{"id":7460,"date":"2014-05-27T18:02:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-27T18:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.123print.com\/blog\/?p=7460"},"modified":"2015-07-16T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T18:46:08","slug":"looking-at-the-big-picture-branding-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/looking-at-the-big-picture-branding-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking at the Big Picture: Branding First"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Looking-at-the-Big-Picture-Branding-First.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-7464\" title=\"Looking at the Big Picture Branding First\" alt=\"Looking at the Big Picture Branding First\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Looking-at-the-Big-Picture-Branding-First-300x300.jpg\" width=\"192\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Looking-at-the-Big-Picture-Branding-First-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Looking-at-the-Big-Picture-Branding-First-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Looking-at-the-Big-Picture-Branding-First.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a>Building your brand is one of the most important steps in developing a new business. The number of small- and medium-sized businesses out there is growing exponentially \u2014 and you need to make sure your company is ahead of the pack. What differentiates your biz from the rest? And how will you communicate those factors to your prospects? One word \u2014 branding.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-size: 18px; color: #ff771c;\">What is branding?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Some define branding as a \u201cname, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller\u2019s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.\u201d (<a title=\"ama.org\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ama.org\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">American Marketing Association<\/a>). Others define branding as \u201cthe set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer\u2019s decisions to choose one product or service over another.\u201d (<a title=\"sethgodin.com\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sethgodin.com\/sg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Seth Godin<\/a>, author of \u2018Linchpin\u2019). However you define it, your company\u2019s branding should convey an overall feeling and\/or message for the products and services your offer. Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that branding can wait until things \u201csettle down.\u201d But here\u2019s the truth \u2014 without branding, your company will be unable to ever get to that \u201csettle down\u201d point.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-size: 18px; color: #ff771c;\">What it YOUR brand?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In determining what your brand is, start by asking yourself these questions: What makes my company stand out from my competitors? Why should a customer choose my company over others? What product or service do I offer to satisfy a need of my customer? The answers to these questions will serve as the building blocks to developing your brand. You want your brand to have value and act to draw in customers. If your brand sticks out to them, word-of-mouth affirmation will do wonders for your business.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-size: 18px; color: #ff771c;\">Designing your brand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, you\u2019ve established your brand. Now what? Now is the time to turn your branding dreams into a reality by using design work! By incorporating a visual aspect, it can evoke positive connections to your brand and your company. To put the importance of visual branding into perspective \u2014 some large corporations spend tens of millions of dollars on a branding campaign! This just proves that the power or good branding is undeniable and is the biggest builder of trust and credibility.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7461\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7461\" style=\"width: 827px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.123print.com\/design-services\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-7461  \" title=\"Get a Custom Logo from 123Print Design Services\" alt=\"Get a Custom Logo from 123Print Design Services\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Get-a-Custom-Logo-from-123Print-Design-Services.jpg\" width=\"827\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Get-a-Custom-Logo-from-123Print-Design-Services.jpg 827w, https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Get-a-Custom-Logo-from-123Print-Design-Services-300x135.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7461\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">123Print Design Services can help you create your brand! Click for details.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The earlier you start thinking about your brand, the better. With each decision you make, ask yourself if your branding elements will help customers learn about your business, convince them to spend that extra dollar on your products\/services over your competitors\u2019 and if they would recommend your business to their friends. If you can answer positively to all of these, you are on your way to building a successful brand.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What challenges did you run into when developing your brand identity? What other resources did you find helpful?<\/strong> We, along with other aspiring entrepreneurs, would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, or connect with us on <a title=\"facebook.com\/123Print\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/123Print\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a title=\"twitter.com\/123print\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/123print\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> or <a title=\"plus.google.com\/+123print\" href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+123print\/posts\" target=\"_blank\">Google+<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building your brand is one of the most important steps in developing a new business. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1443,1445,1448,27,8],"tags":[158,1584,1539,1038,1585],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7460"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7460"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8957,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7460\/revisions\/8957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}