Re-Branding

One of the most important business concepts is the concept of branding. Branding...when done successfully will perpetuate a business into the top 1% of its respective industry. This is called acheiving "Top of Mind" in marketing/advertising. For example when you think of 'soda' you think of Coke (and then Pepsi). When you think of 'coffee' you think of Starbuck's...etc.

There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to Branding a company. One is to brand your yourself...ie Trump or John Doe Enterprises. The other is to brand your logo/company name...ie Rich Dad/Poor Dad or Sunoco. I prefer the latter for a few reasons but I want to present to you reasons why you might want to brand yourself...ultimately it will be up to you to decide.

Because we are in a service industry...many of you might want to consider branding your name as your company. The reason for this is that many people will associate your work with you anyway. So it sort of acts like double marketing when they see your name as the company name on your reports. I think for anyone in a service industry...branding your name is a very good strategy.

For me on the other hand...I am constantly looking of ways to expand my business and go into new areas. I also have several businesses which I would like to have run on their own with very little supervision from myself. If my name were branded as the company and I wasn't involved it would more than likely affect them. Through properly branding a company...that company can continue to grow and thrive without you at the helm and perhaps it might even grow into a corporate giant which helps future generations long after you're gone.

So I wanted to present this to you because I know many of you are at the beginning of developing your appraisal businesses. Currently...I am looking to Re-Brand AREA48 into The Appraisal Success Institute. I think the name describes better what we are about. So...look for those changes coming up and if any of you have any questions about your company name, post it on the forum and ask your friends and family. The more feedback you get from different sources...the better.

Good Luck

Ed