Goals - Essential Part of the Branding Process

Both in my corporate and entrepreneurial brand development and graphic design work, goals are a significant part of any business and thought-leadership development process. Without goals, you don't have focus and it is impossible to measure desired results. You have to know where you want to be, where you currently are, and how you plan to get to where you desire in order to develop a strong presence and recognizable brand. Often in brand development, we work on SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Timeframe-specific.

1. You want your goals to be specific (For example, I want to write 3 white papers on nutrition and well-being)
2. You want to determine how you will measure your success. There can be multiple ways to measure your success. Find the best ways for you and write them down.
3. List the actions that you will take to achieve each step in the process. Will you need others to help you? Do you need to conduct research?
4. Make sure that your goals are realistic. Have you given yourself enough time to accomplish your goals? Have enough knowledge on the subject? Is it within your thought-leadership?
5. Set the timeframe that you want to accomplish your goals. For example, I want to write these 3 white papers in the next 90-days.

Here is a short clip of Personal Brand Guru and Reach Personal Branding Founder, William Arruda, talking about the importance of goal-setting and other ways to set goals.

Personal Branding - Know Your Goals from William Arruda on Vimeo.

A Branding Expert Rebrands in a Difficult Market

What I admire most about Catherine Kaputa's messages (in this interview as well as in her book: The Female Brand) is her emphasis on and passion for helping women leaders and professionals discover and build their brand in ways that speak to the challenges faced each day within companies and small businesses. Especially in times, such as these, when professionals and entrepreneurs need to stand out more than ever as well as be the leaders that they want to be within their organizations and that their teams need them to be.

Interview of personal brand strategist, Catherine Kaputa, on how she rebranded her company and retooled the focus of her small business.

Brands of a Feather Flock Together

Brands of a Feather Flock Together — Recently, a blogger asked: Can your personal brand be affected by those who follow you on Twitter? What say you? I say “yes”. You might think that’s kind of harsh especially when those of us who have any presence on...

With social networking being such an important topic for entrepreneurs and women business leaders, it is important to know some essentials when joining and maintaining your online presence throughout the different social sites. In this article, Maria Elena Duron gives expert advice on managing your 'flock.'

How do you manage Your online presence? Feel free to add your comments below.

McDonald's Brand Arches Go Turquoise

On my first visit to Sedona, Arizona, I drove past a McDonald's and was surprised to see that the famous Golden Arches were turquoise. (took the photo shown here).

Having studied brands for many years, the change in color caught my eye. The Golden Arches have been the famous symbol of this global fast-food hamburger chain and seeing this, I wondered if this was the only location that the well-known symbol is a different color. (Yes.)

Wikipedia gives this brief summary about the change: "The McDonald's in Sedona, Arizona is the only one in the world with turquoise arches. They are not yellow because the city thought they would mesh poorly with the surrounding red rocks. The first color McDonald's offered was turquoise which the city accepted."

What does this change say about their brand recognition? One of the main goals of branding (for 'big' brands as well as for women business leaders) is to create an identifiable visual mark (logo) that makes your business distinct; this includes consistency in the mark's color. But does this change in color hurt the McDonald's brand? It actually seems like good example of effective brand development. For approximately 60 years since the introduction of the golden arches, McDonald's has maintained a strong presence and consistent marketing of their "M" mark. At this point of their brand recognition, it makes sense to say that no matter what color the mark, it will be recognized simply by the unique shape of the "M" that we are all so used to seeing.

>> history of the McDonald's Golden Arches

Heaviside: Personal brands must be developed, nurtured and protected

Take a tip from Oprah, Martha Stewart or even Donald Trump. Personal branding works. When Oprah recommends a book, it rockets to the top of the best-seller lists. When Martha pulls out her glue gun, the shelves of craft stores are left bare and when The Donald puts out the word, investors line up to be part of his latest project.

Martha, Oprah and Donald may be Oscar winners in the world of personal branding, but we all can use some of the same branding techniques to build our business or to turbo-charge our career.

