Small business branding guide Updated 2023

Successful Small Business Branding Guide

Outline

• Introduction
• Business basics
• Business brand genesis
• Domain
• Business Email
• Domain Warmup
• Graphic Design
• Web Design
• Social Media
• Services to be in business
• Accounting
• Banking
• Credit Cards
• Credit Card Processing
• Strategies to get exposure
• Selling without selling
• Your secret sauce is the key
• Social Advertising
• Grow your audience
• Ultimate Goal

Introduction

Working with small businesses for the past seven years gave me great insight into their inner workings. I asked all these business owners what made them thrive and struggle. Their answers showed me a pattern that can be simplified and executed for most businesses. 

 If you start with the end-goal for your brand, create a strategy, and execute it successfully, Your brand will make the other areas of business development work cohesively and smoothly. 

It is necessary to understand other areas of business development to allocate resources to your branding efforts adequately. If you are not careful, you will spend all your startup capital on the inner workings of the company, leaving little or no money for marketing and sales. 

Understanding all aspects of the business will reduce the failure rate and set you up for success!

Business basics

Most businesses start with their owners performing all the jobs necessary to be in business. If you are a single-member company here are the main hats you need to wear:

• Leadership (vision, business plan, management)
• Marketing (Web, social media, networking)
• Accounting (bill pay, payroll, taxes, city, state and federal licenses, insurance, etc.)
• Workforce (depends on the industry, service provider, manufacturer, etc.)

You will also need to find out your hourly rate, cost of production, etc. Based on this, you will find out how much you need to charge for your products. The lower your initial overhead, the better value you can bring to the market to compete.

I encourage any business owner to be intimately familiar with each hat your business requires now and in the future. If you don't learn how to do so, you will have to outsource all these jobs very early in the business' life, adding to your overhead and eating a good chunk of your startup capital that should go towards marketing and sales. 

As you grow in business and start earning significant money, your main job will be to find other people or service providers that can wear the hats you least like. You can then focus on the jobs that you are most effective for the business to grow. 

If you are not familiar with the concepts above, check with your local government or library for free classes and workshops on business basics. You can also check the National Entrepreneur Center.

Business brand genesis

Domain Name

The best way I recommend to start any business venture is by going to your favorite domain registrar and look for possible domain names for a website. Do this even before you register your business with the state and get your tax Id from the IRS.



When searching, pick a short and easy domain to type and spell. Please do your best to find a dot com domain since it is the most popular. If you find a domain that matches your ideal name and potential brand, buy it! Don't hesitate! If you can, buy more than one; they are very inexpensive to get and renew yearly. While you're at it, buy a domain with your name (firstnamelastname.com) so that your personal and business brand can work together. If you have a popular name, it will be hard to do but get a good approximation. You never know where your business venture will take you. Your name may become more popular than your brand. You can always point your name to your business page or vice versa.



I've tried a few different registrar companies for domains over the years. I look at value, service, and transparency in all my service providers. I found NameCheap offers excellent value privacy included from the get-go.

The dot.com domains start at under $10 and come with PRIVACY INCLUDED. Most other registrars want to upsell you the privacy, and while you can get the first year for way less than $10, at renewal, the fees more than double with other registrars. 

I recommend the domain purchase first to make the branding easier. With the domain on hand, you can move on to the graphic design stage. Once you have all the graphical elements, you can proceed to register your business with the state, get your tax ID from the IRS, and get your licenses from your city or county.



Here is a great 10 step guide on how to start a business from the SBA



If you've already created a business name and the domain is not available, you can always do a "DBA" (doing business as) with your state and operate as the DBA. it is a relatively inexpensive process.

Business Email

The temptation to use a free email service should be avoided. Doing so will show your potential clients that you are not serious about business.

Why promote another brand with your business?

You can add business email very inexpensively from your registrar. But make sure you get an email with Active sync. This capability will give email synchronization across all devices, calendars, etc.

 I recommend and personally use NameCheap Email. You get three emails for around $30 a year!

If you need cloud storage, I recommend Microsoft 365 business email. For $6 a month with yearly commitment, you get one terabyte of cloud storage with online use of the office suite.

Domain Warmup

Domain Reputation.

Most people expect to buy a domain, attach an email address, and send emails without any problems. However, clients often tell me their basic emails to friends, and clients land in the spam folder. That is where domain reputation comes into play.

Internet and email providers tend not to trust emails from new domains without any reputation, so they send your emails to spam. Why? Because that is the custom of spammers. These individuals or companies buy domains and then burn them by emailing thousands of people and getting the domains flagged and blacklisted. 

The solution? Get your new domain warmed up slowly by yourself or with the help of a service that will email on your behalf, reply and move your emails automatically to the inbox and marked as important. 

