With the advent of social media and the use of online marketing today, the incidence of entrepreneurship is growing by leaps and bounds.
As of 2015, the US now has over 27,000,000 entrepreneurs according to inc.com, which is a record high. On top of that fortune.com says that more entrepreneurs launched startups in 2017 than in the last four years. 7.4 percent of job seekers started their own business as of December 2016.
Those are amazing numbers. And we will continue to see that growth for the next few years at least, I believe.
But with new business additions and growth you also see business failure. According to fitsmallbusiness.com, 46 percent of businesses fail due to incompetence. That is why we have to continue to develop our knowledge and use resources wisely.
There are so many different tools and schools of thought that you can use. But today I want to focus on branding. And more specifically, the advantages of branding in marketing.
* Branding is important for any business but especially for a solopreneur or entrepreneurial business because it will reflect everything that you are to your clients.
* You are the face of the company, even if you are a franchisee or if you are a real estate professional that works with a large company. You are your own brand. People identify with your reputation and service, along with your business logo and other branding tools. This is especially true for local marketing,
* As an independent business owner, especially one in the real estate business, it is critical to build your brand and identity to separate yourself from the masses. Do you have a niche? Do you do something very well over others in the business?
* Consistency is also very important when it comes to your branding. The more people see your face, your brand throughout social media, and through your marketing tools, like email and snail mail, the more they will start to identify you with your company and your brand. What does your brand say to them now?
* Branding is also important for interacting with your customers and clients. It makes it easy to introduce products and changes to your business. It enhances and builds your credibility, which will improve your sales.
* Trust. That’s the bottom line. You have to continue to market and have a cohesive brand to improve engagement and build trust. After all, if your brand speaks for all of these things listed and trust too, you will be successful.