As I have already stated before, when I talked about what a brand is, because it’s not your logo, your name or your design, it’s consumers perception about your business; the experiences, the stories, realized and unrealized expectations. It’s not something you create, that’s completely in your power, but you can greatly influence the picture they will create by defining your values, by excelling at what you want people to know you by, by creating memorable experiences, etc.
When you start out, you don’t have a brand. You have a business and an idea of what you want to be known for which will hopefully become part of your brand in the future. You can’t actually hire someone do to your branding, you can hire them to help you complete your vision, draw some key points or characteristics of your business and figure out the way to make it a reality.
Take time to think about it; your brand will encompas all aspects of your micro business on some level. Ask yourself questions like:
- Where do you want to put the emphasis on in your business?
- What do you want to focus on as an owner and as an essential part of your micro business?
- What can you be best at?
- What are you promising?
- Who are you trying to please and what do they want?
- What do you want the “story” people will talk about your business to be?
- How do you want to approach your potential and existing customers and how do you want them to interpret it?
Focus on value, focus on your philosophy; don’t generalize, don’t talk about passion, but talk passionately, don’t use common epithets, don’t say things everyone in your market says. Be completely transparent and genuine. Make experiences emotional because that’s what makes them memorable, and don’t forget to add yourself into that equasion; without emotion there is no satisfaction.
Should you brand yourself?
Branding yourself, branding your name, is as much about your personality as it is about your work, if not more. Your name, however, doesn’t have to stand in place of your business name. When you think about the “you brand”, you think in terms of… 
what do you have to offer and why you,
your expertise, your experience,
how you communicate,
what you stand for,
why you are creating this specifically,
what’s the story you are going to tell people when they ask you
and is that the story you want them to tell other people.
People need to see you as unique, interesting, irreplacable; you should surprise them. Be genuine, but do something special and do it in a remarkable way.
When do you want to brand yourself opposed to your company?
That’s a tricky question because when you brand yourself, you brand your company – you are your company. You never go out and brand yourself if there is a group of people standing behind your company. The main thing is to understand whether you are focusing on one topic and appearing as an expert, whether you are creating something that is all about other people and whether your name presents a cause or a solution and what the outcome you want to achieve is.
Personal branding isn’t only about your business having your name on it. It can be any business with you as a personality to be a personal brand. Right now, people love personalities, strong and interesting individuals who are bold enough to share their ideas and have something to say. It’s the place to be. If you only look online and the shows some people are making, you will understand the immense potential and opportunity there is. I’m not talking only about online businesses, I’m seeing more and more regular businesses that are using these strategies to achieve amazing results. That’s what new media is about, achieving better and faster things.
Don’t be afraid of it, of personal branding. If you’re up for it, use it. It’s still the place to be.
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