The 5 Branding Rules of Attraction Your brand draws customers to your business. Here are the elements you should consider when designing it.

"Your brand is the magnet that draws consumers to your product or service," says Ken Carbone of Manhattan design and branding firm Carbone Smolan Agency. Here are five rules of attraction:

1. Understand the value of designing your brand identity.
"Make it a priority and find money to invest in it right away," agency co-founder Leslie Smolan says. "So many people have a business idea, ask their cousin to design a logo and say, 'That's my brand.' It's a mistake. Your brand often is the most important thing beyond the product itself."

2. Know yourself.
"Start with your company's identity," Smolan says. "What is the singular expression of your brand distilled down to its simplest form? You must define the essence of your philosophy."