Most times, you can’t compete with wealthy and established brands. They have the money and the name. Come rain, come shine, they would blow you out of the water. You need a lot of money to be even close to their shadows.
It’s time for us to up our games!
Follow me closely and see simple hacks you can do make your brand look like a wealthy brand even though you are far from that.
Let’s say you are a photographer, there are bullies in the industry with all the equipment, money and fame. If you are a fashion designer, there are big bullies with all the equipment, money and connection. It doesn’t matter what you do, bullies are everywhere.
Compared to them, you are just an amateur and a struggling wannabe. Most importantly, you do not want to show them where you work in a scanty and ugly-looking room.
Imagine someone wants to give you a gig worth an ample amount of money and asks you to show him your work samples. Since there are no other means of showing him, you invite him to your “shop” to show the work samples. He enters the cubicle-like and jam-packed “shop” and he wonders if “any good thing can come out of this Nazareth”.
That won’t only dampen his moral, it might kill his libido. (Just kidding)
You can’t afford a big work apartment, you can’t afford bigger equipment, and you can’t spend several hundreds of thousands of Naira branding, but you are really skillful and can deliver well.
How do you create the impression to your clients that you are professional and they can trust your brand?
Simply Harness the power of the Internet.
How?
1. Get a good photographer and let him take great shots of you, your products and anything you want to showcase. Let him edit the pictures and give them professional looks.
2. I would advise you learn one or two things on Photoshop (You don’t have to be a pro). Just know how to edit, cut and do adjust a few things. You would need it a lot. If you are not willing at all, use canva.com. You might once in a while need a assistance from professional graphic designers.
3. Start creating a professional feel on your social media profiles. Use great profile pictures. Stop the jokes, savages and meaningless sharing. Talk about what you do. Create good contents. Let people know what you do from your timeline. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram. When people hear your name, what comes to their mind? If it’s not what you do, then you are not there yet.
4. Create portfolios in popular portfolio websites (online directories) and list your business. There are several of them. Do a proper search. When you create those portfolios in those popular websites, just share the links on your social media accounts.
5. Start talking and acting like a professional. Join groups related to what you do. Offer solutions to problems or contribute to the communities. When you do this, people often would check out who you are by going to your timeline. Also, people who you have helped solve their problems may want to relate with you.
6. Cap it with a Kickass website. Our aim is to look “big” even though we are not, right? The easiest way to do that is to launch a website that looks so great and professional that people are consciously or unconsciously wowed and gob-smacked. There is a way good looking websites add to your credibility. This is literally the easiest way to look “big” and “professional” without spending millions. People can see all you have done, are currently doing right on your website. They can order a product or service right from your website. They can pay you right on your website and everything just flows easily. This would make your brand look so efficient and “big”. Truthfully, a good website promotes your brand. You need a professional website designer/developer to make this a reality.
7. Become “bigger” in skills. Join groups where you would learn more about what you do. Learn and improve your craft. Take lessons, buy courses, meet people who know better than you. The more you know, the better you are, the better the content you can give out and the “bigger” you get.
When you do all these, people perceive you as a professional. You talk about it every time, your profile looks good, your website is top-notch and your portfolio is amazing on your website and social media.
You have just created an awesome brand for yourself and people naturally trust and patronize great brands.
Don’t ever forget this: People patronize a brand because they feel they know what they are doing, have seen what they’ve done before, and have enough resources to do a perfect job.
Do not fail to create such impression.
©Oladokun Oladapo.
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