To Brand or Not To Brand? Many days I run into SMB’s that have real anxiety over how they’re going to get the next job or client. For most of them, the answer BEFORE they come into our store is “I need to do more marketing”. Well I just recently had a great experience with a potential client in our Dublin, OH location that shows marketing without a foundation can be counterproductive.

A young lady who owns a custom homebuilding business was inquiring as to how we can help bring more leads into her business. A few key points I immediately had uncovered were:

Their annual gross revenue was about $350,000.

They currently book 1 job every 3 months. They’d like to increase to 3 jobs a quarter.

All of their business comes from referrals and the only advertising they have done for the business is a half page spread in a local magazine for $1500 every other month.

Once I got a basic understanding of why she came in, I immediately asked to take a look at her website (this is where many small business owners let real branding opportunities slip through the cracks). Her site had not been updated for about a year and actually had a completely different company name on it. So while she is doing a spread in the magazine, with her URL visible, they are driving people to a site with inconsistent messaging and branding.

I then asked to take a look at her business cards, and there was a picture of a hurricane as the back drop, for a home builder! They had no real brand to stand behind, no identity that they could consistently be identified with and I had no way to help them MARKET their business, until they allowed me to help BRAND their business.

Keep this order in mind when considering how to gain better exposure in your local market place - Analyze | Brand | Market

-Eric
Your Brand Innovator