Well, what to say?

Almost everything you ever run, Sylvie and Michel, is right on the money, but this is what they call sheer genius – up there with Einstein and Newton..

You go through a series of easy tactical steps any fool can follow, then just “Register YourName.com if it’s available, add your picture and post a couple of your articles” – and that’s it. All you need to know about building a brand.

So this is how P & G – or Amazon – built brands.

I am awed! What a mind! Plank is what the world needs.

Can he spare half an hour, maybe less, to give us a 3 minute launch programme that will get rid of recession, followed by a 10 minute programme that will sort out global warming?

Minds like this are in a very special category all their own.

Hi Plank,

thanks for all the tips, I think I’m just half way through in what you have written, and now with your guide line, I suppose is much more easier for me to lay my plan now. Thanks !

The Bad Blogger

@Drayton Bird – Drayton, thanks for commenting, though you make a great point in which branding is not as simplistic and tactical as Robert points out.

Branding is a heckulalot more complex than that, and it’s incredibly important — even for small businesses. As one person eloquently commented on Facebook where I posted about this article just a minute ago, “Almost any product can be copied but it’s far more difficult to copy a brand and a good brand has superior financial value.” And I agree 100%.

I’m a big believer in branding. I don’t necessarily subscribe to Robert’s point of view, but I think in this case Robert (though I can’t speak for him) is simply saying that branding is often the core focus of small entrepreneurs merely for ego-centric purposes, rather than their customers, much less their profitability.

In a sense, and in Robert’s defense, what I’m understanding from his article is that too many small businesses focus heavily on branding without care or concern for their mission, their business model, doing what they do (and doing it well), and above all, their customers. They attempt to look “like the big guns” and forget that a company’s purpose is to make money.

@Drayton Bird –

I understand you are responding to the line “That’s all you need to know about branding.” which is an oversimplification obviously…but really, how many people who moan and complain about their failures even do what Robert listed? In my experience, not many.

While simple, the steps listed above are at the core of even the biggest “IM gurus”. It’s all about building the list and making the list pay.

I just had a lesson in branding recently when i started my own mailing list. It really is that easy. It took me 12 months to build up to 80 RSS subscribers, and 2 months to built up to 300 newsletter subscribers. Now I have a poll on my site askting people wat product they’d like me to launch, and 60% have said online personal training, which is something I wanted to do when I first started my website. Back them, I didn’t have a brand. Now I do. People recognize me and their willing to pay good money for my advice. Now it’s not as easy as Robert summarized, however having a mailing list is extremely important. COmmunicating with your readers is extremely important. That is how you biuld up a brand, and I’m glad that Robert is talking about mailing lists. Not enough people do it. RSS has not yet replaced email newsletters.

I’m not sure I understand why you need a squeeze page if you have a web site? Can’t you just promote your “freebie” at the site?

Can someone explain?

@Michel Fortin –
Here’s what i posted which Michel very kindly refers to. “An interesting article and whilst I don’t disagree with his advice as what should be done first I definitely disagree that it is all that you need to know about branding. I tell my students that successful branding is a key competitive advantage. Almost any product can be copied but it’s far more difficult to copy a brand and a good brand has superior financial value.” I just want to add that i agree 100% with everything that Michel writes above about branding as Michel is a true marketing guru). I also agree with Drayton Bird’s comment. I only wanted to alert people to the danger of thinking that “That’s all you need to know about branding.”

@Drayton Bird: I understand where you are coming from. By “all you need to know about branding” I meant all you NEED to know about branding. There still might be more you WANT to know. But Michel hit it on the head. If your name is Mike Filsaime, Armand Morin or Michel Fortin you already have traffic, a list, a blog, affiliates, a PPC budget… then branding is more of a priority.

But I run across people all the time who put 90% of their energy into their “brand” … wasting money on silly stuff like Twitter graphics, when they don’t even have a product yet. If you have everything in steps 1-5 then please keep building your brand… but until then… you’re focusing on the wrong thing.

@Alice: The great thing about having a squeeze page is that you can choose either to promote the squeeze or promote the sales letter directly. What if you sent half your PPC and article traffic to the squeeze page, and the other half to the sales letter? Then you could see if the squeeze helped or hurt your sales. I bet if the squeeze page was more profitable you’d keep the squeeze page in place, even if you were against the idea of squeeze pages.

@Alice –
Yes you can do that but then people will come, take the freebies and probably never come back (or rarely because life takes over and they forget about your site).

But if you have an opt-in page, you get their email address, and then you can remind them of who you are and what you offer so that they come back again and again and ultimately buy something from you.

Jack

Awesome article Robert.

In fact, I used (and today recommend to my coaching clients) this plan when I got started, except that I replaced the “freelance” part with “promoting other people’s products”

I like this plan,

You give step by step stuff.

Great advice if you are say, into affiliate marketing

However, if you are into Network Marketing I would have to say branding is extremely important.

In fact, since so many in NM try to sell you their opportunity upfront, it may be a good idea to spend time branding yourself and socializing properly before putting up your opportunity page.

Without an opportunity to talk about they may actually establish some relationships first.

For independent professionals and small (micro?) businesses, I think the topic of branding is overrated, and misguided. Your “Personal Brand” or company’s brand is nothing more and no less than your reputation. And your reputation is built one interaction at a time.

