Following on from last week’s eletter when I talked about unbranded products, I want to go one step further today and give you some useful information on own-branding.

This is an aspect you should seriously consider for your business.

Brand names are everywhere we look. In stores, on billboards, on TV, radio and all across the internet and it is very easy to assume only enormous companies could ever establish their own brands. After all, how could someone like you or me, a small seller or business owner, go about creating a production line to create our own products?

Of course, I’m not saying you should actually try and compete with the big boys when it comes to branding. But it is perfectly possible to market your own brand of goods – and it’s not as difficult as you might imagine.

What if your stockroom was filled with products that boasted your own logo and design, without you ever needing to produce products for yourself?

What if your own branding could persuade your buyers to spend more money on your goods, purely because they are used to paying more for a branded product?

And what if you could sell these items online successfully?

It might sound too good to be true, but seriously, it’s not. There are loads of manufacturers who will make and brand products for you as an option when you order, from items such as sports goods to health products.

To brand your own products, you don’t need to convert your garage into a production line or hire an inventor to put together the latest and greatest gadget. No, in fact all you need to do is to first find a product that is in demand, is already being manufactured and is currently ‘unbranded’ before simply adding your own logo and colour scheme to it.

A huge range of every possible unbranded product can be purchased from a massive array of different suppliers, providing you with an enormous product choice and far better wholesale prices at the outset.

This in itself is a good enough reason to consider own-branding. But don’t forget that as well as this you will also benefit from very specific brand related advantages.

Creating your own brand is what it’s all about!

1) Increased profits. Unbranded items tend to sell at the lower part of the price scale in any niche, whereas branded products automatically increase the amount of money that an individual is willing to spend on a specific item.

So by creating your own brand you will have the freedom and flexibility to position yourself at the place where you want to be in your market, be that at the top end to attract a more exclusive audience, or somewhere in the middle to suit those buyers shopping for a bargain but with the reassurance that comes from a solid brand.

2) Increased credibility. If your eBay ID and eBay shop (if you have one) have the same name or branding as your products, you’ll immediately increase your credibility to buyers and they will feel much more comfortable purchasing from you.

Then, if you brand your listings as well – i.e. use the same template and layout for all your listings – you will be on to a real winner with your branded products.

3) Increased exposure. As well as increasing the comfort level of a prospective buyer, getting the name of your brand onto your merchandise could also potentially lead to greatly increased exposure.

When your packaging, your product labels and your online storefront all come complete with the same name, logo, colour scheme and more, an existing buyer will feel much more inclined to track you down to make a similar purchase in the future and they will have no trouble remembering who you are!

So, by purchasing a domain name and setting up a website that will tie into your branding – even if it simply points people to your eBay shop – it will expand your business.

4) Reduced competition. However, the best advantage of own-branding is it reduces your competition immediately because no one can ever sell your brand apart from you.

Unless YOU let them of course, which then allows you to enter a whole new world… and that is supplying your product at wholesale to others.

Buyers also won’t be able to compare your prices with competitors because no one else will be selling your brand, so even though your competitors might have the exact same product, yours will look different because you have uniquely branded it.

Those four advantages should be enough to convince you to make own-branding a long-term goal of yours and, I have to say, the product opportunities are endless when you take the own branding route.

Research is key, as with any potential product, so don’t skip the important stages in your rush to create your brand and ensure the product you hope to develop is in demand!

You really don’t need any special training or skills to brand your own products – just a new way of thinking and the determination to succeed.

Think about it, you could soon be maximising your profits and working to create a group of loyal customers to your own brand who will always keep coming back for more – that’s a sign of a successful business!