free initially ‘if required’ and with the value throughout the relationship.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: Many Companies Now Use The Power Of Branding Through Social Media Because They Know They Can Do So For Very Little In Some Cases.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation:  You Can Still Beat Big Companies Though!

Huge numbers of big players in all sectors of business are now using places like YouTube to create a buzz, and this is because it is FREE and many eyes are there.

You and me also have the luxury of using YouTube, so this means that you and me can send thousands of people to our videos which then leads to our Blogs, websites or sales pages.

So – essentially ‘we’ have the ‘same clout’ as the big companies.

That’s why it pays to get the strategy right.

Starting with the brand and message itself.

NOTE: Just because some corporations have Billions to play with we can even beat them with strategic content, copy and the right marketing.

TIP:  So hire those who are better than you in certain areas.  Don’t waste time in roles which are not your strong point.  Stick to your role/s.

Get the experts in where needed and use the right tools.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: Do You Watch Adverts?

You watch TV adverts right?  Many big brands use TV and radio to sell.  This will cost you a small fortune though, and besides you and I haven’t always got that kind of budget.  But, if you have then go ahead and get media training to know where to place your hard earned advertising costs.

But we can use radio, local TV companies and publicity stunts to get the right exposure.

We need to know where this money is being best spent.

So based on the fact that our budgets maybe modest, we can exploit the whole social media Gig to expose your personal brand.

Also remember that offline is also very powerful still!  In-fact many people today are less trusting of online marketing and being sold to so would rather speak to a person or receive direct mail instead. 

Keeping costs low

Spending less and being smart is where it’s at if you are a micro or Small Business just starting out.

Be smart about where you spend your marketing budget.  It just takes a little bit of thinking differently.

Study others and see why they do so well in their strategy.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: We all are seduced by brands every day and we can learn a lot by the fact that we need to be in front of others who might want to buy from us or join our business.  Instead of hating adverts like I used to USE THEM to help you. You don’t have to become brainwashed by it all, and I certainly don’t recommend that – but I do recommend USING ideas from what you see and hear.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation:

Taking Focused Action Based On Discovering Your Brand!

Have you started by looking at your passions, interests, experiences, skills, abilities and perhaps what others say you are great at?   This will be a great place to start.

As you begin exploring this and refining it, you can also then start with building your identity through technology and with tools and resources.

You might create a blog and start getting video’s on YouTube, Instagram, and using Facebook daily, and also joining groups of similar themes so you can connect with others.   Remember – much of it can be FREE.

You can also use Twitter and start adding tweets and re-tweeting well known Tweeters etc!   The point is that you are where your fans are.

Start adding posts and add your amazing video’s to your Blog and ask questions to potential customers about your brand.

So What Is Going To Drive Your Personal Branding strategy?  Will you use surveys, polls and so on to gather that data?  I recommend it.

Now, let’s get back to YOU and what makes you feel passionate.

What do you love to do?  What is your motivation for getting up?  Do you know your reason or your ‘Why’?

Before you can set about creating your personal branding activities you need to know what you stand for.

Without knowing where you are coming from how can others?   Will your business shout FUN, or will it be more traditional?  Could it be Global, or more personal. and local?   It’s a bit like the Car you choose to drive. A Mini is kind of fun, whereas a Range Rover is more of a Prestige Status thing.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: 

Once you have started to create your logo and brand image you can share your name and create a launch.

Build up your first launch and create a strategy in order to create some kind of frenzy.  If you start a shop, container business or food van then book a date to open for your SOFT LAUNCH.  This can be a great way to create that initial buzz.

Start to write Articles or posts or hire others to do so also.  Write about what you know and what your niche is – and at the bottom of your article you will add the URL to your products. This is all about connecting the pieces together.  Drive interest and hire media experts to help if needed.

Be organised and plan.

There is nothing worse than a business that has not planned their strategy for launch.

What else may help you?

I created my first eBook to help my brand – and now have 25 ebooks all in the mindset and business niches.   Each book provides value, and connects to what I do but also has links at the bottom of each eBook to send them to my coaching.   I also Co-run a Podcast which helps to attract the attention of the right types.

We know who was good at that don’t we?  Yes PRINCE!

Never miss a trick.

You have to start a Fan page or Group on Facebook also!

Get over there and set up a Group or Fan page and start SHARING WHAT YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT once you are ready to go!

So, start creating that buzz around you and what you do!

Ask people to ‘LIKE’ your page or to join your group to help elevate your brand positioning.

