Branding is a Journey: 5 Elements That Created My Brand
Written By Alyssia Jones
There are several definitions of the word “BRAND”, which includes the ‘mark burned on livestock with a branding iron’ definition in the Oxford dictionary.
In my case, however, the word BRAND meant a lot more than just burning flesh with a hot iron symbol, but it was more of a concept that I had to grasp in order to expand my small business to a whole other level! In this blog, I wanted to share some of my experiences this year with building my brand. Here is a list of elements that were involved in creating The Resume Tailor LLC’s branding strategy this year.
UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS
It’s important for people to know and understand what a business is servicing or selling. When I choose the name, I wanted to be very clear as to what I was servicing, hence the name The Resume Tailor LLC. Of course, my small business began to expand its services to tailor start-up businesses and entrepreneurs in branding and marketing. However, the main focus was to build a company that sought to advance someone’s career; whether or not they were working for a company or if they were self-employed.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Customer service, in my personal opinion, is the most valuable skill to have in any business. Customers are like a well-balanced, nutritious meal to your business; they support your business, they promote growth when they refer others to your services, and they keep your business operating and growing.
In recent studies, 70% of consumers say they have already made a choice to support a company that delivers great customer service. This is why I make a point to deliver quality customer service to both prospective clients and paying clients. I have also learned the benefits of customer retention. Research states that attracting a new customer is 6-7 times more expensive than retaining a current one. This year, I am proud to have a 35% customer retention rate!
BUILDING A CULTURE OF ‘VALUE’
Along with having exceptional customer service, I thought it would be wise of me to build a positive reputation for my business using my brand. Despite the logo, colors, fonts, etc, I wanted to build a reputation for being patient, understanding, empowering, encouraging, and impactful. My clients know that I am faith-based, and not afraid to put Christ in conversations! But what was most important to me about my brand was building a culture of ‘value’; I wanted my customers to feel ‘valued’, and to receive ‘value’, and to be guaranteed ‘value’.
We would get clients that have been beaten and broken from their jobs. Clients would come from such toxic work environments that they would devalue their own resumé unintentionally! During the client 1 on 1 session, I could hear and even see the shock on some faces when we compare their job duties to what they REALLY do at work. The majority are either overworked or doing managerial tasks while they are positioned at Entry-Level. Still, we maintain that culture of ‘value’, and it seems to keep customers empowered throughout the process.
CHOOSING A SYMBOL
The symbol for my business is a feather that was custom drawn by OGD the God owner, Dominique McClemore. I wanted the symbol of an old feathered pen, and the fancy fonts of Amsterdam cursive scribe to depict the business being ‘hand-written’ or ‘tailored’ by the scribe of the feathered pen.
Why was this chosen as a symbol for my brand? Well, the symbol was inspired by the famous Quill Pen, a mechanical pen made from a feather that was invented back in the 6th century. Just like a needle being the tool for the Tailor, I wanted the pen to represent the tool for resume editing.
CONSISTENCY
This is still a skill that I am trying to master. I have probably shifted my colors around maybe 6-times before I was actually satisfied with what I have now. My symbol did not start off at the Quill Pen design as discussed earlier. I also changed the services, pricing, marketing strategy, etc. throughout the whole entire year.
However, one thing that I knew I was consistent with was the way I conducted business. I was consistent with expanding my services, growing my relationship with professionals, and gaining clientele. I was consistent with the way that I treat others during this process. I didn’t get upset when someone criticized the prices of my services. Even when a customer was displeased, I made sure to be apologetic and maintained the culture of ‘valuing’ the client.
The goal for the new year is to continue to expand my brand even further, and I am excited to see where The Resume Tailor LLC will go from here. I plan to have more blogs like this and more folks include their work experience here. Until next time, thanks for reading my branding journey!
Resources:
100 Essential Customer Service Statistics and Trends for 2021 - https://www.nextiva.com/blog/customer-service-statistics.html
History of Pens -
http://www.historyofpencils.com › history-of-quill-pens
