Maria Ross, the brains behind marketing and branding firm, Red Slice, has just wrapped up yet another project. This time in the form of a comprehensive guide to effectively branding your business – any small business, on any budget. Branding Basics for Small Business: How to Create an Irresistible Brand on Any Budget will walk you step-by-step through solidifying your core promise, personality and reason for being. We caught up with Maria and asked her a little bit about what inspires her at work and in life! And before we forget, to purchase your copy of Branding Basics go to red-slice.com/branding-basics-book!

When and how did you discover your talent for and love of marketing and strategizing?
I majored in marketing in college, as I’d always had a love for advertising and using communication to evoke emotion. Marketing can be used for so much good in the world: encouraging people to donate time or money, showcasing a worthy cause, inspiring people to be the best they can be. I have always been impressed with a well-turned tagline or a delightful campaign that gives me goosebumps. In the book, I talk about the effect that Nike had on me in the mid-90’s when they launched the “If you let me play” campaign aimed at empowering young girls through athletics. I gained experience across all aspects of marketing over my career and really like the brainstorming and strategy phase the best.

What compelled you to write Branding Basics For Small Business?
I got sick and tired of people undervaluing what a brand could do for them, or thinking that it is just their logo. Brand is so much more than that and when small businesses understand what brand really means – that it is the core promise and value they deliver to customers – they can better connect with customers and drive sales. Brand is expressed not just visually through your logo or colors, but verbally through the messages you use and experientially in how customers (and employees) are treated. I also wrote it because putting together your brand strategy is not rocket science: it just requires answering some key questions and really putting intentional thought into how you present yourself to customers. So I wanted to spread the “brand gospel” to small businesses – many of whom have the nimbleness and passion to create a powerful brand connection with their customers because they are so close to them.

Without giving too much away (we all need to read the book!!), what is the most important step in creating a strong brand strategy?
I would say two of the biggest mistakes business owners make when it comes to brand strategy are not identifying their target audience in crisp detail, and not telling customers what they want to hear. For target audiences, business owners try to go too broad and end up appealing to no one because their message is so bland and generic. But your brand needs to be relevant in order to meaningfully connect. Secondly, many small businesses talk about themselves by saying “This is what we do” versus taking the customer point of view and saying, “Here’s what you get.” Many small businesses don’t see that they are talking about benefits from their own perspective, not the customer’s.

Your book discusses “how to create an irresistible brand on any budget”…will this really work on ANY budget? What is one important step in reaching out to potential clients/customers on a shoe string budget?
An effective brand is not measured by how much money you have to spend. Every company out there wishes they had more money! I’ve executed against brand strategies with $1000 and $12,000,000. The point is that, by using the process in the book, you can create a strong brand strategy that you then can execute efficiently with whatever budget you have. When you have less budget, it’s even more important to go after the right things or be more creative and a brand strategy helps you do that. Your activities align towards one clear target. Many businesses end up wasting money because they perform “random acts of marketing” that don’t get them anywhere. With a clear brand strategy, you actually save time, money and headache on only investing in the right things that get you ahead.

What is your favorite part about what you do? What keeps you going and gets your juices flowing at work?
I love when I work with a client and see the light go on in their eyes, when they “get” what brand really means and how to apply it. They seem more confident, they are able to clearly cite their elevator pitch. They say things like, “That’s exactly what I want my company to represent! It’s perfect!” Being able to help people deconstruct their brand story and then show them a perfect way to visually or verbally represent it is just amazing.

What is your favorite thing to do when you are NOT working?
I love to write: I write wine and food articles for some online publications. I also love to eat great food with friends, drink wine, hike, read, act in community theatre, watch indie films (I’ve been to Sundance about 5 years in a row!) and go for walks with my husband and our awesome Black Lab mix, Eddie, who we adopted two years ago.

Branding Basics Book Now Available! June 2010 from Maria Ross