Branding | Branding Company | branding news

Promoting Small Business

2010-05-27T10:27:00.001-07:00

My goal is to turn me into a family association of brand names. How do I get out of anonymity?

Build your brand around a real person, as did Lilian Vernon - founder and Chief Executive of giant companies Lilian Vernon gifts and household products body. - Who started his business from a family? Lilian Vernon believes more in the art of brand image than mass advertising. Here are some ideas to create a brand through the power of personality.

One is to create a symbol, like Betty Crocker, which take him to the stage and another brand is to build a brand around a person who must have the qualities that highlight the strengths of the company sent by post.

• Communicate your brand personality. I can assign products, warranties and other quality-promises that you can meet. Lilian Vernon catalog company says: "I am the personal assistant to every buyer, even if I have a network of procurers around the earth."

• Consolidated the trust - keep your promises. Gallup's prospectuses show that if you have a basis of credibility and trust, customer loyalty wear. Trust in a brand come to fruition as the company launches new products and entering new markets for the brand power increases your chances of success. Based on the key - elements of his personality, Vernon expanded its credibility when he launched a catalog of items for children. Just happened and the online market.

• Rely heavily on public relations. If you saw an interesting and creative person, you increase your chances of appearances in magazines and television talk-shows.

Do not lose sight of the initial values. Always keep your promises. As you expand, it's easy to take your eyes off the page and line of products would be promoted as quality and value of claims asserted by a brand (egg, a product line is not the same quality or company fails to complete a security)

Image Building Starts With a Custom Logo Design

2010-05-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Imagine the world being full of individuals without any names. How would life be? People would have tried to remember faces but they would fail to do so in their long term memories. No one will be able to get credit for their work because there will be nobody to identify the work done with. Life would have been uneasy. Now imagine your business going through that difficulty to get known without a brand identity.

A Brand Identity consists of a business' name, logo design and slogan. A brand image is the initial reaction and reputation your target market will give your business, upon recognition of your brand- on condition that your identity is unique and memorable.

This is why it is vital to get your business name, logo and slogan done professionally. It ensures three things in business internally: your logo design is not used for another business, it reflects your business' uniqueness and the image quality is excellent; it can be resized to any level without distortion.

Externally speaking, a unique brand identity inclusive of an expertly created logo design acts as a marketing device to your business. This means when you get your logo design printed on T shirts, stationery and banners you are putting your target audience through a visual exercise.

Remember if you look cheap, you will be paid cheap. When your business' identity is out there, your customers perceive your end product to be of quality and substance. This is why they are willing to pay more or choose you above competitors. Your brand identity gives them that assurance.

That is when your brand image forms- the day your identity has lived up to the reputation it has shown in its name, logo design and slogan. Brand identity is dependent on how unique your business idea, name, logo and slogan is, while brand image is formed with the help of business and the brand identity together. Do not miss out on the essential components.

Secrets to Personal Branding Marketing For Entrepreneurs - Part 2

2008-09-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

Fellow Entrepreneurs, now we have developed our personal branding marketing message with the secret recipe. Next, is to make that your own. Your personal branding message is your new middle name. It needs to be on everything your name is on. It is on your business card, website and all of your marketing. It is in your vocabulary every time you speak with a client or prospect; it is every where you are.

Here is comment pitfall that traps most entrepreneurs:
Consistency - Most entrepreneurs are type A, so 3 weeks into their personal branding Marketing They start asking "It has been 3 weeks. Is this working?" Marketing needs consistency and commitment. You must stay committed and consistent in your personal branding marketing It usually takes 3 to 6 months for the brand to take root. You have to fight the temptation to quit after a week or two of not seeing results. You have to stick to it and you have to really do it for 3 to 6 months for you to even see the results coming back. It takes that long for people to learn to recognize you for what your personal brand is, and to know you as the entrepreneur with that branding message marketing. Make a commitment to it from the start. Tell yourself you are going to live with this personal branding message for 3 to 6 months. Don't stop short on your personal branding marketing.

Impatient - Again, because most entrepreneurs are type A, they want their branding marketing to take off faster. Let me just say this, you cannot push these things onto people. People need to see it, absorb it, process it, and then recognize you as the entrepreneur with that marketing message. Therefore, you are going to have to fight the temptation; to change your personal branding marketing message before its taken root. If you find yourself thinking, oh, maybe I should change my branding marketing you really need to be honest with yourself and ask yourself "Am I being impatient?"

Sometimes changing your brand can be detrimental. A great example would be Calvin Klein. Calvin Klein is a high fashion designer with an elegant image. He is famous for design that is clean, simple and fashion forward. Back in the 90s, Calvin Klein's jeans were being sold at Costco. That did a lot of damage to their branding marketing To this day, a lot of entrepreneurs still say that Calvin Klein has never recovered its brand. So be very careful.

With all that said; we entrepreneurs can't lock ourselves into one branding marketing message forever. A personal branding marketing is a personal brand, so it revolves around the individual. As individuals entrepreneurs we grow and evolve over time, and our marketplace grows and evolves as well. So, have a one year plan. After your year is up, come back and reassess your personal branding marketing Take the temperature of your market. See if your branding marketing still fits your marketplace, and see if it still fits you as an individual. Maybe you have grown and transformed into a different person. If so, you have to make a new personal branding marketing to fit who you are as an entrepreneur.

We have addressed all of secrets and pitfall about personal branding marketing I hope you have decided to start your personal branding marketing When it is done correctly, it will do all the heavy lifting of selling for you and bring the right type of clients to your door step. A dream comes true for entrepreneurs.

Copyright © 2008 by Giovanna Garcia.

Giovanna Garcia's vision is to help others live the life they deserve with her philosophy of Imperfect Action is Better than No Action. She helps clients integrate a new belief system with a wealth of practical life lessons she learned from owning her corporation, overcoming depression, finding love after a failed teenage marriage, and retiring financially independent before she was forty. Giovanna can help you reach your goals and dreams by taking Imperfect Action. Visit: http://www.giovannagarcia.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Giovanna_Garcia

You Realize That You're Your Own Brand Manager, Don't You?

2008-09-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

As the grand leader one of the brand called YOU Inc, there come many responsibilities. And an even larger amount of opportunities.

You, my friend are your own brand manager. You call the shots and you must stand by them day in and day out.

With that in mind, what type of brand do you aspire to be? One that seeks to make a quick buck and care little who gets caught in your way? Or the brand that understands that it is by giving of yourself FIRST to solving other people's needs where the REAL riches lie?

Doing business on the internet, it's very easy to operate a faceless facade. Redirects and stealing affiliate codes and making over exaggerations is common in here.

But that's ugly, short term thinking.

On the other side of all those coins lies a completely different opportunity. One where you extend yourself to others knowing that by doing so, you will turn a buyer into a customer. And customers stay with you for a long, profitable time.

As brand manager, you have options as to which way you can choose to go.

Internet marketing experts who've been around for years have been around for years because they chose to act correctly.

You don't ever go back into a pharmacy where the pharmacist takes your money without making sure that you have the right meds and the right dosage, do you?

No. You and me, and everyone we know appreciate and reward those "brand managers" who take their responsibilities seriously.

And, in terms of direct marketing, we NEED that attention to detail more than ever.

My personal brand management style DEMANDS that when writing autoresponder sequences for clients, over-delivering is the ONLY way I can do business.

And it certainly doesn't hurt to hear the phone ringing for more when I do.

Extend yourself. And your wallet will be extended.

Kevin Browne is a former Creative Director and Senior Copywriter at agencies including J Walter Thompson, McCann Erickson and Young and Rubicam. Kevin now runs WhitehavenWeb.com where he shows web owners how to FINALLY earn a living with your website

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_D_Browne

Business Gifts Quality Counts

2008-09-02T19:57:00.001-07:00

Distributing business gifts is one of the best advertising techniques for any company. This type of marketing activity is relatively cheap and it offers very impressive advertising returns. If done properly, advertising via business gifts can contribute greatly to a company's success and overall brand awareness.

As effective as business promo gifts are as advertising tools, they can also backfire in the worst possible way and this may happen through no fault of the company. Imagine the fate of the company that distributes promotional pens that do not write, or worse, that leak ink. What would the person who is using the pen think about the company that gave him the promotional pen? More likely than not, that person will be disappointed with the company and he will be doubtful about the company's ability to provide quality products or services. After all, if a company cannot make sure that a simple promotional pen works correctly, how can it claim to provide high quality products or services?

This is where some imprinted promotional gifts fail. Therefore, it is very important for companies to make sure that their business gifts are very reliable and operational. Otherwise, the business corporate gifts would not adequately reflect the company. Companies do benefit from word of mouth advertisement when they give out business promotional gifts and they will be readily known to a larger population of people. However, the company will be regarded as a failure if the promotional items that they give away are of low quality.

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's leading online business gifts company based in the north of England. Established in 2001, he has taken the UK corporate gifts market by storm by the application of modern business thinking and the latest search engine marketing techniques. For more details visit our promotional items blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gareth_Parkin

Promotional Mugs For Customer Satisfaction

2008-09-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

Promotional products are becoming an integral part of customer satisfaction strategy; they create an instant bond between the seller and the customers. That being said the question that arises will be what is a promotional product that is innovative, cost effective, and frequently used by the recipients? The answer is simple; it is the same product that we use for beverages: the mug.

The durability of promotional mugs is greater than many other forms of promotional products. There is also a wide variety of mugs on the market for you to choose. Besides the common coffee mugs, there are products like sport mugs, shot glasses, travel mugs and others. Eco-friendly lead-free ink mugs are also available to give a social message to the users. Some mugs even have hidden compartments which users can use to hide their valuables.

Promotional mugs of different colors and sizes can be used as decorative pieces at home or in the office. There is enough space on these mugs to create new and complex art works. Sand works done on these mugs add to their decorative appeal; ceramic and multicolored mugs make great souvenirs for special occasions. To personalize promotional mugs, you can make use of ceramic photograph printing to give your mugs a unique look.

If your company is hosting a party or conducting a meeting or an entertainment show, these mugs will be a great way to promote your brand. Gifting your promo printed mugs is a good idea, as they can be seen with your company logo and message on them wherever the recipients bring them.

Gareth Parkin is the co-founder of Ideasbynet, the UK's leading online promotional mugs company based in the north of England. Established in 2001, he has taken the UK promotional mugs market by storm by the application of modern business thinking and the latest search engine marketing techniques. For more details visit our promotional merchandise blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gareth_Parkin

Name Branding - A Blueprint For Your Attraction Marketing Success

2008-08-20T08:43:00.002-07:00

As I observe people's marketing efforts online, I see some folks truly missing out on the proper use of name branding. They're not realizing how powerful this is for online success!

See, personal name branding is nothing more than showcasing your company and the person behind the company doing what it is they do on a daily basis. Name branding helps people and companies stand head and shoulders above the competition by demonstrating how it is that they do things completely different from the rest.

Personal name branding helps YOU create credibility and trust. It helpx you to gain more market share when done properly. It's the ideal way to bring a product or service to the marketplace and establish a working relationship between yourself, your product and your customers.

Remember, the challenge is to stand out out among the competing crowd, even famous names and brands already trying to dominate your marketplace. Therefore, you'll need to learn how to to draw a readership, a following of trusting persons that believe in you and what you stand for. This is the ticket to growing your successful online business which rewards you generously now and in the future.

Take the example of great leaders in their fields, Oprah and Trump. They've created leverage needing hardly the mention of a portion of their names to convey the global recognition of their greatness. These are models of great success in our modern world!

In the online world we have many successful business owners and name brands. Names like Frank Kern, Perry Marshall and Darren Gaudry. One thing they all have in common of course is their BRAND.

Personal branding makes any person stand out from a crowd for uniqueness and a special twist or benefits attached to the products or services they promote. Branding is the power behind their success. Branding will be the power behind yours.

Branding creates long term results as your name keeps reappearing and people begin to relay the experience they take away when dealing with you on a personal level. That's why it's important to focus on the positive attributes of branding yourself today.

When you brand yourself remember you're creating a long term impression. You 're creating the masterpiece that when completed cannot be changed, errors will be difficult to erase; therefore, do your very best to give this brand (YOU) a solid & positive reputation from the very start.

Remember the examples of Oprah and Trump who've created success on a global scale and world recognition of their greatness.

Name Branding No No's:

1. No Negativity. How many times do we really stop to analyze our surroundings, including the people we choose to associate with? Do we insist on being around people who are negative, who prevent us from being successful in the work that goes into name branding? Do we insist on being with people who do not believe in us enough to trust that we can be successful? Introspect...

2. Time & Scheduling. You need to pace yourself, set a schedule and prioritize your life. Do not get too distracted by life's events but do not neglect your loved ones, either. Balance here is an art. Become the artist on the canvas of your life. Introspect...

3. Focus. Know why you are doing this. Focus like a laser beam of light. Successful people can tell you that they know exactly why they do what they are doing. Trump, is a fine example. He focused on what was most important to him in life, a name! In the 90's he struggled at real estate, even so far as claiming bankruptcy but never spiritual bankruptcy. He never stopped believing in himself. he fell, he picked himself up, shook himself off and rebuilt on his credibility. And today he is one of the wealthiest men alive! Why? Because he had focus, the laser-beam focus required to build upon his name and his reputation once more.

4. Expect from others what you expect from yourself. I think that when we work with other people, partners and colleagues we must learn how to delegate and to trust that our team members can perform the tasks delegated. We must develop the skills to lead. There are many great books to show us the way.

Starting to Build Leadership Skills & Teams:

1. Abolish fear. It is your darkest night and your worse enemy. Shine the light of knowledge in this direction. Fear is simply the lack of understanding and application of a skill. Get it and build upon it until it is so embedded within you, it is no longer the unknown. Then go out and teach it, become the expert and the authority figure.

2. Ask and it shall be given. If you are uncertain as to how to proceed, send out the smoke signals, pick up the phone, send an email, let out the carrier pigeons! For God's sake, you do not live on an island!! And if you do, is there access to the internet?? My motto in life sums up in the following few thoughts:

"There is nothing that you cannot do. Whatever you need to know, there is a reference book or how-to manual out there for your task."

"There are lots of unknowns, yet there's enough of a trail laid before us carving out a path (no matter how less traveled) that we can build upon."

"Find your true north. Read what you must. Get advice. Attend events, and tune into like-minded individuals that resonate well with your beliefs."

Do you know that subconsciously you're always attracting individuals that you resonate with? That's why we always seem to attract the same situations, the same repeat stories with a different cast of characters in our lives. Until we discover the secret to our vibratory attraction of one another, we cannot break the chain of magnetic attraction bringing people and circumstances into our lives.

Use this knowledge to your advantage. Embark on studying the essence of your own being. Raise the level of your resonance so you find others that not only resonate in harmony with you, but raise YOU beyond your present level of resonance to help you to become even greater than you already are. Build relationships, the right relationships.

3. Offer free training, consulting, and sample of product. Ask for a referral.

Once you've mastered the subject (or grasp it enough to be able to teach this, then stop being the student and own it). Become a teacher. Raise another's level of understanding. Like in medicine, the motto is:

"See one, do one, teach one"

4. Create positive experiences for yourself step by step as a platform upon which to build on experience & expertise for tomorrows. Your brand is a reflection of your morals. Your brand is a reflection of your principles and passions.

5. Share yourself with the world!

Write press releases and submit them to the local magazines, newspapers and online resources.

You need to have the trust in you and your capacity and be willing to put your name out there...to tell people YOUR personal story. If you can't, then nobody will know you. And nobody buys from an unknown. So write up your story. Pick up the phone (refer back to number 2 and follow the steps)

Ask for the chance to speak and to be heard. Write an authoritative commentary for local newsprint & throw away journals using a signature line that leads your readers right back to your website (or a brick and mortar place of business).

6. Build credibility through name branding online. Define yourself. Show off your brilliance. Bring out your true colors. Be firm. Be authoritative. Don't settle for what others believe you should be doing with your life.

Hey, It's YOUR life dang it, live it as YOU want to live it and stop regretting the would'a, could'a, should'as of mediocrity...

Tell Yourself Right Now... "I declare myself a marketing coach and online mentor today. I am using the marketing tools, skills and methods that I have learned through trials and tribulations online. I've sweat almighty bullets, blood and tears. I'm a tough cookie and I can show you how to polish your stone bringing out your own brilliance. People know what I do online, as well as offline." This will be your creed to success.

Believe it & Become It. In other words, you might have heard it best as "Fake It 'Till You Make It"

I invite you to follow my story, see if you resonate with me. Let me show you what I've discovered. Let's discover if we resonate. In turn, you'll know what I do every day to be better, stronger and more of a platform for myself and others to build upon.

Learn how to become a pillar without leaving behind a trail of bodies. Create your own attraction marketing blueprint and do it ethically. Keep reminding yourself, for you will most likely live long enough to REGRET your decisions if you don't.

To Your Success!

-------- About The Author: Ana Hernandez DO is a practicing physician and self proclaimed marketing enthusiast. Her website at http://www.netrageouz.net is the portal to her delicious recipes for creating killer online marketing campaigns. Her online course, "NETfabulous! Marketing ECourse" is jam packed with tips n' techniques for both newbie and seasoned marketers alike. Subscribe for FREE by sending a blank email to NETfabulous.Marketing@gmail.com or at http://www.netrageouz.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ana_Hernandez

Branding Essentials - Logo Design

2008-08-20T08:43:00.001-07:00

Branding / Logo Design

Reaching your target audience in terms of fulfilling their needs and causing an impact can be achieved if they can easily identify with the product or service you are providing them. Many businesses are increasingly aware of this and realise the importance of their company brand has in capturing and maintaining the attention of their customers.Some companies do not express any brand values with any form of consistency and their product or service may not function to create more of an awareness of the brand itself.

So why is the brand image of a company so important? A brand doesn't merely function as the company logo but has a far greater responsibility in shaping the perceptions and feel of a company. It signifies a linked series of statements, which helps to construct an image of what they represent and the experience that the target audience can anticipate when they interact with the company.

Brand Image Generation

The creation of a successful brand image for a company relies upon the incorporation of certain core ideals, for example, quality, value for money and catering for individuals from all sectors of the general public. This in turn is a key tool to reach customers and involves constructing a promise that will capture their attention thus enabling them to identify with what your company has to offer them.The brand image is essentially the visualisation and expression of the core brand values that are to be portrayed to the customers. This can be accomplished by creating a brand image and ensuring its expression is consistent by means of a variety of mediums, such as the company website, advertising/promotional material, stationery, signage and vehicle livery.

