This write-up is for my creatives and entrepreneurs. I've spent the bulk of my adolescence and young adulthood learning the importance of branding through trial and error. I've learned quite a bit that I plan to continue to incorporate in my musical and business endeavors. I hope this quick tips can provide a spark of motivation to help you align your brand in a way that connects to your message.
It is very important to brand yourself as you grow in your artistic and entrepreneurial endeavors. From my experience small things like business cards, official logos, consistency, and merchandising tend to go a long way. It is important to situate your brand in a way that is easy to recognize and easy to support. Fans and supporters like to be met half-way, so hook them up with some FREE stuff that they could find useful, offer collaborative experiences, and put on small intimate events. These small acts of kindness will ensure that you are remembered and may end up being only a small cost up front.
I know that in the early stages of building, it may be tough for you to make permanent decisions about the image of your brand, but if you put in the research you will be better suited to pick out your company logo, font, colors, and merchandise items. Take your time with the tough decisions, because 5 years down the road you don't want to re-brand. Fundraise and take the necessary steps to handle paperwork, permits and licenses, so that you don't run into legal problems down the road over copyrighted content. Consider hiring a graphic designer locally, via social media, or for-hire sites like Fiverr. Once you have your graphics in-line, picking the right merch items can go a long way. Keep a close eye on swag trends and come up with a cozy shirt or headwear design that your supporters can get behind. At this point, you can also look into social media marketing strategies and Paid Promotions. If you are able to get traffic, convert the traffic into subscriptions, followers, or even better, sales, then you've opened yourself up to more reach both within your community and across the globe.
Even with the basic items listed above, you'll still have to find ways to lock in gigs, blog/magazine/radio interviews, and more opportunities to spread your message. The goal is to find opportunities to further establish your brand and its connection to the public. This will involve preparing EPKs (artist and musicians), proposals, and business marketing plans in order to layout your goals and put forth a solid effort at achieving each task. Frequent places that share connections to your industry (trade-shows, coffee shops, bars, restaurants, etc.) From there remain consistent and engaged and then when it is time to release content, products, or services, your base should be aware of your message and what your brand is offering. Looking for followers, so that you can boost streams for your new project? or Looking to break into the skin care industry? It is important to brand yourself in a way that will demand respect in your industry.
Dom S. Flagg 2019