When bootstrapping a business, establishing a strong brand can be a major way to distinguish yourself without a big advertising budget.

Marketing guru Seth Godin insists the best brands are those that are truly extraordinary, as out of the ordinary as spotting a purple cow in a pasture.

Godin's come up with some positively kooky ways to market and brand items, including the purple milk cartons he sent out with his book.

But marketing the extraordinary is about more than just coming up with a snazzy company name to market the same old toaster...or the same old online social network for that matter.

Photo credit: Alex, Morguefile. Tinting and lettering by H. Stone Hessinger

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