Strategic Consulting Agency. Fort Lauderdale Web Design, Branding, Digital Ad Marketing Agency, CRM Software

 If you’ve been following Lytron  at all, you probably already know that it’s all about the branding.

 

Branding connects directly with people’s emotions, which allows them to make genuine emotional connections with your business … connections that can last a lifetime.

 

But if your branding is not working, if it’s not tapping into people’s emotions … or, even worse, if it’s connecting with the WRONG emotions in people … it may be time to consider rebranding.

 

Okay, so what exactly is rebranding? Does it mean burning your business to the ground and starting all over? Not necessarily.

 

Rebranding Fact Number 1 – There are Degrees of Rebranding

 

For some businesses, going back to the drawing board IS the best approach.

 

New name. New faces. New products. Possibly even a whole new INDUSTRY!

 

But for most business owners, rebranding comes in a wide variety of forms. For some, it could simply mean tweaking a few things such as coming up with a new logo or refreshing the overall brand message.

 

Your brand is continually evolving and growing, just like you as a business owner. Think about it: The things that were important to you when you were first starting out are probably vastly different than your priorities today. And tomorrow likely will be fresh challenges … and opportunities.

 

So while your branding should be consistent, you also shouldn’t be afraid to consider rebranding if it will serve your overall success goal.

 

Speaking of success goals …

 

Rebranding Fact Number 2 – Your Business Has Changed

 

By its very nature, entrepreneurship is all about growth.

 

Over time, just about everything inside your business changes: The products you offer, the people you employ, even the target audience you seek to connect with.

 

So the rebranding connection becomes: Does the outside of your business (your brand) still match the inside of your business (your core values). If the answer is “No”, then the solution is simple: It’s time to rebrand!

 

Rebranding Fact Number 3 – The World Has Changed

 

Okay, maybe you have stayed the same but the world around you has changed. This is actually a more common scenario.

 

Think about any industry: For example, the typewriter business.

 

For a while there in the early 20^th Century, the typewrite business was booming. There was a high demand among businesses worldwide for reliable, efficient, and affordable typewriters. And companies like Underwood, Oliveti, and Royal thrived.

 

But then the world changed. Technology skyrocketed and typewriters became ancient history.

 

So in order to survive, these companies had to pivot. And that meant rebranding.

 

Typewriters may not be the best example … after all, most of these companies failed to adapt and were driven out of the market entirely .. but the point remains the same …

 

When the world changes, successful companies need to adapt. And that can mean rebranding.

 

Rebranding Fact Number 4 – Your Brand Is a Little TOO Familiar

 

Let’s say you’ve been in business for awhile and your sales are strong. In fact, you are so successful that other players have entered the market by emulating your success.

 

Pretty soon, your brand is indistinguishable from all the competition because you aren’t offering anything unique anymore.

 

In this instance, rebranding can be effective in order to reposition your brand in opposition to the rest of the marketplace.

 

Rebranding Fact Number 5 – Restructuring

 

Businesses don’t stay the same forever. New leadership comes in and (justifiably) wants to put their own stamp on things.

 

Or companies are sold to new ownership who want to take the enterprise in a new direction.

 

Or you decide you need to bring in a partner. Or you acquire a competitor. Or your business gets gobbled up by a bigger fish.

 

All of these things happen to businesses all the time.

 

In any case, things change.

 

Rebranding often offers a solution to reimagining your business so that it remains vital to prospective customers despite the shifting sands of the marketplace.

 

Rebranding Fact Number 6 – Expansion

 

Most businesses are like sharks: They need to constantly be moving and feeding otherwise they die.

 

In practical terms, that often means moving into new cultures. Or expanding into new geographic locations.

 

In this instance, rebranding may offer a practical solution: The need to appeal to a broader audience than originally intended.

 

For example, European or Asian audiences may not be as open to your all-American branding message.

 

While your successful branding core can remain the same, there may be opportunities to rebrand your business so that it broadens its appeal.

 

Rebranding Fact Number 7 – New Blood

 

Companies always need new customers. But they also need fresh ideas and creative thinking. And that means new top talent.

 

The brightest minds graduating business school usually aren’t looking to join “dinosaur businesses”, or companies that have been around since the Stone Age.

 

Young people usually want to go with the new, the exciting, and the companies pushing the envelope with new ideas and high-potential markets.

 

You need people like that. So if your brand is stale, worn out, or ancient … rebranding could be in your future.

 

Rebranding Fact Number 8 – All About the Benjamins

 

When it comes down to it, all business are ruled by one thing: The numbers.