It is also essential to use a separate domain if you plan to email in large quantities. If too many people flag your emails as spam or unsubscribes, this will damage your reputation, and your email will automatically go to spam or will not deliver to your clients. 

I've been using a Warmup inbox service that has been easy to use and implement for about $12 a month. The beauty of this service is that you don't have to keep it indefinitely if used for day-to-day operations. However, if you want to use it for marketing email, it is essential to keep on using it to help you improve your domain reputation over time. 

Graphic Design

The graphic design stage is fun but can be frustrating. It is pure creativity, but it can be daunting to come up with a "minimalist design."

Why simple?

Because simplicity is easy to implement on other necessary products for your brand. Once you have some satisfactory designs, it is essential to test them with trusted friends and advisors with different views. Just because we love a design, it doesn't mean it would represent the business' purpose.

I recommend that you don't order business cards or embroidery products until you have all the graphical assets tried and tested by your circle of trust. I've seen many people change their minds soon after production leaving you to spend money unnecessarily. 

Once your designs pass the unbiased test, you can move on to the next step. If you need my assistance during this process, Let me know

Web Design

Web design is the next logical stage because of its malleability. If you change your mind about the graphic design elements, it is easy to switch on your site. If you create products too soon, when the changes come, your brand will be inconsistent.

If you decide to create a website, you will become a target of services such as Square Space, Wix, etc. They offer low-cost options to get you started. These online platforms provide a good variety of templates that can be modified. The only caveat is that you have to come up with all the content in a compelling way that offers your services and guides your audience. 

I mention the web creation services above because I work  with individuals with different degrees of skill. Some hire me to create their whole web presence, while others have a website and would like me to create their content.

You need to be aware of an essential concept in web design. Your website needs to introduce and explain your product or service quickly with calls to action. The average time people spend on a site is less than a minute. I go into greater detail on the Minimalist website article. 

Since it is now easier than ever to create a website with the services I mentioned above, it is harder to stand out and still comply with the expectations of your clients and search engines. You need to make sure you have a site that loads in less than five seconds on a mobile device and has a unique way of spreading your message. There are many sites with pre-canned copy that don't offer accurate representation of you or your business.

If you need a store, most of these web services provide ways to activate online stores. These stores will, of course, add additional monthly expenses. If you have a handful of products or services you sell, there are opportunities to do so for free with some hosting services. I implement Ecwid with my clients directly onto their site to access their store from my client portal. If you want to deal directly with them, you can click on the banner below to get started with 10 products for free.

One of the other prominent players in the online store arena is Shopify. They have great support and integration, like Ecwid. They offer a 14-day free trial no credit card required. Let me know if you have any questions about either of these platforms.

Social Media

You should register and create pages and profiles in all the pertinent social media platforms and business listings on search engines: Here is a list of the most important:

• Google My Business
• Bing Places For Business
• Apple Maps
• NextDoor
• Yelp Free Listing (Their listing is free but be ready for their sales team calls)

The first profile you need to set up is Google my Business since they have a verification process that other business profiles will honor to avoid additional verification.

Setting up social media and mapping apps will be the first line of action to get "SEO" search engine optimization. Don't let this term scare you. Most businesses will get most of the traffic from the “near me” search query. The bigger animal of  “organic search engine optimization” is a long game strategy. I wrote a short article on demystifying SEO

Must have assets and services to be in business

Services and assets are not directly linked to branding, but if you are careful, you can save significant money on these services to allocate resources to the marketing. If you keep your overhead low at the beginning, you will free up funds for other areas. If you are not watchful, you will be sold a plethora of services that you don't need at the beginning of your business venture, which increases the chances of failure because of high overhead costs and fees. 



If you're on the planning stages or contemplating whether or not to start a business, there is a great 10 step guide on how to start a business from the SBA.



To start your business, you need accounting, insurance, bank account, credit card processing, and a sales tax receipt with your state.



Accounting

I start with accounting because, depending on the software you use, the banking institution may not be compatible. Intuit Quickbooks is the number one choice for small businesses and most accountants can connect to your account. If your budget allows it, you can’t go wrong.

You can also start with Wave Apps for free. You can send invoices for pay via credit card, and their credit card processing fees are in par with other platforms such as square or PayPal. I will talk about credit card processing below.



If your new venture is a non-profit 501c3, and you like QuickBooks, you can access free or reduced-price software and hardware from TechSoup.



Banking

Depending on your business, you may opt for a local bank that is close to your location. Consider the minimum balances and monthly fees for doing business. Most banks offer various levels of account and will charge monthly fees. By upgrading to the next level and keep a minimum balance, you can avoid most monthly maintenance fees. There is a growing trend by online banks to offer free business banking, so make sure you check those as well. 

Wave Apps has a free business checking.

