You’ve created a new business entity – now what? Time to think about your BRAND.

You’ve invested incredible amounts of time, thought, energy, and probably money to create a new business.  You’ve put together a polished business plan, selected an entity for your business, and are off-and-running.  Now the real work begins.

Now it’s time to focus on branding what you do, who you are, and what you offer to potential customers.  By creating brand recognition, you build trust with your stakeholders.  You establish your business in a way that stands out and stays in the minds of others.

A simple set of steps can get you started in creating your brand:

Step 1: take your business plan and from it create a set of goals that can be clearly communicated to your stakeholders.  (Stakeholders are those people who influence the success of your business – your employees, your suppliers, your potential customers, members of the community in which you work).

Creating a mission statement is a good place to start – this statement sets out in concise, clear language what your business seeks to do, to accomplish, to offer.  Post this statement in a place where your stakeholders can see it.  They will read it, and will relate it to your business.

Step 2: Develop a brand strategy by eliciting information from your stakeholders as to what they desire and expect from your business.  (Ways to elicit this information include using an email marketing provider such as MyEmma, to conduct polls among those on your email list.)

Develop new messages based upon this information, in a way that’s consistent with your mission statement – you may find that your mission evolves over time as your business evolves to meet the expectations and needs of your customers.  Flexibility is key, but the core values of your mission should remain consistent – it is consistency that builds your brand.

Step 3: With your mission statement and messages in-hand, determine how you will disseminate this information – targeted marketing, traditional print advertising (local media), social media, etc. – and develop the ‘look’ and ‘feel’ for your messages in a way that fits the media.

Step 3 ½: If you’re not already social media-savvy, now is the time to dedicate an hour or so a day to developmental reading on this topic.  You can visit technorati for a directory of blogs on the topic of internet 2.0 and using social media to promote your business, or visit Amazon and search ‘social media marketing’ for a plethora of books on the topic.

Step 4: Develop specific messages that convey your brand via the media you’ve selected for marketing.  The nature of the media often dictates how you communicate, which is why this is step 4 and comes after media selection.

Step 5: Engage in the creative process of realizing your messages through the specific pieces of communication required by the media you’ve selected.  Different media require different types of communication, although all should have a consistent presentation of your brand that will be recognized by your stakeholders.  You may create a print ad for the local paper, a video to upload onto youtube for viewing by current and potential customers, or an email campaign to be executed through MyEmma.  Regardless of the medium, consistency of brand message will ensure that your business is recognized no matter how it reaches your stakeholders.

Creating the brand for your business takes effort and time, but dedicating resources to this important work is an investment that will pay off.  Just as working with an experienced business attorney is crucial to selecting the best entity for your business, working with an experienced designer or marketing team in developing and disseminating your brand is a sound business decision.

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