 

Whether you are privately owned or publicly traded, there is always pressure to perform better: More profits, more sales, more markets, more customers. More MORE!

 

If you aren’t achieving these objectives or exceeding the expectations of your investors, board of directors, or stockholders, you need to do something to turn the ship around.

 

Rebranding could hold the key.

 

Okay, that’s a lot to process. But as you can see, the one constant is that branding needs to be consistent, genuine, and successful.

 

If it’s not working the way you need it, then you should consider rebranding your business.

 

And when you are ready to rebrand, Lytron  is ready to help.

 

Pricing is one of the trickiest elements of running any business. Whether you are selling cars or houses, wingnuts or laptops, the price point you decide on can make or break your business.

 

Set prices too high and you can freeze yourself out of the marketplace. But setting prices too can not only cut into your profits, but also frame your products as low-end or cut-rate.

 

Pricing is especially complicated for entrepreneurs who essentially are selling themselves in the form of their brand. Many take an accountant’s approach to profits:

 

In order to make $XX,XXX amount of money in a week/month/year, I have to make YY,YYY number of sales at a price of $ZZ.

 

That’s a lot of variables! It’s also TOO MUCH MATH (Brain explodes!)

 

But the pricing paradox is universal. It’s something that every entrepreneur, business owner, and even corporate CEO have to grapple with all the time.

 

Yet you shouldn’t let it ruin your day. In fact, the pricing paradox is completely fixable. Setting the perfect price point is even EASY once you know how to do it!

 

So let’s learn how …

 

Common Pricing Errors

 

Before we get to the right way to set pricing, let’s look at the biggest mistake most people make: Underestimating their value.

 

Like most new entrepreneurs, I entered my chosen marketplace wanting to make a name for myself. But I also had the intelligence to realize that NOBODY KNEW WHO I WAS.

 

So in order to instantly stand out from all the rest of the competition, I offered my services at drastically discounted prices.

 

This had two results:

 

• It instantly brought me a lot of business
• It simultaneously had me working my rear end off and not getting anywhere financially

 

This is actually very very common … especially among people making the jump from traditional 9-to-5 office work to the exciting world of owning their own business.

 

When you work for a company, most of the real costs of running that business are behind the scenes. You punch the clock. So you don’t worry about things like paying the rent on office space, utility bills, insurance, taxes, vacations, sick time, and overhead.

 

But when you jump into the driver’s seat, all of these things are now YOUR responsibility.

 

So when you set your prices low to establish your reputation and build your client base, you actually often end up LOSING MONEY rather than making it. And that’s not a sustainable business model.

 

Yes, losses are generally considered to be an acceptable part of a new business. In fact, any MBA program will teach you that they need to be built into your startup costs. But you can’t bleed money forever.

 

Eventually, you need to get paid what you are worth.

 

Determining Your Value

 

Undervaluing your worth when you first launch your business is actually very common. But successful businesses sooner rather than later make the pivot to proper pricing.

 

The first thing you need to do is understand your true costs. A month or two of running your business should be enough to gain the knowledge you need to estimate your business expenses.

 

Once you can put a dollar amount to your true costs, then you can start to build the formula you need to set your most beneficial price point.

 

Raising Prices

 

Now comes the really tricky part: Convincing all those clients you attracted with bargain basement pricing to start paying you what you actually are worth.

 

Plus, appealing to new clients who are open to paying your new (higher) prices.

 

There are a couple of important factors to keep in mind:

 

• You Are Worth It – You need to prove that your are unique and valuable. Show that the products or services you offer are superior and represent a strong price-value proposition.

 

• Say Goodbye to Unwilling Clients – If your current clients balk at paying you what you are worth, it’s probably time to say goodbye. You are growing as a business owner and if they aren’t willing to grow with you, then you will need to replace them with new clients who will.

 

• Make the Transition Easier for Your Clients – But before you write off any old business, make sure you doing everything you can to hold onto them. This may include “grandfathering” in your original clients at a lower rate (temporarily) until you can grow your business at your higher price point. Or it can mean scaling back the products and service your offer at the lower prices and gradually introducing new pricing for bigger and better products or services.

 

• Offer Additional Value – One of the most effective ways to get higher prices for existing products is to offer additional value. This can take the form of faster or free delivery, improved quality, better and more responsive customer service, and so on. What you offer is going to be specific to our business. But offer SOMETHING.

 

Your Business Goal

 

Raising prices is never easy. But it’s almost always necessary.

 

Ultimately, it comes down to setting your business goal: Do you want to grow and be more successful (YES!) or do you want to be loyal to your existing client base at the ultimate cost of your livelihood (NO!).

