Here’s a quick little brand building exercise for everyone in small business from Sarah Petty. You can do it in 15 – 30 minutes!
Make a list of all of your competitors in your market – any other business who is doing what you do or who could be seen as an alternative to what you do by your customers.
Next, find a word or phrase that describes what your competitors do. For example – high end fashion weddings or inexpensive gifts for families.
Then, conduct some informal market research. Sarah describes how to do that in this branding video.
Now take all this information and determine what your position is in your potential customers’ minds. Are you seen as the inexpensive option to a higher-end offering? Or are you seen as the high-end offering? What does brand building mean to your business and why is it important?
How do you want to be seen? Is that consistent with how your target audience is seeing you? In this case perception IS reality!
When you think about how you want to be seen, go back to your list of competitors. Does a competitor already own that place in your potential consumers’ minds already? If yes, where is there a gap that you could jump on – a place that no one else owns in the your potential clients’ minds?
What opportunity have you identified for your brand and your business? Share with us here how this exercise may have helped you.
And if you want to learn more about branding, be sure to register for our JoySTART Your Year event which begins on December 29, 2010.
Brought to you by White House Custom Colour, it’s free for four Wednesdays from 11 am to 2 pm CST (12/29/10 – 1/19/11). With a beginner and advanced track both for photographers, you’ll learn from 11 of the top photography educators in the industry how to grow a niche photography business and use tools like social media, search engine optimization, charitable marketing, branding and work flow management to grow a profitable business.
Check out JoySTART and register for free here!