When small businesses think about branding, they often make the Goldilocks mistake.
First, they think that branding is too big for them, that it’s only for big companies with buckets of money to spend. That’s hogwash!
Or they think too small: they think that if they just have a nice logo, they have a brand. That’s also hogwash!
(I don’t mean to insult anyone. Actually hogwash is really important–when you want clean hogs!) Read more…
Every business needs a sense of mission. But I’ll tell you what a business does NOT need: one of those Deadly, Dry, Dull mission statements.
You know what I’m talking about: reading most mission statements is about as exciting as watching grass grow in the middle of winter!
For some reason, when business people begin writing a mission statement, they start using complicated, cliché language they would never use in ordinary conversation. Everyone nods their heads at mission statements like this—and then they nod off. There’s nothing to argue with. But also nothing to get passionate about. Read more…
“Don’t talk to me about branding!” said the small business owner on the phone.
“I don’t need any of that, it’s a waste of money. I just want more sales.”
I understood why he felt this way. But he was dead wrong.
There’s a reason why 80% of purchases in America are brand name purchases. And there’s a reason why big companies calculate that 50% of the value of their companies comes directly from their brand. Read more…
