You can't reflect too early or too often on the meaning of your brand, which can change at the chirp of a Tweet. "'Brand' is one of those words," Chris Garrett notes in a recent post at chrisg.com: "It is associated with woolly thinking at best, and BS at worst." Yikes!

Fortunately, Garrett has put together a primer on how to think about your branding in order to get more positive exposure across the social landscape—and help boost profits. We hash it out a little here.

Your brand's strength is reputation. We'd go so far as to say your brand is your reputation, but Garrett distills it well. Your brand, he notes, is "whatever is said about you when you are not in the room." And that includes chat rooms!

Associations rub off. Some people smell like a rose, others stink. Brands are the same. When forming partnerships with other companies, take a good whiff of their brands. Stinky or sublime? The aroma will cling to yours, so be cautious when considering a hookup, he warns.

→ end article preview
Read the Full Article