With all this talk about branding and brands, I'm finding that knowing exactly what branding really means is not an intuitive thing. I thought it might be helpful to ask you some of the questions I ask my clients when building a branding creation direction sheet. I use this BDS when communicating my client's brands and needs for graphic design, web design, etc. with creative professionals.  I hope these considerations help you understand what constitutes a brand and how to build one. 

The next piece to concentrate on will be how to communicate that brand, but that is for another month! Good luck, and remember you are not in this alone, there are lots of mentors in our community who would be willing to help!

Discovering your brand through self-knowledge…The answers to these questions will help you construct a sincere and effective brand.

1. What do you do? Exactly, what do you call what you provide? When your audience sees your brand, what is the primary message you want the brand to convey about what you offer or do? Someone once said “people don't buy drill bits, they buy holes.”  How do you describe what you do? If you had only one sentence to describe what you do, what would you say? Are you using the same words your audience uses to describe what you do?
2. Why do you do what you do? What is the payoff for what you do? AND what motivates you to do it every day? Why are you passionate about it?
3. How do you do what you do and what is your WOW factor? What do you bring to the table in doing what you do that makes it an extraordinary experience for the client?
4. Get a good sketch of who you are in executing business – what business hats fit you right off the bat and which don't. What are you great at? Where do your strengths lie? Numbers person? Writing person? Do you prefer independent solitude or social team work? Introvert or Extravert? Left or Right Brained? If you don't know what you are about, you will probably have a difficult time communicating it to others.
5. What is a story that illustrates how what you do and how you do it helped your targeted audience? What problem have you solved for someone just like me? Your brand is intended to communicate the value or effectiveness or craftsmanship of what you offer – show me how.
6. What is personally cool and unique about you? What do you do outside of work? Where are you from? What does your family look like? What do you read in your off time? Where is your favorite place to visit? Favorite color? Fondest dream for your business, your mission?
7. What do you believe in? Can you give me an idea of your ethics? Your way of relating to others in the world? The experience I can expect to have being in your presence? You want to ensure this shines through your brand as the guiding principle from which you conduct yourself.
8. Serve your clients well by dreaming big. What 3 things are you willing to do in the next 3 mos. that will both challenge you/stretch you to grow and therefore will benefit your business life? This is part of your brand where you communicate your dreams for the direction of the company, the growth you want, those you want to serve by the choices you take for expanding and growing into your potential.
9. What colors and style do you love, affect your mood and communicate your company's spirit in the way you want to portray to others? Look at your own bedroom, your logo colors, the clothing you wear, and considerthe format the brand will be seen on primarily (paper? Web? Tshirts? Notebooks? Promotional material? A book?) Do you prefer funky, professional, retro? modern? artistic, clean, sporty, etc.?  How does the style you prefer compare to the style preferred by your audience?
10. Who is your audience? Boomers? Gen Y? Gen X? Tweeners? The constant texters or the old phoners? Paper calendar people or e-calendars? Consider how you would communicate your brand differently to your mom, your college aged niece, your banker, your priest. You can come up with something authentic that resonates across the board.

This is only the short list of what to think about when nailing down the building blocks of your branding and messaging. The bottom line is that particularly in a relational town like Tallahassee, people do business with people they like and trust.

Your goal is building an AUTHENTIC brand that is congruous with who you are and what people can expect from you, while fitting it to your audience. Every piece of collateral, your website, social media, phone conversations, emails, customer service responses, media pitches, your 30 second introduction, your byline, your signature block – everything – is to be consistently branded to make an impact. Think of brands you know that do a great job.

About the Author: Deanna Mims is the owner and chief marketing enable for MarketDone and the producer of TEN: Tallahassee Entrepreneurs Network. Her passion is helping small business create custom marketing plans for clarity, collaboration and growth.  850.425.5240, dmims@marketdone.com, www.marketdone.com