The generation or revival of a company brand image will provide the company with a greater sense of direction by providing corporate strength and distinction in the marketplace.

Brand Interactivity

Creating an impacting brand image for a company will increase the customer awareness of the brand to levels not previously experienced. Consequently, this can increase interaction between the brand and its target audience significantly. The knock-on effect is the elevation of the company profile, which gives customers the confidence they want from any brand they wish to make a regular part of their lives.

It is important to increase interactivity between the customers and the organisation in its entirety and not just with the products on sale. This is especially true when a company does not just provide one unique product but a whole series of items.

Sustained Market Position

A well echoed brand image will positively influence the way your customer thinks about your company and the values they associate with it. Ensuring that your customers associate you with satisfying their needs will raise your company profile and subsequently increase sales.

The effective maintenance of the brand image is imperative since failing to do so means a short-lived presence in competitive markets, particularly in markets where your company is up against rival companies who do manage their brands well. Many large companies recognise the importance of this and set aside vast amounts of resources to guarantee that their brand is expressed in a consistent manner.

This is a trend that should be followed by smaller companies who undoubtedly want to grow and succeed like larger companies.

Life made easy @ http://www.designprintweb.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Saiful_Alam

Branding is Not Just Colors Nor Images

2008-08-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

I believe in branding myself. I believe that the reason people buy a product is as a result of what they think about the product. Hence branding is all about perception. Branding is not about marketing tricks according to Tom Peters, it is about answering a few simple yet impossible questions:
1. Who are you?
2. Why are you here?
3. How are you unique?
4. How can you make a difference?
5. Who cares? (do you care?)

This article is not a guide to branding it is about the heart and soul of branding.

Branding is about meaning not just marketing

It is about deep organizational logic and not just fancy logos.

How are you unique? you do not just want to be the best, how about being the only one who does what you do. there is power in being best but more power is in being first and only.

How can you make a difference. here is how to do it.
1. Do not confuse the customer, ask yourself what is the one "great thing" about your product or service just one, not two not three when you get to three you are already confusing the customer.
2. Does the organisation CONSISTENTLY deliver that "one great thing"?
3. Confront your constomers and find out how likely they are to purchase this product or service.

Finally, branding is about the slogan, it is abou the logo, the marketing campaign, the advertising and the advertising budget. But in the end branding is about CREDIBILITY. Do the 99 percent of you staff buy the act, do they live with it? After those fancy adverts and stunning logos does the brand deliver what it says it will. This is the soul of branding and the reason for the biggest brands in the world. Nike does not actually sell shoes Nike sells the EXPERIENCE of using Nikes, the feeling of being a winner!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ejodame_Kayode

Ejodame Kayode - EzineArticles Expert Author

Creating an Effective Business Logo

2008-08-12T23:02:00.004-07:00

Business logos are much more important than many business owners even realise. They are the physical representation of your business in the marketplace and online. Hence, your logo needs to be well designed, appealing and attractive. An effective business logo will instantly attract the attention of visitors which can help you to increase customers. If you don't take the time to design a proper logo, you may fail to create a powerful image of your business. Most successful businesses have very effective and powerful business logo designs that help them to promote their identity and attract new customers.

A well-designed business logo can help you to establish credibility and recognition in the market. It will also help your business to stand out among your competitors and attract positive attention. People want to put a face to any business they choose to deal with, and an attractive and powerful business logo is a brilliant way to accomplish this.

Also make sure you include your business logo on all your letterhead, mailing supplies and stationery. A well-designed logo will do wonders for promoting your business. In fact, your logo will end up becoming an important part of the corporate identity of your business so take your time creating one that is professional and effective. Coca-cola is a brilliant example of a company whose business logo is instantly recognised around the world.

In conclusion, a professional business logo will help you present your business to the market more effectively. Don't rely on a poorly designed or quickly rendered business logo to attract customers. A well-designed logo will positively represent your business and help it stand out from your competitors.

Efflux is a multinational web design company that has been operating for 4 years in India, and more recently in the UK. Our unique company employs more than 40 professionals to serve our long list of clients worldwide.

Thanks to our remarkable visualization skills, experienced web designers and sense of commitment, efflux has been instrumental in creating renowned brands for many satisfied clients. We encourage you to visit our Website and review our portfolio to discover how we can help your company succeed! Visit our website at http://www.effluxinc.com where you can contact us via email, phone, MSN, Yahoo, Skype, or Gmail.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_L_Kirkbride

Show Them What You Got - Logo Design Tips

2008-08-12T23:02:00.003-07:00

When it comes to making first impressions in business, your logo is like your handshake: if it is wimpy and clammy, no one is going to respect you and want to do business with you. If it is strong and appealing, you will have a horde of people wanting to do business with you!

Seriously, a good logo can make you or break you. Your logo truly is a direct reflection of your company, of your brand and of you. To make your logo look its best, here are a few design tips to follow.

Tip #1: Use templates to get you started. Many software programs, like Logo Design Studio, have templates that are easy to manipulate into your own creation. You can also create your logo on Web sites like Logoyes where you pick base designs and then you tweak the image or font to your liking. You can get a nice logo designed for $99.

Tip #2: Check out the competition. You want to make sure you know all of your competitors' logos because you do not want to look the same as theirs. You want to make your logo unique, but it should still fit in with your industry. A funeral home should not have a fun, upbeat logo - that just does not jive with the funeral business and some might find it inappropriate.

Also, if your logo looks similar to a competitor's logo, you will either drive business to the other company because people cannot tell the difference, or you will just look like a copycat.

Tip #3: Your design should be balanced. Make it more exciting and professional than clip art, but do not go too overboard with intricate designs that make people squint when they look at it. Make sure any words you use in your logo, such as your slogan or your business name, is clear and easy to read. Do not go font crazy! And be sure your logo looks good on everything from booklet printing to business cards to billboards.

Tip #4: Ask for opinions. Ask employees, former colleagues, friends and family - anyone who will take a gander - for their feedback. What do they like about it? What do not they like? Is it clear? What kind of feeling does your logo give off? These are all important questions that need to be answered before you print your logo on all your business wares.

Tip #5: Do not make a rush decision. When you ask for opinions, you should consider giving people a choice of logos so they can tell you which one fits you best. Then, sleep on it. Ask more people and sleep on it again. A logo design is not something to take lightly - you are going to have to see it every day for many, many years. If you change your logo a few years down the road because you do not like it, you are going to have to build up business and your brand all over again because people won't know who the new logo belongs to.

Tip #6: Register your logo after you have designed it. You'll need to register a trademark on your logo design so no one can copy it. Go to www.uspto.gov for more information.

Janice Jenkins is a writer for a marketing company in Chicago, IL. Mostly into marketing research, Janice started writing articles early 2007 to impart her knowledge to individuals new to the marketing industry.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Booklet Printing

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janice_Jenkins

Ways to Use Your Logo As Brand Making Tool

2008-08-12T23:02:00.002-07:00

A logo is a graphic symbol used to represent your company. Company logos can be used to represent a business at various places like company website, t-shirts, banners, business stationery, visiting cards, brochures and email signatures etc. A logo is not only a graphic icon used to represent your business but it can also be used as a strong marketing and brand making tool. You can use a logo designing software to make custom logos for your business products and services and not only create your identity and give you competitive edge over others.

How can you use your logo as brand making tool?

The reason branding of your business and services is important it that brands helps in strong marketing of your products and services so as you can make greatest profits from your marketing campaign. Branding helps to convince potential customers and clients decide if your products and service are worth enough or not.

A brand is something that nobody in the world can copy or take away from you. Communication plays an important role in brand making thus your logo be designed so as it clearly conveys your business message to the visitors. Many elements need to be considered while logo designing like style, design, layouts colors. But along with these basic logo design rules also make sure that your logo support a strong message defining your company's core values, services and products.

Once you are done with logo design, your brand building task is begun and now you need to use your logo creatively and give maximum exposure to your business through your business logo.

For more information on business logo design refer logosmartz.com.

Nid is a web designer who has more than 5 years experience in Logo designs for designing brochures, flyers, business stationary, websites, etc. He also writes copy for brochures and flyers apart from web sites. This article is about significance of a logo in business promotion and branding. It also discusses instant logo designing software Logosmartz.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nid_Mark

Bold Brand - Effect Change and Make a Difference With Bold Brand Declarations

2008-08-12T23:02:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what you could do to make a difference with your business? Branding your business with a bold stroke of genius makes enough difference to change the direction of your company for the rest of time. If you've got the nerve...

When my youngest daughter was about two, she went through a strange fashion phase and nobody has forgotten her Fashion Statements. She branded herself permanently with that unique take on style. With blonde curls swinging she pulled on her favorite hot pink and lime green sundress and knee high hot pink snow boots. No matter how many times I reminded her that she had hot pink sandals too, she would have nothing to do with them, because she preferred the snow boots.

So, off we went with Tatia (Ta-sha) in her hot pink snow boots, and her favorite hot pink and lime green sundress. She's seventeen now, and people still ask, "Is this our sweet little fashion statement?" (Of course, I've stayed living in the same town, just for the purpose of driving her insane with embarrassment, but... who knew, they'd remember!)

Bold Strokes Brand a Business Effectively

Are you bold enough to swipe a color of brilliance across your business profile and let it SMACK with effective Brand Marketing? Sometimes the most simple strokes of genius make the most difference, because definition is a matter of fine tuning your declaration of identity. Recognition requires confidence.

Different, Unique, Outside the Normal

Dare to be different. Step outside the expected norm for your company and express yourself in a Bold New Way, Uniquely YOU. In a world of pink sandals, Tatia was noticed because she wore snow boots. Not just spicy pink snow boots, but fuzzy pink lined hot pink moon-walker style snow boots. Risk some unique style and be different.

Stand OUT in the Crowd

The stickler of style says you should blend and be un-officially similar to others. But it isn't the wallflower that blends in that gets noticed. It's the brassy red (or hot pink) one that draws the eye and stands out in a crowd of boring plane flowers, capturing your attention for the entire night. Are you wishing you could stand out in the crowd and be noticed?

Compelling changes are an effective opportunity for drastic change, Zap some difference into your business and present it in the form of an Ebook. Learn the secret FREE at http://brandyourmarket.com

© 2007 - Jan Verhoeff

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jan_Verhoeff

Promotional Branding - The Evolution

2008-08-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

Promotional tools are a mainstay for most organizations hoping to build their clientele. No matter what a client says, free promotional gifts are definitely an incentive to either become a client or support the company. The market today is extremely aggressive, and the uniqueness of promotional products is extremely important when building a client base, as traditional coffee mugs and pens are "so yesterday." Companies are now investing more money in promotional tech gadgets, such as usb thumb drives and mp3 players. These products are not only popular with clients, but companies can promote themselves fairly easily given the products' routine use.

USB thumb drives and mp3 players are not only popular, but overall cost effective. For a company with the money to spend on a lot of these high tech gadgets will reap the benefits of a large fan base. Mp3 players and thumb drives are popular tech items in America, especially within the younger clientele. Catering to a target group, such as teenagers and college students, with gadgets like mp3 players and thumb drives will see definite use of the promotional product. Promotional tech gadgets are especially more effective than traditional marketing methods like magazine ads and web banners. A tangible piece of marketing is more likely to stand out to a client or customer than a simple ad in a newspaper or magazine.

Companies and organizations could just as easily implement simple promotional products as marketing tools, but why overlook the opportunity to be different and unique? Promotional marketing tools like mp3 players and thumb drives will stand out to an audience, especially a target audience of the younger sort.

Sarah Reece writes for Ciniva Systems an award winning Virginia web design company. Ciniva specializes in web design and SEO. Sarah Reece is an SEO Specialist with Ciniva. Ciniva Systems is in charge of SEO for iFox Technologies

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Reece

Branding a City is No Small Task

2008-08-05T21:44:00.003-07:00

Especially if it is over 19 million people!

New York City is one of the great cities in the world that has successfully branded itself. What is the first image that comes to mind when you hear the name New York City? "The Big Apple," I hope.

Tourism is big business in attracting affluent travelers to spend money in your city. In 2007, New York saw over 46 million tourists come to see, shop, eat, sleep and be entertained. If each person spent $1,000 (which would be cheap in Manhattan) that would equal $4.6 billion. So branding big cities is big business.

But how do you create a brand image for such a complex beast? Remember a brand is part personality, part single mindedness. What you want to do is own a place in the consumers mind. How do you take a city and boil it down to one simple and relevant thought? Well, many cities have done it. The most romantic city is? The city where what happens there stays there? Or how about a city fit for a queen. Then here is the city within a city that rules Catholics around the world. Which city is the fashion capital, the fine dining capital or the music capital of the world?

The hard part is boiling a massive city down to a simple sentence or words that articulate its promise. The hard part is finding that one thing that defines a city because most cities have many attributes and landmarks: symbolic buildings (Eiffel tower, the White House, CN tower, opera house, Colosseum), icons (a white wooden sign, white cross, orange bridge) and unique environmental characteristics (beach, mountain, river, water). But remember, a brand is owned by the consumer so when you show them a gondola with a gondolianer they will think Venice or maybe Las Vegas cheap imitation. A city eventually gets defined by what is the most memorable feature or collective customer benefit. The clearer the feature or benefit the stronger the brand.

How would the city of Sidney, Australia be viewed today with out the Sidney Opera House and Crocodile Dundee? Not only are the city attributes important, but the peoples' lifestyle and the dynamic quality of energy is vital in building a vibrant and engaging city brand. Sometimes this can be kick started by a global event such as the World Expo, FIFA World Cup or the Olympic Games. The FIFA World Cup soccer event can attract over 28.8 billion viewers over the month. The more concentrated Olympic Games can catapult a city to the global stage. The coverage so far on Beijing, China is staggering. On the Beijing Official 2008 Olympic website it states that "over 300 channels broadcasting the Athens 2004 Olympic Games to 220 countries and territories, 35,000 hours of dedicated coverage (2000 per day), to over 3.9 billion people (unduplicated)." This was the strongest Olympic broadcast ever.

As globalization continues to make the world smaller, the competition between cities has increased tremendously for tourists, investors, businesses and major events, so maintaining and building a city brand is paramount.

Derrick Rozdeba - I am a connoisseur of fine brands. Using my brand appreciation and insights, like a sommeliers, I will impart my knowledge and opinion in savoring the many brands that identify our lives. Visit my blog http://derrickrozdeba.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Derrick_Rozdeba

Personal Branding - It's What Sets a Maverick Apart From the Herd

2008-08-05T21:44:00.002-07:00

To cattle ranchers in the old West, branding their cattle was one of the most important chores they had when raising a herd. Cattle was wealth and branding showed ownership, increasing the value of the rancher. Mavericks, or non-branded cattle, were liabilities -- they could cost the owner money, and worse yet, the owner could actually lose "market share" to other ranchers who might claim the unbranded cattle as their own.

Today's competitive business environment is no different, except that instead of branding cattle, one should brand his/herself. In this highly competitive, fast changing world, a new breed of worker is emerging. With the employment uncertainty in this economy, a growing number of people are defining their own jobs, creating their own projects and acting as entrepreneurs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.7 million Americans work in non-traditional work environments. These folks are the new mavericks (defined as someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action). Like the cowboys of the old west, they know that to thrive, either in a traditional or non-traditional work environment, they must have a clear understanding of their value and promise - their personal brand - and be able to communicate this personal brand to others. Understanding, controlling and managing their personal brand gives them a competitive advantage.

The notion of a brand isn't new. Companies have been branding themselves and their products and services for years. Essentially, a brand stands for a singular idea or concept that a company or product "owns" inside the mind of their customers and prospects. While a company or product brand is actually an intangible asset, it contributes to the value creation, or the expectations and worth that customers place on the company or product.

For people, a brand is also important because it is their unique blend of talents, strengths, skills and knowledge, which gives them an advantage in a competitive market. Similar to a product brand, a personal brand is a distinctive identity that allows any individual to stand out from the crowd and carries his/her guarantee or promise. A personal brand helps distinguish you from competition and helps determine which opportunities best fit into your long-term goals and life plans. For example, when you think of the Lone Ranger, you think of a mask, silver bullets and fighting the bad guys - that is his brand. In today's work environment, you may know someone who has branded his or herself as a heavy-lifting problem solver, or someone who is the go-to-person for key information. These people have learned how to create a personal brand and turn it into a life asset.

The personal branding process begins very much like the product branding process. The first step is to take stock of your attributes and assess how these attributes can provide benefit to others. This means you must know the needs, wants and challenges of your target market, so you can position yourself as the best solution. Some questions to ask that may help in your self-assessment process include:

•What are my key strengths?
•Who is my target market?
•What is the value created for potential customers of my brand?

Only after you have a clear understanding of your personal brand, can you begin to proactively market yourself by communicating your talents and how they can add value.
The second step is to create a 30-second statement to communicate to others your brand promise and where you fit into the market. To help construct this brand statement, follow this process which we call The Value Pyramid.

•List the most important characteristics of your personality, education, experience and cultural background. These are your "features."
•Next, list the benefits (to your employer, client, etc.) that these features provide.
•Taking the process further, write down rewards that occur as a result of the benefits.
•Select one idea that best encapsulates your value.
•Lastly, in a few sentences write your brand statement, using the Value Pyramid as your guide.

This statement should emphasize the unique value you provide, rather than what you do. For a maverick in the old west, it might be something like, "I'm known as the most dependable trail boss this side of the Pecos. I've been working cattle since I was knee high to a horse and know the Chisholm Trail like the back of my hand. I've driven cattle to Dodge City more than a half a dozen times and have yet to lose one steer."

Whether a free agent or seeking traditional employment, you need to be you own brand manager and not automatically assume that others know the value you can provide.

The final step for creating a personal brand is testing, which can be done through networking events. In the old west, the primary place to network was a card game at the local saloon. Today, networking is best conducted through industry, trade and professional organizations. These are great places to test your personal brand. First, by meeting and talking with members of these organizations, you can research the challenges of the target market. Second, networking events are a great place to test your 30-second statement to see if your personal brand resonates with the target market. Upon a successful test within a smaller environment, you can then rollout your personal brand to the larger target market, employing every strategy and tactic that demonstrates your value.

