How To Develop A Brand : The 10-Year Step-By-Step Walkthrough is what would happen in a Perfect World.  

In a perfect world….

Everyone has their version of what would come next in that sentence in regards to their business. Day-in and day-out, we see efficiency edits that would make our jobs and lives oh, so much better if only…. 

it were that perfect world. 

How the world perceives your company starts with you. Once you let that Branding fly, audiences take matters into their minds, forming opinions about who they think you are. 

Oh, And Rest assured, it will be shared with friends. I’m sure you can see the hazard.

A damn good Brand guides your ideal customer through a premeditated experience, guaranteeing that the impression they leave with represents you as you are.

How are you supposed to teach yourself what you need to know, avoiding the rubbish? THEN, overhaul your business while manning it, fronting it, operating it, paying for it, besides everything else that you do. 

Branding your company can feel less like the cherry on top and more of the hair that broke the camel’s back. 

Don’t fall off into search bar purgatory, trying to learn how experts Brand businesses. If you REALLY want to know How To Develop A Brand, this is the 10-Year Step-By-Step List that will tell you EVERYTHING I would if you were one of my clients. Meet one Brander’s Perfect World Scenario…

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The Pre-Game

In the beginning, the average small business owner’s attention is on production, operations, bills, etc. 

Branding should be on that list of ‘can’t open withouts.’ 

Before making your first sale, there’s some Branding to-dos that are fundamental to the success of your operation. A product or service can only go so far. You have to sell something which can never go out of style and never lose its appeal.

Branding, my fellow badasses, does all that and of course, more. 

In My Perfect World Scenario -and in real-life, I advise EVERY client to follow these Pre-Game Steps before opening for business.

Here’s What You’ll Want To Do From Day One : 

The Pre-Game Checklist

1.Audience Research & Avatar Profiles For Your Primary Audience Groups

2.Brand Positioning

 Brand Purpose (Brand : Behavior – Truth – Belief)  Brand Promise – Positioning Statement – Mission Statement – Vision Statement – Tagline – Core Values – Tones of Voice

3.Visual Assets & Style Guide

Logos (primary, secondary, and tertiary), Favicons, Color Palette, Fonts, Visual Style Guide, Special Events & Holiday Branding, Photography, etc

4.Messaging Hierarchy

External Values – Primary & Secondary Messaging – Basic Content & Brand Guidelines

5. Initial Brand Experience

Envision the experience you want customers to have. From the first time they hear about you and the first sale to their next encounter, how can you serve them a memorable experience? 

Mentally review every step your prospective audience may take to waltz through your virtual or physical threshold. 

Can you imagine Disney or Universal without the full-throttle experience?! Of course not! When you’re having trouble envisioning the process, just ask yourself, What Would Disney Do? 

And if that doesn’t put your mind at ease, I meticulously explain how to do each of these pre-game elements on Episode 11 of the BYOBrand Podcast.

Year One – Trial + Error

I’ve lovingly dubbed Year One, “Trial & Error.” 

Opening your doors should signify the birth of a business and most certainly NOT the discontinuation of the Branding process. 

Branding is how you interact and present yourself to the world! From where I’m sitting, pressing the cease button on your Branding right as you’re meeting and greeting your people is counter intuitive. 

I would argue that this is when the REAL work begins!

Year-One Checklist

1.Customer Journey Map

Develop a visual representation of the journey each of your customer avatars take to reach you. Look at the first year’s worth of data and analytics and notice how people reach you.

At each touchpoint, you want to understand what caused someone to take the action which brought them closer to you. Knowing means you can harness that knowledge, steering more customers in your direction, serving them with more of what they like. 

2.Expanded Brand Experience & Planned Campaigns

3. Reinforce and Expand Brand Presence -Physically & Digitally

What platforms are you currently on? Do they represent you and the experience you deliver? If not – get on it. 

If it does -and does it well, then it’s time to level-up. 

Add more ways to reach your customers.

For example, one of my clients, let’s call him Mr. Coffee. When Mr. Coffee and I met up at his shop at the end of Year One, we explored peak and pathetic hours of operation sales-wise. How could we get people excited about drinking coffee earlier in the day?  

Emails are oppressive and rarely get read, so NO. But TEXTS! Texts Freakin’ Work! 

So, we hosted a contest for a $500 gift card. Winners would be contacted via text. No text…no chance.

After the contest, we initiated a text campaign called, ” Morning Motivators” at 6:30 am -the lag hours. People loved it so much they called in to subscribe.

Conclusion, get the word out in ways that get people stoked!

4. Data & Analytics

Think about the Branding we did before you opened your doors, what was it based on? 

The answer :  NONE… not really.  

Sure, we researched data, demographics, and analytics comparing companies like yours, but that’s educated and experience-based intuition for the most part. 

I don’t care if two companies sell the same thing to the same person, they will always be night and day different in some fundamental way. 

Other people’s numbers are great when you lack data. By the end of year one, it’s time to draw the line in the sand, implementing your data.

Use it to take everything we did in the Pre-Game section to the next level. Hone your brand to a fine-tipped point. Take every opportunity to improve your brand, closely aligning it to what your audience wants.

Perfection Is Not A Goal

When you take a step back from the Pre-Game & Year One Checklist and REALLY mull it over  -it’s a heavy ask – like months worth of work kind of asks. 

An In A Perfect World Scenario is just that…. an unlikely, unrealistic, best-case sequence of events that says if you do THIS, then the desired result is a guarantee. But let me ask you something, how many guarantees have you seen fall through the cracks? 

Here’s one : go to college >  get a job for the rest of your life that never leaves > allows for upward mobility > with a pension > retirement plan > vacation > and sick days…

Perfection isn’t the goal. The goal should be the provisions a solid Branding offers

Don’t get we wrong, I dream of the day my OCD, dangerously, organized self can delve into the Branding rabbit hole, because OMG the results would be analogous to Harry Potter World being real. 

But guys, perfection is an illusion, because, #humanity and life. 

Anyhow, I’ve always imagined perfection to be a bland, saltless world where people couldn’t appreciate simplicity, or beauty, or even gain a true love for anything, because we wouldn’t comprehend the struggle. 

I know my badasses and you guys want to DOMINATE. And you will, but not if you aim for perfection.

So, while you’re waiting for Part. II of this article to release, don’t forget to give yourself grace.