I say this because so many gloss over the topic of reputation and skip right to brand, and (ugh) brand image. Most point that I see being made by people who prattle on about personal branding still apply if your focus is on your reputation. You can create the most amazing brand image possible, but if you treat your prospects and customers poorly, that brand isn’t got to keep your business afloat.

This even works for large companies. Starbucks never spent a dime on advertising (as 2006, the last time I spoke with an acquaintance who was a District Manager there). The TV ads you saw for their line of grocery products was paid for by the company who was manufacturing them. Pepsi, I believe. Their success was built on quality and consistency. Their Baristas in every single store were trained, encouraged and rewarded for connecting with customers. They are notorious for memorizing the faces, names and preferred drinks of their regulars. And those drinks are made with a consistency such that you know you’re going to get the same drink in any of their locations. They grew into the monolithic success that they are today because they built a great reputation for themselves. Starbucks would have seen the same success even if they didn’t have the mermaid logo, and served their drinks in dixie cups.

Every business owner would see their bottom line improve by leaps and bounds if they fostered a culture of service and positive interaction with their customers. If they viewed their business as having a reputation built on strength of character, and not a brand.

Dan, I really liked your post and I see no contradiction between building a reputation and a brand. If you research branding (as I have I also teach marketing as well as practice it) you will find that most academic experts agree that reputation is part of a brand and the better your reputation the higher your brand value. So, I think we’re arguing about terminology not good marketing practice. A brand is built (or destroyed) by your ‘touchpoints’ — all the places where people come into contact with your brand and, as you so rightly say, that includesgood service. (Severely lacking the further east you go, here, in Europe). Your brand, in short, is what your customers, partners, etc. think about you and, so the best way to build a strong brand is, as Michel says, (I paraphrase) to do right by people.

@Dan – Your Reputation is your Brand

My previous comment probably looked that way, but I wasn’t merely arguing about terminology. I’ll give you an example of how I see entrepreneurs tripping themselves up by focusing on superficial branding versus branding that built on reputation.

There’s a gentleman I met who is sitting on a business idea that has potential, from what I picked up in our conversation. However, instead of doing something like Perry Marshall suggests, and testing the idea by putting up a squeeze page and driving some traffic to it, he is worried about his brand image. Banal stuff like his corporate logo, business card design, etc. So he’ll waste time and money on superficial pieces of the puzzle before he even attempts to find out if there’s a market for his idea.

That’s the focus on branding I am talking about.

Another way of putting it is considering what would have become of Starbucks if they obsessed over the logo on the cup instead of focusing on great customer interactions. I’m sure they spent time and money creating and cultivating a brand image, but it was supplementary to what really made their company successful.

The reason I push the use of reputation over branding is because the word reputation is clear cut, while the term branding is often times misleading.

@Dan – Hi Dan, I absolutely agree with everything you write. Branding is a complicated topic: there are plenty of academic and practical books written about what it is! So, yes, for the newcomer, tell them to concentrate on reputation rather than all the things which people think are branding but really are not, like logo. But by building their reputation they ARE, as I’m sure you know, building their brand! Here are some textbook definitions of terms:
Brand
An identifying name, term, design, or symbol
One item, family of items, or all items of a seller
Corvette, Chevrolet, General Motors
Brand Name
The part of a brand that can be spoken
Words, letters, numbers
Union 76, NBA, 49’ers
Brand Mark
The part of a brand not made up of words
Symbols or designs
Nike swoosh, Mercedes star, McDonald’s arches.

This one I like better:
BRAND
A name becomes a brand when consumers associate it with a set of tangible and intangible benefits that they obtain from the product or service
It is the seller’s promise to deliver the same bundle of benefits / services consistently to buyers
BUT it’s by no means the whole BRAND story!

Discussing the topic in depth here is preaching to the choir. We’re a group in tune with the principles of direct marketing, and debating semantics. My challenge comes from interactions with lay persons whose understanding is based on skimming a couple of books and a handful of blog posts. Those sorts are thoroughly confused about the whole topic. I’m sure many here share in my delight regarding those sorts of conversations.

All You Need to Know About Branding in 5 Steps – http://tinyurl.com/cqulnp
This comment was originally posted on Twitter

Excellent advice, though I think a little light on the promotional specifics. Still, a worthwhile read. Thanks for this.

For an interesting look at a City’s attempt to re-brand itself, take a look at Lexington, Kentucky’s recent attempts. The local government is trying to build on its declaration of “horse capitol of the world.” Currently, that is leading them to follow the advice of a NYC firm’s recommendation that they build a gigantic blue horse they’re calling Big Lex. The counter argument from individuals invested in the decision (because they live there) is that Lexington should focus on its people and culture, not merely a gimmicky horse of gargantuan proportions.

Here’s a link to a prescient article by one of Lexington’s blogging businessmen:
lowells.typepad.com/lowells/2009/04/a-better-brand-for-lexin...

This whole debacle happening over there is a prime example of what I was pointing out earlier. Image Branding versus Reputation Branding.

All You Need to Know About Branding in 5 Steps http://bit.ly/9qCjN
This comment was originally posted on Twitter