Entrepreneurs are always super-interested and excited about public engagement (in one form or another), but aren’t always sure about how to do it and (for almost EVERY entrepreneur I’ve met), along with a host of other struggles, don’t have the funds to pay for it (in-house or 3rd party). On top of that, it can be really daunting to think that, on top of running an entire business on almost nothing but sweat, tears, and coffee, you have to figure out how to brand and market yourself in a world dominated by social media. You have to figure out how to make people want you. It’s a lot to worry about — I’m no stranger to it. So, for all of you hard-working, go-getting, hyper-caffeinated entrepreneurs out there, I offer 5 tips for building your brand:

1. SHOW YOUR BONES: WHAT IS YOUR ‘WHY’?

A critical point for any business, any entrepreneur, any INDIVIDUAL is to know WHY they’re doing what they’re doing (just ask Simon Sinek). WHY do you provide the services you provide? WHY do you make the products that you do? WHY did you start your business/strike out on your own?

WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?

These questions are crucial in helping you (and your target audience) really understand your motivation for your work. It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day minutiae of work without the benefit of knowing WHY you’re working so hard. STOP THIS. Open a dialogue with your team to understand how each of you sees your roles in the organization, what each individuals’ personal business and life goals are, where each of you sees the business heading, and how to get there. Along the way, you’ll find that your WHY will start to surface — and when it does, you’ll have a foundation and a platform from which to jump. So, what’s your ‘why’?

2. GUIDING LIGHT: KNOW YOUR GOALS

Every organization is different, and each organization has its own goals and objectives. What are yours? Before you can begin to think about how to attract publicity and generate public awareness in your product, services or brand, you MUST know what your goals are — organizational goals for the year, departmental goals for the month, individual sales goals and, for our purposes here, media goals. Do yourself a BIG favor and map your goals — create something visual you can refer to to consistently remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. When you have that, you can create a campaign that will communicate your individual message and brand in a way that engages the public because it resonates with something real. Know your goals.

3. PEOPLE TALK & INDUSTRY CHATTER: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE & YOUR INDUSTRY

One common and HUGE mistake that almost everyone makes is not knowing exactly who their audience is. Everyone says that they want to sell their brand “to everyone/everyone in X industry’ — basically that they’d like to sell — or have audience with — as wide an audience as possible. That’s great. Everyone wants that, but the reality is that you don’t get that unless (and UNTIL) you’ve done your research and figured out exactly who your target market is — what your target demographics look like. If you don’t know that, how can you POSSIBLY know how to market to or engage them? Equally important — know what’s going on in your industry. If you want to increase brand awareness and establish yourself as an authority or industry leader, you really have to know what’s happening in your industry. What are some new innovations, vendors, conferences, learning opportunities, networking opportunities, industry tips, etc. that exist in your specific market? Who are the industry leaders? What are they saying? What industry publications are important to them? What types of activities are top brands in your industry doing that you could employ in your own business? Know what’s relevant to stay relevant.

4. PLOT THE MAP: STRATEGY & OUTLINING

Machiavelli and Chris Matthews (who doesn’t love Hardball?) had a few things right — placing a sharp emphasis on strategy seems chief among them. After your team has done the work of clearly articulating who you are as a brand, after you’ve done the work of accurately mapping your organizational goals and objectives, after you’ve gotten a clear focus on who your audience is and why — THEN you can and should begin to form a strategy to attack those goals. Strategy is big picture stuff. Strategy requires that your team collaborates to discover and plot the smartest steps necessary to attain the goals you have set. In this strategy-session, don’t sweat the small stuff — leave the details for another meeting. This session is all about the long game.

5. GET DOWN TO BRASS TACKS: TACTICS & EXECUTION

Now that you’ve got the strategy down, it’s time to think about execution. Tactics are the details. Tactics are all the (let’s call them) ‘little things’ you do to get to your immediate objective. So, you’ve got your goals (the BIG thing you’re trying to do), then you’ve got your strategy (the grand plan that dictates a clear path to that BIG thing you’re trying to do), then you’ve got your tactics (the ‘little things’ you do to get to your immediate objective), and then you’ve got your objectives (the steps in your grand plan that get you to that BIG thing you’re trying to do). These ‘little things’ are comprised of all the people you need to meet, all the events you need to be at, all the things you should be reading, all the meetings you should be having, all the research you need to be doing, all the calls you need to make, all the proposals you have to draft…the list goes on. The point is, PLOT THESE THINGS. Plot them, and then execute.