ForumsAdvertising, Sales and Marketing

Do small business need branding as much as the big guys

DEFINATELY, and welcome. Great suggestion.

Thanks

I'd say that SOME types of small businesses may need a logo and definitely a website just as much (or more) to compete in their particular markets. Many small businesses (maybe even MOST) do not. As I've said in other posts, I think this community is skewed toward small business owners who (1) provide professional services, (2) run MLM and/or web-based retail operations, and (3) are still "emerging" (are in business part-time only at this point).

If our business plans say that our market is essentially "everybody in the world," then we probably need a logo and website. However, the vast majority of small businesses serve a very narrow and very specific clientele (a niche market).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Labor, about 81 percent of registered businesses are sole proprietorships -- the owner IS the business. If he or she wasn't there, there'd be no business. In effect, the person is the "brand."

The types of business these owners are engaged in can range from the mundane to the truly unusual, but the common threads are: (a) they provide a product or service to an extremely small market segment (too small to attract big business competition), and (b) their customers already know who and where they are (and potential new customers find them through referrals, not advertising or web searches).

That said -- more and more, not having a website is like not having a telephone. Even if it's not necessary as a sales or marketing tool, it confirms that we're in business and tells people how to contact us.

In my opinion small businesses need to focus on creating brand awareness.
Branding creates brand awareness to those unfamiliar to a product or service during advertising which is a part of marketing which if done correctly could translate into sales.
So the answer to the question is yes.

Warm Regards,
Webmaster
http://www.siteprohosting.com

A small business, even a sole proprietorship, cannot survive without branding. The idea that the brand must be just a website or logo is incorrect. The brand can be the business name, or, in the case of a sole proprietor, even the name of the owner. Brand recognition and word of mouth are the two most significant, and least expensive, methods of marketing. However, developing the brand will take a long time. Once the brand is developed, you also have to take significant steps to protect it, as well. This includes registering (for instance, our logo is a registered trademark, the name SUCCESS by DESIGN is a registered trademark, as is my nickname) as a trademark.

After spending decades developing professional and business branding, my major issue has been protecting the use of my name and my company name by others in an effort to work off of my brand to promote competing, or other, businesses. This has required significant vigilance.

Developing the brand has required participation in everything from professional societies/trade associations, professional speaking, professional papers, white papers, participation in forums, training, providing as a resource, being published, and other similar work. The use of a website and logo is not a brand, but a method of obtaining information of the brand. People need to know what and who they are looking for, first, in these days of massive online marketing.

Thanks MotorDoc I could not have said it better.

Warm Regards,
-Webmaster
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