Branding Your Business Means That You Need to Begin with Who You Are

Branding Your Business Means That You Need to Begin with Who You Are

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

April 17 2011

Today I had the privilege of watching my elder son work with a new client. As a website designer, he explained that his job is to prepare an image of individuals and businesses online and therefore needed to really understand the client's perception of herself and her values.

When most people are asked about these things, they tend to describe how they do their work or go into lengthy explanations about what they do instead of who they are. For example, someone who is in administrative role might state "I work with machines and people" instead of a more accurate description which might read "I am a communications expert".

Rob explained that when you are building your web presence you need to keep things very simple and not make any assumptions that your readers or the general public might have gained information from another source before reaching your site. They likely do not understand any technical or occupation-specific language that is familiar to you and so one of the first things to do is to provide clear definitions of words that are used in your field for them.

I thought that by the time the first session of two hours was done, there would be at least part of a website in place but, the whole time was spent on planning the way that the client would be presented to the digital world.

Fears about losing privacy and ensuring that credentialing was accurate were all covered. Colours were discussed and even the type of content that would be used was reviewed.

But the website wasn't the only thing that was considered for it was only a small piece of the global package that would be created over time. Target markets were identified, and consideration given to the way that specific products would be developed for each was discussed.

The client was challenged to think about goals for launching each piece of her new business and then to prioritize them.

Even the name for her website address was considered.

When the appointment was over, the client left with lots of notes that she had made and a number of ideas that she had not previously considered. She admitted that her vision had shifted, and she now had a better understanding of how she could proceed into the technical world that she had not previously understood.

Yes, it was quite an experience!

You see, most website designers just take information that they are given and quickly throw it onto a site so that they can get paid. My son, used considerable expertise to help the client do planning that will help her to begin and expand her business in an authentic and logical manner so that she was not only being served but her future clients will also benefit.

Once again, I have learned the lesson that branding, and marketing is not about quickly producing a product. It's about going through a thoughtful process that will support your business for the long-term and help you to build the revenue that you desire.

Interesting what you can learn from your children - if you just take the time and listen!