Branding…the new buzz word for business.

What does it really mean to “brand” your business?

There are a lot of ways to brand your business. In this video from Entrepreneur Online, Branding Specialist Erika Napoletano offers advice on how to get your customers to see you and your business as the solution to their problems.

Her three branding tips don’t talk about logos, taglines or colors. She says,

1. Know why you do what you do
2. Know who you would never work with
3. Stay true to yourself and be you…everyone else is already taken

These are all easy for me. I started Visibility Marketing Inc. because I enjoyed doing exactly what the tagline says, “making you more visible.” It may sound like a cliché, but it’s true. It began simple enough, with writing positive feature articles. The feedback I received let me know that there was a hunger, a market out there where people wanted a reprieve from the negative stories they often hear and read about. They wanted to read about the positive people and the positive things there were doing to make this world better.

Early in my career, one of my first customers was the epitome of number two. I learned a lot from him. Most importantly, I can now easily identify the people I will never work.

Lastly, before I signed the papers for VMI, I read about, paid attention and listened to many entrepreneurs. I still do. I am a lifelong student of business and will always be. However, I know that though I’ve learned a lot from others, I can never be like them. I can only be me. It’s the only me I can be. I’ve learned to be dynamic, with the ability to change when necessary, make critical decisions and a lot of mistakes. As in life, business is cyclical, it has its ups and downs. Hang in there long enough and you will experience more ups in your entrepreneurial journey.

Big “ups” to you as you continue to forge your way to branding you.