Cheryl Hayman of Hayman Strategy recently discussed small business branding tips after attending an informative session at the Kochie’s Business Builder’s Boot Camp in Sydney. “The session was called ‘Building Ideas into Businesses’ but there was an enormous amount of focus on the importance of the brand,” said Cheryl. “There was a lot of talk about protecting your IP [intellectual property], which I am a very strong advocate of. For me, it’s all about having something that’s ownable and differentiated in your product and service, and then having a brand that absolutely upholds that.
“…your brand is actually a key asset in your business…”
“There was a whole panel, five or six people, all really interesting . . . They came in from different angles, from different [business] sizes, and they all had different messages, but they all talked about the importance of your brand and how your brand is actually a key asset in your business, so it was very close to my heart.” New small business owners often fail to recognise the importance of their brand. For many small business owners, it can be difficult to see the brand when they are the brand. “It’s all about having enough resources and delivering enough benefit against your name to help build it,” Cheryl explained. “You can never really stop someone from copying or trying to copy your products and services, but if you can really build the strength of your brand name, even if it’s your personal brand name, then it will work . . . You do need to have the strength of your convictions, so once you’ve picked a name, you need to build lots of foundations under that name to make it really true and to have it grow over time.” Sometimes it can be difficult to maintain a brand across all media platforms. For example, another business may already own the web domain that fits your brand, or the ideal Twitter name may already be taken. That’s why it’s important to do competitive research before launching a new brand. “Once you have a brand name, you need to stick to it because otherwise you cause confusion,” said Cheryl. “Social media hits so many people in so many ways, and you don’t want confusion with your name or your brand, which is what you’ll cause if you diversify too much without it being clear why you’ve done that. You have to have a core brand at the heart of what you do, even if you have offshoots of that brand. Everyone still needs to know that it comes from you, the main brand.”
Kochie’s Business Builder’s Boot Camp was supported by the HerBusiness.
