Posted on Saturday, 30th January 2010 by CopywritingCat
One of the marketers I most admire is James Roche, The InfoProduct Guy. If you don’t know him, I suggest you click on this link and sign up for his free stuff. I took his course and learned a lot from him.
One lesson James teaches is, “Branding is not your first priority as a business person.” He’s right. All too often I meet clients who want to build copy around a brand.
Based on James and some other folks, here’s what I would say about branding when you are a small service business owner or an independent professional.
(1) It makes sense to spend a lot of money on branding if you’re among the ranks of Coca Cola, Nike or even Meow Mix. It even makes sense once you are established and have a following. But branding isn’t the first thing you do.
Hold off on spending money for a logo or slogan till you have a strong client base.
(2) Don’t do what I did. I started out with the Copy-Cat Copywriting brand and the sleepy-cat logo. I’ve expanded it to the Cat Chats. I have the Copy-Cat Ezine. But I wouldn’t use this brand today and I wish I had waited awhile to start my branding. I’ll live with the Copy-Cat and you will eventually see a rebranding.
(3) Don’t wait for a brand. Get your name out there. Connie Ragen Green is just “Connie Ragen Green.” She’s known for her name. Armand Morin is “Armand Morin” and sometimes he brands with his initials: check out the AM2 program Armand is easily one of the most successful Internet marketers but he doesn’t need a brand. He’s like Donald Trump: the name IS the brand.
So it’s a good idea to brand with your name. After all, you know the names behind the brands of these Internet marketers. When you look them up you probably go by name.
(4) Your brand will evolve from the way clients talk about you, what you do and how prospects search for you.
For example, Ali Brown started as The Ezine Queen. Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero is Red-Hot Copy. James Roche is the InfoProduct Guy.
It takes awhile and you can’t be too hasty. For instance, I started promoting myself as a low-end copywriter who was faster than the competition. I’m no longer low-end and I can’t always be as fast as before. I’ve gotten busier.
(5) Rather than invest in branding, invest in content that will attract visitors to your site and then convert them. Often your brand will grow out of your copy and your content.
Ironically, a brand that startles people with creativity may actually backfire. We think “great name” but we don’t always associate the name with what you do or who you are. Anyway, a short term “wow, that’s a great name” doesn’t lead to longer-term memories.
P.S. Please check out the links i’ve included. Yes, I get a commission (usually but not always!) when you buy through my link. But they’re great people and you will probably learn from them, even from their free stuff.
Comments (2)
Posted in website marketing
February 1st, 2010 at 14:24
I totally agree with this. Branding is important but it starts with how your company behaves in the marketplace. Spending tons of money on branding as a start up makes little sense. I would take compelling copy for the start up any day of the week.
February 2nd, 2010 at 08:28
Thanks, Brandon. I totally agree. So many of my clients have no funds to hire a copywriter or learn copywriting because they’ve spent thousands of dollars on a logo. Logos don’t convert prospects to clients; copy does.