It’s fair to say I spend a lot of my time thinking about branding, teaching branding skills, and designing brand identities. So, I was thrilled to come across these viewpoints about branding from Seth Godin and Jeff Bezos. Their viewpoints shed light on the broader view of what “brand” and “branding” mean for your business today.

People are talking about you right now!

Let’s talk a closer look at what Jeff Bezos says: A brand is “What other people say about you when you’re in the other room.”

How does that make you feel to think that someone right now is gossiping about your business (and you)?

This could be simultaneously frightening and thrilling. Getting talked about is a good thing. Having some gossip floating around about your company is way better than not being talked about at all.

But what is being said? Is the conversation positive or negative?

Do you have any control over the tone of the conversation?

You bet you do!

You have the ability to impact that conversation. What people are saying about you when you’re not there doesn’t have to be left up to chance.

Use every interaction as an opportunity.

As Seth Godin says: “Every interaction, in any form, is branding.” Every action your business takes, every interaction with someone, is a chance to strengthen your brand and create an experience, to tell your brand’s story in the way you want it to be told.

This is the really exciting part of branding, because it’s not about having a perfect brand from the start, it’s about seeing each interaction (each touch point with the world) as an opportunity to strengthen your brand and business.

Here are some examples of how you can use interactions as opportunities to build a strong brand: You can provide stellar customer service. You can interact on social media in uplifting positive ways. You can create products and services that do exactly what you promised they would do. You can create brand visuals that align with your brand personality (Are you bubbly and bright? Are you calm and soothing? Choose colors and fonts to reflect those traits.).

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How will you strengthen your brand today?

What interactions will you have today (phone calls, blog posts, social media posts, your sales process) with current customers or potential customers? How can you make the most out of each opportunity to connect with your audience in a way that shows them just how awesome you are?