How important is a logo and apparel

I think you should still brand your business even if you are not buying billboards, radio and TV time. Perhaps one day you will? Then getting the ball rolling with your brand is a step in the right direction, plus it helps to draw in the business of customers who are trying to decide who to hire. High end customers may be more inclined to bring someone in who has a logo’d shirt, magnets or wrap on their vehicle, logo’d invoice and business cards, clean cut and presentable. A solo professional is every bit as viable an option (especially in this business) as the large company with 15 employees running three fleets of workers and office staff. Brand away my friend - it is all part of being the look as well as being able to offer great service.
Branding small business

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Gotchya !! An a logo is just a piece of the pie

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I think people are confusing branding with advertising.

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Not really. Just have think a little more out of the box. Branding can be for solo operator, or a huge chain, or anything in between.
Branding without advertising is spinning your wheels. Advertising without branding is spinning your wheels as well.
Build a business

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A logo is part of branding

Branding:
to impress indelibly:
The plane crash was branded on her mind.

12.to give a brand name to:
branded merchandise.

13.to promote as a brand name.

Market:
a body of existing or potential buyers for specific goods or services:

In order to BRAND, it takes a ton of money and time. When you brand something, you advertise in a way that people hear or see something and instantly think of your product or service. In order to get people to remember that, you have to have advertising in front of them constantly,

I never see advertising for a local lawn service called “My Thing Is Green” but I see them often and have heard people speak of them so they are first to come to mind when someone mentions looking for a lawn service. As I am sure is true in most areas every street has a different lawn service.
They have branded their business as the crew wears their bright green T-shirts, big straw hats, and logo’d trailer. I don’t think it cost a ton of money either. Some may be over thinking the whole “branding” thing? Brand away my brother!

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If you don’t see their advertisements, how do you qualify your previous statement? :thinking::grin:

Ever read “The 1-Page Marketing Plan”? It’s a good book and shows the distinction between branding and marketing. Big difference.

ok i think i finally understand what you guys are saying. Ill never have enough money/employees to work for me to be able to brand and make advertisements over radio or tv etc. Making a brand is also trademarking your logo so that you can put it on a shirt and sell it to somebody. or making a keychain with your logo and mass producing them to get your name around. I understand what your saying about no small business would most likely ever try to brand. it costs too much. where the way we get our name around is by actually doing work and talking to people and knocking on doors and using google adwords and craigslist etc. major branded companies are more likely to use a billboard.

Thank you to everyone who brought that up.

ASIDE the point though, i just ordered a few shirts for myself and my cousin through vistaprint now that we had a few jobs come in. So we will have our self-made logo on our business cards, door magnets and now we have some t-shirts for when we do work and go around knocking on doors. Now i need some nice pants!!

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Yep, I get your point. I’m sure he advertises somewhere - we all do - but his “Brand” does stand out more than the other dozen lawn maintenance businesses I see. That’s all. I imagine Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches started his “brand” as a small business and grew into something huge.

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I’m gettimg Dizzy :dizzy_face:

My brain is not made for this. Lol.

I went An got a logo Put it in on everything.
Looks cool. I like it. Marketing , branding whatever.

I clean shit then I collect a check. Just thought a logo would help along the way lol

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Ha ha! Yea thats how i was feeling too but looking it up, i realize exactly what it is now. And its a lot simpler to understand than it is to implement it.

Branding is intangible. It is not a thing, but rather a structure for which your business operates. How do you handle your customers? In what way do you represent yourself when you talk to a customer? What do you say to them that makes them want you to do a service rather than the guy nextdoor that has all the same tools but cant arrive on time? Its the overall experience the customer will have when you give them service. That is the brand.

Marketing is targeting. Its how you let people know that you exist. Its the images that you use when you post an ad or make your profile picture for the business. Its the advertising 15% off for a google review. Its meant to attract attention to your business

There are times when these 2 things come hand in hand. A logo for example is both. It represents your business when you are not around. But you also use it to advertise. Your logo is not a brand though. It is a marketing tool. But once you service someone and they are 100% satisfied they have branded who you are in their head. And the logo just reminds them of that service.

I hope that makes sense. And i hope im not off on my summary lol.

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Think of it as a numbers game.

Scenario a: I live in a small town and most of my business is in and around my town. I’m a solo operator. I can wrap my vehicle and it might bring about some recognition. But honestly, it’s a small area and people will know who I am and what I do in a short matter of time by just observing me. Think about the Canadian guy that works his route on a bike. No doubt, everyone in his area sees him and immediately recognizes him. He has a brand. But if he strays to far outside of that territory, fewer people will connect who he is with what he does.

