What is a Brand? Webster defines a brand as a characteristic or distinctive kind of mark. In contemporary society, a brand is the essence of what people believe or think about you, your product, service or your company. Branding is that touchy-feely good stuff that translates into the way people feel about products and services. There are also negative brands out there, but we won’t go there except to mention that strong brands can very quickly become negatives ones. Consider all the negative publicity about Mattel and all the flak around that brand with the lead paint issue.The brand is what keeps people returning. It makes them feel confident, secure, trusting, and cared for. It builds loyalty, constancy, allegiance, faithfulness and name recognition. So what does it mean to and for you?A brand can be mean different things to different people. One thing remains constant: the brand should be compelling, intriguing, engrossing, fascinating or interesting. If your brand cries BORING, DULL, TEDIOUS, HUMDRUM, STODGY or just plain BLAH, it is time to “transform” the brand.Building the brand will be the most important thing you do in 08. It will impact your business, your career, your family and your customers. You want to position yourself first and foremost in your customers’ or bosses’ eyes. That way when an opportunity arises, you and only you are the immediate consideration.The brand can do that for you. It is vital to realize that a brand is not a static thing. Just because your brand was great in 07 doesn’t mean it will have the same success in 08. A brand can become old, outdated, passé or even obsolete. Remember the Buggy Whip? I don’t either but it disappeared along with soon to be obsolete this like vinyl records (nor so the say).Consider brand recognition. Brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, GM, Apple and McDonald’s not only have instant recognition but they also have the capability to bring an image into focus. Visualize those brands. Not only do their brands represent a product but a feeling too.Some of the most compelling brands stay with us for a lifetime. Think back (I’m dating myself.) Bucky Beaver – Ipana tooth paste, Speedy – Alka Seltzer, roadside signs-Burma Shave, Smoky the Bear – Prevent Forest Fires. That’s what your brand should do for you. It should shift you to the forefront with the people that count. That way when it becomes time for a decision your name or your company’s name comes up first. If your brand accomplishes that, congratulations. Read no more. If not, it’s time to rejuvenate or reposition that brand.Evaluate the following points before you start building your strategy.1. Define your brand attributes. Brand attributes are like your skill sets. If I asked you to describe yourself in one word what would that word be? Strong, emotional, trustworthy, honest, sincere, reliable, friendly. That’s a brand.2. Start thinking in these terms to flesh out the essence of your brand. What one word do you want to be remembered by? Would I be interested in what you have to say? If not it’s time to rethink your core message. It’s also important to understand that building your brand is as much about your customer (boss or client) as it is about you. You need to provide what they need, not necessarily what you are selling.For example, you sell packaging (imagine that), doesn’t everyone? Does a potential customer need a new vendor? No way, but they need you right? So convince them that you are different and not just on price. Distill it down to what can you do for them that no one else can do.· Deliver on time (reliability)· Offer design assistance (creativity)· Take inventory (responsibility)· Help them sell more product (loyalty)· Reduce the number of SKU’s (efficiency)· Help them build their brand tooGet the picture?3. Promise yourself to use your brand with everything. The more you see your brand the more powerful it will become. The ultimate goal is instant brand recognition. If I say the word Microsoft, you have an immediate opinion that connotes both good and bad images. My point is that whether it’s good or bad, it’s instant acknowledgment that you know this brand.4. Use your brand to open doors, reinforce the doors that are already open through customer recognition. Get customer buy-in for your brand through testimonials and success stories. When other people do your talking for you that becomes your brand.5. Leverage your brand. Do