Everyone is not your buyer.

By answering these direct questions you will begin to win over your key customer. The closer the focus, the more connected your customers and prospects will feel with your brand. You want them to think that you designed the brand specifically for them.

Build Brand Loyalty.

It is imperative when communicating that you exchange information about the product in the same way your buyer talks. For example: if they are high class, intelligent and flush with resources, speak to them with sophistication; parallel their first-class style. With free-spirited young adults, don’t confuse them with big words, or Robert Frost-like metaphors; simply connect with your audience on their level.

Employees, community members, friends, and clients must know the personality of your business. Everyone needs to be familiar with and carry out the persona inside the brand. Some great ways to do this are to hire those you believe already possess the desired traits, company parties, being a part of community events, and relaxed company meetings on implementing the brand through its employers.

Next, use your brand, logo and tagline on  all your marketing material. That includes your websites, marketing, advertising, public relations, e-mail, letterheads, business cards, and product packaging. Place your brand on any objects related to your products or services.

Society is always changing. With that said, it’s important to evaluate and re-evaluate your brand. Simple changes without changing the overall message are needed to survival. Grow with and ahead of your buyer. Don’t let your brand get left behind.

Make no mistake about it: branding is not just about you being better than your competition. It’s about getting your prospects to choose you as the ONLY solution to their problem.

Here are five great benefits of creating a strong personal brand:

*One of the greatest benefits to you of having a strong brand is that it creates a sense of individuality and “separateness” in the marketplace so that your clients are able to easily differentiate your company from your competitors.

*The goal of personal branding is to be known for who you are as a person and what you stand for. Your brand is a reflection of who you are, your opinions, values, and beliefs that are visibly expressed by what you say and do, and how you do it.

*The branding process allows you to take control of your identity and influence the perception others will have about you and the services you offer.

*A strong personal brand will enable you to effortlessly attract clients and opportunities. You will position yourself in the mind of your marketplace as THE service provider of choice to dominate your market and command higher fees – work less and make more!

*Establish yourself as an expert and become a celebrity in your area of specialty. Gain name recognition in your area of expertise where it counts the most – in your customer’s mind. Make a lasting impression and be super-rewarded for your individuality.

Trust, respect, and admiration will follow when your name and message are embedded repeatedly into the consciousness of your target market. You will be perceived as an expert the more you are visible to your target audience. Your brand will propel you to the top in your marketplace!

This can be a business killer!

A couple years ago, I posed this question to a gaggle of small business owners:  “When it comes to marketing and promoting your business, what are the biggest problems and/or frustrations that you face?” I was pretty shocked at all the fear and loathing directed toward the necessary task of marketing.

Here are some of the surprising responses I got:

•    It’s too hard
•    It takes too much time
•    It takes a plan and I’m no good at making a plan or sticking to it
•    I don’t have any money to market my business
•    I don’t know where my customers are
•    Once I find prospects, I can’t get them to buy what I’m selling
•    I’m afraid to talk to people; I can’t get around client objections
•    I waste money on stupid stuff like yearbook ads and restaurant placemat ads
•    I’m horrible at selling in person
•    I hate cold calling

The truth is, in order to make your business successful,  you need to get the word out. There are many ways to do this – some costly, some not – but it is essential that you find a way that works for you. Do nothing and, not only do you not move forward, you can lose all you’ve gained.

I liken the effect to the Second Law of Thermodynamics:  “The total entropy of any isolated system tends to increase over time, eventually approaching a maximum value, or entropic state.”

Huh?

Well, I’m no rocket surgeon, but here are a couple examples …

Leave a cup of hot coffee in a cool room, and a flow of heat is produced from the cup to the room until the temperature of the coffee and the room is the same.

That’s entropy.

Leave your car parked in your driveway and do absolutely nothing to it for a few years. Eventually, the tires will rot and go flat, the body will begin to rust, the engine will dry out and probably seize up the first time you try to start it.

That’s entropy,too.

Let’s say you have a web site but … you haven’t updated it since 2009. If your prospects are looking for your newest products and services, they aren’t going to find them on your site. Any time you make major changes to your business, products and services, I suggest you add those changes to your web site. Keeping your blog updated is important as well.

If the last press release you sent out was when you opened your business in 2006, you need to get busy. Once you’ve updated your web site, send out a release telling prospects e,actly where to find it. Start up a blog; send out a release. Win an award; send out a release. Hire an employee; send out a release. Open the door; send out a release. Okay, maybe not. But –have an Open House, send out a release.

Maybe you find it difficult to talk to people about your business. If that’s the case, let your business card do some of the talking for you. I recently reviewed a great business card from Chris Davis, owner of Famous Davis Productions in Willmar, MN. His business card not only has his photo on the front but boldly states, “Websites, Video Design, Done Right.” Pretty much tells prospects what they need to know.

Of course, when you have a great card, be sure to give it out generously. Give two or three away to each contact and ask them to pass one on – just in case.

No matter what your roadblock is to better marketing your business, you only need the desire to invest the time and the resources to work around it.

That’s how to defeat entropy.