Branding your Handmade Business.

What is branding all about?
Branding is more than just the name you give your business. It is not only about your name and logo. It's also about customer perception of you, your goods, their packaging and the quality of service you provide. It's about the overall customer perception of the goods you sell, but also the concept you sell with them. What do you want your customers to instantly think of when they see your shop name or logo? That's what branding is all about.

Why should I worry about branding my small on-line shop?
Do you want your business to grow? If you do then branding is essential. If you want customers to return, bring their friends and spread the word about your goods you have to give them a brand concept to take away with them from your shop. They need to be able to rave about the goods, service and the attention to detail and they have to be able to associate that with a logo, name and product. This goes from the first contact they have with you/your shop to the moment they receive their goods and the after sales care they receive.

As has been said many times before, branding is in the attention to detail. Every person coming into contact with your business must go away with the same customer care whether they purchase or not. All purchasing customers must get consistent service and that service must be of the highest standard you can offer. All packaging, emails, business cards, letter heads, invoices, receipt and adverts have to tell the same story. They all have to build on the brand you are giving yourself.

Is branding really all that important?
The simple answer to that is yes. Think about some common things that people buy and think about how you choose the items you buy. Do you just look for the cheapest price when you buy a car? I'm guessing not. I'm guessing you will buy into one of the concepts that the car companies sell along side their cars. Volvo is associated with Safety. Toyota with fuel economy. Mercedes with luxury. This branding affects customers decision on what they buy.

You need to brand your goods to appeal to the people that you foresee purchasing your goods.

There is a lot of advice on-line about how to brand your small business. Take some time out to check it out and read up about the subject. It is a complex mixture or things that make up the final way people perceive your brand, so make sure you do the best you can to brand yourself well.

Check out these links as a starter, but there are hundreds of others out there.

Small Biz Mentor
Small Branding
9 Branding tips for small businesses
Branding 101
Keys to branding your small business

Look around and gather lots of tips and hints and then get to work branding your business.

Oh and for a bit of fun have a go at this Logo Game.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Autonomous Artisans is looking for knowledgeable writers

Here at Autonomous Artisan we are hoping to run several articles that offer help and tips to independent artisans that are selling their goods. We want that information to be as accurate and as informative as possible and targeted at small businesses/artists, hence we are looking for an expert in marketing, branding and promotion to come on board as a writer. If you are interested in joining the writing team and you have a strong knowledge of these topics please contact me through my Artfire shop.

We are dedicated to helping small, independent businesses expand the market for handmade, recycled and environmentally friendly goods. Would you like to help us do that?

Written by Lynne of Hyperloop Hoops and Pirate Pixie Crew