 

When it’s time to raise prices, you will need to be confident enough in your abilities to prove to your existing and future clients that you are worth their investment in your business.

 

And when you can do that, the result is … PRICELESS!

 

If you have been running your business for a while now, you probably already are familiar with some of the warning signs that you are working too hard:

 

• You are tired all the time

 

• Your stress level is through the roof

 

• “Success” always seems just a little bit further down the road.

 

Don’t worry. These aren’t signs that you are doing something wrong. Instead, they are an indication that you are doing everything right!

 

That’s because these warning signs mean you genuinely care about the success of your business and that you are willing to fight to achieve it.

 

They also may mean it’s time to start taking your brand to the next level by brining in some outside help.

 

Ready? Set. Grow! – You Aren’t Superman (Or Superwoman)

 

When new enterprises first launch, by their very nature they tend to be one-person operations. But eventually they reach a point where they become too much for one person to handle … no matter how committed they are to its success.

 

If your successful businesses is growing too big for you to handle entirely on your own, it’s time to bring in outside help.

 

Why?

 

The reason is very simple: It will help you achieve your goals faster, capitalize on the momentum you have created, and allow you to focus on the things you excel at.

 

Ready? Set. Grow! – You Owe It To Your Customers

 

Another great reason to rely on professionals to build your brand and expand your business is that your customers deserve it.

 

When you try to do everything by yourself, inevitably some things are going to fall through the cracks. Deadlines get missed or ignored entirely. Product quality starts to slip. And if customer service starts to fall short of your expectations, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

 

If you do nothing to correct this, sooner or later the size and scope of your enterprise will begin to regress rather than grow. Sales fall short of projections. And profits shrink. None of which is an acceptable outcome.

 

Work Harder and Smarter

 

Whoever first said “Work smarter, not harder” obviously didn’t own their own business. When it’s your reputation on the line (not to mention your livelihood!), you need to work both harder AND smarter!

 

But if you find yourself running faster but not getting anywhere – or at least not as far as you think you should get —  it’s a red flag that you are cheating yourself the compensation you deserve. It could mean a number of things:

 

• Inefficiencies
• Your brand isn’t connecting
• You are overworked and overwhelmed
• All of the above

 

I’m not going to tell you to take a step back from your business. Instead, what you need to do is take a step forward.

 

You Need Help

 

You could continue to keep running your business on your own. But if it isn’t working now, why would you think everything will suddenly change?

 

Lytron has the experienced, knowledgeable brand developers who can help you take your business to the next level. Our multi-pronged approach to building your brand – and consequently your business, your customer base, your sales, and your profits – is the solution you’ve been looking for and didn’t even know it.

 

You work hard to make your business successful. Lytron can help you finally achieve the success you deserve.

 

 

Successful business owners quickly learn that there is an inverse relationship between the growth of their business and the demands on their time.

 

In other words, the bigger your brand becomes, the busier you become … and the less time you have to spend working on the “big picture” elements that are essential to building your brand.

 

It’s a Catch-22.

 

But there’s an obvious solution: Hire people to help you.

 

Notice that I said “obvious” solution. Not a “simple” solution.

 

That’s because hiring outside help is often one of the hardest things for newly successful business owners to do.

 

After all, YOU know your business better than anybody.

 

You are the BRAINS behind your business. But you don’t have the be the BRAWN as well.

 

Building a successful brand is all about scaling your business. If you have the greatest small business ever created, that’s terrific. But it’s not going to mean a thing until you scale it upward to become the biggest mid-sized business … the biggest large business … the biggest (and best) major corporation.

 

Okay, maybe we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. Let’s talk about hiring …

 

WHAT before WHO

 

The success of your business has led to the discovery that you can’t do it all on your own anymore.

 

Congratulations! That’s a good problem to have!

 

You need help. So how can you find people who are going to help grow your business while remaining true to the driving vision you have for your brand?

 

Before you decide WHO to hire, you need to determine WHAT you need employees to do. In other words: What can you delegate?

 

Start by making a list of your current work routine. Be as specific and honest as possible. What tasks do you do every day, every week, every month?

 

Got it? Okay, now take out a highlighter and mark those tasks that are non-essential to the growth of your business. In other words, identify the things you currently do that aren’t doing anything to build your brand.

 

These are WHAT you can delegate to employees. And knowing that, it’s time to start bringing new people on board.

