Economically stressed times, technical changes and current affairs can rock your business world. Rockin’ your world can be a good thing as long as you use it to reposition yourself for business success. Weather it’s a service you provide or a product it should solve a problem. Simply look for the problems out there and become a solution then communicate it with passion and consistency.

Whenever you make a change in your business and/or target market. You’ll need to evaluate your current business brand. Is there a consistent thread across all of your marketing platforms, such as logo, tag line, ads, brochure, website, etc.? Then ask yourself three questions. Is it time to create a new brand, refresh an old brand or strengthen your current brand?

Why would you create a new brand? If you started out with a convenient brand to get a new business off the ground, maybe having a printer create the logo and a cousin develop your website from a template to save money as you started your business, it’s time to create a new brand.  A good test for this is if you’re embarrassed on how your brand represents your business, find yourself apologizing for your brand or your potential customers aren’t clear on what you do.

Is it time to refresh an old brand? After being in business a couple of years your business has grown somewhat organically. You begin to get a clear direction on your unique selling proposition, have the right team in place, defined your target market and are ready for the next level of business. Now it’s time to go through your brand with a professional and determine if it represents and communicates your business to your target market.

What does it mean to strengthen your current brand? In time you develop your client list. It’s always good to evaluate your list and determine the clients you love to work with as well as ones that are not a perfect fit for your business. Look at your brand through your ideal clients’ eyes. What do they want to see, answers their questions and will bring value to them? Then ask your ideal clients directly what they like about your brand. Now you have direction on how to strengthen your brand.

It’s always good to reevaluate your business brand at least once a year and make sure it fits your business as well as possible. The clearer you define your business and set yourself apart from the competition the more success you’ll find.