You will want to make your page look professional and have RELEVANT CONTENT TO YOUR BRAND with some slick graphics if possible so that you are presenting yourself as a professional who is cool and modern!

Do you use Quora, Tumblr, Pinterest or other platforms yet?

Let Me Explain, these sites vary, but the point is that you can create a buzz by using them, and you can create a following who can follow you.

You can add pictures, Websites, video or a URL or article – which is appropriate to your reader/viewer and delivers questions or solutions to others –  that you want to share to give value.

You can grow a healthy following of those interested in the stuff you have added, thus it creates a kind of theme for you – and builds a picture of you and your brand and what interests you too.

This enables total strangers to get a glimpse into your life and may eventually lead to opt ins and even sales.

Have business cards?

You can even get business cards made from various companies who will give you your first 250 cards for free and you can design the cards too.  So when you are travelling around at events, conferences, meetings, or shows you will get into conversations  and you can then PASS ON one of your cards IF THEY ASK FOR ONE!  Use print companies to create flyers, branded merchandise, logo work and branded documents.

In doing so, you can kind of get others to know you and trust you already, you see!  EVEN before they buy sometimes.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: There are many other social sites online that you can join and start building a profile in.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

Make sure you add tons of photo’s of yourself and your life so that people can relate to you and get onto the professional sites.

PRINCE and Your Brand Creation: LinkedIn For Pro’s

Now that you are professional you will want to join LinkedIn also. This is where your Pro Profile is shared with other Pro’s and you can get a great name for yourself and your talents there. Build a good picture of yourself and again join groups which you are similar to and just bring value and network there.

A great brand needs great exposure.

DO NOT POST OPPORTUNITIES THERE THOUGH!  This is a respected place for business professionals. Optimize your profile, ensure that it is highly attractive to potential business partners, JV’s, connections and you may even pick up new clients or customers there.

IMPORTANT Remember To:

1) Focus on WHAT YOU CAN DO! Not What You Have No Control Over!  – HIRE others to help you with your weaker areas.
2) Create polls, questionnaires, surveys etc.  – Focus on attainable focused objectives, gather your data to help you better nail the brand
3) Set A timeline for achieving Your objectives – You must know your daily goals and measure them to complete the most important tasks
4) Align your findings with your personal branding –  Its time to start building and refining your awesome brand message
5) Be results-oriented – Focus on hitting specific targets to reach conclusions and get your brand applied to all parts of your business

 

It doesn't matter how long it takes to get right, what matters is that it is the right design, identity and logo message.

So, start looking at other brands whom you appreciate, respect, admire or buy into.

Take notes and gather information about ‘why’ they appeal so much.  Which brands reflect YOU or what you stand for the most?  Which brands could be similar to what you stand for?  What might you do to stand out from nearest competition?   What brand names might best reflect what you stand for?  What brand name might connect to your ultimate customer?

TIP:  Always bear in mind what I said earlier that; it’s not about ‘what you like alone’ as this is may be simply appealing – but it may not be relevant.

Ensure it speaks directly in a way which builds an emotional connection with your ultimate customer.

Never forget also that your brand can connect emotionally in various ways. Some brands are more serious and perhaps high brow, whilst others are more fun and almost childlike.

So, you wanna be like PRINCE?   I hope not, I hope you are just as original in your own right!

Do it your way and:

Get the timing right, 
Get the message right, 
Get your tagline right.

NOTE: There is a lot of NOISE out there today and frankly much of it is quite annoying, so don’t get drowned out amongst those noisy types, work hard on your brand and it will speak for itself.   Your message, tagline and words extend from your brand, so it all matters and this includes font type, colour, layout and size, so get help if needed to maximise your power.

Finally – My favorite book on this which I studied recently was called ‘Great British Brands of 2016’ which had a host of Great British Brands in many sectors and the book explains WHY these worked so well compared to their competition.   You can find many books on brands, videos, audios, podcasts and so on to help get your juices flowing. 

I hope that this has helped you out

As always the very best

Greg

LEARN HOW TO CREATE  $10K PER MONTH MICRO OR SMALL BUSINESS HERE IN MY LOW COST SELF STUDY COURSE with every tool you could ever need to be the best. 

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PRINCE and Your Brand Creation

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GregDeTisi

Author and Small Business Blogger at Greg De Tisi Writing and Small Business Blogging

Author, course creator and business blogger - Greg has been supporting Small Business clients from all backgrounds all over the globe for over 15 years in developing ideas and passions into sustainable Small Business Models. Greg now has more of a focus on supporting his local business community in Bristol UK.