Essential branding tips for your small business

When it comes to business branding it is easy to jump into overdrive and put our logos and images on everything. But there is a trend with personal branding which is taking things in a new direction. It is no longer about how many times you can get the name of your business out there and is much more about how you make customers feel. Do they remember you? Do they trust you?

As best-selling author Seth Godin says, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make but about the stories that you tell.” And he is right. A brand is not just a website, a logo or a business card… it’s an all encompassing experience.

Useful hardcover notebooks to use or great give aways for clients

Of course, having all of these assets is vitally important for our business. However, how you choose to ‘brand your business’ is crucial. It can have a huge positive or negative impact. So, allocating time to think it through and getting expert advice is well worth the investment.

Brand yourself to a better you

Everyone has a brand – even if it is our own personal brand. How we dress, how we speak and if we deliver a great job or product all add up to one thing. However, simply offering a fantastic product or offering a great service isn’t always enough in these days. As marketing expert David Brier says, “If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brands story for you.”

Kochie’s Business Builders customised stationery

We are living in a world where ‘our brand’ is everywhere. So, what do we want ‘our brand’ to say to people who haven’t met us yet? Or perhaps more importantly, people who might want to do business with us?

Here are Kochie’s Business Builders, we know what our brand is. It is simple yet powerful. We are a digital community designed to support you. And we focus on doing everything in our power to support Australian small businesses in any way we can. After all, we know that out of all of the businesses in Australia, 97% of these are small businesses. Many of these are solo-entrepreneurs running their own shop and can run up to having 50 employees. You are the bread and butter of our economy and we respect that. By the way we are also a small business with a lot of the same daily issues you face so we feel your pain (and share your joy).

Everything you need to be ready for small business

Richard Branson once said, “Too many companies want their brands to reflect some idealised, perfected image of themselves. As a consequence, their brands acquire no texture, no character and no public trust.” Interesting, right? We know we aren’t always perfect but we are certainly doing our best and will continue to build a community you can turn to for friendly expert advice, genuine support, and sometimes even just a good laugh.

So, when we were thinking of how we could portray our ‘brand message’ to you we thought about the feelings we want you to have when you see our images. We also wanted some great posters for our Business Builders HQ so both we and those who visit us are inspired each day by our combined vision.

Inspirational ‘Kochie’ postcards

Of course, David Koch is our fearless leader, who has worked for decades to do whatever he can to support small businesses in this country. The TV show Kochie’s Business Builders is currently in its tenth season and he was certainly an innovator and well ahead of the pack when it comes to supporting Australian small businesses.

So, we went ahead and designed a a cool postcard starring David (of course) with an inspiring quote for us to give out at events and pass out to readers with a subtle kochiesbiz social handle so if anyone wants to get in touch with us, they instantly know how.

Poster 1: Do you want people to be inspired by your small business?

Poster 2: Ready to brand yourself to become a ‘better you’?

We decided on three innovators and influencers from decades past who created their own path. Writer Dr. Seuss, beauty mogul Estee Lauder and technology genius Steve Jobs didn’t let anyone stop them from achieving their goals. They also didn’t let anything stop them making their business dreams come true.

Poster 3: How you look + how you speak + how you act = your personal brand

It was a really fun exercise. It was quick and easy and it helped us get one step closer to creating a true ‘brand’ for our very own small business. Plus our office looks better than ever before!

Business Builders HQ needed some colour

So, we went to printing experts to help us create our vision using their quotes and images as inspiration. A few days later we had a fun delivery to our offices and our formerly blank white walls are now looking stylish and sleek.

Don’t have access to a graphic designer?
Kwik Kopy centres around Australia have graphic designers who can create artwork from scratch or assist clients with their existing artwork to create your brand vision.