Credit Cards

When you apply for a business credit card, a credit check on you is needed. If your business has many initial costs for equipment, it may be worth it to apply for credit cards with a sign-up bonus of $500 or more when you spend, usually, $5000 in the first three months. But do so only if you have the capital to pay it all off right away or during the promotional period to avoid interest. 



An alternative is to use one of your personal credit cards for business purposes only. This strategy will give you the added security for liability that business cards don't have. If you go this route, you must only use this personal card for business transactions.

Clark Howard has excellent articles on the subject.

Credit Card Processing

One area where small businesses get targeted continuously is credit card processing. Here is a short and simple rule:

• If you process less than $4,000 a month in credit cards, it is better to use services from Wave apps, Quickbooks, Square, or Stripe.



These services have a flat fee anywhere from 2.5% to 3.5%, lower if swiped or via online invoice vs. typed.

If you have a higher volume than $4,000, you can consider the lower-cost alternatives with a monthly fee. One great place to look at is through Costco merchant services or Sams. These wholesale clubs have so much negotiating power that you will get better deals than offered by your bank or individual salespeople.

Strategies to get exposure

In today's world, it is easy to get exposure with little money. If you execute this guide appropriately, you should've saved significant capital to invest in this area. 

If you understand the following concepts in order, you can formulate an excellent exposure strategy.

Selling Without Selling

Before you start "selling," you have to keep in mind the following reality:



Many people are selling the same products as you. You are going to be compared based on value, experience, and uniqueness.



If you are starting, you have to work on the value and uniqueness while you gain experience. 



• If you are careful with the setup and overhead of your business, you can offer more value. 
• If you continuously research your industry, you can tailor a unique product. 
• If you have a mindset to learn something new weekly, you will gain experience as you grow your clientele.



Most people blast their friends and acquaintances, promoting their services. 



Pick me! Pick me! 



I'm the best! 



We offer the services you need! 



Sounds Familiar?



If everyone is doing the same, how can you be memorable?



Your Secret Sauce is the Key

Revealing how you help your clients is not giving the keys to the kingdom. People do business with people, and by sharing some of your secret sauce, you are allowing your clientele to know you. 



You can learn and find the answer to anything with a quick search engine query. 



Do you want those queries to go to you or your competition?



The best way to show your audience that you are a better choice is by instructing and teaching. If you can answer your audience’s questions and help them solve their problems, you will show your expertise. The more thorough and complete your help is, the more you can retain your audience. 



The days of just posting on social media and most of your followers seeing your posts are over. Today you have to pay for your posts to be seen.



What is the best way to get most of your marketing dollars?



All your posts must have a call to action that brings your audience to your site. Your site is where you can educate and direct. Bringing people to your site increases your traffic and also shows the search engines that your website is offering value. 



If you have a special or promotion, the graphic and short description should explain and direct to a form or click-to-buy on your site. Once on your website, there should be a call to action to encourage your new visitor to browse your other services. Don't just boost a promotion or service. You want your audience engaged with you and your products. Offering helpful tips on how to use your product or service will keep people coming back for more. 



As a website or email, great design helps your brand soar above the rest.

As your business grows and your marketing budget increases, you can move on to advertise on google, bing, etc.

Grow Your Audience

One of the best tools to help you grow and follow up with your audience is with email. To use email effectively, You need a robust website. Why? Because your emails should direct your clients to your site. 



An email needs to be short and to the point with visible calls to action. Think about how many emails you receive. Most of them end up in the trash. 

If your emails have information your audience is looking for or needs, they will open and click on your links. 



Like a mobile website, your email needs to have short blurbs and calls to action without or very little scrolling. Here are two of the best email marketing services:



ConvertKit

• This is best suited for creators, but it can work for anyone. If you use the link or click on the banner, you can get started with 1k subscribers for free.

Constant Contact

• It has a straightforward interface with drag and drop content. By clicking on the link or the banner, you can get a free 60-day trial.

Branding Phoenix CRM

• My custom software solution can be activated for various services including email marketing. I also offer options for sms, automation, appointment systems. social media management and much more.

I recommend the email marketing services above out of many.

If you need help with setting up any of these services please let me know.

Ultimate Goal

As you successfully navigate the waters of small business branding, you need to create a plan of growth for your business. At the beginning of this guide, I mentioned that when you are a business owner, you have to wear many hats. 

The ultimate goal is to grow your business and remove as many hats as you can. Focusing on your strengths and delegating the rest will make your business grow and gain time to explore and develop its vision. 

A business brand is successful when its creator can take time off without disruption to the business. The more your business can operate on its own, your brand sill soar and live on taking on the ups and downs of life.

If you find this guide helpful, consider using the products with the links on this guide. Branding Phoenix may receive a small commission. Some links may offer a free trial or months of subscription.