Creating a successful branding strategy, is about brains more than it is about brawn. When it comes to building and nurturing a strong brand, having the right branding strategy is much more valuable than throwing money at a quick-fix solution.

For small businesses trying to raise awareness that they can then turn into success, it’s about taking the right steps more than it is about paying the large cheques.

Here are ten easy tips to get you kick-started in branding your small business…

1. Show & tell

You may have the cure to the common cold, but no one is going to know about it unless you tell them. Sharing your business is more than telling customers what the product or service is, it’s telling them why they should buy it. Why should they choose you? Why are you different or original? Why is your product better than the competition?

2. Keep it simple

Don’t overcomplicate things. The goal of your branding message is to share the benefits of your particular brand, so don’t lose peoples’ attention by making the message confusing. Break down your idea, remove filler information and get to the point. There’s no need to pump up your product with useless information. Let it speak for itself.

3. Speak your own language

What message you spread is one thing, how you spread it is another. Work out your voice and the way you speak. It doesn’t have to be unique; it just has to be you. Incorporate the style and formality of your voice into all your marketing channels so your audience understand what you’re saying.

4. Paint a picture

Your visual branding message is just as important as your written one. People connect with images, so come up with a visual identity that makes you instantly recognizable. Your visuals should conjure up a positive connection among fans and generate curiosity with new ones, so make sure your logos and colour schemes are connected to what you’re all about.

5. Stay uniform

Having put so much work into your message, do it justice. Keep your simple message, your voice and your visuals consistent across all your campaigns and

marketing channels. Adjusting to new trends or feedback over time is natural, but largescale inconsistency creates confusion among customers and distracts from what you’re trying to say.

6. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s

Every interaction you have with a customer is an opportunity to reinforce your branding message. Incorporate your message and visuals into the smallest aspects of your communication, including social media, email signatures, business cards and voicemail.

7. Be social

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and all the rest are sure to be a big part of how you engage with customers, so don’t be afraid to be social. Although it’s important to maintain consistency in your brand’s voice, don’t be too rigid with the way you communicate with fans. Allow those who operate your social media to lead discussions and add a personal touch that your audience can connect with.

8. Encourage and reward

Having managed to secure customers, reward their purchase behaviour. They have come to you, so remind them to come back. Whether you offer loyalty discounts, run competitions or have giveaways, encourage repeat purchasing. However, make sure not to overdo these as it can compromise the integrity of your brand.

9. Keep your finger on the pulse

Watch your customers closely and measure changes in your business as a result of the branding messages you’re putting out there. Observe sales figures, conduct surveys, listen to feedback and pay attention to online discussions to see what’s working and what isn’t.

10. Respond to change

If an aspect of your small business branding isn’t working, ditch it. The reason you watch customer responses is to use that information. If you notice your branding ideas are working, then push forward with them. If not then don’t waste any more time or resources on a dead end message. Too much change can be confusing, but adjustments to feedback are just common sense.

In recent years technology has made tremendous advancements. These advancements have reshaped the organisations by creating their business functions integrated and streamlined. Beyond the standard office computers and smart devices, organisations are now implementing new software’s and latest technology equipment’s to run their operations smoothly. One such technological advancement is Slide presentation software PowerPoint is one of the widely used Slide Presentation Software. It is a powerful tool to make your presentation more attractive and engaging. If you want visual effect, collaboration tools, easy access, then PowerPoint will be the perfect option.

Nowadays in every field, there is huge competition. Business and professional firms use the presentation as a tool to educate, train, motivate the internal and external audience. At any point in time, you may require to give a presentation. The presentation is an essential part of branding because the presentation is the primary source which companies use for communication with clients, general public etc. The presentation demonstrates the company profile, and it’s the only tool which makes sure that all your representatives are turning into sales. A well-designed presentation shows presenters professionalism and also builds organisations corporate image.

Presenters are mainly of two types. Firstly, the great ones, who with their commanding charisma, speaking skills and great presentation styles can grasp the audience attention and secondly the Mediocre one who only focuses on the content of the presentation. They come up with great with great content and speak amazingly but fails in their presentation skills. Many times, lacks in gaining audience attention.