Of course, branding isn’t new. Its roots were set when consumer product marketing discovered that connecting everyday commodities to our dreams shaped consumer preferences. Soon women with Dove-soft skin were also flashing Crest-white smiles. Today, show me a company on the Fortune 500 list and I’ll show you a budget of millions spent on promoting and protecting a brand – particularly when the economy hits a rocky time.

Branding moved out of the corporate world when Tom Peters, the management guru (yes, that’s his brand), coined the phrase “personal branding” in an article in Fast magazine in 1997.

Personal branding is really all about reputation – building it, managing it and sometimes repairing it. When businesses were much more local, our reputation was known by our customers, clients, bosses or co-workers. Today, with reputations built and lost in a Tweet, personal branding is a strategy you can’t afford to ignore.

If you’re ready to reach for the stars and start to brand yourself, here are some things to consider:

Start with the end in mind: Becoming well-known is only a strategy to get you to your ultimate goal, whether it’s bringing in business or advancing your career. Building a brand starts with doing what you do really well and doing it consistently. After that, be sure that every action you take communicates and strengthens that personal brand.

Check your inventory (or look in the mirror): Google your own name, review your LinkedIn profile, Facebook postings, YouTube videos, tweets and blogs. Do they reinforce your own unique selling point or do they send the wrong message? Since social media has come out of the backpack and into the boardroom, what we have online can build or damage your career or business.

Spotlight your brand: Leadership happens, but only if people know and respect your talents and experience. That means work – lots of it. Some sure-fire ways to build that brand:

• Write articles and share your expertise.
• Be interviewed by reporters that cover your field.
• Speak at seminars or on panels.
• Post comments on blogs or write your own blog.
• Participate in social networks.
• Post TV interviews on your Web site and on YouTube.

These are all building blocks to a strong personal brand, and while they are time consuming, many can be delegated and managed by others. In fact, the fastest growing area of Epoch 5’s business is writing and maintaining Facebook pages for clients who want to stay in touch with their customers or potential customers.

Protect your brand: A strong personal brand is very much an insurance policy against some of the inevitable bumps in the road in one’s career or business – so protect that brand. Coke will sue a small soda shop for substituting another brand and calling it “Coke” and Disney has an army of lawyers at the ready for anyone who misuses one of its characters. On a more local level, every one of us has to protect our brand by being sure that we don’t post less-than-flattering messages on the Internet or in angry letters to the editor. Be vigilant about checking your reputation or your company’s reputation by monitoring the Internet on a daily basis and respond quickly to negative comments.

If your reputation does take a hit, just keep in mind that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who was rejected from his own company and became the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, came back to become Fortune magazine’s “CEO of the Decade.”

Personal branding works – and it can work for you.

Katherine Heaviside is president of Epoch 5, a full-service public relations firm with specialty areas in real estate, health care, energy, education and professional services. Visit www.epoch5.com or contact Katherine at kheaviside@epoch5.com.

Branding Your Nonprofit's Mission - Six Items to Consider Before You Start

In the following article by Executive & Life Coach, Sharon L. Mikrut, she speaks to the importance of branding your nonprofit organization to build recognition, credibility, and gain the attention of the audience and investors who want and need to know about you. In addition to the post below, I would like to add a few key brand elements that you must also consider for successful brand development and marketing of your brand.

Before You Can Create (or Recreate) Your Organization's Logo

1. Understand your current reputation and exposure: Know where you currently are to know where you want and need to go with your brand and marketing reach, so that you can measure your results
2. Clarify your vision and purpose for your organization: The thing that inspires me the most when working with nonprofit organizations is that their vision is exceptional, personal, and there is a vast audience who wants to share in it. The key is to clarify that vision so that others easily grasp it and feel it as deeply as you do.
3. Be completely clear about your audience: When you are clear who you are reaching out to, you will be able to develop a plan of action to reach out to them using the right marketing tools.
4. Establish your core values: Your core values are essentially what you base every decision on in your organization. With each opportunity that you are presented, ask yourself, "does this align with the organization's core values?"