In the old west, mavericks carried six-shooters. Today, they carry cell phone and laptops. However, both then and now, mavericks understand that they are in charge of their own destiny in a competitive environment. Mavericks know that by creating and marketing their personal brand, they have a unique advantage over their competition.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laura_Patterson

Pizza Hut's Ad is More Clever Than You Thought

2008-08-05T21:44:00.001-07:00

You've probably seen the ad. It opens with 50 New Yorkers tasting pasta at what appears to be a swanky Manhattan restaurant called Tuscani.

The New Yorkers exclaim over the dishes. "The alfredo is great!" says one trendy-looking, young man. Then comes the clincher: The cook comes out and says he didn't even cook it. Instead, the crowd is told that Pizza Hut made the pasta. The taste testers are shocked - and somehow giddy by the notion that Pizza Hut, of all places, made pasta great enough to fool them.

Here's the dirty, little secret, though: It's not that hard to fool them. You could have put any kind of decent pasta out there and the tasters would have given it a thumbs-up.

It wasn't the food they were reacting to. It was brand - and not Pizza Hut's, by the way. It was the brand of "Tuscani" the Italian restaurant in Manhattan where this pasta was served.

That's especially true when you consider that, as the New York Times recently reported, the respondents were eating at a restaurant called Provence, a well-known Italian restaurant in SoHo, not Tuscani as the ad would leave you to believe. (There is no restaurant in NYC called Tuscani and is instead the name of Pizza Hut's new line of pasta.)

However, the important revelation for marketers is that the taste testers were responding to the brand of where they were because they saw themselves in it. They are well-to-do, handsome and pretty, young New Yorkers who, they believed, can appreciate the fine things in life, including recognizing a quality SoHo restaurant.

There are numerous other examples of taste testers responding to the power of brand. Many years ago, Coca-Cola realized that Pepsi was seriously cutting into its market share and became alarmed. Coca-Cola couldn't believe that customers were actually choosing Pepsi and were even more alarmed when Pepsi started winning blind-taste tests by a significant margin. (Remember the Pepsi Challenge?)

However, someone at Coca-Cola got smart and did the taste tests over. Only this time, the tests were not conducted blind. Taste testers could actually see the brand they were drinking, see the cans themselves, and amazingly Coke handily won the taste tests by an even more significant margin.

Why? Because there was something about the Coke brand that spoke to the respondents so powerfully that they now believed Coke tasted better.

Most of us, if not all, don't like to hear those kinds of stories because it proves we make purchasing decisions for reasons that aren't the considered, knowledgeable reasons we think they are. But the truth is that we all make purchasing decisions every day based on brand and only backfill those decisions with seemingly more thoughtful reasons.

Ask a beer drinker why they are loyal to market leader Budweiser and they will tell you it's about the taste. Yet Budweiser rarely wins the taste tests.

What Budweiser has understood for a long time is that the power of brands ends up determining market share and preference. The companies that understand that are the most successful. What you do as a business is the business of your business. But what determines your ultimate success is the business of your brand, what you mean to customers. In some fashion, the most successful businesses consider themselves marketers first.

Does Nike really make the best running shoe? Those loyal to Nike will tell you they do, but have those joggers really done research and compared shoes? In most cases, probably not. Instead, they responded to Nike's brand about no-nonsense achievement - "Just Do It" - and backfilled other reasons such as comfort to justify the choice.

No running shoe company could exist if its shoes weren't comfortable. No beer could exist if it didn't have good taste.

Pizza Hut understands that. This has been the brand of Crunchy Cheesy Crust Pizza and Dippin' Strips, which doesn't exactly scream trendy SoHo. Pizza Hut understood that, to convince those who wouldn't be caught dead seeing themselves in the Pizza Hut brand, it had to align itself with another brand that spoke to them.

Clever. And very effective. It really doesn't matter that there is no restaurant called Tuscani in New York City. Pizza Hut build a physical brand that reflected who the taste testers were (it's unclear whether they knew it was Provence, but most likely they did) and turned the tables on them so they were forced to accept Pizza Hut as a brand.

The true cleverness is now that the taste testers know it was Pizza Hut they can't go back and say the food was bad. Otherwise, they would be admitting they responded to brand.

And no likes to admit that. Right?

With a degree in English Literature and History, Michael served as a reporter for the two-time Pulitzer-Prize winning Anchorage Daily News for more than 12 years. Michael developed a keen sense of how to investigate even the most complex market and joined Alaska's largest advertising and public relations firm in 1998. A senior strategist with Stealing Share from its inception he has helped develop brands for national and international clients and created strategies that led directly to share-stealing campaigns in markets such as agriculture, petroleum, tourism, telecommunications, transportation, beverages, retail, finance and insurance, among others.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Vanausdeln

The Secret Recipe of Logo Design

2008-07-15T08:52:00.002-07:00

Every business has its identity. A logo may look just like a stylistic name, but it can being brand recognition to a company. A unique Customized Logo Design can help instant recognition of what its stands for. Logo design is a primary factor, since your company logo is the cornerstone of all your marketing and promotional materials. A unique logo increases the credibility and popularity of a business as well in order to contend with your competitors. Choosing the right concepts for the logo is a starting point we need to consider in creating a logo that will boost the visibility and credibility of a certain business or company.

What to consider in Creating and Designing a Quality Logo;

1. What type of Logo you'll going to create.

a. Text Logo: This refers to different Fonts. Most of logo are made from this and preferred most of the companies.
b. Symbol Logo: Symbols can be used in here. Deciding what best symbols that will stands for your business is very important.
c. Combination Logo: Combination of Text and Symbol/Shapes Logo. Proper choose and artistic yet simple design should be remembered.
d. Single Logo: Refers to promotional items can be found on websites.

2. Choose the right color combinations that blends well on your design

Choosing the right color is not that easy. Ask for other suggestion of others to come up with best color that you'll going to use because people react to certain colors as well. So that the outcome will be a well designed logo that best represents the company or business and distinctive in the consumers mind. Colors are categorized in two;

Bright colors: Excitement, Power, Creativity, Confidence, Cheerful, Optimistic
Dull Colors: Peaceful, Harmony, Honesty, Calm, Beauty, Inspiration
White: Innocence or sterility
Black: Elegance or Evil

3. Last but not least, Keep it simple.

Avoid putting complex designs that may destruct attention, and then leave an negative impression of viewers. Use colors wisely. Simple and Unique logo design represents overall feel of a company that represents authenticity and professionalism.

Using Logo Bags As Trade Show Giveaways

2008-07-15T08:52:00.001-07:00

Trade shows are among the top events where promotional items are very effective. And amongst the thousands of promotional items out there, logo bags deliver the best result in promoting your product. Below are the top reasons that make them an ideal trade show giveaway:

1. The functionality of logo bags are perfect for trade shows.

During trade shows, people will be receiving a lot of marketing materials. Thus, the most appreciated promotional item in these marketing events are logo bags. The reason for this is that it gives the trade show attendees an easy way to store all the brochures, fliers, giveaways, and other marketing products they will be receiving during the event. And since all of the other giveaways will be stored in your logo bags, your promotional item and logo will surely standout.

2. Logo bags have a big area for imprinting.

One of the foremost purposes of promo items is to advertise your company to the attendees and to direct them to your booth. But trade shows are often crowded and there is also an abundance of marketing materials distributed during the event, thus making it hard for most marketing products to achieve their desired exposure. But what sets apart logo bags from the other giveaways is the large imprinting area. The large surface of a logo bag makes it an ideal medium to advertise your logo and message in a size that can clearly be seen by your target market. This, together with the fact that it is carried everywhere by the recipients, makes a logo bag an ideal roaming billboard during conventions.

3. There are many types of logo bags to choose from.

Variety is very important for promotional items because varied giveaways gives you the ability to target your particular niche. And of all the marketing products, logo bags offer the most variety that are very defined to target different market segments. One example is if your potential clients have psychographics that fit an active and sporty lifestyle, then distributing a duffel bag with your logo will attract the people that fit this description to your booth.

This shows that logo bags are effective in attracting the target market, and will have a high level of exposure during and after the event due to the bags' usefulness and the clarity of the imprinted logo. With all these, logo bags are really the perfect trade show giveaways.

The Number One Question to Ask When Naming a New Business

2008-07-15T08:51:00.002-07:00

After nearly twenty years of corporate branding experience, the same question still arises when naming a new business - "What is the most important factor when deciding on the best company name?" Some naming experts would argue it's the length of the name, or the ease of pronunciation or the uniqueness. Others would say domain name availability or trademark clearance. I've come to the conclusion that the best answer to that question is yet another question.

Does your proposed business name create a "Huh?" Or a "What!"

A "Huh?" indicates a roadblock. It says, "I don't understand and neither do I want to." If you were at a trade show, your potential customer would most likely start backing away, as you launch into a detailed explanation of the exact spelling of your company's name and its original meaning in Swahili. These are not creative names, they are confusing ones.

The biggest offenders are unpronounceable acronym names such as the financial services company TIAA-CREF. These corporate names are often a result of mergers and acquisitions that made sense at the time, but now provide little meaning. Other top "Huh?" contenders are company/product names with alphanumeric designations. I regularly get emails from a web content management firm offering a software product called Ektron CMS400.net Version 7.5. From all accounts it looks like a good product but who can remember the name? More importantly, who would want to?

A "What!" name on the other hand provides a big greenlight. It arouses curiosity and invites more questions. We recently named an investment banking firm Four Bridges. The name just begs further explanation, which the owners now gladly provide - they connect people and capital. They also have four major partners in a city (Chattanooga, TN) with four major bridges. So the name segues easily into a broader story about the company and its mission.

That's how a good company name works.

So as not to appear self-congratulatory, there are a number of great "What!" brand names that I can only wish I had created. One of my favorites is FireFly, a "Mobile Phone for Mobile Kids." Another great company name is Spoon Me, a frozen yogurt maker coined by my good friends at Eat My Words.

So take a moment to ask yourself this simple question, "Does your company or product name produce a 'Huh?' or a 'What!'?" Don't just ask yourself, ask a few trusted friends and colleagues. Watch their body language and facial expressions. Do they light up with interest or furrow their brow in dismay? Your potential clients can't remember what they can't recall. So give them exactly what works - a creative, compelling brand name that has them asking "Say What!"

Golden Tip For a Successful Corporate Logo

2008-07-15T08:51:00.001-07:00

A corporate or company logo plays an important role in projecting its image to the people. As a result, it is very important to evaluate whether your company logo depicts the right image or not.

A company logo is like a visiting card, which gives one insight into the company. A company logo should be very professional, precise and attractive to the viewer. Company write-ups may be good but will only play a role if people get around to reading them. All representations and communications of the company include the company logo, be it in print media or on the web.

One has to make sure that the company website has a good layout, interface and design along with the placement of the company logo. A well thought out and detailed logo makes a very good impression on the customers and prospects. A logo is the first glimpse of the company. If a company does not have a good logo then there are strong chances that the viewers may feel that this unprofessional approach will also be present in other aspects of the business. It is quite upsetting to see a badly turned out company logo. Very rarely does one come across a corporate, that has an unprofessional logo.

Companies, nowadays, fully understand that they have to work hard to maintain their image in the business world. The idea is to present the information to the audience in a professional, precise, user friendly and an attractive manner. In today's time when people are ready, to reject any website and move on the next in a flash, it is important that the company website looks interesting enough for people to stay on. The aim should be to attract the user in the first instance. Remember that first impression is the last impression.

It is common human nature to be attracted to good looking things. You can observe your own behaviour and you will notice that you are more likely to visit a shop that has a professional and a good décor, rather than a shop, that is in a run down condition. Considering the wide choice that is available to web visitors, it is important for one to represent the company well through its logo and content, on the internet.

Developing the company logo

· Develop a great looking and professional company logo to reflect a professional image of a company

· Hire the services of a good specialist logo designer or

· Use special companies whose task is to develop inexpensive professional logos

With the growth of commercialization, even logo design has become a specialized job with various design companies offering different options. You have both expensive specialist logo designers and inexpensive logo design services available to you.You have to take a decision based on your requirements and budgetary constraints.

A low price like this is bound to make people apprehensive. Some would wonder about the credibility of the offer imagining it to be just a gimmick to attract the customers with hidden costs. While, there would be others who would be attracted by the low price and would want to try this scheme.

You can get a logo designed for even as little as $25 by a great company I recommend and use myself in less than 72 hours. available at http://www.gotlogos.com You can visit their site to have an idea of the kind of work that they do. If you have any doubts about their abilities to do justice with your company's logo then you can check out the various samples available on their on-site gallery.

However, before you decide to change your logo you should first evaluate your requirement with an open mind. Try to compare their logos with your own. Is your money, going to be well spent or not. Analyze and then decide whether changing the logo would actually change people's perception of your company. Changing your logo is a serious business. Once you have a logo in place be it good or bad people start associating your company with that logo. When you decide to change this logo, you will also have to undertake the task of making people familiar with the new logo.

Effective Brand-Building Tools

2008-07-15T08:50:00.002-07:00

When you mention an object, most probably the first thing that comes to mind is a brand name or a trademark. For example, the mention of the word "breakfast" conjures images of newly brewed coffee, a plate of bacon and eggs, and your favorite brand of bagel.

Our world is bombarded with so much advertising that we connect objects with trademarks. These brands creep into our consciousness, the products of ambient advertising.

Such is the power of brand recall. Once a brand is embedded in our consciousness, it will be difficult to convince us otherwise.

Aside from public relations and advertising, one other means-and as effective, if not MORE effective-of brand building is the giving away of promotional items.

Surely you must have one of these customized objects on you. These products can range from logo-imprinted writing instruments to apparel, coffee mugs to key chains. Some of these are bundled with your purchase of, say, a box of cereals or a pouch of coffee beans. Others you probably got from a promo lady at the train station. Still others you must have received over the mail

Promotional items enable you to reach more people than the ones who'll know of your brand only through a television commercial or a print ad.

Another reason is that promotional items give you more mileage over the years than a television or print ad will. Day-old newspapers are set aside, thrown out, or-thankfully-recycled. Viewers will mentally tune out when your ad runs on television. But consumers will keep using your promotional items if they find these applicable to their everyday activities. They'll probably even share or pass on giveaways such as ballpoint pens, notepad, or sticky notes to a friend, a co-worker, or a stranger at the supermarket counter.

Still another compelling reason for promotional items is they cost less compared with traditional means of advertising. For example, $1,000 worth of promotional items can enable you to reach at least a thousand people while the amount is only equivalent to a 30-second spot in a big game televised nationwide.

Furthermore, there really are brands not suitable for television and are best marketed with promotional products and seen in full-color print.When comparing the cost of producing a video with that of having marketing products manufactured and imprinted with your corporate logo, and knowing that these promotional items will go to places that your video or print ad can't reach, surely nothing makes more sense that choosing the latter.

Another reason for using giveaway is that you get immediate feedback from your recipients--a smile, a thank-you, or a hard laugh especially for humorous promotional items.Nothing leaves a more favorable impression on a potential customer than promotional gifts or items that they can use every day, such as T-shirts, caps, mugs, maybe even a scarf, or a hand sanitizer. Similarly, it's encouraging for the company that's giving out promotional items when the act of giving is rewarded with a positive reaction.

Search For the Most Happening Product in Demand

2008-07-15T08:50:00.001-07:00

Companies have learned that they must try to sell those products, which people really want else they could suffer losses. As a result, many companies are making great efforts to adapt themselves to changing customer requirements.

When the dot com bubble burst a number of companies suffered heavy losses. Their problems were further compounded with the attack on the Twin Towers. In such a scenario when the very basis of people's life was affected the market almost died out.

Everywhere the hunt was to look for products that could survive in such hard times. Consumers didn't have much choice, first they were held back by a slow economy and then by the prospect of a nation on the brink of war and chaos. The mood was to save rather than spend on new and frivolous things. This caused a slump in consumer spending and had the sellers worried.

The need of the hour was to look for new products that could meet the customer requirements and survive the test of time.

New Products

The search for new changed products spread all over and centered on "Service". People mostly agreed that they were now moving away from products, what they really wanted was service providers who would take care of all their requirements, allowing them to simply relax when someone else did all their tasks.

People wanted benefits but didn't want to take any pains for it. They wanted a service, which would take care of the things that they were required to do themselves, earlier. This idea is gaining popularity among the higher income groups as opposed to the masses. These higher income consumers are ready to pay the price of enjoying such premium service. Think how many times you have bought a product simply because of the results that it offered. Wouldn't it have been better if you could just buy the result rather than the product itself.

Of course such services that we are talking about are expensive. However, there are buyers for every kind of service. There are buyers who in view of the results that they want are ready to pay the price.

The condition is simply that if you are charging premium rates then your service should do what it promises and much more. Over a period of time you will gain popularity and trust of the people as a service provider who would deliver the best results. Soon you would have the right kind of customers contacting you for the services you are providing, irrespective of costs.

Your aim should be to attract more and more customers by word of mouth publicity. People should feel that though the service is expensive but it is worth every penny that they spend on it. If you keep doing good work soon you would have people referring to you as the best.

Placing your Business

It is very important for business to center on their target customers. Many mistakenly feel that if they have inexpensive products then they have a better chance to succeed, as more and more people would be attracted to it. These businesses realize that in order to register a profit with low prices they would have to make large sales.

But, as they find out with time, this business plan does not necessarily spell success. On the other hand, if you give quality service, and charge a little more than an inexpensive service and your target customer is the affluent class then you have better chances of success. Here instead of generating large sales volume you can succeed with limited sales and customers, because you have charged a little higher price.

This theory is a little tough for the businesses to digest but they understand over time, that it works in many cases. Once they see the rewards for themselves, they no longer need to be prodded.

19 Ways to be the ONE Person at Your Next Conference Everybody Remembers

2007-07-10T02:32:00.001-07:00

1. Attitude. In a sea of thousands of people all trying to get noticed, you have NO choice but to be unforgettable and remarkable. So you better begin with the attitude of approachability. That you’re going to stick yourself out there.

2. Detach from outcomes. Sure, you have goals. Maybe to sell. Maybe to get in front of the right buyers. However, also try to focus less on the outcome and more on the big picture. Free yourself from agendas. Develop a no-entitlement attitude. And focus on having fun, delivering value and creating a memorable (er, unforgettable) presence.

3. Go beyond free. Every booth, vendor, exhibitor and company is going to give something away for free. So, before you attend the show, brainstorm a list of the Top 50 Most Common (and Annoying) Free Giveaways. Don’t do any of them. Instead, pick something cool, remarkable and consistent with your brand that people will actually KEEP. Otherwise, you may as well just tell the attendees, “Here, YOU throw this away!”

