Creating a private label for your business is exciting as you will be competing with major established labels that are generally more popular. It gives you a lot of flexibility in terms of how you want to market your brand and the products associated with it. There is a lot of research you can do before embarking on this venture. Here are a few tips on how to pursue this.
Branding
A private label is a unique brand that you want to project to the world. It should have a personalized logo and a catchy slogan that others will remember when they see a product associated with your brand. You can have a generic product but what differentiates you from your competitors is your brand. Your potential customers want to be able to trust your brand based on the integrity of your business and the reliability of your products. Hence, your brand is your interface to your audience which speaks volumes for your business.
Consider hiring a professional graphic artist to design your logo for you even though you can compose your distinct slogan yourself. Your logo not only appears on your products but also on product packaging, stationery, shipping labels, and advertising. If you have a limited budget you can consult many free logo makers online that offer professional quality designs with just a little tweak on your part.
Trademark
If your brand name sounds similar to other popular ones in the market, you may wish to retain exclusive ownership to your logo and slogan by registering a trademark for it. Conduct a trademark database search for your brand on the USPTO website to see if there already exists a label like yours. You may want to tweak your logo or catchphrase to be different. After a thorough search, you may consider applying for a trademark. A successful application will protect your brand from being infringed by other counterfeit manufacturers.
Your trademark rights do not last forever as they have to be renewed periodically. Also, your trademark application is localized to the country of your application. You may wish to expand your rights internationally by submitting a worldwide version of your application. Many local products suffer from counterfeit labeling by international manufacturers because their trademark rights can only be enforced locally.
Even if you are selling intangible items that are downloadable, you should also consider trademarking them in addition to copyrighting them. The copyright law of the United States grants authors and artists of original works exclusive rights to create and sell their works and derivative works and to publicly display their handiwork or perform their acts. This will give you fuller protection for your inventions.
Products
Once you have established an exclusive brand, then you will have to associate products with your brand. You could be selling generic products like everyone else, custom products that are tailored to your consumer or specialized merchandise that fit a niche market. Themed patterned socks, for example, that offer interesting designs to wrap your feet with might be your flagship product. Ultimately, the choice of your products affects your production, storage and shipping costs as well as your marketing strategy.
Whichever product you are looking to start on, these private label manufacturers can be a great help to source the right company to work on your products. It is important that you consider these factors before getting them manufactured.
Experience
What is the type of experience you want your potential customers to remember your business by? Your product quality may be the same or better than your rivals but what makes your brand different? Is it your customer service? Consider assigning a CHO or Chief Happiness Officer role in your company that ensures a positive customer service experience.
Companies with a social media presence tend to do well because of how they communicate with their audience. Consider setting up a social media page on Instagram or Pinterest which curates beautiful collections and sayings of your products. Pictures do convey more information than just text. Consider marketing your products with beautiful captions and backgrounds and capture their usage by regular people with captivating photography.
Creating a private label to sell online requires research and execution of thoughtful steps. With the optimal marketing strategy and a little prayer, you could be successful in your endeavor.
