Entrepreneurs: 5 Keys When Branding Your Startup
by Miki Saxon
Opportunities to publicize your startup through talks and interviews can be golden if you remember these basics.
- Create a set of no more than five sound bytes, i.e., brief, core points to make in all of your talks and interviews No matter what happens, be sure you get those four or five key points into the conversation and stick to them.
- It’s normal for the constant repetition of those points to become boring for you, but it’s imperative that you control the narrative and the discussion so that you can deliver your key points. You will survive boring.
- The biggest mistake CEOs and founders make in these cases is to go in and “wing it.” You need to use these opportunities in a carefully planned way and deliver your four to five key points every time. That’s how PR and branding work…. boring repetition and strict discipline to stay on point, no matter what the venue or specific question asked.
- Just as critical is to access an advisor with experience delivering a consistent brand message, who will coach you, help you write your key bullet points and messages and practice with you to polish your delivery.
- If you create a founder’s video be sure to make it simple and informal. If it’s for a crowdfunding effort edgier and more “amateur” (less slick and professional) will resonate better. People will donate because they are swept up by the story and the emotion and the idea behind the deal. Not the facts of the product or the “benefit” in a logical sense. It must be personal and emotional. Try using a camera phone, such as a high end Nokia, iPhone or Samsung, and it will be great—edgy enough to have good credibility and authenticity.
And while these five points sound easy and simple, the discipline to follow-through on them is not.
Matt Weeks is Currently VP & General Manger, Ecosystem at Planet Soho, the industry’s leading cloud-based business management platform for micro-business customers and creatives; co-founder and investor in WorkersCount and Advisor/Mentor at ZOOMPesa Systems & Technology: The Mobile & Online Money Transfer Service with a Heart and a contributor here when he can make time.
