Often times when you hear people in the Internet world talk about branding you think about things like logos, graphics, website design, colors etc. Right? I want to help you think of branding on a whole different level.
When you create your Internet business and start looking for the suppliers and dropshippers that you will be working with you should be thinking of branding even then. You need to be thinking of a long term relationship with the dropshipper (supplier) and what they could do (or if they could) for your business when you are no longer a small company just trying to make its first sale. Here is my point and what I am talking about - find out if the supplier has the ability to take your business and "branding" to a whole new level (when that time approaches). Do they have the capability to brand and private label your products? Have you taken the time to trademark and copyright everything about your business that you can?
Best example of this (what I am talking about) I can give you is when I was walking through IKEA a couple days ago and I say "IKEA" brand kitchen appliances (made by Whirlpool) and I thought to myself; "These guys are brilliant". (BOTH OF THEM) Take a brand like Whirlpool - they do not need more brand exposure (but are always looking for additional revenue streams). People know who they are and what they do, yet they were smart enough to partner up with IKEA (another HUGE brand - home furnishings) and sell more products and get even more exposure to a whole new group of people that they may normally not reach. People will pay whatever it cost to get an "IKEA brand kitchen appliance (who shop there) and feel comfortable by the fact that it is backed by the power and trusted name of Whirlpool".
I want you to think about this with your products for just a sec - Lets say that you are selling organic baby clothing and are using a supplier that has the label that 100 other dropship business owners are using. It is easy for the customer to research the product and price shop (if done this way). If you are able to brand your own label and get the word out about your product then it creates more value and you can end up charging more for it. When doing it this way there are no other websites to compare (price or research) it to, so you are creating more of a name for yourself, and that creates the value. People pay top dollar for Tempur Pedic brand memory foam because its "Tempur Pedic" branded, although there are other memory foam mattress brands available online that are just as good and cost much less (just because they have not branded as well as of yet).
Think about how much we pay for name brand shoes. They are made with the same leather that other leather shoes are, but cost 70% less. I think you get the point by now!
Creating a brand for yourself and business goes far beyond just a website design and logo, and I am hoping everyone who reads this "branding tip" starts thinking about the long term potential and goal of what they are doing with their Internet business. True profit and potential lies with the business who owns the brand.
On a side note - I have talked about creating businesses with the intention of selling them. Building your Internet business with branding and behavioral targeting in mind and name recognition can help you sell faster and get more out of the business then what you are initially asking. Think outside the box for just a few more minutes - You can enhance branding and name recognition with Brochure Displays & Point of Purchase Displays from other companies that do business off line and who would be willing to "hook you up".
In conclusion, if you are only thinking about the simple things of branding (mentioned above) and are not thinking about long term branding (and potential) then you probably can be (and should be) prepared for a lower level of success (if any) from your website.