The following is a helpful article by Executive & Life Coach, Sharon L. Mikrut

Article by Executive & Life Coach, Sharon L. Mikrut:

Nonprofit organizations have a myriad of issues they need to deal with on a daily basis, leaving them with little time to focus on branding their mission and organization. However, it is important that they allocate some time and money to branding, as good branding will establish a solid identity, making it easier for clients and stakeholders to recognize and grasp the organization's mission. In addition, recognition helps organizations to solicit clients, raise funds, and improve collaborative relationships. This article provides six items to consider in branding your organization.

1. Assess your organization's current brand. Do you have a logo? What colors do you use? Are your logo and colors on all of your marketing materials, including your website? Do they complement the mission of your organization? If you are not happy with your current branding, perhaps it is time to invest time and money in creating a brand that reflects your organization's mission.
2. Hire or barter with a graphic artist. Graphic artists can help you develop a logo that best reflects what your organization does, choose colors that represent the "feel" of your organization, and ensure that your branding is consistent on all marketing materials.
3. Choose a logo that represents the mission of the organization. For example, if your organization serves children, you may want a logo that includes children, represents the services or products provided to them, or reflects the image of what your services can do to help children. Look at United Way's logo. It is a hand that has a human figure in it. Over the figure's head is an orange arch or rainbow. The feeling that this logo conveys is that the organization is extending a hand to help and support people, with the overall goal of personal empowerment and growth.
4. Choose colors that complement your mission. For example, if you provide bereavement services, you may want to avoid bright and bold colors. Instead, your focus may be on deeper or more soothing colors, such as blue, dark green, or burgundy. Regardless of the colors you choose, make sure they are consistent on all materials. In others words, you don't want a light green color on one document and a dark green color on a separate document, if your sole color is dark green. In branding, consistency is key to recognition.
5. Prior to developing or revamping your brand, solicit ideas from your clients, staff, board members, and other stakeholders. Some people are extremely creative and have a knack for developing images that represent a specific cause or mission. You might consider holding a contest to see who develops the most creative and applicable logo. You could then announce the winner via your newsletter, website, or at a specific function.
6. Once you design and select a draft logo, share it with your internal and external stakeholders for final input. Not only does this effort get them involved in the process, but it helps to keep the logo fresh in their mind, making it easier for them to share it and what it stands for with other stakeholders and the community.

Branding is critical for consumers and the public to easily recognize your organization and its purpose. Therefore, it's critical that you commit the necessary time, energy, and resources upfront to developing a brand that will serve you well into the future.

If you want to make positive changes in your personal and/or professional life, and create the life you desire and deserve, then working with Executive & Life Coach, Sharon L. Mikrut, is the solution. Although her specialty is in partnering with nonprofit executive directors and managers to maximize their resources in a competitive environment, she is passionate about working with all individuals committed to personal and/or professional growth. Visit her website at http://www.createitcoaching.org and sign up for her free monthly messages, tidbits, and resource information. In addition, visit her "Nonprofit Professionals" blog at http://www.createitcoaching.com Sharon is also available to speak to your group, association or organization. Copyright 2009 Sharon L. Mikrut, All rights reserved.

Small Business Branding - Things to Consider

Branding is a term often tossed about the business world that describes how customers and other companies view a certain business. There are some consulting companies that do nothing but help other companies develop their brand in order to help a business grow. However, many owners of small businesses are reluctant to invest in any type of formal branding procedures because it may seem like a waste of money, especially if funding is low.

But small business branding does not have to cost a fortune. In fact, every business has a brand, whether they have paid to develop that brand or not. Your brand begins the moment you make your first sale, and you must work diligently to make sure that your company's reputation only gets better from that point on.

Your company's brand is really a broad overview of how others in the marketplace, including your customers and competitors, view your company. Your brand is composed of many factors, including the quality of your products, the level of customer service you provide, your personal qualifications to sell or develop the product and your commitment to bringing additional high quality products to the market. Other factors include your company mission statement and how well you stick to it, along with how you rank next to other companies.

Another contributing factor in your brand is the appearance of your company's logo. Logos are visual representations that are designed to encompass the core essence of your company and set it apart from other companies. The best logos are instantly recognizable and don't require a great deal of customer analysis in order to understand what it means.

