By Haris Quintana

Small businesses tend to ignore or be oblivious to the fact that branding is everything, and so is timing. When branding is done correctly, at the correct time, it is rare that the business would go unnoticed. Bigger companies such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, etc., might be selling the same product for decades, but what they pay great attention to is the detail and the brain that goes into the branding of their product.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, under creative commons license

What is Branding?

A common misconception held by many people around the world is that branding is just graphic elements and logos. This is a little too far from the truth. There is a lot more to branding than just graphic element, because this is the way that the audience and followers perceive your brand. It has less to do with just appearance and more to do with the creativity and visualization behind the logo.

Branding on a Limited Budget

When you have a limited budget, be it for branding or for any other purpose, you have to think through the concept and the process that you have in mind. You are likely to witness many examples of what an opportunity cost really is when working on a tight budget.

Logo

The first thing to do would obviously be to hire an expert visual artist and start working on a legit logo for your business. If you opt to get a cheap job done, you might regret it later. Therefore, it’s best if you opt for a professional to do your logo, since they can also help you come up creative ideas in the process of creating your logo.

Visual Identity

Your logo is your visual identity, basically, but there are a lot of other elements that come under that category too. Anything that gives your business an identity visually comes under this category. This is usually cheap and can easily be afforded even by small businesses.

Online Presence

Online presence or social media presence is highly important for all businesses, regardless of whether they’re big or small. Many entrepreneurs might overlook this factor or ignore it thinking it’s not important, but it is. Be as active on social media as possible, because this is a great way to promote your business.

Hire an Expert

If you feel you do not know much about branding, there is nothing to worry about. There are plenty of options that you can turn to for help in branding such as Custom Gear – they help you make your own merchandise too!

Core Values

Since you have a business, you must already have the core values of your business intact. If you still have not done that, then this is a good place to start at. Once you’ve developed these, make sure you work in accordance to them.