 

Finding the Best People

 

It’s always better to have a very clear understanding of what jobs you can delegate to others before starting your search for help. Not only does it help you clearly describe the job to prospective employees, but it provides you with a clear vision of how your business will operate once they are on board.

 

The first thing to keep in mind is that hiring people is supposed to help you build your brand, not make your life even more complicated.

 

So when you can clearly tell people, “I need you to do A, B, and C but X date and time”, you aren’t wasting your precious time managing people instead of managing your brand.

 

The second thing to focus on is hiring people who can help you, not the other way around. This may sound mercenary, but you are in business to make money, not friends.

 

Look for people who are:

 

• Experienced at the specific tasks you need
• Have a strong track record of success within the type of environment you are creating
• Can back up these success claims with proof (references, testimonials, documents)

There’s no way around it: Hiring is a cumbersome process.

 

If you want good people (and you do) and you don’t want to cycle through a bunch of losers before hitting on some winners (and you don’t have time for that), then investing the time and energy up front can pay off later.

 

Budget time for interviewing, checking references, and onboarding people with clear and specific instructions.

 

Then be prepared to supervise and manage people while simultaneously growing your brand and building your reputation – at least until you can grow big enough to hire mid-level supervisors and managers to handle this task for you.

 

Avoid the Biggest Mistake

 

There are two types of prospective employees: Experts and implementers.

 

Experts are people who have a specific knowledge that can contribute to your brand’s success. Maybe it’s previous experience they have had in your field. Or maybe it’s a natural talent or skill they were either born with or learned, such as being good with numbers or being a personable salesperson.

 

Implementers are people who can effectively perform a specific task as long as they are given instruction and are provided with enough supervision so that they stay on track most of the time.

 

So which type of employee does your business need? Experts or implementers?

 

Probably both.

 

The key to successful hiring is picking the right people for the right role. The biggest mistake is doing just the opposite: Choosing the right people but for the wrong job.

 

You may hire somebody who is an expert but if you ask them to just do a specific task over and over again, sooner or later they are going to get bored, or frustrated, or both and quit. Or fail.

 

Or you can hire an implementer but if you ask them to come up with new ideas to grow your business you are going to be the one who becomes frustrated.

 

So to be successful you need to hire experts for expert tasks and implementers for implementation jobs.

 

So how can you avoid this mistake? By understanding what your business needs then zeroing in on that specific hire. (Now do you see why it’s so important to understand what exactly you are hiring for?)

 

Listen, nobody said it was going to be easy.

 

But the effort will be worth it if you can free yourself from the mundane tasks that are currently preventing yourself from focusing on the key to success for your business: Building a trusted brand.

 

Want to learn more? Lytron  has the expertise and experience you need to successful grow your brand. Contact us today for a free consultation.

 

 

You’ve built your brand. You’ve watched it grow. You have plans for its future. Nothing can stop you now, right? pause…

 

Reality Check: Most businesses fail. Even people with the clearest brands, the clearest visions, and the best reputations don’t make it.

 

 

Hate to burst your bubble. But you shouldn’t be living in a bubble anyway.

 

Don’t be fooled into thinking that a little success automatically translates into a bright, unlimited future. Just because you didn’t step into any of the early pitfalls doesn’t mean you are going to not have any setbacks.

 

You will. It’s a part of business.

 

The difference between a successful business owner and a loser is recognizing that every failure is an opportunity learn to be better.

 

You are going to make mistakes. But your mistakes should be your own. They shouldn’t be other people’s mistakes.

 

So give yourself a head start by avoiding these 8 biggest branding mistakes tons of other business owners have made countless times already.

 

 

Mistake 1 – Trusting the Wrong People

 

Your brand will be judged by the company you keep. And while you can control your actions and decisions, you can’t always control those of the people you choose to be partners with.

 

So it’s essential that you choose wisely. Don’t make decisions on who to bring on board to your brand lightly. Yes, you will need to hire outside help like consultants or marketing agencies. Yes, as you get bigger you will need to rely on other people to help you run the day to day.

 

But no, you shouldn’t trust everybody. Or even anybody without vetting them first.

 

And not just people, either. You need to worry about the other brands your brand is associated with as well. If you tie yourself to somebody else’s brand, you better make sure it’s not going to blow up in your face later.

 

So how can you protect yourself and your brand? By asking questions. Lots and lots of questions.

 

For example, when hiring an outside vendor, consider things like:

 

• Do they understand my brand?
• Do they have a track record of success helping brands like mine?
• Are there any red flags I need to be aware of?

 

Even partnerships with other brands come with enormous risks. Trusting your gut is fine. But knowledge is power. Ask questions like:

 

• Are their values consistent with mine?
• What other partnerships do they have?
• Would I choose their brand?

