3 Ways to Perk Up Your Future With Branding

The takeaway: What are you doing to make your product or service an everyday, essential, memorable part of people lives? The key is to draw people toward you smoothly — not to chase after them noisily.

2. Proselytize to the Masses

Effective branding creates loyal fans, customers, advocates and passionate evangelists. Exhibit A:  I've just penned a lengthy article in support of a product I've never even tasted. If that doesn't reek of pure evangelism, what in heaven's name does?

The takeaway: How do you plan on getting people excited about what you're offering? Give people a reason to talk about you. Give them something memorable to rave or gush or chat about. Give them what to tell their friends, family, fellow blog readers. As the old saying goes — word of mouth is the best form of advertising.

3. Make It Stick in a Big Way

A brand must stay firmly entrenched in a consumer's mind and be clearly associated with a specific product or service. People must know what you stand for and what you're offering. And while you cannot appeal to everyone, everyone can still know what your appeal is about.

The takeaway: Do you have a way to differentiate your brand and stand out in a big way? If I walk away after meeting you, will I remember anything about your product or service the following week? If yes, great — you've created the "stickiness" factor. If not, you should focus more on how you can imbue your brand with character, purpose and "stickiness."

Do it right, and even those who aren't (at this particular moment) card-carrying consumers of your brand will create a lifelong connection that may very well pay off someday in the future.

Perhaps I'm simply exhibiting hallucinatory symptoms brought on, no doubt, by my plummeting insulin levels, but I do believe that every brand should make an effort to reach out, connect with and intrigue folks who aren't necessarily deemed as prime targets.

At best, these people will eventually end up becoming loyal consumers. At worst, they'll simply write long articles about you. Sweet, right?