I wanted to write a post for you all about building a brand. When I first started building City Cycle, I looked everywhere for mentorship and tangible inspiration. Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding any. So I want to make sure I help anyone that is in a place that I was. If you have ever wanted to start a brand, a business, or even just be better at defining your career path as you grow, this post is for you!
How to lay a foundation for a brand in three steps:
First things first, you need to decide what you want to do. What product are you selling or what service are you providing? Some people already know the answer to this question, if you do –amazing! You’re one step ahead. If you don’t it’s okay, there is time! Here are some questions to ask yourself. (advice: be relevant)
- What am I good at?
- What do I love to do?
Ex: I love cycling and I am really good with people. I have a natural ability to bring people together and create community. So I mashed community with cycling and City Cycle was born. (plus a few other steps…that took years)
Second, what makes your product or service different from anything else that is out there?
Unless you are the next Steve jobs or Bill Gates (and hey, maybe you are) and you aren’t creating something brand new, something similar to your idea already exists. You have to define what makes your brand different from anyone else. My piece of advice, don’t make It something small.
Lastly and most importantly, why do you want to do this? I am telling you now if the answer is to make money, you are in the wrong headspace. Don’t get me wrong. Your mortgage has to be paid, you want to get extra guac at Chipotle and that brand new Tesla wouldn’t look bad in your garage, I GET IT. But if you build a brand off of the principle to make money, you will fail 9 times out of 10. You have to have passion for what you are creating. Trust me on this one. It takes time to make money and if you don’t have passion, it will fall apart before the money comes.
Don’t let the fact that you haven’t done anything keep you from doing something. If I would have known what I know now, I probably would never have opened City Cycle. Ha. There are some scary situations and big bills to pay and sometimes being naïve to it all makes you invincible.
Now that you have laid the foundation, you are ready to build.
Top 3 most important items to building a brand:
Distinguish your core values and purpose
This is so important. You need to get out a paper and pen and write this down. Type it up and frame it. Make this official. You have to have the values of your brand somewhere in writing to define who you are. You will have so many people give you their advice on how it should be done and what the brand should represent. When making decisions, come back to this piece of paper. Only make decisions off of these values. It won’t be easy.
Know your audience
Besides having people to talk to, the most important thing is knowing how to talk to them. What do they need? What do they want as a consumer? The best brands appeal to their audience in an effective way. Presenting your brand in a way that they need it, while still holding onto your core values and purpose. See how this starts to get hard?
Create consistency
Email signatures, business cards, font palettes – they all matter. Everything needs to be consistent!
Signs of a strong brand:
Clear, relevant, passionate, credible, consistent.
