This is my response to a posting by a colleague in a forum – the question was:<\/p>\n
I think we mis-advise people to spend too much energy on putting this cart before the horse – we need to know our niche and the people who are rooted there first, and that will guide the branding language, images and marketing channels. I think that is why values-driven entrepreneurs like yourself struggle with the concept of branding – it feels like you have to create a facade between yourself and your customers, and that is the antithesis of the place you are coming from and the business you want to grow.<\/p>\n
Stop targeting businesses and just talk with the people who operate them. Specifically, figure out who you’d most like to have around a table to find out the potential of your business idea – people on the ground, potential customers or their suppliers, not business advisors or branding experts. Gather a few (no more than 5) of these, including some of your peeps in the sustainable end of any related industry and do a time-limited, focussed conversation with them. You might do more than one or two of these focus groups.<\/p>\n
How? Show up where they gather or where you gather but haven’t asked people about this so far. Explain what you are thinking of doing\/providing, ask them for an hour of their time and the ‘right’ people will agree to participate in a focus group. Every one of them who say yes will be a link to more folks, and most of these people jump at the chance to reflect on their experience, identify their ‘pain points’ and meet their colleagues.<\/p>\n
Meet where the group can be free of distractions and be comfortable. Tell them you will take notes, or even record the discussion if they agree to that. Prepare a few open-ended questions to get the ball rolling and let THEM do the talking. If you have more than one other person in the room, the conversation that will ensue will be most enlightening. Use the Huddle technology if you can’t do it effectively in person.<\/p>\n
Don’t forget to include questions at the end like: “How would a service\/product like mine – if it serves your need – become financially viable\/sustainable?” This will help bring things out of the clouds and onto the landing strip. What would they actually be drawn to pay for, and how would that affect their bottom line?<\/p>\n
And of course end with: “Who else in your network should I talk to about this?” and “Will you connect me to them?” Follow up with a really thoughtful and personalized note of thanks to each one. This may seem like more work than reading a book or taking a course and working in your own head to decide on a brand, but the payoff may be the difference between a faster build to success or a struggle without knowing where the fix is. The most important thing is, you have now established a board of advisors for your business, or at least a network of boosters…<\/p>\n
In your post, you have made some reasonable assumptions about your perceived ‘target market’, but they are still assumptions until you ask the folks who are currently populating that niche about their experience of operating their businesses there. You may even change – or expand – your ideas about what the real product or service should be if you get it from the horses’ mouths.<\/p>\n
I find that branding is less important at this still-early stage of social enterprise and values-driven business than are relationships built through net-weaving in the emergent entrepreneurial circles. People who promote these products have found their niche market in the world of folks who are new to business and marketing and full of desire to change the world through their business ideas. But we have less direct knowledge of how to assess the usefulness of these ideas and tools for our specific type and stage of business. With all due respect to ‘Brandgasm’ and the many other excellent tools out there, these authors have found OUR ‘pain point’ but that does not mean their solution is the one we need at this specific moment.<\/p>\n
Word of mouth is a larger part of how people in the world of authentic marketing and ethical business build their place in the local economy. That starts from direct contact, building trust and leading to referral through networks as people find each other and support the ‘tribe’ who have similar aims, principles and values.<\/p>\n
Where we get stuck is when we are not networked outside our own homogeneous cohort and are missing connection to appropriate and effective business networks. We may see business as essentially evil and have avoided contact. But there are increasing numbers of good relevant business networks everywhere. If you are part of a Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) group or if there is a Slow Money chapter in your area, this is a good place to start the dialogue. They will know where financial support or investment can help get you started. As a permaculture guy, I’m sure you know a few places to start.<\/p>\n
Branding, on the other hand, tends to be more useful when the market is bigger and\/or more confusing. Your own name is the place to start as the most authentic brand you can have in this world. Large or franchised business don’t usually have that (an exception may be Wendy’s because Dave Thomas and his daughter are real people we came to know in their ads), and so these NEED the recognizable logo and tag lines.<\/p>\n
Of course everyone should own their own name domain to at least prevent squatters on their ‘yourname.com’ version. You can always brand it for your business – include your photo and some of your work, and develop the professional look and feel you want, including colour and font style. I’m a fan of emergent design, as you can probably tell.<\/p>\n
It’s true that there’s a frontier being explored in this ‘sustainable’ area and people tend to be makers because services like yours are not available, or are not consistent with their values. This community bands together in the emergent ecology of increasing change to support each other. They will recognize you as part of that world, and can help you understand what you should do to tap into their potential as customers, colleagues and co-op-etitors. And they do pay for things they actually need and which make their businesses thrive. Really.<\/p>\n
Thanks for triggering my thoughts (and my newest blog post!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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