Branding time

Spring was always branding time. Growing up in western Oklahoma, I knew when dad saw those first blades of green grass peeking through the ground he would one day soon announce, “Get to bed early tonight kids, tomorrow is branding day.”

What does that have to do with writing? Hang on a minute.

There was a sense of excitement in the air next morning when Mom would have the iron skillet full of hot homemade biscuits, a platter of crispy fried fresh side bacon on the table and a dozen eggs sizzling in bacon grease on the stove. We’d slather the biscuits with fresh churned butter and jam made from wild sandhill plums, while gulping down a big cup of strong black coffee perkolated in the blue granite pot. Yum! (I was a wimp and had to add cream and sugar to get the coffee down back then.)

Our uncles and maybe some neighbors would be coming over to help. The cowboys might ride over on their saddle horse if they lived close enough, or bring old Smokey along in the horse trailer. We never had a big herd, but it was still hard work rounding up the cattle and separating out the new crop to be branded. I rode along on my Shetland pony, Trixie, to bring the dogies in from the pasture.

There was the familiar smell of wood smoke with Dad’s “Slash E” iron laying on the fire until it was red hot. The men herded the calves into the corral and then pushed them into a wooden crowding chute, kind of a cradle, that held them tight and kept them standing up. With one man on each side, the steer got vaccinated and branded within minutes. If the calf was male, he also lost a minor body part and got smeared with antiseptic. It was quick and routine, but he didn’t like it and usually let them know.

I was a girl, my brothers would say with a smirk, so I better stay back out of the way.

I happily did just that because I didn’t like wood smoke, the smell of burning hair and flesh mixed with the dust stirred up by the calves, or the noise of men yelling combined with cattle bawling and horses whinnying. I tried not to cry when the steers bawled in pain from the hot branding iron and a sharp knife cut.

Flash forward several years.

Larry the Cable Guy.
Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman.
Clark Kent, Superman.
Carolyn Hart, Mystery Novelist.
James Michener, Author.
Bill Gates, Computer Guru.
Judy Howard, Quilt Lady.

What do these guys have in common? They are known by their “brand”.

Branding is the method to mark your style of writing and distinguish your product from anyone else’s. For the most effective branding, a memorable name and simple slogan should be combined with an instantly recognizable and unique logo. For instance, Kentucky Fried Chicken’s logo is the ‘Colonel Sanders’ design — a smiling image of his face. I picked my logo of the outline of a (friendly) buffalo. I need your help in choosing my brand. Keeping in mind my two passions - Genealogy and Writing - as well as pride in my hometown, here are some I have come up with.

Help me pick, or offer some ideas of your own.
Buffalo Woman
Graveyard Gal

Penny C. Sansevieri, Editor at Author Marketing Experts, Inc. says: As you develop your brand, you need a matching domain name. For instance, even if you do not use MySpace, Blogger, Twitter, Digg, Facebook, or LinkedIn, it is still a good idea to create an account name that mirrors your web presence.

What’s your brand? What is mine?
Help me out here.

Check my updated web page
www.CarolynBLeonard.com
Isn't it time you read my book? You know you want to.
www.WhosYourDaddyBook.com