If you run an online business, you can learn a lot about how customers view your company by studying your website traffic over a period of time. You can recognize repeat customers and visitors, while running tests to determine if certain sales or products pull more traffic than others. Another way to build customer loyalty and to improve your small business branding is to offer more value for less money than your competitors or even offer heavily discounted or free products and services.

These are some of the many factors that work together to form your small business brand, and it may feel overwhelming to consider improving your brand. The good news is that not all branding development requires a major overhaul of your company. A good place to start refining your brand is with your company mission.

Chances are you started your company because you felt passionate about offering the product or service that your company sells. What makes your product different or better than other similar products out there? What user experience do you offer that sets your company apart form your competitors? Is your company the top performing company in this niche, or quickly gaining ground on the leader?

These are some of the many questions you can consider when it comes to improving your small business branding. Focus on improving and streamlining each aspect of your company's customer experience and you will be on your way to developing a strong and successful brand for your small business.

For further reference, read on small business branding and visit http://www.smallwebusiness.com/. Plus you can learn many great tips for starting a successful small business.

Personal Branding For Women Leaders

Branding and personal branding are hot topics in business and personal development now. Why all the buzz? Businesses and people with the strongest brands are the most successful and make the most money. You may think it is odd that a person would have a brand. A brand is more than a logo. In the case of a personal brand, your brand is a sum of your behaviors, attitudes, actions and personal style. It's what you are known for and makes up your reputation and image.

It's the same for business, except businesses use logos, websites and marketing materials to represent those qualities. To be noticed and be a successful leader, you should be able to define your personal brand. Your personal brand is a combination of who you are and what you stand for.

Wildly successful, Oprah clearly knows who she is and what she stands for - empowering women. Her personality, vision for and commitment to women has contributed to her phenomenal success.

Who do you admire? What are her personal qualities? What contributes to her success?

You can strengthen your presence, your leadership, your results by focusing on and identifying your personal strengths and talents (who you are) and what difference you want to make and what results you want to create (what you stand for.)

You'll know you have a strong personal brand when you show up and people say about you:

• I need to meet her
• She is someone I need to know
• Or other people will say, "You need to know her" about you.

Other ways you'll know you have a strong personal brand are that you are top-of-mind for special projects, promotions, big opportunities, new clients. People trust you because they know who you are and what you stand for.

Women don't always take time to focus on who they are. We try to be everything to everybody in order to avoid conflict, be helpful, keep the relationships. This comes from that outdated superwoman myth. Time to abolish that notion!

Top leaders know what to say yes to and when to say no, which I find is a skill women often need to learn. You strengthen your personal brand and leadership style when you understand when to say yes and when to say no.

I firmly believe that women can be leaders in restoring the economy by focusing on who they are and what they do best. It's a great time to identify your personal brand of leadership.

To get started on your personal brand:

1. List three to five areas where you really shine. Identify situations where you felt the most satisfied. One of my personal examples is a team sales pitch I led for a former employer that resulted in winning a large account with a Fortune 500 company. The skills and talents I used to lead that process are part of my personal brand.
2. Purchase the book, "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. It comes with a code for an online assessment that will identify your top five talents. The book offers suggestions for each talent identified.

To know what you stand for, take some time to think about:
1. What do I want to create? What results? What relationships?
2. Where are my passions? What difference do I want to make?

Mother Teresa stood for ending poverty and hunger. Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, stood for helping tribes in indigenous cultures create micro-economies. Women like Mary Kay Ash and Estee Lauder had a unique vision and used their talents to innovate both cosmetics and a business model that supports women.

Your personal brand is already within you. When you are clear on who you are and what you offer, you can be unstoppable. Defining your personal brand will enhance your reputation, build your confidence and empower you as a leader.

© 2009 Kathy Garland, all rights reserved.

Kathy Garland, http://www.kathygarland.com is a transformational leader who works with women leaders on their brands, client acquisition and creating focus for the future and frequently writes and speaks on these topics. She resides in McKinney, Texas and works with clients on branding and client acquisition across the U. S. and Canada.