4. But don’t go overboard on free. You don’t have to give away something for free to EVERYBODY. If they don’t want it, don’t force it. REMEMBER: approachability is a two-way street. Consider offering a free item that’s so good, people actually come up to YOU and say, “Ooh! Can I have one of those?”

5. Smile. The whole damn time.

6. Wave. To every single person.

7. Use disarming approaches. Six words: “Hi, I don’t know anybody here!”

8. Practice strategic serendipity. Say yes a LOT more. Spend time with people in areas and around things you wouldn’t normally approach. Break your patterns.

9. Don’t pick and choose. Talk to everybody. Even your non-buyers and customers. Even the food service people. Even the janitors. Even the information booth guy. Even the conference planners. Especially the conference planners. Because you never know. And consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness.

10. Dress it up. If you can find some sort of costume that’s consistent with your brand, do it. I wear a giant nametag to my conferences. Nobody misses me. Does your appearance stand out or blend in?

11. Achieve The HVA. Which stands for 1) “Huh?” 2) Value and 3) “Aha!” Attract people to yourself (or booth) with curiosity. Spark their interest. Then deliver your value statement. Then get them to say, “Ah! I get it! That’s cool…”

12. Speaking of curiosity. Do something that encourages strangers to approach you and say, “So, what’s the story behind that?”

13. Strike the match. Do something that make people say, “Dude, did you see that guy who…” Generate inner-conference buzz.

14. Make music, not noise. Everyone else at your conference is going to be making NOISE. With their annoying, boring promo materials and free toys that nobody wants or cares about. You need to make MUSIC by getting people to smile, laugh, say hello, start talking, have fun and deliver remarkable value.

15. Interact; don’t interrupt. Everyone else at your conference is going to be INTERRUPTING the other attendees. Take this! See this! Have a free cookie! They say. Instead, consider INTERACTING, not interrupting people. Making friends. Strike up conversations. Talk about business later. Lead with your person; follow with your profession. Open your conversations with topics OTHER than business, sales, the weather, traffic and the like.

16. Just chill. Stressed and hurried are not approachable adjectives. Separate yourself from other attendees by not appearing overly needy and desperate for business. After all, it’s hard to sell with your tongue hanging out! Just chill. Relax.

17. Attract attention. Notice it says “attract,” and not “draw.” Major difference. Your job is to be remarkable and cool and fun and valuable. If so, people that see you will follow these six steps:

a. Smile and point at you.
b. Nod in agreement.
c. Think or say, “Nice!” or “That’s cool!”
d. Grab their friend’s shirt and say, “Jimmy, you’ve got to check out this guy over here…”
e. Approach you.
f. Tell everyone about you.

18. Find the cameras. Photographers, press folks and bloggers LOVE to capture images and videos of cool, fun, remarkable stuff. They also like to share those images in their publications and on the web. So, ask yourself the following three questions:

a. Are you worth videotaping?
b. Are you worth taking a picture of?
c. Are you worth blogging about the next morning?

19. Be a rock star. Do things to enhance your celebrity status. Bring a friend to follow YOU around with a camera all day. Give a speech. Hold a pre or post event party.

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Cherished Brands - When Memorabilia Survives the Business

2007-07-10T02:31:00.000-07:00

Companies come and go. So do brands and promotional memorabilia. Interestingly, though sometimes a logo becomes so cherished it can actually last longer than the actual company who produced it. When this happens, it is an indication of serious feelings of customer goodwill, employee satisfaction, and positive associations in general.

People become nostalgic. They collect memorabilia of deceased companies. Such items are like keepsakes. Companies that disappear have employees that value the insignia of their place of employment. They have happy customers who enjoyed their interactions with a trusted name. And, there are executives and officials who have pride toward a successful creation.

Surviving memorabilia ranges from tiny trinkets given out the general public, to achievement awards bestowed upon hard working staff such as pins, trophies, lapels, and other items. There are a wealth of other memorable items like golf balls, coffee mugs, and pens that outlive a business. In the beginning, they were created to build loyalty to the brand and more or less for business and marketing purposes. Yet, often times, these items assume characteristics of warm memories later on.

Even uniforms and corporate apparel can embody the same feelings of fondness and the good ole’ days. When people put in years of service with a particular job, they have powerful memories of the brand for countless reasons. They want to save the products and at the same time hold onto the events that coincided with their experience there. Think about a worker who has served 30 years in a position at a certain corporation. Perhaps this same worker met his spouse there; perhaps he had built a community of friends and colleagues.

Moreover, experts in marketing field as well as psychologists say that when people cherish those momentos from their old work environments, what they are doing is actually participating in a form of healing or therapy. The products have the potential to stir such positive feelings that they can act as a balancing and restorative tool. It’s amazing that reflecting on such a simple piece of memorabilia can have such an effect, but even more, it’s cheaper than an actual therapy session. Some claim that such products also offer an element of stability and tangibility in a disposable, changeable world. In other words, people need something to hold onto.

We live in a very different work world than we did just fifty years ago. The environment is more dynamic, fast paced, and radical than ever before. Whereas in the past, traditionally people committed themselves to careers and remained in them throughout their lives; today we change careers and shift gears from one avenue to another sometimes several times in our lives. Companies endure similar patterns. They are created, merged, disintegrated, split, retired, and revamped.

Change is hard on people: employees, customers, those in charge, and those affiliated with a business. Even if the circumstances are positive, the adjustment can be a challenge. Comfort and familiarity are usually preferred even if the new outcome promises a better deal for all of those involved. Hence, another reason for holding onto those promotional items of yesterday.

What is also remarkable is that employees have a pattern of changing their opinions on their work place after the fact. Researchers have studied this. After the dissolution of a business, workers romanticize their former place of employment. It’s a natural feeling for one to have. Idealizing the past helps individuals to make the transition involved with moving on and putting the past into perspective. Psychologists also say that any loss, regardless of how small, includes the grieving process to heal. Having positive associations of a work environment facilitates that process.

• There are special implications related to the investment of memorabilia. Even though promotional products may have been originally made for commercial purposes, they transform into unique and magical items after the disappearance of a business. Keepsakes expand beyond their intended purpose.

• Such products help to creating a bond among those involved. There is an element of camaraderie that exists when memorabilia unites people. Items spark conversation and remind the players of the game of their earlier times.

• Know that the survival of a brand is a sign of huge success. Why are people saving products of a company that is no longer in existence? There is something about the organization that is not dead, and that the public is not done with. Consider the products readily being purchased on e-bay, in flea markets, and in yard sales that are all associated with a company of the past.

We’ve all heard the cliché “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” People apply this principle to brands and companies as well. Memorabilia that survives its parent business is a demonstration of a company unique and valued.

Branding Your Brand Image With Promotional Products & Gifts

2007-07-07T02:47:00.001-07:00

Branding is one of the most visible concepts in today’s marketing world. Everything is about branding – literally. Your company’s brand is more than its name or its logo. It’s an amalgam of everything that’s visible about your company. Your brand reputation used to be an organic thing, something that grew out of your interactions with your customers and the public. These days, brand image is far more likely to be manufactured than it is to grow naturally.

There are two main aspects of branding that can be boosted by promotional gifts: brand image and brand recognition. A successful promotional product will serve both of those aspects equally well. When you’re choosing promotional gifts and products for any purpose
– events, trade shows, marketing giveaways, thank you gifts and even employee incentives
– it’s important to consider both of those aspects. When you choose marketing or trade show promotional products that are in tune with your company’s image, you are amplifying your sales potential. By contrast, a marketing giveaway that doesn’t fit the image that you want your company to project, you could damage your sales.

So how does one go about choosing the right promotional products, the ones that will serve as advertising, or entice the customers that you want to buy your products? The single most important thing is to KNOW the image that you want your company to present. Once you’ve decided who your company is, it’s far easier to design your marketing and promotion to fit your image.

A second thing to keep in mind is that style and quality are as important as items when you’re using promotional products as branding tools. In other words, the design and style of the items that you choose will actually carry at least as much weight as what the item actually is. A staid High Street law firm and a trendy teen accessory shop can both give away promotional pens, for instance, and have them well-received, but the style that works best for each of them will be far different.

The bank, wanting to project an image of tradition and solidity, might choose sleek ball pens imprinted with the bank logo and name. It suits their brand well, and will further their image as a solid financial institution. In contrast, the teen shop wants to promote its image as a quirky, fun place where you can find the latest and hippest gear. Their choice of promotional pens might be a twisty-bendy version in eye-popping colors for maximum visibility.

The same principle applies to many other promotional gift items that you could use for branding purposes. Among the most popular giveaway gifts that are easy to adapt for branding are:

- Printed mugs that carry your logo available in a wide range of styles and colors

- Promotional umbrellas that can be very proper or a barrel of fun depending on color and style.

- Carrier bags, cases and folders that can run the gamut from ultra-sophisticated to kitschy and cute.

If you’re having trouble deciding on appropriate promotional products or gifts to suit your company’s image, you’ll find help at one of the many suppliers of promotional items online. Poke around online catalogs, and take advantage of the consultants that are available to help you choose and place your order.

The 'No Brand' Brand

2007-07-07T02:46:00.001-07:00

Branding is ‘the’ buzzword of the 21st Century. It is the consumer’s bible by which we live by to distinguish what is ‘right’ about certain products and services and what is ‘wrong’. Branding is there to create a connection with our inner selves, and just as we as humans are infinitely varied and different, so too are the brands that we are exposed to. Yet what if you turned your back on brands, or at least say you have. If a brand is a corporate identity, are you not in effect turning your back on identifying yourself to the general public? With the debut opening of the first Muji store in the New York Time Building at the end of the year I think it’s a fitting time to introduce the American public to the consumer antithesis, the ‘no brand’ brand.

A lady, sitting next to Raymond Loewy (many call him the father of Industrial Design) at dinner, struck up a conversation.
‘Why’, she asked ‘did you put two Xs in Exxon?’
‘Why ask?’ he asked
‘Because’, she said, ‘I couldn’t help noticing?’
‘Well’, he responded, ‘that’s the answer.’

If there was ever a quote best expressing the brand that is Muji, this would be it. Yes I called Muji a brand so before you double take and make sure your reading the same article let me tell you a bit about Muji.

Muji is essentially a lifestyle shop, specializing in providing simple, affordable goods while considering production and environmental impact, selling everything from wall mounted CD players to a re-used yarn elephant cuddly toy. The company is huge in Japan, with over 285 shops and 3400 employees and a range of offspring within its primary business including Cafe Muji, Meal Muji, Muji Campsite, Muji Opticians and Muji+Infill, an “off-the-peg architect designed open plan, energy efficient house”. Muji is all about minimalism, avoidance of waste in packaging and production and a strict no-logo policy. Even the name Muji is derived from the much longer ‘Mujirushi Ryōhin’, which translates as ‘No brand, quality goods’.

The great quote with Raymond Loewy is a perfect example of why Muji’s success is growing exponentially and why I can’t stop being drawn into one of the 3 shops in London every time I’m there. This corporate entity from a different land, exotic, mysterious with its indecipherable Japanese product descriptions, sucks you in like a fly to light. Normally the only readable text in the shop is the name outside although for the Japanese, the store must be like an Ikea. A lifestyle that you buy into with affordable solutions for modern living. In the West the identity of the company changes dramatically, it truly lives up to it’s name as a ‘no brand’ brand so, inadvertently yet entirely understandable, Muji has made a brand out of no brand. Why? Simple, human nature. As a human being, we remember things by association.

We remember that the last time I saw someone wearing a hooded top was that violent youth in the bar the other night, or the last pair of Doc Martins I saw were worn loose, by a guy with a shaved head and a swastika tattoo. We brand things by associations in our lives which are often played up by the companies and retailers themselves through promotion and advertising. You can argue the ‘no brand’ brand allows an openness in interpretation and association so you may brand Muji as an environmentally aware retailer, the next guy sees it as a Japanese company with a philosophy synonymous with ancient Oriental teachings or for someone else as the guys that sell those cool T-shirts that come in 10cm cube packaging.

The real question is whether a ‘no brand’ brand is more beneficial than a ‘brand’ brand? This is of course entirely contextual. For a company, a brand is beneficial in making money and provides them with a consumer base who care about what it means to buy certain items whether it’s clothing or electronics. Yet, people grow up and move on, as do their tastes and ideals. I know a lot of people who refuse to wear obviously, physically branded clothing because as much as the clothes may be top quality workmanship, the brand association doesn’t fit into who they are as a person or they don’t feel clothes need to say anything about them as a person. This is the audience of the ‘no brand’ brand or at least it tries to be. Brands evolve over time, often exploiting certain aspects of their character to form a niche market. A good example is American Apparel. Over time their vertical integration system of manufacture, distribution and promotion has become synonymous with being sweat shop free and environmentally conscious.

In our visually saturated environment, simplifying can often physically ‘de-brand’ something. Anonymous design, as promoted by the Super Normal Exhibition, is a very powerful factor in creating something that is embraced and used, rather than idolized or displayed. Yet there needs to be a degree of availability and accessibility to the idea that means people don’t aspire to this type of design and feel they need to belong a certain type of ‘design conscious’ class. A good example of this paradox is Japanese design studio, plus minus zero, helmed by superstar Japanese designer Nauto Fukasawa. The products available exude simplicity and elegance, but due mainly to it’s availability, the design still only caters for the ‘design conscious’ or those who appreciate the ideals and design theory offered by Fukasawa. Hopefully retailers like Muji, who combine simplicity and accessibility will pave the way for a new conscious consumer, who know what they want, and know where to go to get it.

One morning I was standing in a Muji shop on Carnaby Street in London’s Soho District, inspecting the huge variety in stationary on offer. I picked up every single tool and was in awe at how simple, yet beautiful they were, when from behind me in stormed a young Japanese girl, in her mid 20’s, grabbing a big handful of a very specific ball point pens as she moved past me, walked straight to the counter, payed and walked straight out. It was at that point I realized the success of Muji in providing people what they need, rather than what they think they need.

Needless to say I bought at least 3 of those pens.

Exclusive or Inclusive, Which Jeopardizes the Brand?

2007-07-03T03:20:00.001-07:00

It has become a growing trend for high-end famous designers to partner with mass-market retailers. We’ve seen it with Karl Lagerfeld and H & M, last season’s partnership with Viktor & Rolf and H&M, and most recently Proenza Schouler and Target. These partnerships have been very lucrative for both sides. One could even argue that the mass-market retailers might be getting more out of the deal.

Of course, there are always two sides to each story. From one view point, those who believe in exclusivity are probably all set to throw away their ready-to-wear and haute couture by those said designers. From another view point, those who live on a shoe string budget and have always wanted to indulge are leaping for joy. And then there are those who probably don’t care and don’t know who the designers are or the brands they may represent.

Being exclusive somehow says to consumers that you are a brand that is coveted by many however, only available to few. Therefore, the brand has more equity and is viewed in high esteem. Many have frowned upon designers who have decided to roll up their sleeves and provide low-end retailers with a taste of high quality fashion. Thus, the loss of respect from their peers and loyal customers may drive the brand’s image down.

On the other hand, inclusiveness can open so many other avenues. Designers have the opportunity to parade their names in front of a broader audience and gain mass appeal. Also, within their lines they can create lower priced versions (i.e. Marc by Marc Jacobs). This works well especially when the designer has already partnered with a low-end retailer. In this case, the designer has established a relationship with a consumer that probably didn’t know where to buy their line, let alone able to afford it. Of course, the biggest payoff is the money. These deals are worth millions of dollars, permitting the designers to do what most designers ultimately want to do besides create beautiful clothing: increase their bottom line.

I guess the question should not be if such partnerships jeopardize their brands. The question, perhaps, should be does it jeopardize their bottom line. At the end of day, we are mere spectators with opinions and it is up to the designers to decide which question is appropriate to ask based on their ultimate goal: the money or the craft.

Diversify - Diversify - Diversify

2007-07-03T03:19:00.001-07:00

Diversifying is no longer a financial term. It can be applied to many avenues. However, it seems so relevant in the fashion world today. Brands are beginning to extend their reach. They are no longer focusing on designing one or two kinds of items. The mission of many brands is to become a lifestyle brand.

Gwen Stefani, a noted celebrity and musician, started her brand called L.A.M.B. At first, the line was clothing only-the usual sweaters, tops, dresses, skirts, and pants. Then she jumped into footwear. This past season L.A.M.B launched a line of handbags. Just recently it was reported that the brand inked a deal with Coty Inc. to put out a signature fragrance as well. The trend appears to be first to understand and master an area of fashion and then expand the offerings in your portfolio.

Many denim companies have gotten the memo as well. Seven for All Mankind at LA Fashion Week showed capes, handbags, and footwear. Union, a high quality denim brand will produce wool, leather, and velvet jackets for this coming Fall season. They also plan to put out wool pants, cashmere sweaters, and tops. Union and Seven will continue to design denim however; their focus has shifted to become more of a lifestyle brand.

Expansion is nothing new to Hugo Boss who already has deals with Movado for watches, P & G for fragrance and cosmetics, and Safilo SpA for eyewear. In the Spring ’08 Boss will bring about a new venture. The brand will partner with Swarovski for jewelry and cufflinks. The partnership will carry 3 collections: Boss Black, Boss Orange, and Boss Selection. Boss Black will offer chic items while Boss Orange will fair on the unique side. Boss Selection will present lavish cufflinks.

Becoming a lifestyle brand is often a high feat. The brand must first be established. There must already be a cherished item that consumers love. For instance, Juicy Couture first began with terry cloth and velour pieces. These were highly sought after items. From there came denim, tee shirts, handbags, accessories, fragrance, outerwear, and even a flagship store.

Really, brand expansion takes a lot of strategy, timing, and popularity. But once the brand begins on the journey, the opportunities are infinite.

Your Marketing Message and Your Picture

2007-06-29T02:53:00.001-07:00

The most important thing that gets communicated by having a picture of yourself in your marketing materials is professional confidence. Your willingness to present a face of the “person behind the message” tells your prospective clients, customers and students a lot.

For one, your picture can project subtleties such as whether your “vibe” matches your marketing message. Other things are much more obvious such as your professionalism and if you’ve invested in your business. These things and more can enhance or degrade the message you bring to the world.

Let’s find out where you and your business stand.