You may have complex data for presentation, a great content will be a scrap if not delivered in an entertaining way. Templates contains layout, colour, fonts, effects. powerpoint template helps to convey the information in an attractive way, grabbing the audience attention throughout the topic.

Benefits of an Effective Presentation:

• Face to Face Interaction: A presentation enables to meet your customers and prospects. Face to face interactions strengthens the relation and bond with the customers. An effective presentation can improve sales. According to a recent survey conducted, face to face meetings is fifteen times better than other marketing activities.
• Engagement: Presentation is the easiest way to engage with the audience. Attractive slides, astonishing layouts can hold the audience attention easily. Bullet points and summary texts help the audience to focus on the main subjects.
• Flexibility: Flexibility is the vital feature of the presentation. It helps in saving the time of professionals. PowerPoint presentations allow the user to quickly change the content and change the designs based on the audience.

• Adds professionalism: Presentation can decide the success of any business meetings. The presenter should convey the information most attractively and entertainingly. Adding attractive templates can ensure maximum engagement of audience over the topic.

• Storage: After the presentation, the slides can be quickly distributed among the members for further reference. It can easily be saved on the computers which minimise the chance of loss or misplacement.

• Presentation Important for Business Growth: Having a superior product can never result in success. Advertisement of the product is also mandatory. The product demonstration should be attractive, clear to the audience. The presentation should be eye-catching and should create a lasting impression on the audience. Adding an attractive slide, Infographics icons can ease the work of the presenter.

• Adds Creativity: Nobody like a wall of text, the presentation should look interesting and conveying. The audience can easily remember visual information. Adding images to illustrate point will surely make your presentation engaging. PowerPoint allows the user to add creative clipart’s, attractive fonts to the presentation.

A worker shortage might be excellent news for the economy! Maybe, just maybe, firms will awake and see workers’ substantial contribution to their success. Some CEOs take unconscionable sums and destroy their firm’s value, unlike many frontline workers who create value. During the pandemic, CEOs took vast sums as they laid-off workers. Some firms sought bankruptcy protection, but hat didn’t stop their greedy CEOs from snatching hefty bonuses.

We have a worker shortage and firms are scrambling to hire whomever is willing. Some firms, like McDonalds have paid signing bonuses. Canada’s Loblaw and its competitors paid a bonus to frontline workers when the pandemic began. They stopped it after three months in unison with their competitors. When government confronted them about this collusion, they claimed it happened independently. Go figure! It’s like you caught your three-year-old with her hand in the cookie jar and she said, Mom, “Cookie Monster did it!”

Worker Shortage Inevitable With Shoddy Treatment

Loblaw’s behavior disturbs me. During the bonus period, profits soared. Per se, that’s no problem. I favor firms making profits. To be sure, I am against government taxing profits. But paying workers the bonus during the pandemic shouldn’t hinge on profits. It was just right. Meanwhile, my wife and I shopped at a Loblaw store and workers continued their excellent service despite Loblaw’s slight.

Leaders must realize frontline workers are the firm’s foundation and treat them well, not as cogs turning out CEOs bonuses! When employers treat workers like machines, they disengage. Gallup said, over several decades, they and other researchers found a strong link between employees’ workplace engagement and the company’s overall performance. Yet employers refuse to accept this. But there is good news: surveys show some firms break the mold and treat workers with respect: Cisco, Apple, Accenture, IBM, FedEx are a few.

Next Quarter’s Earnings Drives Businesses

Companies see next quarter as the prize, so they exploit workers and fudge next quarter’s numbers. I repeat: I am against government taxing business. However, I favor the Biden Build Back Better provision to tax share buybacks that the House passed, and it is before the Senate, even if it might have only a modest effect on share buybacks. Companies shouldn’t be spending billions buying back shares while exploiting workers.

Firms should present to shareholder meetings options to use buyback funds. Choices might include effects of paying bonuses to frontline workers with buyback funds. Shareholders should hear about potential strategic investments, too. Another option is stopping buy-backs for five years after layoffs. Executives, too, shouldn’t get bonuses within five years of layoffs. We must get rid of worker exploitation that enhances CEO bonuses.