 

Don’t waste your time with people or other brands that you don’t believe in. If you are willing to put in the effort, then time is on your side.

 

 

Mistake 2 – Chasing Trends

 

Trends come and go. But successful business stick around for a long, long time.

 

If you are constantly chasing after the shiny new thing, then you are going to be constantly frustrated. That’s because the public is fickle. And what’s popular today probably isn’t going to be at the top of the Yahoo! Trending list in a week or two.

 

Instead, focus on your core beliefs rather than what’s popular. These are unlikely to change much over time. And when they define your business, you truly believe in them, and you can get people to put their genuine trust in them, they can ensure a longer-term success.

 

 

Mistake 3 – Being Afraid of Letting Go

 

Have you ever watched the TV show “Hoarders”? It features people who fill their homes and storage lockers with tons and tons of useless stuff they just can’t let go.

 

When it comes to running your business, don’t be a hoarder. Instead, learn to become comfortable with change. Let go of outdated or inefficient things that harm rather than help your business.

 

This includes people, systems, products, promotional campaigns, designs, content, logos, and anything else that doesn’t feed growth and profitability.

 

Inefficient brands live in the past. Successful brands live in the present and strive for a brighter future.

 

 

Mistake 4 – Making Bad Hires

 

We’ve written in the past about when and how to hire. At some point, growing your brand needs to become a bigger priority than running your day to day. That’s when you need to bring others on board.

 

But picking the wrong people can sabotage all the success you already have achieved and keep your brand from living up to its potential. That’s why it’s so important to schedule time, money, and resources to hiring the best people for the right positions.

 

Inevitably, there is going to be some turnover. Life is complicated.

 

But if you can find excellent people who genuinely believe in what you are doing, you can minimize the amount of time you spend replacing people and maximize the amount of time you focus on big picture branding growth.

 

 

Mistake 5 – Straying from Your Core Values

 

Okay, it’s a tricky world.

 

In order to attract new markets, you may need to consider new strategies for growth.

 

But these should never, never, never compromise the core values you established when you created your brand.

 

Stay true to your core values and people will trust in you.

 

But if you compromise your message just to attract new audiences, you invariably will lose the customers who are most loyal to you. And once they fall away, there’s usually no winning them back.

 

 

Mistake 6 – Brand Wandering

 

Similarly, you need to stay loyal to the brand you created. If you wander too far away from your successful brand, it’s going to alienate existing customers and drive off prospective new ones.

 

For example, what if Apple suddenly decided to get into the fast food business? How would the people who own iPhones and Macs think about the company if they started also selling tacos and cheeseburgers or milkshakes?

 

Apple is smart enough to know its core business is tech. And they have built that brand into a trillion-dollar business that serves passionate customers who are fiercely loyal.

 

So what’s your core brand?

 

Identify it and stick with it. And avoid new products or services that don’t align with your proven brand.

 

Mistake 7 – Taking Your Eye Off the Prize

 

If you’ve built a successful brand, it’s probably because you had a clear vision of where you wanted your business to go.

 

Don’t screw it up now!

 

Preparing for growth means always seeing the big picture. Once you lose sight of where you want to go, it’s difficult to recapture the magic that made your brand successful in the first place.

 

The business battlefield is littered with brands that took their eye off the prize.

 

Maybe they chose products or services that weren’t consistent with their core values in order to attract new markets. Or maybe they made bad hiring decisions and spent more time managing people than managing their own brand.

 

There are lots of distractions out there. As an effective brand manager, it’s your job to keep steering toward the successful goal you have set for yourself and your business.

 

 

Mistake 8 – Failing to Define Your Brand Standards

 

The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning.

 

The biggest branding mistake you make is failing to define your brand standards, your core values, in the first place.

 

You can’t build a successful brand without a firm foundation. And that’s one that’s based on a clear understanding of what you stand for.

 

You need to understand what your business is all about before you can move forward. Failing to do that is going to undermine every step you take as you build your brand:

 

• You won’t be able to differentiate what’s good or bad for your brand
• You can’t hire people whose values are consistent with your brand
• You can’t guide your brand towards a driving goal
• You can’t dispose of things that aren’t consistent with your brand

 

Your brand standards are the driving force behind every decision you make as a brand manager.

 

So when they aren’t clear, if they are constantly changing, or if they don’t exist at all you already are doomed before you even begin.

 

Fortunately, helping business owners avoid brand mistakes is what Lytron  does best. Want to learn more? Call or contact us today!