With social media dominating every market, the term “brand” is inescapable. It’s what your presence is. It’s what you need to set yourself apart from the crowd. It’s how you make yourself marketable and profitable. But how does one even go about building this seemingly amorphous concept?

What Is It?

A brand is how the world perceives your business. Sometimes it’s their perception of you when you are the brand, like Tyra Banks. Otherwise, it’s a company, like Amazon. It’s your look, it’s your style, and it’s your reputation.

How Do You Build It?

While the task of building a brand can seem Herculean, it’s important to remember that the easiest way to begin building one is to start. A lot of brand creation lies in the process of discovery and you can’t achieve that until you begin uncovering things in the field. That being said, here are some steps you can take to research where you can pick your starting point.

What’s your mission?

Why are you doing what you do? What are you hoping to achieve? Craft a mission statement for yourself and you’ll have crafted a cornerstone from which to build the brand. The clearer the statement, the easier you’ll be able to figure out what works for your brand and what doesn’t.

What’s your voice?

This aspect is often overlooked but should always be given a lot of consideration. How you communicate with the world, from the language you use to the hashtags, all work to build your voice. Though this may take some practice in terms of development, once you find this, you’ll have built the framework around your cornerstone.

What’s your pitch?

Finally, develop your pitch. In ten words or less, why should people care about your brand? Nail this and the only thing left you’ll need to truly make your brand shine is time and perseverance.