Want to read a book that can change your business? Read The Little Blue Book of Advertising by Jeff Woll and Steve Lance. The authors condense decades of big-league advertising experience into a blueprint for building your brand.
My brand? I don’t have a brand. I’m not big enough for a brand. If those thoughts run through your head, The Little Blue Book will put an end to them. The fact is, as the authors insist, anything can be branded. Any product, any service, any business, any idea.
There is no such thing as an average product, an average service, an average business, or an average idea. In some way, each is unique. The challenge for a small business is to figure out what the unique quality is, how to make it stronger, and how to exploit it in the marketplace.
That unique quality might be something you’re already promoting, or it might be an off-the-radar product or service that’s got potential beyond your wildest dreams.
If you go to market thinking your product or business is average, you will get average results. The only way to get great results is to offer customers a benefit they can’t get from the other guy.
What do prospects want that they’re not getting from their current supplier? How come your customers don’t drop you when a competitor comes in with a lower price? Do you know–or are you guessing or assuming?
Woll and Lance make a great point–you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Get the real answers to the questions I just asked, and you’ve taken your first step to a successful brand.
