A humble and kind man, Howard probably hasn’t used the word branding in his life (I imagine he would perceive it as boasting), but even brand managers and CEOs could learn a lot from him. The first thing you learn about Howard when you step in his shop is his passion. He will lead you over and around his menagerie of chairs and couches, describing in detail what he did to restore each piece and what condition it was in before, sometimes even pulling out photographs to show the transformation. If a typical salesperson gave the same spiel, I’d probably be heading for the door. But in Howard’s hands, a sales pitch becomes an great story told by a man with earnest eyes and an eye for detail.

You see, Howard has what many small businesses (or even large corporations) lack. He has a great brand story (in fact, many of them); he has a true passion that effortlessly flow out of him; and he has the drive to make every piece of furniture that comes into his store a piece of art (the restoration he did on our chair was so far beyond what I expected, I’m now afraid to sit in it). Do you have great stories? Do you have the passion for what you do? Do you have the drive to make your customers so happy that they write unsolicited blog entries fawning over you?

If not, drop Howard a line and ask him about his last project. You’ll find out what great branding is.

“Too green,” she said about a box of mint cookies. “Funny picture,” she said of another with an illustrated bear. “I like vanilla,” she addressed a package of vanilla sandwich cookies with a see through plastic panel. And this suddenly brought home a critical point about building a brand: the individual is king.

Each customer is different. If the mother had been assessing the boxes, she would likely have come to a much different conclusion of each box than her daughter did, and not necessarily because she was 30 years older. Marketers necessarily have to segment their audiences to conduct research and develop approaches to make the most of valuable resources. But when the rubber hits the road, when your brand is out in the marketplace, you interact with your customers one at a time.

Most companies believe that if they could reach a large group of people their problems would be over. But that’s overlooking a critical aspect of branding. People become connected to brands because they each individually have a personal connection with that brand, and this connection is specific to each person’s desires, situation, foibles, etc. So, whatever you do, think of building a small business brand as you would making friends: you create lasting relationships one at a time.

They are one of the few places I know of that still uses sandwich boards, a fact I find perplexing. If you have decent foot traffic, a sandwich board is the perfect intercept for your potential customers. It stands between them and where they are going at a time when their stomachs are beginning to grumble, and it plants a seed with a tantalizing message (today’s was corned beef hash and eggs for $5.99 – a gastronomic value if there ever was one).

And it got me thinking … a sandwich board might not be the right tool for every brand, but there are certainly optimal tools for your small business in getting in front of your customers at the optimal time. A brand isn’t just about devising the right message and delivering on it, but it’s also about interacting with your customers and prospects where they might frequent, whether it’s at the grocery or in the mall or when they’re searching online.

Take a cue from Swift’s Steak House and the sweet lady with a pencil behind her ear who serves me pork chops with a wink. Find that place where your customers hang out and put your sandwich board out.