Fast forward to 2009, and that’s no longer the case. The Internet has been the transformative source in many ways. It has created new niche industries and enabled existing ones to flourish. It has dramatically reduced the cost to reach your core audience. It has opened international commerce in fresh and bizarre ways (6 years ago when we were experimenting with an online logo design business, I was stunned that, within a month of launching our site, we were creating designs for small business owners in Guam, Great Britan and the Far East). It has dramatically driven down the costs of tools and resources that enable small businesses and medium sized companies to market themselves and sell their offerings with fewer staff.

With all this opportunity comes much more competition. In order to compete, what do you need to build your brand in today’s marketplace? A great idea (which could be as simple as narrowing your current focus and positioning it differently from everyone else) and a flexible approach.

Step into a brand manager’s office at a Fortune 500, and you will often find them focusing on leveraging current assets and exhaustively planning. Not that these things are bad, but the small guy doesn’t have the time or resources to devote to all this brand navel gazing. You need to establish a position that sets you apart and then run with it, tweaking things along the way as needed to refine your message and continue to separate yourself from similar companies. Sure, you’ll make some mistakes. But, take it from me, you’ll also learn more from those mistakes than you would from months of planning and pondering.