1. Don’t fit in, fit out

In the internet age of anyone throwing together a website or hanging up a shingle in town and calling themselves “in business,” it becomes easy for you to blend into a sea of similar professionals. Blending-in makes you and your business forgettable. Standing out does not require you to be loud, obnoxious or sales-y, but it does require you to be authentic and open. Express your uniqueness by putting a face to the message you bring to the world.

2. Connect with your potential clients

Having a picture gives your potential clients peace of mind that you’re willing to stand behind your product or service. It gives your business a human touch and creates connection between you and your customers. Consumers are desperate for a little humanity in the goods and services they buy. You gain an edge in your marketplace by authentically connecting with your buyers.

3. A picture tells a thousand words

When I go to a website, one of the first pages I click on is the “about” link. Why? You can tell a lot by a picture. Does the life coach look friendly, kind and approachable? Does the mental health professional look relatively balanced and together? Does the nutritionist look vibrant and healthy? Does the dentist have good teeth? Does the business coach look like they have their affairs in order? Get the idea? Whether you’re selling a product, service or program, show us you match your message with your picture.

4. Quality photos makes a difference

Professionally taken pictures offer proper lighting and a background that adds to your message versus distracting from it. These two elements give a sense of clarity to your picture, and thus your message. You can have a great shot but without proper lighting, it can look dark and grainy and as a result, projects a “shady” look.

5. This isn’t a beauty contest

There’s nothing like being in business for yourself that will have you dealing directly with your fears of “being seen.” Having a picture in your marketing is not about being beautiful and photogenic. You only need to exude a feeling that matches your marketing message and personal style. This can be done in a number of ways:

- Get a closely cropped head shot where only your face is in the frame. No one has to see your body!
- Get black and white pictures taken – everyone looks good in black and white shots!
- Get your hair done for your photo shoot so you look and feel your best.
- Hire a graphic designer to create a cartoon caricature image of your photo and use this instead of a real photo. This is fun and adds a lot of style.
- Hire a photographer to come to you and get shots taken in the settings that feel most comfortable for you.

6. Match your message

There’s credibility in having Bill Gates as the face of Microsoft. His geeky look fits Microsoft’s not-so hip, but functional image. Chef Mario Batali as the face of his ever-expanding cooking show brand is fitting for Italian food lovers. We believe he loves to cook, eat and have fun by just observing his “big” presence. When you’re being yourself and your work is a reflection of who you are, it’s easy to have your picture match your message.

While being seen and sharing more of who you are does not make you more important nor does it guarantee success, in the lifestyle improvement field using a picture of the “person behind the message” brings connection, humanity and warmth to your marketing message. Putting your face “out there” is an edgy place to stand. However, if you don’t take stand for something in your marketing materials, you stand for nothing.

Branding Your Business

2007-06-29T02:52:00.000-07:00

Branding your business venture is the most important aspect you will every undertake. It will define your business to your prospects and future customers. If you rely on partners they too will find you based on how you are perceived in the marketplace. With the internet this has become mission critical to the fortune 500 companies and arguably the small to medium sized business ventures as well. The cost to secure a customer is tremendous. The effort to keep them and maintain their brand loyalty is what will separate the start ventures from the brick and mortar companies.

Deciding on your brand takes time and planning. It's a good idea to invest in a partner that acts as your marketing therapist is a sense. Find a company that specializes in your niche. Perhaps a business that has a track record of success in assisting early phase companies to the market. Your business name to your actual logo will tell your prospects all about your service or products you offer. It's very important to understand who your competition is and what distinguishes their offerings from what you are planning. Perhaps you are carving out a market share strategy and your brand is capable of taking customers away from existing business ventures already established. This has both upside and downside potential.

Clearly the upside is an established market exists. You must then decide on whether you are a me-too offering and you will take market share by offering a lower price thus your value is economically driven. Or, you see an opportunity to enhance the niche players with a better solution. Pull customers away from an established market by providing something unique or perhaps better than what is presently addressing their needs and thus their precious dollars spent. It all gets back to your brand. If you develop your brand carefully you can target your markets and clients with pin point accuracy. Trial and error is key and you should test market your ideas with the major search engines as an example.

You can setup a test lab by investing in, for example, Google Adsense. This program allows you to test out your message by attracting customers who are typing in searches on Google. You pay per click but most importantly you can see the reaction of the market to your brand and brand awareness campaigns. You will need a landing page on the internet so think through this carefully so you can capture demand trends based on search criteria. It's fast and fairly easy to setup and all the major search engines have this capability or they are coming to the market shortly with it. I found this a very valuable piece of my startup investment as I played a lot of different niche scenarios with it and created initial drive towards our current world wide web location (see my bio for more information). What is important here is to do the work up front. Don't launch a great idea without testing your brand. We have many ideas in this area at our corporate web site .

Personal Branding - The Foundation Of Massive Success

2007-06-22T03:06:00.003-07:00

The concept of using personal branding to spread the word or market a product is one that can be traced back many centuries. During ancient Roman times, leaders were known for decorating money with their faces plastered across the outside of coins. Today, where would KFC be without the Colonel or Wendy's without Dave Thomas' freckle-faced girl? Personal branding has without a doubt become an easily recognizable approach towards marketing a business, product, or service.

Throughout history, the technique has garnered widespread recognition and respect that has been used to capture the attention of the public. Successful individuals are able to also get what they want out of life and any business pursuits they may approach. Personal branding may also be used to boost the sales of a product, especially when their name becomes associated with a particular approach or system. This is seen with concepts, such as Pilates or the Atkins Diet. This same technique has also been used throughout history as a way to spread and develop religion, including Buddhism.

In the world of business, extreme success comes when an individual becomes connected to a particular career where as soon as their name is mentioned, the majority of people across the nation (and even sometimes the world) take notice or can identify. This is seen in notable personalities, such as Mozart, Einstein, and even more recently – Oprah, Madonna, and Bill Gates.

All of the above have been able to take an aspect of their life and share it with the world to the point that they have become a trusted representation of their trade. Oprah is known as such a successful media personality and entrepreneur that people purchase her pick for Book of the Month. Madonna can do no wrong in the entertainment business, as she has built a solid career spanning numerous decades. When news of computers and the advancement of technology hit the headlines, it is Bill Gates that tends to find his way into most software-related conversations.

To start on the path towards successful personal branding, there are plenty of seminars, books, and marketed techniques. An individual must also learn how to self-package their image for the world to accept. These efforts should be approached as a way to manage a profession, where the public can easily identify and communicate with an image that appears unique or compelling enough to create a response.

Dome Labels and Tags

2007-06-22T03:06:00.001-07:00

Printing Process Description:There are many components that come together to form a crystal-clear, full color, three-dimensional (3D), flexible Dome Label. The components are bonded together to form a high quality decal that will last many years. They are listed below.

Material Specifications:

Dome: This top layer of the Dome Label consists of polyurethane that is poured, as a liquid, over the ink, onto the material. The Dome takes a period of time to cure to the material and harden into a crystal clear protective coating that gives the decal the high-end look that customer's notice.

Ink / Color: Dome Labels and Decals are digitally printed, four color stickers. They are usually built with spot colors and Pantone® colors from CMYK. When requesting pms matches, request a sample proof to verify color match.

Material: The most common Dome Tag and Decal material is the 2mil shiny silver chrome material, also 2mil brushed silver and 2mil white.

Adhesive: Most dome sticker and decal materials come with a 2 or 4mil acrylic permanent adhesive. Versatile and general purpose, it has excellent adhesion to a wide range of surfaces including metals and most ABS plastics. Excellent initial tack. Minimum application temp is 60ºF; service range is -40º to +180ºF.

Liner: The liner holds your dome decal flat and protects the adhesive until it is ready for use. Most dome labels ship flat on a coated paper liner or clear poly liner. Also available: a specific liner, domes supplied on rolls or domes that have a built in curve to be applied to rounded surfaces.

What types of shapes can be domed? Any shape without square corners or without corner radiuses less than 0.10" can be produced. Complex construction is available as well. There are many other shapes that are available with cutouts, embossed domes, shapes containing transparent windows and others.

Transparent and opaque domed labels: Transparent inks can give your dome label an attention getting "pop" that your customers will notice. Transparent inks allow the sheen of the label material to show through the inks, making the inks look like they are shiny. This is most apparent with the silver chrome material.

Brand Management: Customer vs. Employee

2007-06-18T22:59:00.001-07:00

When it’s all said and done, all you’re truly left with at the end of the day is your company’s brand and what your brand stands for in the minds of both your customers and employees. But do you manage your company brand for the benefit of both constituencies: customers and employees?

Most companies that I consult with focus their brand management efforts solely on the customer. But if you’re really serious about differentiating your brand from your competitors, then I suggest that you begin to manage and think about your brand from a dual, yet fully aligned point of view: customers and employees.

Your brand, be it appliances, electronics, automobiles, clothing, etc. serves as a powerful magnet that attracts both customers and employees to your front door, while also serving as an anchor to hold them. The best companies manage their brands from both the customer and employee perspective. And why not, after all isn’t it your front-line store employees who are the face and personality of your brand to your customers?

Your current brand management focus and responsibilities should encompass the two most important components of your business: your customers and store employees.

Customer Perspective: Great brands connect with their customers on an emotional level vs. logical. It terms of emotion, what does it feel like viscerally to do business with you?

Brand positioning starts with a frame of reference that communicates to your customers an expectation they can achieve when doing business with you. However, you have to know who you are before you can convince others.

Many companies often promote attributes of their products and services that consumers don’t care about. It’s important to assess not only product benefits and features but in addition the customers buying experience: every point of contact, commonly referred to as “moments of truth" or “touch points."

From the moment your customers approach your stores to the moment they leave, what was the experience like? From exterior, to store design, to product offering, to service - is your customer buying experience fast, friendly, and helpful?

It’s the overall experience that your customers will recall when it’s time for them to purchase again, therefore make it positive and memorable. While careful consideration of your brands point of differentiation is important, just as important are your points of parity with your other products and services. Be sure to assess on a continual basis your points of parity otherwise brand attributes that were once differentiators may become minimum requirements, also know as “price of entry."

Employee Perspective: If providing your customers with a fast, friendly, helpful and memorable buying experience is key to success, then I think we’d all agree that the folks serving your customers are the critical link. Not technology, products, or store design; but people! Don’t get me wrong, technology, products, and hard assets are indeed important to your business, however, successful branding is all about connecting with your customers on an emotional level, and that can only be achieved on the human level.

Technology is a great enabler, however your brands real moment of truth is when your customers are standing at the transaction counter looking into the face of your sales associate. It is at this moment that all your branding efforts (promises) are either fulfilled or broken (*). Managing the employee dimension of your brand involves: recruiting, interviewing and selection, training, career development and business culture, which includes: motivation, teamwork, reward and recognition, and leadership. It is the people side of the business that represents your brand to your customers that create the emotional link for brand loyalty.

Brand Management: Defining Your Brand Position

2007-06-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

What does your brand stand for? More importantly, how would your customers answer that question since brands don’t create wealth customers do.

Brand positioning starts with a frame of reference, which signals to consumers the goal they can expect to achieve. Customers have expectations that they attach to brands. Over time those expectations change and it’s up to the brand to change accordingly. The brand and the category it competes in are not static things.

Consumer’s change and so must brands; brands must be in lockstep with consumers. Brands are just one instrument among many with which to build customer equity; brands serve as a magnet to attract new customers as well as an anchor to hold existing customers.

The name of the game is symbolism: the strategic focus should be on what your brand stands for as well as how your brand delivers and executes in the eyes of the consumer.

So who’s managing your brand? Do you have a brand manager? I think we’d all agree that brand management is critical for profitable growth. But having said that, it’s surprising how many companies have numerous product category managers yet no brand managers.

Here are three areas of your business to closely examine when it comes to brand management.

Product: Regardless of what business you’re in, it all starts with your product. No matter how great your service might be, if your product is unreliable and inferior, you’re not going to be around very long.

Just look around; how many businesses have disappeared from the American landscape due to poor product quality or the inability to adapt and change their product offering as consumers tastes have evolved and changed.

Having a quality product no longer gives you a competitive advantage; it is instead the price of admission - the ante just to get into the game. In-store product offerings need to be closely monitored to adapt to today’s ever-changing consumer.

Understanding who your customers are and effectively managing your customer segments is critical to your long-term success.

People: A winning brand formula is taking your product or service that consistently delivers your customers expectations and wrap it with great people. People who are not only knowledgeable about your brand, but consistently deliver it in a fast, friendly, and helpful manner.

When consumers see products and services as being equal, then it is your people that help you create brand separation. In a commodity perceived industry, you simply cannot invest enough in the people (*) who are the face and personality of your brand in the eyes of your customers.

Community: Community involvement is the one dimension of brand management that is often overlooked. It’s understandable the amount of time devoted to product and people development.

Truly great brands understand that product and people alone will not engender brand endearment in the minds and hearts of today’s consumers. Consumers want and expect more.

Great brands weave themselves into the very fabrics of the communities they serve. From fundraisers, to charitable contributions, participating at soup kitchens for the poor and homeless, to blood, clothing and book drives, and lets not forget sponsorship for various community organizations.

Community involvement is just that: involvement. Money is one thing, but some of the great brands volunteer a tremendous amount of their time to pitch in where needed. Not only will community involvement enhance your brand image among consumers, it will also do wonders for employee morale, as well as your recruiting and retention efforts.

Beyond Branding - What Your Customers Are Really Shopping For

2007-06-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

Your brand is identified by a logo or a look, but it is ultimately a perception that rests with your customer. Words are a powerful tool for conveying brand benefits and building a positive consumer perception of your product or service.

Research shows that consumers typically spend less than seven seconds reading a label in the store, and that they only remember the first two or three branding statements they read. The more text there is on a package, the less likely a consumer is to read any of the branding messages.

So, how do you choose which words will represent your brand? Should you use the jargon of your target market? Be trendy, down-to-earth, or old-fashioned?

The best way to make words work for you is to choose words that address your customer’s needs. Four consumer needs that impact brand loyalty are emotional, social, intellectual, and security needs.

Emotional – People want to feel good about what they buy, so make sure that your brand gives consumers reasons to feel good about your product or service. Shout “feel good” by using bright colors and a clean layout for your branding collateral. Most importantly, make sure that your branding text is relevant, memorable, and easy-to-read.

Continental Airlines has an ad in their in-flight magazine, that reads Continental: Official Airline of Face-To-Face Meetings. They’re selling to emotional needs by offering reassurance in the language that their business customers use. That single line tells consumers, “Continental understands what’s important to you, and we’re very good at helping you make it happen. You can trust us with your business travel.” It’s branding that feels good.

Social – Humans have an innate need for affiliation, or belonging, and choosing words that appeal to that need is another way to build loyalty for your brand. Consumer preference data and testimonials are two resources for effectively selling to consumers’ social needs.

“More people choose Sally Bacchetta than any other freelance writer on the planet”, or “I learned skills in Sally Bacchetta’s sales training workshop that I hadn’t learned in 10 years of field sales experience.” You get the idea.

Intellectual – We all like to believe that we spend our money wisely. Satisfy your customers’ intellectual buying needs with words that describe the value of your product or service. One of my first lessons as a rookie pharmaceutical representative was to differentiate purchase cost from usage cost. My antibiotic cost more to purchase than my competitor’s, but because it afforded better outcomes and shorter length of treatment, the cost to use was significantly less. Using objective facts to fulfill your customers’ intellectual buying needs can strengthen the connection to your brand.

Security – Consumers want to trust the products they buy and the companies they do business with. Would you buy a bottle of aspirin from a stranger on the street? Probably not. But you might if that stranger is wearing a Walgreen’s jacket and a tie and standing in a kiosk decorated with Walgreen’s banners. Still a stranger, but a stranger in a brand that we trust.

Choose words that tell consumers why they should trust you. “Four generations of our family have done business with four generations of yours”, or “Certified by the National Association of Pharmaceutical Sales Trainers.” Consumer confidence must be earned over time, but it begins with your branding collateral.

By using words that resonate with your customers’ emotional, social, intellectual, and security needs, you position your brand squarely inside your customers’ comfort zone and increase the probability of purchase.

21 Proven Ways To Use PR to Build Your Brand (Part Three)

2007-06-12T05:06:00.000-07:00

Public relations or PR is the best way to build your personal or professional brand.

Many people think PR is about 'spin' but it is about building strong relationships with all your important stakeholder groups.

How can you build your brand using PR? Here are the third seven of 21 tips.

15. Write a Letter

Express your opinion on a current topic by writing a letter to the editor.

A time-tested way of taking a stand and gaining visibility.

If it is controversial enough and you have expertise in the area it may even turn into a story in its own right so be prepared for a call from a reporter!

16. Release a Letter You Have Received

Again, if it is controversial and newsworthy, the media may be interested. It could be a historical letter never before published providing new insight, feedback on a product or service or a commendation.

If you want to control where it is seen, just publish the positive letters you get from clients on your website or in your newsletter.

Nothing builds success and helps credibility like third party endorsement from others.

17. Adapt National Reports and Surveys For Local Use

Local media are always looking for local angles on big national or international stories.

18. Stage a Debate

The more diverse and divisive the opinions the more the sparks will fly.

My favourite is the Geoffrey Robertson style Hypothetical debate where you have a panel of experts debate a scripted hypothetical scenario.

I love researching, writing and then hosting these fun and entertaining yet unpredictable debates.

By the way if you're looking to add one one of these to your next conference, drop me an email or talk to your favourite speakers bureau, and let me show you how a professional speaker can take the risk out of running a hypothetical at your next event.

19. Tie-in With a Well-known Week or Day

At this time last year, a client of mine received exceptional national exposure on how to check if you are a chocoholic. Perfect for Easter!

20. Organise a Media Tour

Let the media get an inside view of how you work and your operations. Remember to think picture opportunities for photographers and TV camera operators.

21. Interview An Expert

This is a time proven way to gain good PR. And, podcasting makes it so easy! Always aim to interview someone who has high credibility and visibility that complements your business.

Listen to how Mohamed Tohami (pictured right) from Egypt interviews myself to build his PR and brand. Turn up your speakers and listen to this podcast now.

Case Study - Me to We - Re-Branding a Non-Profit Group

2007-06-07T04:52:00.001-07:00

It is essential that when you start a non-profit group that you fully consider all the implications of the message you send out. A simple catchy slogan can destroy all the good will intent if done incorrectly. Let's look at a case study shall we?

