Whether turning your solopreneur to a full business or working on separating your personal brand from work, there are key differences in managing business and personal branding you need to heed to avoid issues. This comparison is part of a more extensive discussion on personal branding you can hear on our enVisioning Success podcast episode, How to Build Your Personal Brand, co-hosted by Laura and Julia here at Vision. By reading this blog and listening to the episode, you’ll learn more about branding pitfalls to avoid.
1. Business Brands Require Coordination
Making (and rebranding) your business’s branding is harder than you think. Your brand is spread out across many different platforms, from your website to social media to listing and reputation sites; every article and interview written or provided by someone at your business can reflect on your brand. It’s so much more than just a logo. Assuming your company has multiple people managing different aspects, this can quickly lead to issues. One person must be put in charge of this to review and coordinate parts of your business where branding is concerned because consistency for your brand is key.
2. Personal Branding Reflects More on a Business
The things leadership and employees say about your company can greatly affect your company, while the inverse is rarely true. This is why you often see businesses distance themselves in situations where executives or employees have PR blunders. You need to talk to your staff and set guidelines to avoid digital egg on the face of your brand:
- Setting Employee Policy for Social Media: If you’ve got a lot of employees active on social media, it might be time to set an employee policy . This includes disclosures, opinion statements, and frank discussions to avoid being a jerk online.
- Brand Management for Leadership: Moreso than other staff, your executive staff are often considered brand ambassadors, especially if they have been building their personal branding. If they haven’t already, work with them to build personal brands and put faces to your company in the right way.
3. Business Branding Requires More Work & Money
One final note is that as a business grows from a side hustle to a full-time, multiple-person business, you’ll need to grow your marketing and branding footprint. There are certain expectations customers have come to expect of online businesses, including a great website, branded social media, having and managing reviews, and a professional logo. Plus, don’t forget the marketing and brand management teams that keep it all going. All of this obviously requires a lot of business resources, which is why many businesses decide to outsource their marketing.
About the enVisioning Success Podcast
This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision Advertising CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, or subscribe to our mailing list to get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox. Interested in working with Vision Advertising? Learn more about our services and contact us today.
