What's In A Name?

-Hold on for dear life, love songs for whose right- Hold On by Nervewreck

What's in a name? Everything. McDonald's, Wal Mart, Kiss, U2, and any product you buy, listen to, or watch it all has to do with a favorite topic of mine, Branding! Maybe it's because it's very similar to my first name Brandon, but I've always liked trying to get my name or the things I do known to the masses. This is exactly what the companies I mentioned above did, and yes I do consider bands a type of company or organization. So before I go into detail about Branding let's "Double Back In Time", to the 1980's.

Now I was born in a small town called Pittsburg, Texas. This town was so small that to do most anything like watch movies, eat at Pizza Hut or do anything fun, you had to travel 10 miles to another town called Mount Pleasant, Texas, and before things went super or mega in the 90's there was one place everybody went called Wal Mart. Wal Mart was much smaller in those days, no supermarket, no tire and lube shop, just clothing, crafts, a few household items, and not much else. This small little store was in competition with Kmart and TG&Y, anybody remember TG&Y? Anyway, Wal Mart really took a drastic change by starting to get rid of the small Wal Marts and started the ever worldly popular Wal Mart Supercenter. I even worked at the one in Mount Pleasant for about 2 months, and why? The answer I can give personally is well the logo, the name, and that familiar feeling I had going in there as a child influenced the decision to work there. Fast forward to the 21st Century!

The small company that started out in Arkansas, is now global and what was a household name for many small southern towns is everyday talk for Europe, South America, or any place basically with a population. In fact I can give you directions to about 5 different Wal Mart's close to me in Houston, Texas. What did they do that was so different from the 80's to now? Nothing but expansion and that simply takes time. The Logo never changed, it's more colorful now, but the lettering is the same. The service and products sold never changed, expansion allowed for more products and service. With the miracle of the Internet, and if you are not within a 20 to 40 mile radius of a Wal Mart, you just hop to their site and order from there.

In no way do I promote anything for Wal Mart, I'm just using the corporation as an example for successful Branding. You see, people in general fear change, and with the world changing it seems like every few minutes, people react more to something constant. My band Nervewreck does it, we developed our sound, our look and when people catch on "they hold on for dear life," that's a line from one of our songs. Anyone successful will tell you that Branding is key to taking that small little company or that home based business to the results you want.

Remember that the name should be short, to the point, and that what your selling is not a product but yourself, even if your working with others. Collaboration is also key in business but still each individual wants a part of themselves shown in the company. You don't need to spend countless sleepless nights figuring out the perfect name, but the name you pick will stay with you for life, or at least for the life of your company. So start advertising your name, get your logo out there and in time you'll start seeing the results. Still here? What are you waiting for? Go Brand yourself and Rock Your Success!

Work Smarter, Not Harder
http://brandon-franks.ws