When most people hear the word branding about a business they tend to think big business – Apple, Coke, 3M, BP – and not small business. But branding is at least as important for a small business as a giant corporation.
So what is branding? What does the term really mean?
The ‘official’ definitions of branding include phrases like ‘the story that you tell to your customers’ or ‘the implied contract you are promising to your clients, customers and users.’ These are all fancy ways of saying that branding is how you present your company to the world. For most small businesses at a simple level it is your business name, logo and a slogan if you have one. One level more complex is to include your physical location, your virtual location (web site) and things like your business cards and letterhead.
In reality how your brand is represented is more to do with how you act and deliver products, services and value to your customers. And it takes years to build a good brand reputation and can take
Blog Posts by Owen Linderholm
Branding: First Impressions Matter
By Owen Linderholm | Yahoo! Small Business Advisor – Fri, Jun 7, 2013 4:22 PM EDTResource Guide for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting Your Business Part 5: Branding Your Business
By Owen Linderholm | Yahoo! Small Business Advisor – Fri, Jun 7, 2013 4:05 PM EDTPart five of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business.
- Part one: Is it time to start up that startup business? and Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for Goals, Values and Ideas
- Part two: Build a winning business right from the start and Part 2: Defining your business concept and Resources for defining your business concept.
- Part three: Funding, Fraternity and Family and Part 3: Ownership, Funding and Family and Resources for funding and ownership
- Part four: The Name Game and Part 4: Naming Your Business and Resources for naming
In part five of our Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business we have been looking at branding. Read the main articles, How to Brand your Business on a Budget and Branding: First Impressions Matter. The links and articles listed below will provide more background and techniques.
Articles
http://readwrite.com/2012/06/25/does-every-startup-need-a-slogan
Read More »from Resource Guide for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting Your Business Part 5: Branding Your BusinessResource Guide for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting Your Business Part 4: Naming Your Business
By Owen Linderholm | Yahoo! Small Business Advisor – Wed, May 8, 2013 5:44 PM EDTPart four of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business.
- Part one: Is it time to start up that startup business? and Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for Goals, Values and Ideas
- Part two: Build a winning business right from the start and Part 2: Defining your business concept and Resources for defining your business concept.
- Part three: Funding, Fraternity and Family and Part 3: Ownership, Funding and Family and Resources for funding and ownership
In part four of our Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business we have been looking at naming your business. You can read an introduction to the topic in ‘The Name Game’ and follow an in-depth worksheet, ‘Naming Your Business.’ In addition, the links and articles listed below will provide more background and techniques as well as locations for how to do DBA searches.
Articles
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/3-strategies-nailing-down-killer-130026549.html
Read More »from Resource Guide for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting Your Business Part 4: Naming Your BusinessYahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting Your Business: Naming Your Business
By Owen Linderholm | Yahoo! Small Business Advisor – Wed, May 8, 2013 4:27 PM EDTPart four of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business.
- Part one: Is it time to start up that startup business? and Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for Goals, Values and Ideas
- Part two: Build a winning business right from the start and Part 2: Defining your business concept and Resources for defining your business concept.
- Part three: Funding, Fraternity and Family and Part 3: Ownership, Funding and Family and Resources for funding and ownership
We’ve covered your business concept, ideas, motivation and ownership issues for your new business previously (see above) and we are now moving on to naming. This is a critical issue nowadays because your business needs to have customers to succeed and the two biggest sources of customers are word-of-mouth and online. For both you need a memorable name.
First, read our introduction to the topic ‘The Name Game – How To Pick a Business name that will be successful for years to come.’ Then come back Read More »from Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting Your Business: Naming Your BusinessThe Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part 3: Ownership, Funding, Family - three challenges in starting your business.
By Owen Linderholm | Yahoo! Small Business Advisor – Wed, Apr 24, 2013 2:49 PM EDT[Part three of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part one is here: Is it time to start up that startup business? and Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for Goals, Values and Ideas and Part two is here: Build a winning business right from the start and Part 2: Defining your business concept and Resources for defining your business concept.]
Funding
One of the critical decisions about starting your business and how it will operate both immediately and in the future is around funding.In the past funding was a relatively straightforward decision. Did you have your own source of funds or did you need a loan? But the growth in funding from venture capital, angel investors, other individual investors and now even crowd funding, combined with a dramatic DROP in lending from banks following the recent crash, have all changed the landscape dramatically.
There are also some strongly related issues that can affect your funding options. One is whether you
Read More »from The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part 3: Ownership, Funding, Family - three challenges in starting your business.Resource Guide for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part 3: Ownership, Funding Family - three challenges in starting your business.
By Owen Linderholm | Yahoo! Small Business Advisor – Tue, Apr 23, 2013 7:09 PM EDT[Part three of a series – The Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part one is here: Is it time to start up that startup business? and Part 1- Goals, Values and Ideas and Resources for Goals, Values and Ideas and Part two is here: Build a winning business right from the start and Part 2: Defining your business concept and Resources for defining your business concept.]
These resources are to provide more in depth information and material to accompany our articles on Funding, Fraternity and Family: Turning three potential F’s for your business into A’s and the worksheet on Ownership, Funding Family - three challenges in starting your business.The background reading and articles range cover starting a business with family, funding and funding sources and partnerships and other business structures. These are ALL good background reading before you start your business and are important for helping you consider the topics and issues in this section of the Yahoo Smart and
Read More »from Resource Guide for the Yahoo Smart and Simple Guide to Starting a Business. Part 3: Ownership, Funding Family - three challenges in starting your business.
Loading...
Get a Web Site
Create your business web site with our easy-to-use site building tools. More »
Sell Online
Get started today with tools to easily build and manage your e-commerce store. More »
Register a Domain
Find the right domain name for your business. More »
Use Business Email
Build credibility with our business email solution. More »
Friend's Activity
Press Release Wizard
Walks through the steps required to create a professional-style press release … More »
Package Tracking
Quickly track packages shipped with DHL, Fedex, UPS, or the U.S. Postal Service … More »
U.S. Zip Code Lookup
Look up the zip code for any U.S. address … More »
Business Loan Calculator
Calculate monthly payments and more on fixed-rate loans … More »
Small Business Dictionary
Handy dictionary of key business terms … More »