How To Brand Yourself and Your Solo Business

Branding has been an interesting topic for quite some time now. Most people associate branding with packaging designs, but that is just a small part of it. The reality is that any business, no matter its size, is going to need a brand. The brand is how your company is perceived by clients and customers that see you.

It’s also the main responsible for how they perceive your identity. If you run your small business building, a brand might sound a bit fancy. However, you shouldn’t ignore this aspect because it is going to help you in the long term. By having your brand voice established, you make sure that you are going to communicate throughout social media and any other channel.

You need to pay attention to this and be responsible for any decision that you take. So let’s discover more about why having a brand for a solo business is something to consider.

Branding for solo businesses

One of the best ways to stand out among many other services professionals in your category is by having a unique brand. This is going to set your business apart and get more attention.

Look at Lamborghini and its logo. Even people who don’t know much about cars can figure out the Lambo logo out of the crowd.

Any solo entrepreneur wants to have the best image for his services. Even if you don’t realize it, each one of us also has a personal brand. Real estate agents, dentists, or barbers, for example, are the perfect example of what a solopreneur means. So in industries like this, we have to say it is quite important to have a well-established brand.

Improving your brand is one of the most challenging things to do. If your business reduces just to you, pitching services, making calls, invoicing, and many other tasks spending time to create your brand can feel unnecessary for sure.

Start with a plan

Small or big businesses have entire departments that are responsible for how the company gets branded. Think about what defines your company, what does it stand for.

This sounds like complicated questions, but once there is an answer, they are going to help for sure. More or less, this is how you start to create your brand, it must reflect your uniqueness through a unique website, a unique logo, unique message and so on. It needs to totally represent who you are and what you are going to bring to the business.

Define your brand

Any brand has a strategy behind that is present all the time. You will see that it gets incorporated into all aspects of the business. Don’t fake it; be honest with your companies vision and add layer by layer till you get everything mapped out.

If your motivation is to gain attention, new clients, or just build your business, you need to focus on becoming an expert in your field. Stay away from any kind of field that doesn’t connect with your mission, goals, or vision. If you do so, you are just going to end up wasting your precious time.

Watch the competition

A good learning subject is actually your competition. If you study and check what they do, you can see how they are promoting themselves. Note down what you like so you can develop from that. More importantly, note down what you don’t like so you can stay away from that kind of idea.

The next step would be to promote your brand in from of their customers to offer what they lack from your competitors. This works best if you have a local business. For example, if you have a spa, look at your competitors’ websites, social media interactions, and ads. Then, improve your website based on a SWOT analysis of your competitors, develop better social media interactions and create better spa advertisements than your competirors.

Focus on your presence

If people start to search you on Google, make sure that your brand content is connected with the keywords they are searching for. One way you can use to do so is to create a basic online presence. This can be done with a small website or even a blog. It’s your call!

Develop a website

A portfolio is, most of the time, one of the best ways to illustrate your experience. This can also be used to send the message of your brand to any watcher. Any post that you do is going to be a reflection of who you are. Make it count and think before you let something out online.

Start doing stuff

Social media is one of the best ways to showcase your brand. You can create different profiles that people start to watch and interact with. For sure, behind any brand is a person that speaks in the name of that company. This is why the person in charge of such aspect needs to be aligned with the company mission.

Join Groups

Discover groups on social media channels related to the specific interests of your business. Joining a group is an easy way to connect and share your knowledge with others.

Avoid focusing just on sales because people are going to feel this, and the groups might ignore all of the brand’s messages. Make sure that the information is linked to added value or topics of interest for all the members that are part of the group.

Another interesting way to promote yourself and to create a nice personal brand is by using a coworking space. In this way, you can network with various people and businesses, and by interacting with them, you will promote your brand to their friends and collaborators as well by making them your brand ambassadors. This sounds really pretentious on paper. To put it simple, they’ll generate referrals for you by talking about your brand with others.

Share

If your brand connects with the idea of vulnerability and openness, then it is probably best to dive into all kinds of subjects. However, if those two are not on the list, keep sharing at a minimum. This is going to make the followers feel the human side of the brand.

Value your brand

All materials from the online to the offline medium need to help your brand image. Anywhere you go, you are going to embody a person that is going to associate with your business. If you have a say in the identity of your company, you can show different things like your logo, website, or mission statement.

The logo

A logo represents any brand in a graphic way, but it is not the entire brand. Most of the time, you don’t even need one in order to build your business. Your brand is who you are and what you stand for, not an image.

The 3 Cs

Branding also has different concepts now that should be noted done. The 3 Cs are:

• clarity
• consistency
• constancy

If you know them, you will be able to express your brand through a different communication medium. Find out what do you want to fit in and then stay visible to your target audience.

Feedback

Feedback is always important, no matter the subject we are talking about. Get feedback from friends, home, or even work. Notice how they relate to you and what do they think. It is going to help you get a clearer note of your strengths.

You can also use a chat plugin on your site, if using WordPress, so that you can get feedback faster from your visitors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating your brand is a self-discovery journey. It gets done by asking a lot of questions and after applying some simple principles that you need to follow. What is your brand about?