Lets face it. You’re just another start-up.
You’ve got a good idea, world changing technology or an innovative something. But why should I care? You’ll tell me about it in the same way as a thousand other start-ups spinning out of universities all over the world. You’ll cobble together a logo in PowerPoint, make your own web page and cram 4000 words with some clip art into a presentation.
You’ll do this because it worked in the academic world. You’ll do this because investors and customers will love the ‘idea’, the ‘technology’, the ‘innovation’. It’ll sell itself. You won’t have to do anything. You’ll build it and the orders will flood in. But wait. You’re not in academia anymore. You’ve crossed into the world of business. The rules here are different.
Over here you have to fight to be heard. Communication is faster. People don’t care. And your brand is king.
Think about it. Every interaction you have influences how people feel about you and your business. From the tone of your last email to your presentation style, the way you dress, the way you answer the phone and every piece of marketing material you produce. It all communicates overt and covert messages. It all communicates your brand. People form opinions based on this. Important people. People with money.
Was your email badly written and full of mistakes? Who’s to say the code in your software isn’t the same. Was your last presentation poorly delivered and lacking a clear message? Chances are your business model is just as confusing. Does your marketing material look amateurish? It’s probably an indication that your product isn’t up to scratch either.
So what can you do about it?
1. Be serious
Take your brand seriously. Don’t leave it to chance. Spend time thinking about your business or product’s personality, how it should behave, what you want to say about it and how you will communicate this. When it comes to visual communication, work with professionals. Everyone thinks they’re a designer. Most people aren’t.
2. Be unique
Understand your competitor brands. Then do something different. It’s a cluttered market place and you’ll have to fight to be heard. Be bold. Be confident. Have fun. But be consistent. Establish what makes you unique and reinforce it in everything that you say and do.
3. Be honest
Whatever you do, make sure the image you project and the experience on the ground match-up. If your technology is new and exciting, say so. Don’t claim that its established and world leading. Don’t make claims about performance or results that you can’t support with evidence. Over promising and under delivering will hurt your business a lot and for a long period of time.
4. Be simple
Above all, be simple. Establish the single most important message you want to communicate and build your brand around this.
