What's Your Brand?

Hello. My name is Janelle and I have a confession.

I am a fan of... The Kardashians. 

Yes, you know, The Kardashians. OF COURSE you know The Kardashians! We all know The Kardashians. The sisters who are touted for being famous for being famous, curvy women with no apparent talent yet they are all over the media and oh, let's not forget what got them sitting on their celebrity throne... Kim K's infamous sex tape with the "has been" R&B singer, RayJ. 

Say what you may about The Kardashians but they, well their momager Kris Jenner, have turned their 15 minutes of fame into 6 years of success. Their flagship reality show, "Keeping Up with The Kardashians" just completed its 7th season and has been renewed for two more and their spin-offs have also been able to draw millions of viewers. It seems as though the sisters never rest. They have their hands in everything from beauty to books, perfumes to home collections, stores, endorsements, diet supplements and fitness gear. The Kardashians have built their empire. 

Now, what is the relevance of The Kardashians? These women are evidently more than just a pretty face. They are businesswomen and entrepreneurs who understand the importance of branding. Their brand is their name- Kardashian. Their brand is so strong that their momager, Kris Jenner (married to former Olympian 

Bruce Jenner) even contemplated changing back her name to Kardashian.

What's in a Brand?

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as "a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller of a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers". 

We can agree that there is a lot of noise in the market and by noise I mean companies competing in a "cut throat" manner for the attention of the consumers. In such an environment, you need to have a solid and clear brand that consumers and potential customers can identify and identify with. It's more than just being seen on  the shelves.When you develop your brand, you develop your reputation. It sends a message to your audience about what your company represents. It establishes credibility. It is through your brand that you develop a relationship with your customers; a relationship is reciprocal and motivates them to keep supporting your business. 

Your Branding Message

Adam Kleinberg, one of the contributing writers for entrepreneur.com gives us the secret to a strong branding message. Focus. He tells us that in the minds of the consumers, we only get to be one thing and we must choose what we want to be carefully. According to Kleinberg, "your one thing is the unique value that your brand delivers. Volvo keeps you safe. IBM is building a smarter planet. 7-Up is the uncola". This message must be both emotional and rational. It must also be relevant to your consumers and be simple enough for them to remember it. What message do you want to send?

The Logo

So, you've come up with your name for your brand and what your branding message would be and now you want a logo. Why? Because it seems like the right thing to do... everybody does it right? No. You don't just decide to do a logo because you want to jump on the bandwagon. Logos are important because as humans, we place a great deal of importance and value on sight. It helps us commit things and brands to memory. As such, logos are important components of your branding strategy or campaign. 

Now, logos can come either as abstract symbols such as the tick/correction sign that Nike uses or as logotypes, i.e, a stylized rendition of your company name such as the one subway uses.

The following are three reasons adapted from businessbrandingstrategy.com on why you, as an entrepreneur, should invest in a logo:

1. Visual Representation- The logo can be likened to the face of your business. It gives your company an image and appeal that no other branding tool can provide.

2. Memory- People tend to remember logos better than they remember names. E.g. for me, sometimes I forget the name of the product but when I see the logo, it jogs my memory. Additionally, if I'm in a store buying an unfamiliar product and there is a range to choose from and I see a logo that I'm familiar with; I will choose that product over others. Why? Because I know the quality the brand associated with that particular logo produces. 

3. Uniqueness- As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of noise and clutter on the market. A good logo helps your company or product stand out. A logo can do more for differentiating a product from its competitors at first glance than virtually anything else, hence, its a critical tool in developing your company and brand. 

One logo that REALLY like is that of the Crayons Count; an initiative that encourages investment in early childhood education in Jamaica.

When Deika Morrison, mastermind behind this initiative, paid our class a visit to speak about Crayons Count, what really stood out to me was the logo. This is not an initiative that is competing with others on the market, after all, its a non profit organization but, she understood that having a logo to represent her cause was still of premium importance. Why? Her logo has to do two things, not just appeal to donors but to children! So, I'm pretty sure she conveyed this message to her graphic artist. 