you have a charity or special cause that you endorse? Volunteer and get active. You never know whom you might run into. Make sure it’s a cause you believe in and not one you have selected for the publicity. Ensure its okay to include your participation in all you promotional materials. Integrate these into your brand.6. Think brand in everything that you do. The average message needs to be seen or heard seven times before it’s even recognized. Consider the places where brand recognition comes into play. I’m not talking about the obvious places like TV, but the more subtle ways brands influence decisions or interests. Subtle brands are those that people really remember.7. All your promotional materials are mandatory branding items. Business cards, flyers, media kit, stationery, websites. The list goes on. Make sure to personalize it and use a photo or a catchy tag line like “Packaging Diva. People remember that stuff. It’s okay to have fun with it. Not all business is serious stuff. In fact, many CEO’s are now taking humor classes to learn to “lighten up” and “social networking” is becoming the next hot way to get your brand out there.Some other subtle branding techniques include your voice mail. Tell me what you do. I don’t care whether you are in the office or not. What are you are going to do for me to solve my problem (that’s why I am calling). Don’t forget to tell me the best way to reach you too. If you never answer the phone (a negative branding message), I’ll soon tire of leaving messages or become agitated that I cannot reach you.Insert your brand message into your SIG file too. You would be amazed at the number of people that just assume that you know who they are when they send you an E-mail. Be sure and check mine out at the end of the newsletter. I update it monthly with what is fresh, new and exciting.8. Promote your brand
This is fun. Promoting your brand is the best part of the process. Get out that horn and start tooting it. Don’t be shy. If you don’t promote yourself, who will? Write articles, give speeches, and get interviewed. Get OUT THERE. There are countless ways to soft sell yourself and your company in order to increase your visibility. Use them all.9. Don’t forget to build a network. I just joined Linked in and already I have close to 400 connections (as a colleague mentioned. I have an awesome packaging network). This is where you can live the brand everyday. Your brand should be clearly visible and identifiable in everything you write say or do. Your brand should continually evolve and crystallize the essence of your message. Think me, I, my, then take the next step. Who are you going to tell? Everyone.Make a list of every person you come in contact with, including friends and family and non-business activities. Think about how you interact with these people. Don’t they need to know about you? Did you remember your hairdresser/barber, vet, and cleaning lady? I’m not reaching here. All of these people know someone who needs to know about you. One can never tell where the next “connection” might come from.10. Who knows about your brand? So you have a great brand, now what? Who knows it? What are you going to do about it? What is your brand action plan and whom are you going to share it with? Ask yourself who should know this. How can I reach them? What makes my brand better than brand X? You do know who brand X is, right? If not, how can you differentiate yourself from them? Better get sleuthing. Investigate what is appealing in the competition and determine how your brand is superior.You need to continually coalesce, amalgamate, blend, consolidate, fuse, synthesize and unify your essence into a core message. The message should be consist and easily repeatable. You want people to remember you and to tell your story for you. When that happens, you become your brand evangelist. You know that you have a strong brand.A brand can be anything whether old or new. Build your brand by understanding your core attributes. Promote and leverage your brand every day in every conceivable way. Use the power of your brand at any opportunity. Plan your brand marketing campaign for 08. Tell everyone who you are. It doesn’t matter if you have the best brand out there if no one knows it. Make sure you a true to your brand; and for heaven’s sake never leave home without it.Wanted to know who or what I have branded lately? Email me back and ask what can you do for my brand too?