The "Me to We Organization" was started to help the Children of the World, its headquarters are in Canada, but like many non-profit organizations it will gladly take volunteers or donations from anyone in any nation. Thus a target market for wealthy donors might be in the United States. Of course if we look at the name of the organization and the title, we should see some obvious mistakes in branding.

"Me to We" suggests giving up the individual for the whole. Well that is like saying Capitalism is Bad and Communism is Good. Yet we know from history that the biggest abuses of human rights have been caused in communist nations. You may email me if you need historical examples. The branded logo uses an interlocked m and w as the symbol, which is good as it suggests combining the two, but the slogan suggests erasing the individual for the many.

Thus the new symbol should be;

M

W = E2

If you put the M and W together on top of one another they form a symmetrical shape with an = sign in between you are left with E over E or One. Thus the Whole is the One and the One is the Whole you see? Then if you take the two E's left over you can multiply the efficiency. E squared. And this is a take-off of E=MC2 and so that ought to be the symbol for the movement.

We do not wish to change people when building a philanthropic endeavor; we wish to enhance understanding, proper thinking and ability to live in harmony. In this case study it should be evident that a huge error has been made and the lesson is; Do not take away the individual fore "I" may be able to do what 50 people can do, why waste efficiency.

Indeed, why should someone have to give up self to join a group to help others? Groucho Marx might have a comment on that; remember his famous quote.

"I would not join any club that would have someone like me for a member."

Do not destroy the individual for the betterment of the whole and do not destroy the whole for the betterment of the one. Actually philosophically if you destroy either you are doing the same thing anyway and we are all doomed to repeat.

It is not about "We thinking" or "We acting" as an actualized individual already does that automatically; altruistic gene [obviously part of the human make-up]. You see if someone makes a group "Me to We" then many individuals will say that I am 'never interested in being part of that' thus you lose all the superstars, but if we add the WE to ME or the ME to WE then WE all win. That is a Win/Win +.

I think as it stands the "Me to We" sends the incorrect message when you think it through. Although it is quite catchy on the surface for such an organization. They must enhance the volunteer individual, add to their self; do not take it away or change them into something that they are not.

I hope you have enjoyed this case study of a disaster in Non-profit Branding. The organization "Me to We" seems to or appears to have incorporated a slightly different slogan for another division of its philanthropy; "Feed The Children" so perhaps they have come to realize this branding issues. Of course one has to wonder if the stigma still rests in the minds of the observers.

This Case Study is your Branding Philosophy of the day and I sincerely hope it helps you in building better organization. This should help you understand the importance of good branding in the success as you build your dream.

Strengthen Your Corporate Brand Image For Optimum Results

2007-06-07T04:51:00.001-07:00

The brand image of an organization mirrors its reputation among the masses. As such, business organizations work tirelessly to create such brands that would register an impression of loyalty and trust with the customers. Once this happens, customers are attracted naturally to your brand, registering profit for your business. An established brand finds it easier to introduce new products and make experiments on account of the trust its brand image has created on its customers. But modifications are not always welcome when a brand has not been able to register popularity with the masses. Hence enhancing your corporate brand image is highly necessary to ensure a thumping success in your business.

To begin the process, check out the current status of your business. Besides, find out how your brand is perceived by your target audience. If your brand image has failed to register too much trust with your target audience, necessary changes are a must. These changes need to be chalked out carefully and should be discussed by the stakeholders too. Any change in the brand image will require a change in the corporate logo design too. These changes are, by no means, risk-free. A broad research needs to be performed before giving green signal for such modifications. Discussions with stakeholders or hiring a third party to carry on with the research work prove to be helpful. However, it's highly important to ensure that the research results are reliable; for reliability ensures the success of your corporate brand image.

Company staff cannot carry out proper assessment of your corporate brand image because they tend to be a little biased. The research results should reflect the strengths and weaknesses of your organization in proper light. Ultimately, the goal of your research is to synchronize the company’s perception of its own image with that of the stakeholders. Besides, such research programs allow the organization to judge its reputation among its customers. Next begins the step to improve its image and make it more popular with the people. Change of a company's corporate image is not confined to changing its logo. In fact, the logo may not be changed at all! Image change can be carried out through effective advertising and marketing techniques. Advertising is not just related to the products but the personalities and values attached to them. For example, a brand endorsed by a current no.1 sports personality will carry greater weight than by an erstwhile popular star. There are some brands that have earned their reputation through their quality products. For instance, the "Volvo" brand brings to mind the safety of their products. Such effective trust is not built within a few days. Consistency is required to reach such levels of reputation and trust. Your corporate brand image will surely register a change once you make changes in your advertising techniques and ensure consistence in the quality of your products. Good advertising tricks will rope in more customers and good quality of your products will help to retain the trust that the customers have newly reposed in your products.

It should always be remembered that brands create an indelible impact on people's mind. The customers instantly recognize a brand by its company logo design. So enhance the prospects of your business by concentrating on your corporate image. "Consistency is the name of the game" and a consistent effort on your part to maintain the image and quality of your products would take your brand to a higher pedestal.

Do You Need Brand Consultants or Branding Agencies in UK to Boost Your Business?

2007-05-25T05:01:00.001-07:00

If you think that your company will build a brand name on its own and will lead you to a profitable future, think again. Perhaps you are loosing something.

It takes a lot of hard work, intricate planning along with proper and timely implementation of the process plan to create and maintain a sellable brand image.

This is important when you are selling your product straight in the open market. A proper branding becomes more crucial when you are selling some concept that does not have an immediate face value. In such cases you need to cash on people’s faith on your promises. People will invest on your project if you have built a proper brand of your company that sends well if not brilliant signals of hope, prosperity and worthiness to your target audience.

It takes time to push a brand name to the zenith, but if someone is planning to start it in some near future, he or she is only pulling them behind the competitor. You must remember that in this age of electronic media, news spreads miles in fraction of a second.

However, branding of a company does not simply depend on media’s response. Though a reputed media house is a strong mass opinion builder and a positive support from them can boost your image, still it is not the only determining factor as some erroneously believe.

In fact they only put fire on one end of a long rope and people (your target market) discuss about them and whisper them from one ear to another. You should not underestimate these whispers as they prove to be one of the most powerful, effective and lasting advertising medium – also known as whispering campaign.

Whispering campaign is good as long as it does not fire back. And once something goes wrong, it is almost impossible to reestablish any control over it.

Even a single piece of paper, available to your target market, with your company name printed on it or some other relationship, can play a crucial role to conclude on your company’s reputation. The designs on the page itself send signals about your company to the visitor.

You should careful handle this because once the image get disturbed, it is going to take a lot of hard work, time and money for you to regain the previous position. It is always better to take help from experienced professionals in this respect. Hopefully they know market psychology better than a novice from another field. And they can manipulate market opinion on your behalf.

Importance of Custom Logo Design

2007-05-25T05:00:00.001-07:00

Logo is an important element of marketing any brand. Having an elusive and appealing visual identity will not only provides a brand with essential recognition, but will also ensures the success of it. Thus, it is safe to conclude that a logo is the single most important part of building a long term impression on customers, along with proper marketing strategy.

It is absolutely necessary for all corporate bodies to express something unique about the company and so, here comes the importance of custom logo design. The importance of custom logo design cannot be neglected in today’s globalization era when consumer competitiveness has reached its peak. This has obvious implications on consumers who seek logos as creative beckons of companies’ artistic and distinctive pursuits. But having a custom logo design goes beyond having just the initials of the company designed in some twisted fashioned style; or comprising of a sleazy slogan that says the particular product is the best. However, it refers to a more versatile approach of having a distinctive logo that can leave a deep impression on the customers.

In order to fulfill this goal, there exists a need to hire a professional logo designer or logo designing company for a custom logo design. Though, due to financial constraints and lack of customers, it is difficult for small business owners to afford the services of these entities. But this investment is fairly reasonable as compared to the huge impact a logo can have on the company’s customers. Without proper logo, the company might end up losing more customers and will then result in the failure of the business. In its absence, the business will look unfocused, unstable and unreliable. Thus, businesses should make a considerable investment for this decisive strategy by employing professionals who design logos in a qualified and timely manner.

But having professionals design your logo does not mean that you will end up with the success rate of Nike’s Swoosh logo, or McDonald’s golden arches. But rather, it will definitely give reliability and authenticity to a brand. It is also worth noting that what these famous logos have in common is not only their simplicity but also, their genuine and valid concept. Therefore, while establishing a company’s logo, it is as important for the designers as for the company itself to keep the concept relevant and simple without much irrelevant interferences. Remember: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

Sending Mixed Messages?

2007-05-25T04:58:00.002-07:00

As human beings we tend to relate to one another on an emotional level, often speaking and acting before thinking. We can psych-speak all we want about being emotionally balanced and non-judgmental but we all do it, it is the nature of being a human being.

The problem here is not that we are fallible, emotional humans. The problem is that we tend to run our businesses as though they are our selves. You must begin to view your business as a completely separate entity that has no emotional baggage.

If you are having trouble embracing this concept try the following exercise: Take two pieces of paper and in 30 minutes or less write two profiles. The first profile should outline your business. Include everything that comes to mind about what this business is, how long it has been operating, who it serves, its position in the marketplace, the benefits of doing business with /purchasing from this company, who its employees and management are, its size in terms of physical location, customer base, employees, and revenues and its intentions for the future. The second profile should describe you as a human being. Your place of birth, where you grew up, your education, your interests and hobbies, what makes you unique, your family, your friends, your personal goals.

After completing this exercise you would ideally have come up with two unique profiles. Don't worry if yours seem too similar. It is a step in the right direction to have put this on paper and to have begun to think about how you and your company are one and the same, yet individual at the same time. Continue to work at separating the differences in your mind and on paper until you have two totally separate profiles. Then you are ready to move on.

Now that you are clear on the separateness of you and your business. It is time to review that profile to identify the message that you want your business to convey. Without the clarity of who and what your business on its own is, you were likely sending mixed messages. Allowing your business advertising and marketing to incorporate 'You' messages means incorporating your human limitations. So let's stop that and move you towards creating a Brand Image that has no limitations, that is innovative, inviting and irresistible!

Identify the top three qualities that you want your business to be known for. It may be helpful to think of this in terms of what you want people to say about their experience of doing business with your company. The challenge usually comes in narrowing your focus to just three. Everyone wants their customers to have dozens of wonderful things to say about their company. Though to clearly create Brand X you must streamline your expectations. Don't worry, if you offer great services or products and do business in a professional manner, people will have dozens of reasons at the end of the day. The idea is to ensure that your top three qualities will be articulated and felt by virtually all of your clients. This will begin to create the association between those qualities and your X company. If you think about what is the best tasting soft drink what Brand do you think of? If you think about what is the cheapest soft drink what Brand do you think of? Odds are, you've thought of two different Brands of pop. Why? Because those two particular qualities are almost always on opposite ends of the spectrum. It is extremely difficult to market yourself as the leader in both of those qualities. You must decide now what qualities you want most to be known for.

Once you have clearly identified what Brand X is known for, the next step is to start examining your current marketing efforts. Is your marketing focusing on these qualities, or is it all over the board. Remember to look at every piece of the marketing mix: advertising, collateral, communications, physical location & image, employee image, attitudes ... you name it everything conveys a message. It is time to make every aspect of your business match Brand X.

My next article will continue our work on Branding. In the meantime, start that homework. I would suggest that even if you believe you already have grasped the concept of the difference between you and your company, that you try the exercise for validation. Be intent on scrutinizing your thoughts and actions. Be determined to investing time and effort at building your business into the great venture it deserves to be.

Minding Your Own Brand - Why Did The Relationship End?

2007-05-25T04:58:00.001-07:00

Recently a number of couples I know are getting a divorce. One relationship ended because one of them found someone who met their needs more than their spouse did and another marriage is ending due to lack of passion. A third couple is calling it quits not because of one particular issue, but instead because of a building up of many little things that went unresolved and turned into one big problem. In each case, one of the partners in the relationship didn’t realize that things were that bad until it was too late and the relationship was beyond repair.

After thinking about these failed relationships, I realized that this is often the same situations that happen in business everyday. Customers sever ties with companies leaving owners scratching their heads wondering “what happened, I thought they liked us.”

Each day, customers are leaving relationships with companies at rates that rival the national divorce rate. So what can companies learn from these divorcing couples that will help them retain customers?

Like the first couple, many companies feel they lose customers because someone better comes along. They think that with cheaper prices, more selection, or bigger advertising budgets, how can they compete? While on the surface this may be true, a customer’s decision was probably not a snap one. Over time, the company failed to meet their needs one little thing at a time. Then “pool boy” came along and the customer fell deeply in love with this new company because it promised to fulfill every need and had cheaper prices, more selection, and better advertising.

The second couple’s problems centered on passion. Passion is critical for customer retention, but that passion is not one-sided. Companies must also have a passion for their customers. They must appreciate them and strive to provide an extraordinary experience which fuels passion or else customers will leave for a younger, sexier company that ignites their passion.

Finally, the third couple offers a valuable lesson. Little issues that go unresolved can add up to big problems. Everything you say and do creates the customer experience, so be proactive and try to solve issues before they arise. Even proactive companies can’t always be perfect, but they can offer extraordinary experiences when they aren’t. If you mess-up, admit it and make the resolution of the issue an extraordinary experience. A problem moment can often be the best opportunity to “wow” a customer and gain them as a passionate advocate.

So work on your relationships each day and make every interaction extraordinary. If you don’t, you may wake up one day to customers asking you for divorce.

The Power of Successful Logo & Branding

2007-05-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

Tips For Creating A Memorable Logo

Everyday consumers are bombarded with millions of marketing and advertising brands. Typically you will only remember a handful of them and more than likely they are big business names. Competition in the logo world is difficult, but with these tips your businesses will shine.

Take Time To Research

Discover what your competitors have already done. This is a must do for your business. It gives you a chance to see what has already been done, strengths, weaknesses and is a great brainstorming technique.

Research your internal business as well. Find adjectives that punctuate your organizations mission. What distinguishes your organization from competitors? Dig deep to reflect the overall feel and uniqueness inside.

During your research remember that anything can be used as your logo. Whether it be animals, abstract shapes, letters, numbers, nature, or animation. No matter what you choose they all can be used to create a recognizable symbol for your business.

In addition you will want to research your customer or target market. Take into consideration their lifestyle, values, needs, and demographics. An excellent way to identify with your audience is to uncover what they relate to.

Leave an Impression

Simplicity is key to a lasting impression. You must not “awe” your audience with overwhelming detail. Think of your logo as a smile that represents your company. This smile is filled with life that draws consumers in to discover what your business is all about.

When consumers see the Pepsi logo they immediately think cool, fun and pleasurable. Pepsi leaves a first-class memorable impression. Keep in mind although we live in a colorful society black and white are still recognizable and beautiful.

When creating your logo, internal, external, and audience research are vitally important to executing a successful logo. Logos are very simple, so keep yours simple. Have your logo represent your organizations brand, its products, identity and trademarks.

Small Business Branding - You Can't Avoid It

2007-05-17T04:28:00.003-07:00

Tips on Brand Management for Small Business

You can't avoid branding, so make it work for you, not your competitors. Many business owners believe branding is only for the big guns, for major companies with large marketing budgets. People that run small and medium sized businesses often have a reluctance to invest in branding. But branding isn't about what you believe. It's what your customers and potential customers believe.

EWO Consulting can help you build and promote your brand to your strategic advantage. We have graphic designers in-house so we can start with a blank sheet of paper and support you throughout your branding journey.

Here's the secret:

In the hearts and minds of your customers, you have a brand whether you strategically create it and nurture it, or not.

Therefore branding is relevant to any business no matter how large or small.

So what is a brand?

A brand is more than a name - it's a perception in the market about what your company or products represent. Since the early 70s branding and positioning have been inextricably linked.

"Positioning is not what you do to the product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect." Al Ries (1972; "Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind" by Jack Trout and Al Ries).

It's easier to understand branding and positioning if we work backwards. Every company or product has its position in the market. Your customers have their own perception of your position. For example, they might perceive you as:

o The established leader a strong number two

o The most experienced a new player with potential

o Good with small clients the biggest operator

o Premium quality cheap alternative

o Most reliable product best service support

o Stable and proven most innovative

The list is endless and it varies depending on the market you are in. Your company or product might fit in to more than one, but there's usually one element (positive or negative) that resonates in their perception of your company or product. It 's a position that your brand occupies in the mind of your customer.

Is this perception rational or emotional?

Extensive studies in recent years have shown that most decisions we make are emotionally driven. We may be able to support them rationally, sometimes with amazing intellect and logic, but they're born in emotion.

University of Washington: "Brain scan imaging supports the idea that every time you have to make a choice in your personal life, you need to feel the projected outcome of each choice - subconsciously or intuitively. You then make that choice according to the projected feeling."

Michael Newman, Creative Director of ad agency DNA and author of "The 22 Irrefutable Laws of Advertising (and when to violate them)": "Human decision making is emotional, spiritual, political and, perhaps least of all, rational. The truth is, we aren't really rational beings. We are more human than that."

It's worth repeating:

In the hearts and minds of your customers, you have a brand whether you strategically create it and nurture it, or not.

If you have ignored branding, for whatever reasons, then the good news is there is an untapped marketing edge you can explore in your business. For a business with minimal marketing budget and tight market, branding can provide a cost-effective edge over your competitors.

So is a strong product or business name important to good targeted branding?

Yes, a relevant and memorable company or product name is important to a strong brand. But so is almost everything else you do in your business. Anything that may affect the perception of your customer affects the value of your brand.

A simple but important key is to know the values and image you want your brand (company or products) to represent. It's surprising how many small to medium businesses ignore this basic step in building their business.

Then it is important that your staff, bank, customers, suppliers, competitors and alliances all have the same perception. Like most business principles, establishing and maintaining a good branding isn't rocket science. It just requires some focus.

Every business, no matter how small, will be a stronger business with the right approach to branding. EWO can help you quickly analyze your brand and positioning and work with you through the process of creating, re-aligning or building your brand strategy.

Be A Pro With Your Logo

2007-05-17T04:28:00.001-07:00

Want to bring recognition and credibility to your company? Obviously the answer is yes, but how do you do it? The most recognizable feature of most products is the logo. It’s best to make this feature stand out because a logo is more than just a symbol, it’s a statement.

