10 Steps to Building a Strong Brand

You want to start a busi­ness, but it’ll be just you or just you and a small team. Start­ing a solo or microbusi­ness can be over­whelm­ing unless you have a plan. It’s imper­a­tive to know from the start how to make your busi­ness stand out. And, how you’re going to con­nect with the right audi­ence to build your community/tribe. So how do you make your busi­ness stand out and con­nect with your tribe? By build­ing a strong brand.

Build­ing a strong brand is the plan you need to help you over­come over­whelm. Brand­ing is about cre­at­ing a unique iden­ti­ty and per­son­al­i­ty for your busi­ness that attracts and con­nects with your ide­al tribe. 

Here are 10 steps you can fol­low to cre­ate a strong brand for your busi­ness and posi­tion your­self as the go-to expert in your area, field, or niche:

1. Begin at the begin­ning: Before you dive deep into the details, you need to have absolute clar­i­ty about what it is you’re try­ing to accom­plish. It’s imper­a­tive you know what your brand is all about. You should start by defin­ing your mis­sion and vision. Why are you in busi­ness in the first place? And, what do you want your busi­ness to ulti­mate­ly accomplish?

Then, you should define your val­ues. What does your busi­ness stand for or in some cas­es against? The val­ues you bring to your busi­ness should act as a guid­ing light for all the deci­sions you make about your busi­ness. What makes your busi­ness dif­fer­ent from oth­ers? Who are you try­ing to reach-who is your com­mu­ni­ty or tribe? These ques­tions will help you define your brand iden­ti­ty and guide all your brand­ing decisions.

2. Pick a mem­o­rable name: Your name is one of the first things peo­ple notice about your brand, so make it one that will stay top of mind for your tribe. Choose a name that reflects your busi­ness, and is easy to pro­nounce and spell. Next, check to be sure that it’s avail­able as a domain name. Do your due dili­gence to make sure the name isn’t already tak­en or trade­marked by some­one else.

3. Choose your col­ors and fonts: Your col­ors and fonts play a big part in your visu­al iden­ti­ty and should match your brand’s per­son­al­i­ty. For exam­ple, if you want your busi­ness to be seen as pro­fes­sion­al then you might opt for basic col­ors like blue and white. But, if you want to express cre­ativ­i­ty and fun, you might go for bright and bold col­ors. Pick a col­or scheme and typog­ra­phy that you can use con­sis­tent­ly across all your brand­ing materials.

4. Design an awe­some logo: Your logo is the visu­al sym­bol of your brand and should cap­ture its essence. You can hire a pro­fes­sion­al design­er or use online tools to cre­ate a logo that is unique, attrac­tive, and rel­e­vant to your busi­ness. Your logo should be designed to work in dif­fer­ent sizes and formats.

5. Tell your sto­ry: Peo­ple love sto­ries, espe­cial­ly ones that inspire them or make them feel some­thing. Your brand sto­ry is the nar­ra­tive behind your busi­ness, your pas­sion, and what makes you unique. Share your sto­ry with your audi­ence through your web­site, social media, or oth­er chan­nels. This will help you cre­ate an emo­tion­al bond with your tribe and make them care about you and your brand.

6. Go online: Regard­less of how you may feel about social media, hav­ing an online pres­ence is essen­tial for any busi­ness today. Cre­ate a web­site that show­cas­es your brand and pro­vides use­ful infor­ma­tion about your prod­ucts or ser­vices. Use social media plat­forms where your tribe hangs out, inter­act with them, share valu­able con­tent, and build a com­mu­ni­ty around your brand.

7. Deliv­er on your promis­es: Your brand is not just what you say, but what you do. The best way to build a strong brand rep­u­ta­tion is to pro­vide high-qual­i­ty prod­ucts or ser­vices and excel­lent cus­tomer ser­vice. Make sure you meet or exceed your tribes’ expec­ta­tions and solve their problems.

8. Cre­ate valu­able con­tent: When you’re build­ing a strong brand con­tent is a pow­er­ful way to show­case your exper­tise, edu­cate your audi­ence, and add val­ue to their lives. Devel­op a con­tent strat­e­gy that aligns with your brand’s goals and val­ues. Cre­ate and share con­tent that’s rel­e­vant, engag­ing, and help­ful through blog posts, videos, pod­casts, or social media updates.

9. Con­nect with your tribe: It’s the lifeblood of your brand, so treat them well. Lis­ten to their needs, wants, desires, and espe­cial­ly their feed­back. Respond to them prompt­ly and polite­ly. Start con­ver­sa­tions with them, ask ques­tions, and show appre­ci­a­tion. Let them know that you take their sug­ges­tions seri­ous­ly. Build­ing rela­tion­ships with your tribe will help you earn their trust and loyalty.

10. Keep improv­ing: When it comes to build­ing a strong brand it’s not a one-and-done thing, it’s an ever-evolv­ing process. You need to con­stant­ly mon­i­tor how your brand is per­form­ing and how it is per­ceived by your tribe. Track key met­rics such as web­site traf­fic, social media engage­ment, and sales to mea­sure your brand’s suc­cess. Adjust your brand­ing strat­e­gy as need­ed to keep up with chang­ing trends and your tribe’s wants, needs, and desires.

Build­ing a strong brand can be chal­leng­ing. But, it’s the key to cre­at­ing a long-term suc­cess­ful busi­ness. Remem­ber to be con­sis­tent, authen­tic, and true to your­self through­out the process.