Seth Godin –

“Is it a t-Shirt Brand?”

“Not all projects become t-shirt brands, nor should they.

The risk is in thinking you’re building one when you’re not. T-shirt worthy brands are a very small subset of the whole.

The question is: Would your customers want to wear your logo on a t-shirt?

Why?

If you’re creating identity, possibility, connection and giving folks status, it’s easy to see how you could build a t-shirt brand in just about any field. Of course, no t-shirt brand is for everyone, that’s part of the point.” –

Seth Godin

Seth got me thinking, so I jotted down a few notes on branding you might find helpful.

Do I need to build a brand for my business?

That depends.

If you’re simply providing a good service at a good price, then maybe you don’t need to spend time building a brand.

Then again, if you want to build a stellar reputation and become the ‘go-to’ business for your niche, then branding can be incredibly important.

A strong brand can help distinguish your business from competitors and make it easier for customers to remember and recognize your products or services.

Here are some reasons why building a brand can be important:

Differentiation - A strong brand helps your business stand out from competitors and makes it easier for customers to identify and choose your products or services.

Think of Coke vs the store brand of cola. Coke needs their brand to create the loyal following and charge more. The so-called store brand isn’t really about branding, but about offering a lower price than the brand name.

Trust and Credibility - A well-established brand can convey a sense of trust and credibility to customers, which can be important in building long-term relationships.

In information marketing, your brand is often your own personal name, but it could be a business name of your choosing.

Loyalty - A strong brand can help build customer loyalty and increase the likelihood that customers will choose your products or services over those of competitors.

Think about Apple iPhones. In reality, they aren’t all that different from android, but they can charge more because of their name the loyal following they’ve built.

Recognition - A well-known brand can increase recognition and awareness of your business, which can lead to more customers and greater success.

Remember the “…for Dummies” series of books? Almost anything you wanted to learn was offered in this series, such as Nutrition for Dummies, Astronomy for Dummies and Excel for Dummies. You knew exactly what you were getting when you saw that word “Dummies” and the yellow cover.

Overall, building a brand can be an important part of growing your business and establishing a strong presence in the market.

Times when building a brand may not be important:

When operating in a niche or small market, word-of-mouth referrals and a strong reputation within the industry may be more important. Then again, you still need to be called something, and most likely it will be your own personal name.

When selling generic or low-cost products and the emphasis is on price and convenience rather than brand recognition. These are the ‘storebrand’ products and for the life of me I cannot tell you one single ‘storebrand’ name because they simply aren’t memorable, nor do they need to be memorable.

When operating as a reseller or distributor for established brands, building your own brand may not be necessary. Then again, shoe stores that sell Nike still have their own brand name such as The Foot Locker. Of course, if you’re selling these name brands on Amazon or at the local market, you won’t need any band name at all.

When launching a short-term project or campaign such as a single oneoff product that you plan to sell like crazy and then close the doors. Then again, if it’s a good product then you might want to name it something that can be the first of a series of similar products, or even use your own brand name to begin building some recognition for future launches.

How can I build a brand name on a budget?

Branding on a budget can be challenging, but it's definitely possible. Here are some tips to get you started:

Define your brand - Begin by defining your brand's values, mission, and unique selling proposition (USP). This will help you develop a brand identity that is distinct from competitors.

Use a short, catchy name – You might feel like they’re all taken, but if you get creative you can find a name that people will remember.

Identify your target audience – Who is this brand for and how will it appeal to them?

Develop a strong visual identity - Create a logo and visual elements that are consistent across all of your branding materials, including your website, social media, and promotional materials. If you’re not a graphic artist then you might want to hire this out.

Partner with well-known people and brands - Collaborating with other brands and influencers that share your target audience can help you gain more exposure and reach new customers.

Building a strong brand takes time and effort, but with a clear strategy and a commitment to consistency, you can create a name brand on a budget.

On March 7, 2023, which billionaire said, “Better totalk to people thancommunicate via tweet.”

If you guessed it was Twitter owner Elon Musk, you’re right.

Recently two-year Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson - who joined the social media company in 2021 when Twitter bought his design firm, Ueno - tweeted to Musk asking if he still had a job. Access to his work computer had been cut off nine days prior, human resources wasn’t responding to his calls and his emails to Musk were going unanswered.

Musk fired back questions asking who he was and what he was doing, and Thorleifsson responded that he’d been working on leading design projects across the company.

Musk then tweeted that the design manager, “does no actual work, claiming as his excuse that he has a disability that prevents him from typing, yet he is simultaneously tweeting up a storm.”

Thorleifsson responded that he has muscular dystrophy which causes muscle weakness, and as a result cannot type for extended periods of time. “This wasn’t a problem in Twitter 1.0 since I was a senior director and my job was mostly to help teams move forward, give them strategic and tactical guidance,” he tweeted, adding: “I’m typing this on my phone, btw. It’s easier because I only need to use one finger.”

Thorleifsson tweeted that during his exchange with Musk, he received confirmation from Twitter’s human resources department that he was no longer employed with the company.

“Let me know if you are going to pay what you own me?” he tweeted to Musk. “I think you can afford it?” (Musk has a net worth of $178 billion according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.)

Musk tweeted that it “hurts my faith in humanity” that people were defending Thorleifsson online.

Let’s tally this up:

• Twitter fired Thorleifsson – the owner of a company Twitter purchased - but didn’t tell him or respond to any queries from Thorleifsson for NINE days.

• Musk revealed confidential medical information about Thorleifsson online.

• Musk publicly criticized Thorleifsson for having a medical disability.

• Musk whined when people Tweeted in support of Thorleifsson.

Finally, Musk got on the phone with Thorleifsson and afterwards tweeted, “Better to talk to people than communicate viatweet.”

Elon Musk, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.