I would contest that the role of “brand” in the business development process has long been overlooked.

People continually confuse a “brand’ with a “logo” and again with “brand identity” when there really should be little or no ambiguity.

One of the best descriptions of sales and marketing, in my opinion, comes from Dan Sullivan, who describes marketing as “story-telling” and sales as “persuasion”

In business development, neither can survive without the support of a sturdy “brand”

Those businesses that survive and thrive do not do so because of a “nice logo” and those that fail, do not fail because of poor Pantone selection or corporate colours.

In the Irish SME marketplace, behaviour, attitude, engagement and empathy will have a great influence on business growth, but it is however important not to overlook the impact and more importantly the value of good design.

Fiverr is the global marketplace for freelancers to ply their trade on a range of skills, all starting at $5 per gig.

From as little as $20 you can bag yourself a logo, delivered within 24 hours in all formats ready for use.

You can get an animation done for as little as $25.

A voiceover for $30

A 1,500-word document proofread for $5

In fact, spend less than $250 and you could have yourself a whole suite of marketing collateral.

Fiverr evidently works.

I have used it recently for a client – got a decent design through in 24 hours for less than $60.

Designers, copywriters and all sorts of freelancers can make quick money and maybe that’s the problem in that the market, both seller and buyer, now sees “brand management” as an expense (or saving) rather than an investment.

On the other end of the scale, there are those corporates who frequently review, reshape and revise corporate identities for £Millions and somewhere in the middle are the design agencies who are working hard to add value to their customer relationships, do good honest work and make a living at the same time.

But let’s talk about those content creators.

Creativity is a skill and when you are paying for a designer you are not buying their time but their experience, ability and intelligence.

At $5 a go, think about how many logos a designer would have to make every day just to make it all worthwhile?

Is it too harsh to call it a form of slave labour?

How did design and creativity ever become a production line commodity?

That the owners are based in Tel Aviv is enough of a put-off for me – knowing that Fiverr  flips over 1 million gigs a month also tells me who the real beneficiaries of the platform are.

Knowing the difference between brand, logo and brand identity is arguably more important now than ever before and it’s always better to see your brand as an investment rather than en expense.

Consider the importance of behaviour and attitude of your staff over your corporate logos.

Consider the quality of people you employ and the training you provide.

In a recent Harvard Business Study it was agreed that the most important things for employees is that they are working within a highly skilled and intelligent team and that what they do has a value and a purpose.

Try buying that for a Fiverr.