Branding is almost a secret code word, used by many but understood by few. If you ask 10 people to define what branding is, only three would give you a honest answer, and each response would probably be different.

It’s no wonder then that most small businesses and organizations don’t understand or simply don’t care to understand the practice of brand building. The key is not only to understand branding, but also to understand how to integrate a focused brand strategy into your business or organization. And that’s where the disconnect comes in. There are a lot of books on building brands, brand strategy, and branding initiatives - some very good, some not so good. The very good ones are usually those written by folks who have done branding for companies for years - the bad ones are usually way to academic and impractical.

But one thing I’ve noticed about most of these books is they tend to share one thing in common - very rarely are they targeted at small businesses. As I’ve mentioned before small businesses and organizations are a totally different animal. I don’t mean that large corporations don’t face challenges - because they do - what I’m simply saying is that the challenges that small businesses face are unique. As a result, any ideas, strategies, and recommendations for small businesses or organizations must provide solutions to those unique challenges.

We’ll look at those unique challenges shortly, but before we get too far along, I’d like to provide some definitions to help get us all on the same page.

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Running a small business or organization is challenging stuff. In a small business you don’t have the luxury of a bloated savings account, a posh marketing department, or a “who’s who” board of advisors. At times you struggle just to keep payroll from bouncing, and you’ve probably spent countless late nights crunching numbers while watching your to-do list grow ever longer.

The last thing you need is another set of abstract “how-to-grow-your-business” tips that may or may not help. Right?

I couldn’t agree more. I’m a small business owner, my Dad is a small business owner, and I’ve spent most of my life around those managing and serving in a small business or organization - so as cliched as it sounds, I get you’re coming from.

And because of that this blog isn’t just another “how-to” manual filled with grandiose ideas with little in the way of practical application - those drive me nuts, and I’m sure you can relate. Rather this blog is designed to be practical at its very core. It’s filled not just with good information, but also with easy-to-implement strategies proven to help you be more successful.

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