Branding Basics for Beginners

What is branding? Branding can be defined as the art of creating clear and consistent messaging, to attract and retain loyal paying customers. A brand can also be defined as the product(s) you are selling. For example, I am the brand behind Ogden Enterprises. We have different revenue streams of our brand. We have our speaking academies, public speaking, books, appearances, high end coaching program, our mastermind group and more! We have multiple ways of branding ourselves to attract the attention of potential paying customers. Some examples would be our website, social media marketing, publicist, direct and indirect marketing, etc.Three years ago, when I started my voyage of becoming a public speaker, I did everything I could in the branding department, but I did it for free or extremely low cost. The first thing I did was began constructing my social media to reflect my desire to be a public speaker, I did this for about 12 months with no outside expenses incurred.After the full year of doing all types of "free" branding, I then progressed and purchased a very low cost website, more of a landing page, and I got my first logo designed at a low cost as well. I thought, "Why go out and spend a bunch of money I don't have to look like a big shot, and then be in the red when it came to profitability as a new small business. Most businesses today go to your social media before they look at your website anyway."After I had built up some clients I had spoken for, as well as a few videos of me speaking, I finally had some "meat and potatoes" to put on my website. While my affordable website was being designed, I had my logo constructed simultaneously, so I could add that to my website once it was ready. Once companies started seeing I was the real deal, I was hired more often.Following the natural progression, after a steady influx of jobs, as well as working hard to build my brand, was a publicist and a media team. Remember this when it comes to hiring a publicist and or PR team, "No matter how good they are, you must work just as hard or harder than them to build your own brand!" A PR/publicist's dream is a client that works 24/7 to build their own brand.Again, I'm not saying my way is perfect, or without flaws. I have talked to some very successful people whose strategies to brand themselves are totally different than mine. All I can do is tell you how I branded myself in the beginning with

1. No Money
2. No Reputation In The Speaking Industry
3. No Outside Help
4. No Idea What I Was Doing
5. No Real Tactical Plan For Success

So, how you decide to brand yourself is your personal choice, but here is the question I'll ask you to help get you heading in the right direction. "Is your current plan of branding yourself working?" If it is, then keep on trucking. Assuming it's not, you might want to try something different!