Women's Business Blog

Women in business must know how to sell themselves as well as their product and/or service. One only has to take a look around to see that women in the entertainment world have caught on to this very quickly. Lady Gaga intentionally creates a look that causes attention. Laugh if you like, but this lady is laughing all the way to the bank. Her music may not stay on top forever, but her look will last longer in costume and fashion stores across the world. She is new to the game, however, that may have been started by women who kept their brand alive while their fame faded.

As Oprah Winfrey wraps up her time as the queen of (and there is no king) of TV talk shows, women in business should be watching her every move. Oprah is the most successful businesswoman on the planet and therefore she is a role model for every woman.

Every entrepreneur knows that (s)he needs a brand and, as has previously been disgusted in Branding Part I, that brand can be the business itself, the product or service or the entrepreneur. So how to get started? Since branding is all about consistency in the message, both visual and verbal - the first step is to ask yourself - is what the public sees of your brand equal to what is heard? Take a look at the new brand for Comcast just hitting the market - Xfinity. The Xfinity brand is meant to be seen as the new and improved technologically advanced products and services available by the business - Comcast. Hopefully, you have noted that the company is also spending millions of dollars clarifying that the business name and brand has not changed and that the brand Comcast continues to stand for a reliable communications company. This distinction is critical to the success of the branding process for the company. Believe it or not the small business entrepreneur must be just as careful with his/her branding as a mega company such as Comcast. The brand is everything and must be messaged percisely to truely be effective.

Every entrepreneur understands, or at least should understand, the importance of branding. However, knowing that a strong brand is critical to your success and actually figuring out how to create one are two different things.