3 STEPS TO BUILD A NEW COMPANY BRAND

by Ryan Robinson
Owner / Exec. Creative Producer
​Option 3 Media

Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of clients build a new company brand. Sure they’ve all created a great idea that people are just going to love, but most have no idea on how to get their idea off the ground and running.
After numerous, long, explanations telling others about “Brand Building”, and why it’s important to get it right from the beginning, I’ve come up with a simple and basic "house building" explainer. This idea came to me one day while I was outside working in my yard and I’ve been told that it makes for a good visual representation of building a brand. (Couldn’t agree more with these Really Smart People.)

Long story short…it starts with Concrete. (CUE THE TRUCK BEEPING AS IT BACKS UP!)

• POUR THE CONCRETE

So, you’ve done all the research and data for your new company. You’ve put in lots and lots of long hours into defining how your new company is going to take off and be an instant success. Time to show it off to the world, RIGHT?? Not so fast slugger! I’m betting if you’re reading this blog than you haven’t built your brand yet. I know, I’m psychic. HA!
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Let’s start from the beginning. Close your eyes and picture a normal house. No, a normal sized house. Not the multi-million dollar mansion that you’d like to live in, but a small, normal sized house. Now, how did the house get there? Who lives in the house? If it’s for sale, do others know about your house? Before you share your new company idea off, let’s take the 1st Step and “pour the concrete” of your new Company Brand. With every new house that is built, a good, solid foundation must be laid down so the rest of the house stands strong.

The “concrete” of your Brand is coming up with a Memorable Company Name and URL address. If you have a potential company name already chosen, have you Googled it yet to make sure that’s its original and doesn’t copy another local entity’s name? Believe it or not, quite a few of my clients have come up with company names that already exist in the market place they wanted to be in. Not good. So come up with a name that is easy to remember and easy to read. Next, go to a website like “Godaddy.com” and try out various URL names that’s easy for people to remember and read. (NOTE TO SELF – Long URL names are not easy for people to read, write, type, remember, etc…so don’t use a long address.) After you’ve come up with a good URL name, you also need to know that .com’s (or .org if a non-profit company) are preferable when choosing your address, then .net extensions come secondary.
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• BUILD THE WALLS

Step 2, your “concrete” has now been poured and dried. Time to “build the walls” of your new company brand! With your new URL purchased, it’s time we start creating a Logo for your company. Now, if you’re not a Photoshop JEDI, there are multiple ways to have a logo designed, but it all comes down to your budget. (Hopefully you’ve got some dollars set aside for this, because your company will be judged by your logo!). Also, if you tell me that your Brother’s, best friends, neighbor’s girlfriend has a friend that could design a logo for you, then we’re at a stopping point in this blog. Like the walls of your house, YOUR LOGO is VITAL and it needs to be a good one!
Logo Options include:

• Hiring an experienced graphic designer to create a professional one. (Probably most expensive solution, but worth it.)
• Using a site like “logotournament.com” to crowdsource multiple designers to create various logo ideas using a lower budget. (Not the most expensive solution, but my clients have lucked up a few times with some really good logos.)
• Lastly, if you just don’t have a budget for a nice logo design, then you can use Fiverr.com. (I don’t recommend this site for your logo, but if you’re desperate…something is better than nothing.)
• (NOTE – after your logo has been chosen, it’s best to create a “style guide” so that your logo design, colors, fonts, etc stay consistent for the years to come. Your LOGO is YOUR COMPANY and you will be judged by it!) Echo….echo…

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• SECURE THE ROOF

Step 3, alright, we’ve got the company name, URL, and logo in place. Time to add the Roof to this build because who wants your new company to get wet! It’s now time for a Company Website, Brochures, Business Cards, print media etc…
If you talk with a company like mine (www.option3media.com) then we’re going to sit down with you and ask you everything about who your company is, what you do, and who you want to come to your website.
Think of it like this…your website is your Store. Sure it’s online, but it’s the place where you want people to go to find if they want to use your services, products, or source of information.
Things to remember for a new website:

• You want a clean website. You don’t want it to be jam packed with ads and pics.
• Your website is not an Encyclopedia Britannica so don’t cram it with endless amounts of verbiage. (Blogs like this not included in this statement.)
• Color scheme needs to match your logo and what you do. For example, if you’re a dentist you don’t want to use the color of Red as your primary color. Who wants to go to a dentist when all they can think about is blood?! So color is everything.
• Navigation needs to be easy to follow and utilized in multiple locations on the site for people to search your site more readily.
• Also, you need to be sure your Social Media Icons are on the site as well. The more social sites that point back to your website, the easier it will be for people to find you!
• (NOTE – if you add a really good video to your website, it will dramatically increase your website visibility through both SEO on Google and Customer Website Retention. In turn, giving you more opportunities to get new customers.

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           Obviously, building a new Company Brand is more involved than the just using the 3 Steps I provided you. However, I felt like if you know these 3 steps going in (with a few helpful tidbits of mine thrown in) then these steps will best be utilized for the foundation to building your new company brand. Good luck and I’m here if you need some extra help with anything creative! Unless it’s from that friend of a friend of friend that does stuff on fiverr because then you’re on your own with that one. Hahaha