Here, Velma Trayham, award-winning branding and PR expert of Thinkzilla PR, shares her perspectives on how to identify and monetize a winning brand as well as what it takes to be a brand master.
What is a brand?
A brand is the essence of what your business is, the reputation of your product or service. It combines a business name, logo, color schemes, mission and vision, and the uniqueness of your product. I gauge uniqueness based on the demand and need of what you’re selling.
What does it take to be a brand master?
It takes experience in building not only your brand but building others brands and actually showing deliverables in growth of brands built to a state of ROI and success. Being a brand master doesn’t happen overnight. [It takes] a slew of trials, errors, failures, and the ability to keep going when the risk of potential failure hits. It takes the ability to dissect the challenge in a brand to offer potential pivot directions to get a brand on to a great start.
How do you monetize brands?
There are multiple ways to monetize brands … one in particular is networking. Networking is life skills and social skills combined, and if used properly a brand will grow by getting known by those who count as a problem solver, get more leads, contacts, build honest and long term relationships and always remember live to give.
Why did you decide to do this tour?
I decided to do this tour because our African American small-business owners lack the knowledge and resources to build a successful brand … oftentimes resulting in integration of prison or jail. The Brand Masters On Tour mission is to give a hand up the ladder to achieve success for aspiring entrepreneurs , business owners or whom all have the passion and desire to be successful. Oftentimes people lack hope … we are all the voice of hope, have come from poverty and are willing to share the experience and touch the lives of many people around the world .
How does it benefit the community?
This Brand Masters On Tour is benefiting the community in several ways, the more small business , the more jobs, reducing unemployment rates around the country, we also aim at improving the community reintegration of ex-offenders upon their release from jail or prison with the final extent of preventing recidivism and reducing crime through business building.
Brand Masters event cities include Atlanta (3/14), Chicago (4/11), Detroit (5/16), Charlotte (6/20), Memphis (7/18), Dallas (8/15) Baltimore (9/19) and St. Louis (10/17). The tour kickoff was held in Houston during Black History Month.
