| 08 August 2009
Finding your brand
Have you ever wondered how successful businesses become that way? Branding of an identity plays a huge support role in aiding success of a business.
Think about a major corporation, such as McDonald's. Now, some of you may hate McDonald's, but they are truly a good example of branding done right. When you think of McDonald's, you think of what? The golden arches. The french fries. A Big Mac. This is an example of what branding does.
When starting your business, you must of course, think of a name for your company. A name that conjures an image, or thing that you can associate with your product. To become a brand, you'll need to take a few steps. Here's what you need to do.
First of all, you need to find your name. Anyone can give you tips on finding the right name for you, but really, it's a very personal thing. Find a name that calls to you, and that's unique. It helps if you think of your product before you try to just think of a name. Summarize your product or service in one sentence. For example: “Small Business Development for Creative People”. (This tells you that here you will find a way to grow your business that is taylored to the craft/art/creative market). This can take you a while, so don't feel like you have to do it today. Take your time. Write it down a few times and you will often find it evolves. Find a statement that calls to you.
The second step is finding your target market. Your target market, is simply that crowd of people that you see purchasing your product. Without using stereotypes, think of the type of person who you would see purchasing your product. Who is she (or he)? What does she like? What is her favorite color? Upon answering these questions, you've told yourself who your target market is. Now you can think of a name that this person would respond to, and that you really love. (For me, I chose the name Created By: because the site is not about me, it is about all the fantastic artistic business owners out there - you! And anyway, quite frankly it makes for a cool name. I like it, and I know I won't get sick of it.
The next step after finding your name, is conjuring an image that goes with the name. Ideally a simple shape that immediately assosciates with your name or product is ideal, but in my case we started with a barcode design and just made it more.. creative. A great example is a shop called Paper Cakes. Do you know what her logo is? Yep, it's a cake. So this can help you choose a name and an image. This image is your “brand”, and by using it you've branded yourself. Put that name and image everywhere! Make it your banner for your blog, your icon for your twitter and facebook, etc.
There is a lot more to branding, but truth be told, we learn as we go. So take that first step, and see how far you'll go! Branding works, just ask the CEOs of McDonald's, Microsoft, and Coke!
Try researching some branding tips and advice, I found some excellent resources on Best Brands of the World: 