Let's break it down:

1. The colours are engaging and because there is little clutter; it easily can easily pull the attention of both children and adults.

2. The font simulates a child's handwriting. It is not fancy of complicated but simple, effective and easy to read.

3. Crayons Count has a recycling arm and as such, the strategic decision to replace the O's with the symbol for recycling was made. This is genius. It not only immediately tells donors/investors that those who run the organization are environmentally conscious but since the programme is geared towards children, it encourages them to start recycling at a young age. It is more than just investing in the education of Jamaican children but its about investing in Jamaica and preserving the environment for future generations.

4. The name of the initiative is "Crayons Count" so naturally they included a crayon. However, if you look closely you can see that on the crayon there is a Jamaican flag thereby indicating the focus or location of the programme.

Logos are important in building your brand regardless of if its a profit or not for profit organization.

Branding is important because it helps other identify and identify with your product.

If you want to establish a successful business... work on both. 

and last, but not least, I like the Kardashians. 

Janelle 

So You Think You Can Blog (Pt. II)

For Part II of this "So You Think You Can Blog" post, I had all intentions of writing a detailed spew on how you and I can start making money off our blogs.I had to do research because I don't know the ins and outs of "blog pimping"  turning a blog into a business. When Corve DaCosta, the mastermind behind the Jamaica Blog awards, visited our class, he skimmed the surface but I wanted to give you some more substance. Then, I came across this amazing article from Bob Lotich who runs the blog Christian Personal Finance (Christian PF). The article is LONG but if you really want to know about generating traffic for your blog, getting companies to advertise with you and strategically placing those ads so you can make more than an extra penny... Take a Read =====>>>>>How to Make Money with a Blog (Christian PF)

Just remember...

On another note, in the not so distant past I realized that there was some trouble brewing in the natural hair community on Youtube when one vlogger called out another on the ethics of her business operation. There has been a natural hair revolution so nearly everybody has a YouTube channel where they share their opinions on how to take care of your hair, retain length, trim, stretch, curl... everything. Companies, seeing a great opportunity to reach their audience, often time approach these vloggers and ask them to review their products or even pay them to do so and as a result... sponsor the post. The problem with this is that some of these vloggers forget to mention "hey! this post is sponsored" and of course, this is misleading because they are opinion leaders who influence the masses. The belief is, if you're going to get paid to push a product, let the people know so you don't seem shady! In the video below, Franchesca from Chescalocs talks a bit on the business of beauty blogging. She not only talks about declaring if your post is sponsored but she goes into how you become a Youtube partner, getting paid after they determine your CPM and how you can go about running an ethical and legal operation on the site. Take a look!

The internet is an amazing and lucrative tool and a great way for you to start exercising your entrepreneurial spirit. Whilst you may have to pay for your domain name to ensure that your content actually belongs to you, the fee is quite minimal when you compare it to the markets and opportunities that it opens up. Damian Marley sings about "set up shop" and the internet makes it possible to do so virtually with little start up costs. Look at people like fashion blogger DulceCandy... she works from home and basically gets paid to shop and tell her readers what she thinks of products. Another example is Jess from the Wellness Warrior, her website has allowed her to write and sell her ebooks and wellness programmes (of course they take place virtually) and because she has developed such a reputation, she has even been invited to speak at various seminars. In a few years she may even start being the spokesperson for brand named products or even create a line of her own... who knows?

Don't limit yourself. This is your life and you should snatch these opportunities while they are hot... just remember to keep it ethical!

Have fun blogging and banking
Janelle

So You Think You Can Blog?

Sometimes I like to think of myself as a carefree and adventurous person who loves living life on the edge. A girl can fantasize right? My life is pretty much the opposite. I am a creature of habit, a woman who secretly craves structure... I've never been one to embrace the "go with the flow" scheme. On that note, part of my daily routine is blogging... well it's actually reading other people's blogs as opposed to actually generating content for my own... don't worry, that's on my "To Do" list. I have a list of blogs that I MUST look at everyday in order to feel as though my life is complete.