That leads to scenario b: I’m a solo operator and I live and work in a large metropolitan area like DFW. Logos, wraps and such are nice, but will do little for you (compared to the money spent). In these areas, having a fleet of vehicles and multiple crews are needed to really push a brand out there. That increases the chance that multiple people will see your logo/brand multiple times and start to think of you and your service. A solo guy will likely see less of a return from just the brand.

Doesn’t mean it’s the worse idea - many different threads on our opinions on wraps and logos as marketing. But if a guy is starting out - spend money and effort on tools, equipment and learning how to do the job efficiently and profitably. You will yield a greater return on those things first.

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:::BAM::: right there it is.

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Because we don’t have enough thoughts on the topic, I thought I would share. :roll_eyes:

Brand-how everything that you do to present yourself comes across to the cusomer. Your image basically as the customer understands it. (Not how you want them to understand it, but their takeaway)

Marketing-all the ways you plan to and do present yourself to the customer. (My summery, didn’t want to paste a long definition)

Advertising-any way that you put yourself In front of your customer, and is part of your marketing plan (also summary)

Market penetration-Market penetration refers to the successful selling of a product or service in a specific market. It is measured by the amount of sales volume of an existing good or service compared to the total target market for that product or service. (Wikipedia)

Market penetration effectiveness is what I think (My opinion) some are mixing up with branding. A small companies marketing plan and subsequent advertising, market research in their marketing plan, etc. Isn’t going to be near as in depth or as well funded as a big company. Therefore it will not penetrate the market nearly as well as an marketing campaign by say Coca-Cola, and the market share will be much smaller, but that doesn’t mean they can’t brand themselves. Every day we go out to work, or market, we brand ourselves with everything we do related to our business. (And even potentially outside our business) We may not be visible to millions, but everyone who sees us will have some form of image in their mind based on our presentation relative to their expectations, and then they have “branded” our business image/experience into their mind.

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This was the post every comment I made was directed at.

Obviously you need to present your business with a logo, shirts, letterheads, etc…

If you believe people will see your logo alone and recognize it you are foolish or live in a tiny community.

We are small fish in the business world. Dont over think it

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Hey bud. I started my business four months ago and had a logo in place and some really bad business cards. I have since added T-shirts w logo and services offered and had a designer create a legit business card. My main focus has been building a commercial route but I have landed 5 or six $500+ residential jobs from people seeing me out cleaning storefronts. I don’t think this would have happened if not for the branded look as I was not having anyone really even chat at all while working.

I’m so convinced it has helped that I am going over budget and getting some vinyl on the truck windows and am confident will get calls off of these as well. Got to look sharp bud, it will pay for itself.

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Very true your appearance alone can also change YOUR outlook or drive.

Appearance is needed as I have stated.

Your shirts show just lettering alone can be good enough.

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Best place for a window cleaner to advertise their business is on the back of their shirt

Simply put branding is the impression your company, service or product makes in the mind of the consumer. You don’t have to be a latge company to brand yourself.

Branding your company is all about delivering a distinct and cohesive message about and experience with your company. In ither words it is about delivering an impressionable experience to the consumer and properly communicating that experience in your marketting which includes all your touchpoints to the consumer from yoir advertising, to your invoices, your uniforms, your letters and digital communications etc.

A logo is one tool used to communicate your brand and the actual design itself communicates the experience the customer will recieve when they use your service. If you have a professionally designed logo the perception in the mind of the consumer is that they will recieve professiinal service. If it is clealry not professionally designed it subtly communicates to the consumer that they may not get a professional job.

It doesn’t matter if the customer knows your company. When they see yoir advertising they are evaluating your brand with what they see. They are looking for subtle hints that might help them select the best value for thei money or whatever bennefit is most important to them. Some might be looking for the cheapest so for them they arent looking for the bells and whistles because they know they will have to pay for that.

Thino about the way you shop. Off the top of my head when I go to Home depot I often want to by tools for a project. Sometimes I might just want a cheap tool that I know I will most likely only use once. So I dont look for the one with the fancy packaging. Im looking for the one with little to no packaging that is some off bramd or store bramd. Other times I might buy a tool I know I will use over amd over so I wamt to make sure I get a good quality tool. That said I am gemerally still on a budget so I dont want the most expensive brand like Dewalt or Makita. I still want quality or a reasonably well built tool, so I am looking for the “best value brand”. I generally buy Ryobi which I have had great luck with and its reasonably priced.

Branding is all about deciding what vakue you wamt to deliver and then doing your best to communicate that value in your marketting and advertising. The better you are at branding the better you will commect with the consumer looking for your brand. Not everyone is tour customer. If you dont deliver highest quality (that means in everything you do) then those looking for the cheapest brand are not your market.

Branding is about reaching the consumer that identifies with the value you offer. Everyone has a brand. Not everyone knows what their bramd is or they aren’t properly communicating it. The consumer knows because it’s the taste tou left in their mouth, good or bad, when they used your service.

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