For many people the Christmas period is fun filled and relaxing with good food, drink and most of all great company. But unfortunately for some it can be one of the toughest times of the year. The festive season is a period of celebration and for many it acts as the perfect time of year to reflect on the year gone by. Over the backdrop of endless annual top 100 countdowns on TV we reflect on personal and professional achievements and regrets whilst planning our infamous New Year resolutions. This period of reflection is a source of happy memories for most but it can also be a real source of sadness for some people. Suicide rates are believed to increase throughout the holiday season and with the harshness of the current economic climate there are genuine concerns about the mental welfare of small business owners as we head into this years this festive season.The combination of pressures derived from the accountability of owning business in today’s tough trading condition and people’s natural inclination to reflect over the Christmas period makes the festive season prime for an increase in anxiety across the SME community. Research has suggested that the SME community has experienced a 47% increase in suicide rates since the economic downturn of 2008. There are 2 intrinsically linked contributing factors to mental anxiety within the small business community over Christmas. Investing in good accounting software and practising disciplined financial management can help keep both factors at bay.1) Money and the financial health of the businessThe main cause of distress and anxiety for a small business owner over the festive season is money. Unfortunately there are still too many small business owners that are not into the detail of their company financials. For many Christmas time represents the time of year for the annual review of the company financials. The combination of compulsory requirements to prepare yearend accounts and the natural desire to reflect over the Christmas period makes it completely understandable why many owners get their head in the books over the festive season.Practicing financial discipline once a year rarely results in a sound set of company financials. It is all too common for owners to find financial problems in their business just at the time when everyone else is relaxing and celebrating. The lack of detailed financial understanding often results in longstanding disparities between expenditure and income left unchecked throughout the year. It is also common for business owners that haven’t maintained a detailed view of the financials to find missing payments from customers. These findings ultimately leave business owners learning about nasty cash flow problems in their business that have accumulated over time which can be devastating for the short term future of the business. The emotional extreme between the relaxed PAYE employees enjoying their pre-booked off time and the anxious self-employed small business owner that can’t leave their business is already vast over this period. Finding out about a stark cash flow problem in addition to the existing frustrations of running a small business over the Christmas period can be enough to tip existing anxiety into full blown depression.The key to a happy and relaxing Christmas period is sound financial discipline throughout the year and a good accounting software package can be central to achieving this. Accounting software allows small business owners to stay close to their business financials in a quick and easy to understand way. A simple, cost effective accounting software package means that company financials are done and managed consistently throughout the year. This ensures that if any problems occur with expenditure management or if a client hasn’t paid an invoice on time it can be rectified quickly and easily. Small business owners that are close to their financials do not have the emotional drain of a big annual review of their company accounts. Most importantly of all they don’t have the shock and subsequent unhappiness of finding nasty surprises in the books over the festive season!2) RelationshipsOne of the main reasons that make Christmas so special is having the chance to spend time with your loved ones. The problem for the small business owner is that they don’t feel like they can simply leave the business for a couple of weeks. “The business doesn’t run itself!” This is in stark contrast to PAYE friends who have no responsibilities in their booked off time other than enjoying time with their loved ones. This contrast in fortunes puts an almighty strain on the relationships of small business owners as their loved ones have to cope without them for long periods over Christmas. This can be especially difficult for the loved ones of small business owners when it seems that everyone else is surrounded by their family and friends.It can be incredibly challenging to take time off when you’re running a small business but time off is essential to keep and enjoy important relationships healthy. Time off during this year’s festive season will be even more strained for many small business owners as they not only need to complete the usual year end admin but they are also operating in some of the toughest economic conditions known for many years. BBC news have recently stated that the total number of divorces have increased 4.9% in England and Wales in the past year as a result of the tough economic conditions.Whilst these pressures are very real they do not exist for every small business. There are SME’s that do not worry about year end accounting because it happens to be a 5 min exercise due to their on-going management of the company financials throughout the year. Small businesses that have sound financial discipline are also more likely to have enough working capital to see out the current economic pressures. These businesses have impressive working capital due to their complete detailed focus on expenditure and income and well managed time allocation reducing non-value adding administration tasks in favour of business optimisation planning. Small business owners of these types of companies are more likely to be able to relax over the Christmas period and spend time with loved ones as their businesses are sustainably healthy.The secret to these healthy businesses is their sound financial discipline and well-structured time management. Accounting software is a critical tool that makes sure that small business owners reallocate time away from doing lengthy manual quarterly and annual accounts to free up more time to be spent on value adding business planning. This additional planning gives the business a greater chance of directing themselves successfully through hard times. In addition but equally as important accounting software makes sure that a small business has a tight grip on their cash flow position. By having a clear vision on the direction of the business and a healthy cash flow position a business owner can ultimately be more relaxed over the Christmas period focussing on what’s important – their relationships.Small business owners that face the prospect of finding out about money problems and living through the happy festive season working all hours to keep the business afloat are in real danger of unsustainable anxiety and depression this Christmas time. The answer is to work on embedding financial discipline and well-structured time management throughout the business. The only way a small business owner will be able to relax with their loved ones this Christmas is if their business is financially sound. Having a well embedded accounting software solution is a key step towards achieving this.