How can a small businesses build its brand?

I spotted an interesting question on LinkedIN today, “For Small – Medium Size Business Owners, what is the #1 Marketing tool they should be using to build their brand.”

A lot of the responders talked about techniques… writing articles, blogging, networking, direct mail, “the internet.” It occurred to me that the #1 tool that every small to midsize business should use to build their brand is attitude.

My suggestion: Small to midsize companies should empower their people to solve problems for customers, distributors, even vendors. Coach them in the best ways to deal with people who are happy, unhappy, or angry. Don’t just let things happen, work to develop skills that can be used to turn lemons into lemonade.

Attitude. Empowerment. Every company has people (or at least one person). They might not be able to afford the money or the time to use all of the techniques that were mentioned, but they can all afford to work on their attitude toward the people they deal with. In fact, they can’t afford not to.

As a marketing coach, I help company owners, presidents or CEOs, see their companies with a fresh pair of eyes. First mine, then theirs. And I try to help them understand that every member of the organization has a role to play in marketing.