You’ve heard it all before. Your brand — both personal and professional — can make or break your business. But why is that, what does it mean, and where do you begin? Whether you’re a newly minted company or you’ve been around for decades, dialing in your brand is vital for success. Here at Wolony Digital Agency, we know exactly how to make the most of your unique attributes to highlight what makes your brand stand out.
Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room. – Jeff Bezos, Amazon
Can you talk people into buying your product one-on-one? Are you great at convincing individuals that your business tools are exactly what they need? That may serve you well in the beginning, but it’s not a scalable skill. Without a recognizable brand, your company’s success will consistently depend on your personal ability to make sales. If, however, you can generate that buzz without being the one to do the talking, you can transit to a more passive (and scalable) model. Your brand can bring you that much closer to turning a 5-figure startup into a 6-figure business and beyond.
If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand. – Howard Schultz, Starbucks
The CEO of Starbucks is diving into one of the most ephemeral parts of branding here. What little voice in the back of your head tells you that the Starbucks on this corner is better than XYZ Coffeehouse right next to it? Maybe for some people, it’s the flavor of the coffee. We’d be willing to bet that at the end of the day, a latte is about the same everywhere for most casual coffee drinkers. Starbucks has managed to leverage their personal brand into far more people through the front door. Even amid the skepticism of and jokes about Starbucks, they’re still an industry giant. You can convince people who openly mock your company that you’re still the best.
Too many companies want their brands to reflect some idealized, perfected image of themselves. As a consequence, their brands acquire no texture, no character and no public trust. – Richard Branson, Virgin Group
The final lesson here is that everyone has their own opinion on their personal and professional brand. Some aim for perfection while others scoff at the idea. And yet both opinions have obviously worked for these two pioneers. Take what people respond to best about your business and imbue everything you do with that brand.
