By Michael Masterson & MaryEllen Tribby

The end goals of direct-response marketing (DRM) and brand marketing are entirely different. Direct response wants to get the customer to provide information or open his wallet. Branding, on the other hand, wants to get the customer to remember the product.

But today, with the power of the Internet behind them, branding and DRM work more closely together… closer than they ever have in the history of advertising.

Think about Early to Rise. Because ETR is a true daily - delivered seven days a week and reaching close to 450,000 people worldwide - it has developed a certain "brand presence."

By "brand presence," we mean that ETR has a specific look and feel. It has a strong mission statement and specific core values. These are aspects of our "brand" that have been with us since ETR’s inception.

All of the products we produce carry our logo. So when you see our banner ads on other websites and text ads in other newsletters, you know by the logo that the ads come from ETR.

But at its heart, ETR is not a brand marketer. ETR is a direct-response e-newsletter. That’s how we developed our subscriber list. That’s how we’ve grown our business. And because we’ve been consistent with our message, our values, and our product quality, we’ve been able to create a brand presence that other people recognise. A brand can develop organically from good direct-response marketing.

For most small businesses (the non-Cokes and non-Nikes of the world), this is the best way to grow. Spend your money on great multi-channel direct-response campaigns and let your brand develop while you make money.