Chapter 7

Forging Your Brand

In This Chapter

arrow Defining what brands are and why they’re important

arrow Beginning to build your brand

arrow Positioning your brand in your market

arrow Using taglines to enhance your brand

arrow Developing your brand message, creative strategy, and consistent style

We’re just a small business,” you may be thinking. “We’re not Coca-Cola or Nike, with a bazillion-dollar ad budget and a global market. We’re just 12 people trying to build a half million dollars in sales. We hardly need a brand.”

Guess what? A brand isn’t some mysterious, expensive treasure available only to the rich and famous. And it isn’t just for mega-marketers, though they all have one.

Branding simply (well, maybe not all that simply) involves developing and consistently communicating a set of positive characteristics that consumers can relate to your name. If those characteristics happen to fill a meaningful and available position in their minds — a need they’ve been sensing and trying to fill — then you just ...

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