Do you remember how nerve-wracking it was to start your first business?
Boy, do I have crazy memories of my first entrepreneurial efforts! With the experience I have now, I can only look back and sigh. I had NO idea what I was getting into. But here is the thing: those experiences set me on the road to where I am today.
Once I became a successful entrepreneur with multiple companies, I wanted to help inexperienced small business owners skip a lot of the uncertainty and steep learning curves that I experienced. It’s why I created JAG Alliance, my company that offers white-label products and business consulting services to businesses all across the country.
Generally, there are three things that trip up most new entrepreneurs. And they are all areas where my company, JAG Alliance can help!
Product development, especially from start-up to completion requires a tremendous amount of capital. It doesn’t matter if your product is physical or digital; the time, effort, and money needed to grow an original idea into a tangible, purchasable product is simply astonishing. Most people don’t think about it. They walk into a store and buy a product without considering everything that went into manufacturing it.
At JAG Alliance, we have hundreds of high-quality, ready-to-go products that will be an excellent fit for your brand. Rather than having to go through the complicated process of getting your business started while also developing products, you can use our U.S.-manufactured products to hit the ground running.
All of these private-label products can be customized with your brand and logo. And once your business starts growing, JAG Alliance can even help you navigate concepts and development for brand-new products that only you can offer!
Of course, if you’re going to be putting products on the shelves, then you need a brand.
The American Marketing Association states that “…a brand identity is the name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s goods and service as distinct from those of other sellers.” Basically, your brand should exemplify everything that your company stands for and communicates to your customers.
Branding is very important to me, both personally and professionally. As an entrepreneur, it’s important that my personal brand is reflected in the brands that I own. Having started many companies over the years, I know what makes for an engaging and successful brand. To create one, you need to know exactly where your company is positioned in the market, taking into account its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
I’m not going to lie, this takes a lot of work, especially if you’ve never developed a brand from scratch in the past. That’s one of the reasons why JAG Alliance helps companies with their brand development. We’ve helped hundreds of start-ups move from their humble beginnings to established brands.
There can also be a profound misunderstanding of how small businesses should use brands. They think they need to compete with the big boys in the market, like Coca-Cola or Nike. The problem is that most entrepreneurs don’t have the budget to create and leverage a brand that can compete on a national level with these multi-billion-dollar corporations. So, branding for a small business requires a change of approach…
A big mistake that many new entrepreneurs make is to focus on “image” marketing. This is when you run advertisements for your brand that create a particular “image” about your business. You want to remind customers about your brand and the products that you sell.
This kind of marketing can be effective, but it is super expensive and takes a lot of time to pull off. A much better option for small businesses is direct response marketing. This is where you are targeting potential customers and prospects, attempting to inspire them to a specific action, such as calling you for more information, going to your website, or making an order. By using compelling headlines and sales copy, you can make specific offers that demand a response.
Unlike “image” marketing, direct response marketing is trackable and measurable. This is important for small businesses with limited resources. It allows you to see the return-on-investment for your marketing dollar.
Direct response marketing can require a shift in the way you think about marketing and advertisements. Thankfully, we at JAG Alliance are experts in direct marketing. We can help your small business pivot to direct response marketing and change your ads into lead generating tools that will get your name and brand out there!
I am incredibly proud of the work we do at JAG Alliance. It’s a real “pass the buck forward” kind of business. Successful entrepreneurs breed MORE successful entrepreneurs, as they set an example and inspire others to follow their lead. By helping start-ups (and even established businesses) diversify their product lines and streamline their marketing, they can generate real waves in their industries!
If you’re interested in learning more about JAG Alliance I invite you to visit the website. All of the knowledge and experience that I’ve used to build my successful companies will be at your disposal!