Last week we started a discussion on a topic I normally don’t talk too much about, branding.  But there are ways to use branding effectively while still adhering to our direct response marketing rules.  We’ve covered them in two separate blog posts.  See the first one here and our most recent discussion here for your review. Today we’ll talk about the last two ways to use branding the right way in your business.

Thanks to Dan Kennedy for allowing me to share his thoughts on branding with direct response marketing.

When you do develop brand identity, develop a ‘customer culture’ with it so your brand is theirs.  Think Starbucks or Disney.  The customers are part of something, not just people being sold to.  But, whatever you do, DON’T blindly copy big companies advertising practices.  Very, very carefully learn from the very few smart ones, like Disney.  But remember they are playing in a different league with different rules and different means of keeping score…  as example, you may keep score by profit white they must keep score by stock price.  And they have more resources than you do.

For most small businesses, personal branding is far superior to corporate/Business branding.  People prefer to do business with other people rather than nameless, faceless institutions.  Put yourself out there!  If you’re looking to learn more on personal branding,I highly suggest you look into Kennedy’s How to Create Personality in Copy. 

It’s an in-depth presentation, by Dan Kennedy, about creating rapid, responsive fans… i.e. customers for life… by carefully, painstakingly developing yourself as a heroic, fascinating and unique “character” with whom your customers have a continually evolving relationship.Get more information here, and in the search bar on the top of the page, search for “How to Create Personality in Copy.”