This month's Business Trends is the second in a limited series about branding your business. Adding their experience and expertise to the discussion in this installment are Kae Groshong Wagner, founder and CEO of North Star Marketing and president of Inside Small Biz, and Vito Montone, co-creator of BrandU, with 30 years of business, product and marketing creation.

Given current economic uncertainties, is this really an appropriate time to launch a branding initiative or add to your company's existing branding efforts? Vito Montone acknowledged that although the natural inclination may be to cut back spending in the face of today's financial challenges, not doing anything really isn't an option. "Whether you realize it or not, your business is always branding itself," he said. Savvy business owners recognize this and actively direct their branding efforts.

"When you work on establishing your brand, there is a process to follow if you are going to be successful," Montone said. "The first step is to establish your mindset or philosophy. Business owners sometimes think that their brand is something outside themselves that they need to 'go get'. But the power of a brand is when the business 'owns' it and it comes from within," he said.