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a logo, or logotype as: an identifying symbol (as used in advertising). When consumers see your logo, you want them to recognize what it is, and what it represents. No matter the size of your business, logos are one thing where the playing field is level for everyone. Small mom-and-pop shops can have as good of a logo as the largest corporation in the world. It’s more about what the logo represents than the actual design.

The company logo should represent the image that you want to portray. Whether that is cutting edge with flashy graphics and bright colors, or simple designs which represent tradition and reliability. The logo can say whatever you want it to, that’s the beauty of it. It should serve as a reminder, or extension of what your company is about.

A great example of this is the Apple computer company logo. The image of an apple with a bite out of it is a reference to the biblical story of Adam and Eve. The apple represents the same one eaten by Adam at the tree of knowledge. This identifies the Apple company as a key to knowledge.

To be fair, there probably aren’t a lot of people that are aware of the meaning behind the Apple logo. But, there aren’t many people who could see the logo and not know what company it represents. In reality, Apple has been around for a long time, but the current image is that of cutting edge and new. The newest version of the Apple logo keeps the same traditional shape but fine tunes the appearance. They have added an almost chrome looking exterior to appear “new-age” and in style. They tie this into their advertising and new products by making Apple computers appear more advanced than the traditional PC.

This logo works because traditional Apple users will identify the shape of the logo as the same from before, while younger generations will identify with the new sleek look. Apple can maintain the tradition that the logo carries with it and at the same time seem new to consumers. This proves the importance of a logo and its ability to adapt with time. A good logo can pass through different generations and still appeal to everyone.

Now remember, we’re still just talking about a simple symbol. But, as you can tell, it’s more than just that. The logo tells a story, and hopefully a good one. When your consumer sees your logo, they should be able to identify you with the service you provide. A positive brand image and being recognizable can go a long way in helping consumers see your logo and know you’re someone they can trust. Help your customers out and remind them that you’re here for their use. Give them a reason to identify you and position yourself to stand out above the rest. Be a pro with your logo.

New Business Design - All You Need To Know To Start Trading In Style

2007-05-17T04:27:00.001-07:00

So you've decided to set up a new business, the idea is good, the bank has given you the green light and everything is looking peachy. Wait a minute haven't you forgotten something? Yes, that's right - your trousers! With all that excitement you clean forgot to put any on this morning. Anything else you air brained fool? Yes 5 points there at the back - what you need above all else is an unforgettable look to knock the competition dead.

Step 1: The Logo Design

What are the things to look out for when thinking about your new business logo design? Well we could bore you to tears on the subject or we could just get right in there and divulge the secrets every successful company has learnt at some stage about good logo design. What? you want to hear the long, boring answer? All right we'll save the secret to a successful logo design for another tutorial then. The first thing you need to do is establish your market, its no good trying to be all things to all men - it can't be done. Lets say we are aiming at pretty young girls - and thats not a bad market to try and tap. Go for something pink and frilly and your halfway home. Alternatively for boys you might want to pick a blue fat typeface. For a corporate market you'd be a twat to move far away from greys, blues and reds.

Top Tip: Letterspacing - increase the spacing between each letter to a ridiculously large amount. This will then give a standard typeface such as ariel a new dignified gravitas that speaks volumes about your cutting edge new business design.

Step 2: The Business Stationary Design

The holy trinity in the designers canon. Your business card, your letterhead and not forgetting wee little compliment slip hiding away behind his big A4 size wise cracking brother. It's imperative for every new business to order far more business stationary than they can ever hope to use. Typical figures for example might be a thousand double sided matte laminated business cards. You'll be impressed with the quality and feel for approximately one week. Copiously handing them out at soirees and meet and greets before filing the remainder away in a drawer never to be seen again. As for letterhead and compliment slips, why not plumb for another couple of thousand print run with maybe an embossed logo to impress any blind friends you might have? Key design concepts are to try and make them in some way different from the billions of other designs that have gone before.

Top Tip: Try to avoid using large blocks of flat colour on letterheads and compliment slips. 9 times out of 10 the inks will start to fade on the print run and its going to look a bit shoddy.

Step 3: The Presentation Folder or Brochure Design

Now we're cooking on gas. We've established a profound, daring, yet ultimately affectionate corporate logo design. We've taken the plunge and ordered well in excess of a quarter of a million business cards - sexy. Now comes the pinnacle of our design excitement. The corporate - or if you prefer - laid back brochure or folder design. Opinion is divided on what constitutes the best visual plan of attack on this matter. Some opt for the meat and potatoes style A4 brochure design. It's not particularly clever or innovative but only the most limited retard could fail to work out what your meant to do with it, i.e. turn the pages from right to left and look at the pages, pausing occasionally to read any words or look at pictures. Others are more inclined to go down the less tried and tested folder and inserts route - scary! Just remember to make it look nice rather than ugly and you'll not go too far wrong

Top Tip: Don't allow anyone to persuade you into going for a tailored die cut folder design. It's incredibly difficult for printers to get anything right and you're begging for trouble. Remember K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid.

Step 4: The Website Design

Up until now we've been keeping our heads down and getting on very nicely, thankyou very much. that's all about to end. Enter the world of website design. On paper it sounds easy enough - transfer what you've produced in your company brochure design up there on the old gogglebox. An easy mistake to make, what you haven't taken into account is that web design was introduced to the world less by design more by some kind of nerd magic. To get anywhere near close to producing something that looks ok on paper onto a screen takes the kind of patience and understanding not normally found in your typical right thinking human being. Suffice to say you can only have your website based on a three column grid and no you can't have it in your company colours, you'll have it in grey or nothing, alright?.

Top Tip: Please don't ask for a drop down menu. It looks fairly simple to do and your competitors all have them but we still can't get it working right and god knows we've tried, god knows we've tried...

If that hasn't inspired confidence and given you the incentive to give up already then there maybe some hope for you. Just remember design isn't rocket science, although technically speaking the rocket did have to be designed at some stage so blah blah blah etc. etc...

Shout Softly to Gain Attention

2007-05-17T04:25:00.001-07:00

It's been pretty cold around here lately; the kind of bone-chilling weather where you run from your house to the car and back again as quickly as possible.

Last Saturday, however, there was a momentary reprieve, as the thermometer reached up into the low 50s (that's about 900 foot-pounds-per-fathom, for those of you on the Imperial system). Knowing from experience that this wouldn't last long, my neighbors and I took to poking around our respective backyards like bears awoken from hibernation.

As I walked by a small, wrought iron table that sits on our back deck, I happened to notice the word "Jonathan" written on the table, in what looked like black magic marker. The marker and the table were more or less the same color, so it didn't leap right out at me, but it was there all the same. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

"Hmm," I thought to myself, "Who could have written this word here?"

I sat down to think… and then it hit me. "Of course," I remembered, "I have a 7 year-old son named ‘Jonathan.'" Off I went to take appropriate action.

Now I'm no criminologist, but I think you'd agree that if there were such a thing as the "Perfect Crime Hall of Fame" (insert your own Congress joke here), Jonathan's indiscretion would not earn him entry.

The fatal flaw in his misdeed, of course, was that the crime itself was proof of his identity. With his handwritten name right there in plain site, even Jonathan – a fearless charmer with a knack for getting other people in trouble – couldn't deny his connection to the event in question.

Which brings me (at long last) to E-Newsletters. Whenever I develop one of these with a client, one subject which always leads to a great deal of discussion is the design of the masthead (the header up top with the name of the newsletter).

Most people – particularly people with the word "marketing" in their job title – begin with the expectation that the company name and/or logo should be large and prominent in the design. It's a logical assumption. After all, the point of the newsletter is to generate business, and the "real estate" up top in an e-mail is limited. If you want people to notice you, remember you, and ultimately call you, you need to tell them who you are, right from the beginning.

It's logical, but in my opinion, totally wrong. Here's why…

1. Your readers already know who you are. Just as Jonathan's name was itself the proof of his involvement, the newsletter you send – with your name in the 'from' line, your company colors in the design, your welcome note in the beginning, and your point of view throughout – is already dripping with you.

Jamming your logo into the design is unnecessary, and in my view, only serves to make readers think that this is a self promotion, rather than useful information.

2. Your readers don't care about you (much) anyway. My approach to professional service E-Newsletters is based on a simple truth: Give people information they want and they'll invite you back next month. Do that long enough, and some of them will hire you.

Sure, the point is to grow your business. But the minute your newsletter flips from "what's in it for readers" to "what's in it for you," they'll run the other way. Which is why I want the masthead – the thing that lives in that precious, "above the fold" real estate – to scream "clear value to the reader." There's a reason the Wall Street Journal name is so much more prominent than the Dow Jones logo.

3. Your readers hold all the cards. One of the most difficult realities for traditional marketers to accept (to the extent they're aware of it at all) is that when it comes to e-mail, you can't force, trick or buy your way in. Recipients decide – not you or me – whether or not we're invited back… a reality which calls for a very soft touch.

If you buy all this, here's what I recommend. Create a masthead and overall look for your E-Newsletter as if you were creating a magazine or newspaper. In other words, lead with an emphasis on the content you provide for the audience you want to attract, and downplay yourself and all your wonderfulness as the source.

Don't worry. If you can resist jumping up and down in the faces of people who spend all day avoiding people who jump up and down, you'll stand out like a graffiti-laden piece of outdoor furniture on a warm winter day (don't remind me).

Logo Design - Facilitating The Creation of a Powerful Brand

2007-05-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

An organization might not have been in the business for many long years, but if it has started off by investing in building a brand identity with a good logo design, the word "success" is not far away from it. Most business ventures start with negligible market share; it is only through the application of good marketing strategies, smart management decisions and constant dedicated effort at all levels that a small business eventually turns out to be a big brand. For a new business start-up or a small business, a well-planned marketing strategy is perhaps a prerequisite from the day one itself. The business logo design forms an indispensable part of a good marketing strategy and the first step towards the making of a powerful brand.

A good first impression is what a new business firm needs at the very beginning to subsequently popularize their brand. A memorable logo design can very well serve this purpose. Most people tend to remember what they see than what they hear, so a meaningful and attractive logo design certainly leaves a long lasting impression among the viewers. A logo helps the potential customers/ clients to relate with the company in a better way. A company without a logo is just as good as a faceless entity.

The “look and feel” of a company is one of the aspects that induce the customers/ clients to opt for its products/ services. A company may have a limited physical presence but its logo can make its presence felt worldwide. A professional logo design facilitates the viewers in having a good perception for the brand. Such positive perceptions, later on, translate into better business returns.

A logo design is an essential marketing tool for the businesses venturing into innovative avenues or dealing in uncommon products/ services. It helps the new business to convey an overview of their line of products and services. A logo is the simplest and the quickest way to spread brand awareness.

A well-designed logo adds to the credibility of a business that further helps in building up a relationship of trust with the customers. It makes the company look focused, professional and trustworthy. A business logo design that coveys these attributes work wonders for the brand. Any business irrespective of its size or years in operation cannot reach the optimal without a good logo design. So kick-start your businesses with a powerful logo design.

Who Says You Need a Logo?

2007-05-09T04:19:00.003-07:00

No, you really don’t need a logo for your business; a logo is definitely not a must-have for your business, if you don’t care for your customers to remember you. After all, you are not as big as McDonalds or Sony or Nike and neither do you dream to be a big business, right? You don’t care if your customers think of your business, as a one off venture, isn’t it?

Eh! What did you say? You want your business to grow? You want your customers to remember you and come back? You are home-based Internet business but you want your customer to feel that you are a corporation? Well, my friend, if you are thinking any of these, you definitely NEED a LOGO.

And why not? There’s no harm in getting a logo; a good logo can actually give you a lot of advantage in the business front and these days they are cheap too! Yes, that’s definitely a big reason to get a professional logo. You don’t need to go to a Publicity/ Branding firm and spend a few thousand dollars on your logo. The Internet gives you access to several professional logo design companies who would offer you excellent logo designs at a very affordable price. Some of them might even top that up with some business card, letterhead or other business stationery design.

Still not sure if you need a logo? Ok, consider the points below and see if these make you think otherwise.

An identity without a face? - No, you definitely don’t want that. We all need to have our individual identity and so does your business. A professional custom logo design gives a face to your business and makes it more memorable to your customer. Get a logo and help your customers remember you.

Stand Out from the Competition – Yes, a unique professionally designed logo can actually help you stand out from your competitor. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes and think. If two companies are selling the same product at same price, you would definitely prefer the one that has a more professional get up and a professionally designed logo does just that. It makes your business look professional.

Explain Your Business – A logo can be a great help for you to explain the nature of your business and convey your organizational values and principles to your customers. An experienced professional logo designer would definitely know how to make best use of color and shape to convey the right message to your customer. Don’t you get a feel of the smartness when you look at the Nike Swoosh?

Enhance Consumer Perception – People are always more comfortable to do business with a big business house; they feel more confident about them. Even, if you are just a one-man company a professional logo can actually enhance your consumer’s perception about your business. They will tend look at it as a professional business house. Particularly, if you are an Internet-based business where your consumers get to contact you only through the web, a good logo can actually do miracle to the way people think of your business.

So, still thinking? When you actually have the option to get a professional logo design for such affordable price, what keeps you waiting? Its time to act! Get a logo for your business and give your business that extra mileage.

Quick Tips For Successful Branding

2007-05-09T04:19:00.001-07:00

Points You Want To Remember When Branding Your Business

It’s easy to get lost in the business shuffle these days. There are hundreds of companies that produce similar products or provide parallel services, but how do you make yours distinct? There are a lot of ways and only one highly important characteristic to a successful business. It is branding. Below are key points to follow when brainstorming your brand.

Identify With Your Buyer

Everyone is not your buyer. There may be a mass amount of people that purchase your product, but that’s not everyone. Dig deep and research your audience. Find the answers to these questions: What are their spending habits? Values? Concerns? Needs? How does your product/service fit into their life?

By answering these direct questions you will begin to win over your key customer. The closer the focus the more connected the buyer will feel with your brand. You want them to think that you designed the brand specifically for them.

It is important when communicating that you exchange information about the product in the same way your buyer talks. For example: if they are high class, intelligent and money filled speak to them with sophistication and parallel their first-class style. Or for the free-spirited young adults don’t confuse them with big words, or Robert Frost like metaphors; simply connect with your audience on their level.

Use Your Brand

Employees, community members, friends, and clients must know the personality of your business. Whether you in the top 10 best places to work or a small town business everyone involved needs to be familiar with and execute the persona inside the brand. Some great ways to do this are to hire those you believe already possess the desired traits, company parties, being a part of community events, and relaxed company meetings on implementing the brand through its employers.

Next, use your brand, logo and tagline on company material. These are: web sites, marketing, advertising, public relations, e-mail, letterheads, business cards, and product packaging. Place your brand on any internal or external material related to your products or services.

Society is always changing. With that said, it’s important to evaluate and re-evaluate your brand. Simple changes without altering the overall message are necessary to survival. Grow with and ahead of your buyer. Don’t let your brand get left behind.

Factors that Determine What You Should Offer the Celebrity Endorser

2007-05-09T04:18:00.003-07:00

Factors that determine what you should offer the celebrity endorser.

Quite frankly this is where you become the detective. It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there will always be optimal situations which will be in your favor. If you understand how to sift through the details and perform a little self-analysis, you can quickly, accurately, and cost effectively determine a pricing range. One thing that we have steadfastly learned over the years is that when a celebrity endorser says “Well I usually make x for an hour or two”, that is just their way of trying to establish a fee albeit on the high side. An individual not accustomed to dealing with celebrity endorsers might say that’s fine…do not ever say that. Never commit to a dollar figure right out of the gate. All things are negotiable. Following are a few examples of some of the things that we have done that will give you insight into your negotiating prowess.

Horror Story: Many years ago we had paid for a very famous celebrity endorser to appear in Richmond, Virginia. The terms of the deal were spelled out clearly and all monies had been paid in advance. This particular deal was with one of the most famous baseball players of all time. We agreed to and paid for a three-hour signing. When we picked up the individual at the Richmond airport we should have known we were going to have a rough day. Five minutes into the ride our celebrity endorser told us he had upgraded to first class and that we owed him an additional five or six hundred dollars. We told the celebrity endorser that according to the contract (which we had in our hot little hands) that he needed prior approval before we would pay for such an upgrade. He then said if we wanted his services we would need to cut him a check on the spot for the increase in fare. Rather than ruin our show (hundred’s of people were already in line waiting to see him) we wrote out the check…it was a Sunday. We later found out that he flew for free.

Once we were at the fairgrounds we treated him like royalty. When it came time for him to do his thing (sign autographs) we escorted him through the now close to 1,000 people who had pre-paid for an autograph and sat him at his signing booth. We had him under contract for three hours and with a little luck we would get through everyone…until our celebrity endorser decided to make it a social event. It’s great to interact with the customer but not on our dime. When the three hours were up the line was still about 300 people long. We were then informed that he was on overtime. Overtime meant to him that the price of every signature just went up by $15 each at our cost. Naturally we were in a very tough position…we had pre-sold the tickets…hundreds of people were still in line…and we could not afford to ruin our reputation. We were cornered. We could only agree to the demands although it was not in our best interest. It was then amazing to see this remarkable transformation. From slow motion to the fastest signer we had ever seen. Why not, we had just been robbed of another $15 per item. We gave him a check for the difference escorted him out of the building and left him standing on the curb…our limo was suddenly out of service and wished him well. Bright and early Monday morning before the banks were even open in California we put stop payments on both checks. The company had some irate calls but they were always much to busy to take the call.

Another true but not so degrading story comes to mind. We had worked out another signing deal with a pretty well known ex-baseball player to sign baseballs for one of our clients. The client needed five hundred balls but only had a budget of $3,000, which we knew was the going price of the athlete for one hour. There was no way he could sign, even under normal conditions, five hundred baseballs in one hour. Our dilemma was how we could satisfy both the client and the athlete. We wanted to make this deal work for more than a few reasons. Our solution was to build a special ball holder that was eight feet long. We were able to line up the balls all with the sweet spot showing and all the athlete did was sit on a rolling chair and go down the line signing. Each ball was perfect as none of the balls were ever touched. As soon as he was done with one row we had another one ready. In record time he signed all five hundred balls. We had a satisfied customer and a happy athlete. He even took us out to dinner.

Yet another situation dealt with a famous home run hitter. We had secured a super large signing for him. He needed $50,000 for something he was doing. He also wanted an average of $25 per signature. We were at an impasse as our client wanted the items but didn’t want to pay $25 per item. The athlete wanted $50,000 and no less. Our solution was to renegotiate the deal so that everyone got what they wanted. It meant a lot more work on the athletes part but in the end he received his $50,000. The customer ended up with five thousand signed items, which he quickly sold for a nice profit, and the athlete received the money he needed although it was a lot more work than he anticipated. In the long run it was a win-win for all parties.