My daily dose of celebrity gossip is brought to me by Necole Bitchie and YBF (Young, Black and Fabulous), I get my fitness nugget from the one and only Melavond, my vegan tidbit from vegansaurus.com, my mind and body sync from mindbodygreen and my natural hair updates from Black Girl Long Hair. However blogging has taken on another dimension; video blogging or vlogging and thanks to video hosting sites like YouTube, people are also letting their voices heard and well their faces seen on this platform.

But, what is a blog?

The word blog comes from the term web log which is a website that is arranged in a reversed chronological order so you see your most recent posts first and scroll down for the older ones. It's basically a diary/journal that you can share with your friends, family or the whole world if you so choose. 

People blog about everything! Cars, shoes, clothes, hair, parenting, relationships! You name it and there is probably a blog just designed specifically for it. 

Blogging is amazing! I mean of course if you're not careful you can get sued for defamation or plagiarism or something like that but it's a great way to express yourself and share your opinion! It's an even better way to build your brand if you have a business orrrrr even start a business! I mean, BEYONCE BLOGS. There are some people who quit their 9-5 jobs and blog for a living.

So, you think you can blog?

1. Pick a theme and work on developing your niche.

The blogs that I read have a particular focus and the bloggers develop their content around this focal point. If it's a natural hair blog, I expect to see product review, hair styles, hair care tips, style icons etc. Don't go drop a random food recipe in there along with a rant about your relationship, how to fix your lap top... no. According to sweet brown, "Ain't nobody gat time for that". Keep it focused baby. If of course you want to talk about these things, by all means, start another blog! We see it all the time. Naptural85 has her main channel hair channel and then she has her personal channel, dearnaptural85 where she talks about her life and raising her child and all that drama. Remember, always keep the purpose of your site and your target audience in mind.

2. Post Frequently!

One of my main problems with blogging is being inconsistent with my posting. When you stop posting, people stop coming to your site. Readers develop a bond with the bloggers and when they don't post... the readers get mad. Well, I do. I hate when Mela from melavond forgets to post... it annoys me. I get so frustrated!. I faithfully read her blog, I feel like I know her! Like I'm a part of her life. I feel like she is almost obligated to inspire me with her fit abs and legs. I know it sounds crazy but if you want people to keep coming back to your site and if you want there to more hits/visitors, you must let your readers know that they are important to you and part of doing this is fulfilling your duty to them and post! And hey, Keep it interesting, give us some videos, pictures, memes, links to interesting articles. 

3. Keep it conversational.

Don't go using a lot of big words and complicated jargon on your blog... you have to write so that your audience understands without the aid of a dictionary. Keep it simple. Keep it light, fun, humorous. You want to write as though you're talking to your readers. They want to hear your voice not read your dissertation.

4. Be Passionate and Confident

Blogging is serious business. It's more than just finding a topic that you want to explore, posting frequently and having a conversational tone. You must exude passion and confidence. Case in point, there is this Trinidadian youtube vlogger who makes videos about... you guessed it, natural hair. I reallllly want to like her. I do. Her videos are informative, she posts fairly regularly but gosh, she has no passion! She gives great hair advice but she seems bored even making the video and she just apologizes too much! It gets annoying after a while. So, be passionate! Fake it to make it baby! 

5. Keep it simple.

Did I say this already? Yes. I did and I will repeat it because it is soooooo important. I know this may been contradictory but... keep those posts short. When I see extremely long posts, sometimes I don't even bother to read them or watch the videos. For me, posts that are about 500 words and 5 minutes long are the best. Don't bore me before I begin. Another thing, don't distract me with a whole heap of colours and graphics and this and that moving... no. Keep it sleek, clean, classy but interesting. And, if you plan on having a vlog, can you please, please, please try to not film your entries on your blackberry? Poor video quality is not cute.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post where I talk a bit about making money from your blog!