Branding is more than your sign above your door!

Telling you straight out.  Many SMB's beleive that branding is their sign or logo and it's usage or application and that is it.  May I offer a few suggestions to expand on this.

1. Your sign or logo design or look is not important.  How you use it is.  Have a nice logo or sign but don't break the bank making it.  Do however, place it on everyting that has to do with your business. I am refering to invoices, letterheads, advertising, newsletters, ect. (Notice how my logo is applied to everything on my web features.)
2. Branding to the web.  Have a professional web site.  If you sell widgets, have a good widget web site.  It reflects on your brand.  Keep your website updated.
3. Blog.  Don't have time?  Have someone blog for you that you know and trust. Your brand can be expanded to the masses from a blog and people realize that you know your business.
4. Host a workshop, do email campaigns with your logo on it, do a community event with your branding.  Get out from out of your office and talk to people in person!
5. Always follow through.  If you promise a marketing event or a lecture on a topic, make sure you do it.  "Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk".  Sounds simplistic but many business say they have something going on and it's a lot of BS half the time. Your brand in this case does not mean a lot to your clients or customers.
6. You can not control your brand (have it be everything to all people) but you  can market your brand to your target segments, you can control how it looks, and you can do your best to make sure your brand reflects who you are and what you do.
7. Your brand is not only you, it's your employees and your customers.  Make sure you are always talking to both.  The employees work for you and want to help you and many may know more about what your branding is doing than you do. Your customers for sure know what they think about what your brand tells them about you.  Talk to them.  Make sure your image and branding is working.