How To Brand Your Business On A Puny Budget

What do slogans, logos, mascots, jingles and trademarks all have in common? They are all elements of developing a brand.

Individually, each one of these components can act as a powerful recognition tool to create awareness for your business. However, in the same way that a single musical instrument can render beautiful melodies, when several are combined, as in an orchestra, the results are infinitely more potent.

And, just as with an orchestra, in order to accomplish magnificent results, the individual components need to be in tune with each other and under the direction of a knowledgeable conductor.

When it comes to branding your business, you are not only the conductor, but most likely the composer as well.

Branding is a billion dollar industry. And even if you don't have the budget to develop branding at the level of Nike or Coca-Cola, you can still compose an effective brand for your company geared towards achieving the same objectives of awareness, recognition, customer loyalty and viral growth.

It is important to note that consistency is the most important element when building your branding orchestra. It is this feature that keeps the instruments in tune with each other and sets the stage for magnificent results.

Here are some very inexpensive ways that you can begin to develop a brand for you business.

1. Type style - Pick a font for the name, logo or tag line of your company and use it faithfully wherever you display these. The simple, most widely used type faces like Times New Roman, Veranda or Tahoma are your best bets to ensure widespread availability in various media like newsprint, internet and computer applications.

2. Color - Pick a simple color scheme for your company and use it faithfully. This is one of those times when less is more. Two colors are preferable and definitely not more than four. Study the big guys and you'll see that they adhere to this guideline. It's not a coincidence. They have spent big bucks to understand the psychology behind color schemes that sell.

A good brand will trigger an almost Pavlovian response from your audience. Have you ever seen the Golden Arches on the horizon and suddenly become aware that you are hungry? It takes a long time and a lot of money to infiltrate the collective subconscious mind to that degree.

While you may never have the funds to achieve the level of brand awareness that Mickey D's has mastered, it is not only possible but probable that, through the consistent, well orchestrated execution of a combination of branding methods, you will earn your own little corner of real estate in the mind of your target market - which could prove to be far more valuable than beachfront property on Cape Cod.

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