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Branding, or brand marketing as some now call it, is one of\rthe buzzwords of public relations and marketing. \r I searched\rseveral dictionaries in vain for a precise definition of\rthis high profile concept as it is applied in the business\rworld. The closest I got was the one that explained the verb\r"to brand" as "to impress firmly." \r \rOn the other hand, perhaps I wasn't so unlucky after all.\rNot the whole story, maybe, but this is, after all, the very\ressence of what branding in business is. \r \rWhen you brand something - be it a company, an individual, \ra product, a service, a concept or a process - you impress\rstrongly on people's minds whatever is special and\rdistinctive about it. You make some kind of lasting impact\rthat leaves them in no doubt that your special something\rstands apart from everything else in the same category. \r \rIt sounds simple enough. The problem is that even some\rmarketing professionals, if they know this at all, have not\ryet internalized it. They think of brands in terms of\rtrademarks. They apparently believe that branding is just a\rmatter of well designed logos and striking, unforgettable\rvisual images. \r \rNot that they're necessarily so far off the mark. We all\rknow that the right visual symbols do help to create an\rimpression of distinctiveness. The Coca-Cola people have\rexploited this principle to absolute perfection. Smash one\rof their familiar bottles, and you can still recognize that\rthe fragments were once part of a Coca-Cola bottle. \r \rNor does it have to be confined to the sense of sight.\r Occasionally, you just have to hear a few strains of some\rmelody to immediately associate it with a certain company or\rproduct. And then there's the famous Singapore Airlines\rsmell. A few years ago, the flight attendant of that\rairline began distributing, before and after takeoff, hot\rtowels that gave off a very distinctive aroma. Once\rexperienced, it's not easily forgotten.\r \rThe truth is, though, that characteristic symbols and\rimages, whether visual, aural or olfactory, important\rthough they are, simply not enough. Even mighty Coca-Cola\rcould not have captured the lion's share of the soft drink\rmarket with the design of its bottles alone.\r \rAnd if you're just a small guy, well, it's a different ball game\raltogether.\r \rThe easiest way to understand this concept is to think of it\rlike this: if you run a website, what would happen if you\rremoved your logo and your company name? \rWould I still be able to recognize your brand? Or, let's say\ryou're the owner of a brick-and-mortar outfit.\r \rOne day you\rmove to a new location but you haven't had a chance to put\rup your signs yet. Were I to stumble into your store by\rchance, would I be able to tell it apart from those of your\rcompetitors?\r \rNow, what if you publish and email newsletter, and you\rremove your masthead, your name and your subscribe\rinstructions? I pose this question because I often read different\rnewsletters published by different members of the same\rprofession or trade. It's clear that all these people are\rkeenly aware of the pivotal role their newsletters should be\rplaying in marketing their talents, enhancing client\rrelationships, or in furthering other personal or business\robjectives. \r \rI'm saddened, however, whenever I see so little to\rdistinguish one from the other - and I'm not only referring\rto visual appearance and actual content, which are important\renough. \r \rOn the one hand, these publishers are trying very hard to\rmarket themselves as experts or purveyors of services in\rfields in which they have quite a lot of competition on the\rInternet.\r But on the other, they're doing very little to\rshow me what makes them stand out from the pack, or even why\rthey're different from any of their competitors.\r \rEven their publications are undistinguished, very\rrun-of-the-mill; why should things be different when I use\rtheir professional services? \r \r Practical tipsHere are just a few short tips to help you brand yourself\rand your newsletter. \r\r- Study your competitors! Read and research as many other\rlists as you can and in particular those on the same topic\ror published by other businesses or practitioners in your\rfield. Look for gaps - see what YOU can offer that they\rcan't, or just don't!\r
\r - Your personality is unique (which means there's nobody\relse in the world quite like you!) Don't be afraid to use\rthat truism to your advantage. The best newsletters on the\rNet revolve around their publishers' personalities.\r
\r - See how you can "personalize" the physical appearance of\ryour newsletter, so that your readers will recognize it as\rsoon as they open it even before they read the words - from\rthe layout, masthead design, and other visual clues. This, \rto be sure, will be easier with HTML newsletters, but even\rwith plain text there are many possibilities.\r
Branding yourself may be hard work, but once you achieve\ryour goal, you'll have a valuable intangible asset that\rno-one can easily steal or plagiarize. Good luck!\r Azriel Winnett is creator of Hodu.com - Your Communication Skills Portal. This popular website helps you improve your communication and relationship skills in your business or professional life, in the family unit and on the social scene. New articles added almost daily.
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