We had another client request for an athlete to do a signing at a truck show. Price was a consideration but we discovered that the athlete loved big trucks and wasn’t that interested in the money. All he wanted was an all expense paid trip to the show. The company worked out a deal with the athlete to sign for a couple of hours and do a general meet-and-greet. The athlete loved the show so much he spent the entire day at the booth for nothing. He is now working out a deal with the company to attend the trade shows just so he can have something to do. In this case all they are paying are his expenses. He likes the show so much he is doing it for free. As you can see, we really found the right celebrity endorser for the right company!

As you have seen, working out the right compensation plan requires some creativity. Always start low and listen to what the celebrity endorser really wants out of the deal. Maybe it’s a product that they use and will trade time for the product. Whatever the deal, you must probe, asking specific questions that can uncover the real reasons the celebrity endorser is interested in your offer. Often it is something other than money they seek, although as we mentioned above, they do “love the color green.”

Our experiences over the last 16 years have resulted in many, deals for us. In the early years we closed a ton of deals just on a handshake. Those days are long gone, however, occasionally with our well-known celebrity endorsers, we only need a handshake as a guarantee of performance. We do not recommend that you do this with anyone unless you have a proven long-term track record with that person. It’s a deal set up to go awry, if you rely on just a handshake.

In summary we recommend the following when negotiating your best deal:

• Always start low

• Identify the real needs of the celebrity endorser

• Determine what your needs are

• Try to make contact without using an agent

• Keep them busy and you win

• Always have alternative ways of generating revenue from the celebrity endorser

• Shop around and don’t settle for the first person you contact

• Don’t seem anxious

• See how busy they are and what other deals they might have in the pipeline

• Timing can be everything…for example, approach ex-baseball players when baseball is not in season. They all slow down dramatically in the winter.

• Define an outline for the celebrity endorser exactly what you expect of them

• Have more things lined up for them to do if things are going slow…keep them busy

• Appear to be only lukewarm on the prospects of a deal

After all, it’s your company’s money and product. Always make sure you establish who is in charge…because you are the boss.

7 Secret Tips for Branding Your Market

2007-05-09T04:18:00.001-07:00

Putting an Identifying Brand on Your Business often breathes terror into the minds of business owners, but it doesn’t have to frighten you. There are several simple ways of putting a Brand on Your business that brings clients back and keeps you in the forefront of their thoughts, when they need products or services you provide.

Pull together a list of things that will help build your Brand.

1. Know your Business Purpose

What is the purpose of your business? Answer that question in ten words or less, and you suddenly have a purpose you can spout as an Elevator Speech. It’s a simple process, and once you have it, the value multiplies exponentially. You can’t beat a good elevator speech for relaying your purpose of business.

2. Claim your Identity

Once you have your purpose down to an Elevator Speech, you’ll want to focus in on one or two terms that Identify your business. It might be your business name, or it might be two words that are not part of your business name that you use to identify your business.

For instance: A business called The Tax Office and the brand is “Full Service Accounting”. Both the name of the company and the ‘brand’ identify the business, online and in the local community.

3. Focus on your Vision

Visualize your business as an office, not just any office, but the office you’d like to work in, and perfect that vision. See the business in your mind’s eye, and focus on the part of the business that says “I’m Successful”.

Your success focus could be anything, from the chair behind your desk to an ornament on the wall, but focus on that item and find the form that makes it say Success to you.

4. Add Color Power

Back there in the Vision, you probably had a sense of color, pull that color out and add it to your list. This color should speak Success. For me, the colors that speak Success are Purple, Red, or Blue. Whenever, I put together a business lead or header, I think of the colors that speak Success to me and somewhere in the design, I incorporate that color in a significant form.

5. Breath Life into Your Brand

Motion brings your brand to life. Not necessarily movement, sometimes that is distracting, but the illusion of motion breathes life into your Brand. You’ll want to incorporate something that moves, into your brand.

For instance: The Nike Swoop seems to flow and move. It is a solid line, no motion, but it flows.

6. Make it Memorable

Your brand must be seen in a flash, and identifiable after it’s disappeared to be memorable. Graphics that speak loudly, and fast, make a hit impact. The best way to keep your ad flashing in their mind is to make it highly visible with contrast and design.

Be certain to keep your brand simple enough to be recognized.

7. Simply Bring Them Back

This refers to memorability. When your brand uses all of these items, and is readily recognized, it will bring people back to see more of what you have to offer.

Ask your clients if they remember your logo? If they do, ask them what they remember.

Simple brands that use color, design, motion, and purpose are readily recognized. Make it work, by creating a brand logo that keeps your business in front of your customers.

Branding Your Company - What Increases Name Recognition

2007-05-09T04:17:00.000-07:00

As a branding expert, companies often come to me asking, what can I do to increase my firm’s name recognition? Of course, increasing name recognition is only one aspect of the branding puzzle, but an important one. It is particularly perplexing to a company well known in a certain market, (perhaps where the company originated), but disappointed at the lack of carry over in name recognition upon entering a new geographical area.

So, what can a company do to increase name recognition? Here are twenty-five (25) ways you can begin branding your company and increase the name recognition of your firm.

1. Hire a branding company to bring your image and message under a brand. Develop all collateral and image materials (web, stationery, logo, tagline, mission statement, cards, postcards, brochures, elevator pitch, newsletters, letters, project sheets, resumes, bios, firm description, etc.) to coincide with the brand and your message.

2. Develop a mission statement that shows your reason for being and the value you provide to your customers.

3. Develop a memorable tagline that expresses who you are and what you do.

4. Make a matrix of all those you’d like to reach in the next year and the potential influencers on those people. Develop a timetable and calendar of outreach.

5. Regularly write and issue press releases to the media.

6. Regularly write and post press releases to your website.

7. Regularly write and post press releases directly onto the internet.

8. Regularly write articles and do all three of the above.

9. Regularly write and pitch feature story ideas to the media.

10. Diversify all marketing, PR and media to reach the markets where your clients are to be found (as opposed to marketing within your own service industry).

11. Participate (attend, speak, host, present, show) in at least two national and local industry conferences.

12. Create and issue an online or direct mail newsletter.

13. Get known for niche expertise or specific industry knowledge. (speak, write, present, teach).

14. Participate in professional internship programs.

15. Participate and sponsor local charitable efforts; get your name in the program the charitable cause distributes; get your name in the press surrounding the event.

16. Get to know all potential teaming partners in your new geographic area. Let them know your people, your areas of expertise and potential for cross referrals.

17. Develop collateral material with a regional bent; think what projects, services, people or elements might be important to this new market and capture this regional tone in all collateral material.

18. Develop tip sheets as to how your company is different than your competitors and why this makes a difference to teaming partners and to your end users—your potential clients. Include these differentiating tips as the basis for all your branding statements.

19. Develop a calendar of local and regional events in your locale and make your company visible in the areas most related to your company and your potential clients’ interests.

20. Post your calendar of appearances and participation on your website.

21. Plan a media release before and after each event.

22. Hire an industry professional to conduct a survey on your behalf; post the results on your website. Publicize the results most important to your industry.

23. Update your website to be informational based so that search engines can find you, and clients can read in-depth material demonstrating your expertise.

24. Add informational website content a minimum of four times per month.

25. Establish your brand by regularly updating the financial value or potential value associated with your brand. Quantify results achieved and add these results to your brand value. Communicate through all methods, the value of your brand to those associated with it.

Branding your company is key to influencing a memorable response in the minds of your chosen audience. It is not only the name recognition of your firm, but also the perceived value of your organization. Capture these twenty-five essential branding elements and begin to cement a positive branded image for your firm.

Keywords: branding your company, increasing name recognition for a firm, brand identity, essential elements of a brand, marketing, business development, press and pr, Florida PR firms, McKerns Development, branding firms in Florida, developing a brand identity, differentiating a firm, methods of creating image and identity, developing brand value and loyalty

Branded Logo Designs - Elements Of Branded Logo Designs

2007-05-05T03:36:00.003-07:00

Branded logo designs are in these days. Many a times, people are confused between logo designs and brand logo designs. Brand logo designs are logo designs which have been authorized by your organization and then printed on most of your company’s products. Another feature of branded logo designs is that they relate to one product of your company at a time. For instance, if your company has four products to offer, then every product has a separate branded logo. The reason for this is that whenever the branded logo of a particular product is out there in the market, people would easily recognize it and relate it to that very individual product.

We have many examples of branded logo designs in front of us. Let’s take the example of Armani. There are nearly fours parts of it namely Giorgio Armani, Armani Exchange, Armani Jeans and Emporio Armani. Now, simply whenever a pair of Armani Exchange’s jeans will be in the market it will have its own branded logo design and any buyer can recognize that is by Armani Exchange and not by ‘Amrani’.

However, the components of branded logo designs are the same like any other logo except that the name of the company’s branch should be written there.

Branded logo designs are unique and are dignified identities of your products. Branded logo designs offer a more powerful and impressive image of your company to the clients. It shows that your company is offering high standard products.

Automotive Logo Designs - Components Of Automotive Logo Designs

2007-05-05T03:36:00.001-07:00

Automotive logo designs are probably one of the most stylish logos around. Cars, bikes and other similar stuff are incorporated in automotive logo designs to make them look classier and more eye-catching. Your automotive logo designs can benefit you by certain ways; it can setup a base for you to market your products well and to be recognized better. When creating automotive logo designs, the designer needs to pay attention to three factors which are (1) the objective to be achieved by the logo design, (2) should be according to the latest trend and (3) should be of high quality. Anyhow, the basic rule for designing good automotive logo designs is to relate it with your company.

For designing good automotive logo designs, you should take in consideration the following points:

Your automotive logo designs should relate to your business:
A basic technique to make your automotive logo designs look sportier is to associate it with automobile parts. Normally, the designers use the basic components of automobiles such as their wheels, handles, steering, etc. Also, you will find a large of number of automotive logo designs having images of cars and bikes in a very creative and amusing manner. For instance, automotive logo designs can have a tattoo type of design showing a car.

Color scheme used in automotive logo designs:
The colors which are normally used in automotive logo designs are mostly of an igniting nature. Colors like orange, fiery red, black, etc are used in automotive logo designs.

Fonts used in automotive logo designs:
Usually bold and big fonts are used in automotive logo designs. The reason is that the automotive industry is an amazing yet serious industry.

Logo - A Visual Shortcut To What You Are

2007-05-05T03:35:00.002-07:00

Branding has become an increasingly most-valuable constituent of culture and the economy. Competition is intense in today's economy. Business owners, small and large, need to gain believability in order to postulate with existing industry leaders. One of the influential elements in making your web presence necessitate is not only having a well designed website but also having a professional logo of it. In order to drive high traffic to your website, it is very much important to design a website in such way that it stays alive in public memory.

Television and the Internet drive advertising. The visual aspects of a brand’s identity are extremely important in today’s world. A professional logo design is an important factor since your company's logo is the foundation of all of your marketing and promotional material. A good logo design should lure you visually, elicit your emotions, and inscribe itself within your mind.

After constituting your identity, your goal is to create a favorable and long-term impression in consumer anamnesis. A strong and effective logo design can help turn your business or products into a household name. A well-designed logo catches the eye - it makes the perceiver curious or engaged, if only for a short moment. Based on your requirement you can create a logo design as text based logo design, letter-mark based logo design, brand-mark based symbol and icon-based logotype. Among them, text-based logo design is extensively used of all logotypes.

Logo color is very important to the brand acknowledgment. When it comes to logo design, color scheme is a vital part of the image you will present to the public. Think about some popular brands and the colors associated with them, such as Pepsi, Nike, Adidas. Consumers trust well-known brand names and they look for them when choosing a service provider. By providing your consumer with a professional logo design, you will begin to make yourself one of those well-known brand names.

Colors in a logo design can give your website or business that extra something that you need. By picking the right colors you will be able to set the mood and tone of the site. The key to a good and affective business logo design is simple color patterns and modern ways to deliver the product to the customers.

Professional logo design is a meaningful step in building brand awareness for your customers. Having your company logo design done by a professional can be an expensive process. But having a logo designed by a professional is a sensible investment because the designers have the noesis to create logos appropriate for your business or products. A logo should be plain and conceptual, not be complicated or confusing, and again, all elements must be noticeable when reproduced in small sizes. A good custom logo design can help take a company up to the next level, but a bad logo design can have a serious negative impact. Don’t settle for a logo design until you are one hundred percent certain that it will help your company reach its goals!

Art Logo Design

2007-05-05T03:35:00.001-07:00

Art logo designs are the most amusing kind of logos. They are colorful and have amazing designs pertaining to their industry. This fact cannot be denied that logo designs are a part of the company. So much that they become the recognition of your company. Every industry has certain special attributes which they tend to highlight in their advertising materials. For instance, health club logo designs display dumbbells whereas a fashion logo would display dresses or accessories related to fashion.

Similarly, art logo designs have attributes related to arts and crafts. You are likely to find paint brushes or easels incorporated in art logo designs.

Some attributes of art logo designs are given below:

Colors: You will find art logo designs very much intense and colorful in nature. The reason is because arts and crafts are deeply related to colors. The whole job of an artist is to play with colors. Art logo designs show this relation with colors. There are not any special colors which relate to arts field in a specific way however most of the art logos have blue, yellow and red colors.

Fonts: The fonts cannot be formal among so many colors. Therefore, art logo designs do not have decent or formal fonts; instead you will find artistic and inventive fonts in these logos. Again, it relates to the industry.

The overall look: The over all look of art logo designs can be defined as an artistic and a creative look. Incorporating colors and amusing fonts makes the logo look more fascinating. Sometimes, you will find art logo designs a bit dull compared to the normal art logo designs. But those are then referring to the deeper side of life which can only be understood by an artist.

Accounting Logo Designs

2007-05-05T03:34:00.000-07:00

Accounting logo designs should comparatively be professional and sober yet somehow attractive. The core stress should be on ‘Professionalism’. Simply, the technique of creating powerful logo designs is to relate them with the organization’s nature. The logo design’s fonts, colors and its over all size should be according to the requirements of the company. In addition, it should be kept in mind that the company’s logo design should not be restricted to one service or product. However, different logos can be designed for different products or services.

Accounting is a very sedate profession. Therefore, the advertisement materials for such a profession should also be professional and well designed. The elements of well designed account logos are:

Cooperative colors: Using cooperative colors is an important thing while designing accounting logo designs. Cooperative colors include blue, green, maroon, brown, etc. but the main ones are blue and green. Mostly accounting logos have green or blue color. Blue color promotes collaboration that the company can offer. Green color is also a representative of cooperation and hard work offered by the company.

Temperate Fonts: Accounting logo designs should preferably consist of simple yet classy fonts. The fonts should not be fancy and over lapping each other. They should be simple and easy to read. If possible, the fonts should be kept bold so that they are prominent.

Simple design: Accounting logo designs should be simple in nature. There should not be much of illustration on them. Even if the need of illustration is realized still they should not be over loaded with it. There must be moderate illustration on accounting logo designs.

Personal Branding

2007-05-03T03:11:00.003-07:00

There are thousands of Mary Kay consultants. There are thousands of Tahitian Noni Consultants, Candle Consultants, Pre-Paid legal, Primerica, travel consultants and not to mention internet based business owners. So where in this seemingly overwhelming sea of business owners is little ole you? What’s so different about your product or service that would make me want to be your customer versus the next person with the identical product or service?

You know the first excuse I hear from MLM and Direct Sales consultants when they don’t see success in their business is that their area is already saturated with Mary Kay, Pre-Paid legal or that the internet gurus have already captured and now monopolize the best lists… Oh yes! I could go on and on. I submit to you that any of the companies that I mentioned above nor the ones that I did not mentioned, could never become saturated if everyone embraced one concept. Oh I hear you all saying “Has she gone mad!?!?! Maybe I have, but mad with passion to change your mindset about what you are really representing or rather what you should be representing. If you will embrace this one concept, you will never ever again have to worry about competition or market saturation.

That concept is differentiation or what I would like to refer to as “Personal Branding”. I will use myself as an example to paint a picture since I know myself better than I know any of you.  I am currently a Melaleuca Wellness Consultant and a DirectMatches executive. However, I don’t necessarily promote either…. Stay with me.

What I do promote is Dee Foster Enterprises. You see, people only do business with those that they know like and trust, especially in our type of businesses. Therefore it is important to me that I distinguish myself from the next Mela Consultant and DirectMatches rep. I differentiate myself by adding value to what the particular company offers. A lot of customers will do business with your company just because of what you personally bring to the table. For example, instead of waiting on the company to do a promotion, you can do your own promotion. Be creative! Give a free lunch gift certification to a favorite restaurant.

Remember you are a business owner and you have to treat it like a real business. Suppose your company went under. If you are just all about promoting the company instead of what you personally have to offer then you are dead in the water for sure. But if you establish your own personal brand, in other words, carve a niche within the company you represent, you will never have to worry about what you will have to do if your company suddenly went out of business. For example, my passion is educating, motivating and helping others, hence my weekly news letters, compliments of Dee Foster Enterprises©. There are so many ways you can establish your own personal brand. Remember, that it should be based on how you will add value to the customers that you serve. Lastly, I leave you with these 5 steps in setting yourself apart from the crowd.

1. Establish your own personal vision. This should be based on your major definite purpose (Another article for another day..)

2. Decide what you want customers to most remember about their interaction with you.

3. Always promote your own personal brand over the company you are promoting. For example if you are a Mela Consultant and you have a passion for nutrition, come up with a creative name for the organization you are building with Mela. If the company ever went under you could still introduce your faithful customers to another product because you have established yourself as a nutritional expert in their eyes. This goes the same for internet marketers as well.

4. Because a lot of network marketers, based on my experience as a customer, have problems with follow up and follow through, this can be a big point of differentiation for you. Become known as someone that follows up. The fortune is in the follow up.

5. Above all, there is no personal branding better than been known as some who is a true professional and provides great customer service. It’s all about relationships.

Dee Foster is a successful working mother of five children, a pastor's wife and an Independent Marketing Consultant.

Additionally, Dee serves in her community as a motivational speaker and life coach to men and women that need direction.

Naming Your Business Newsletter For Attention

2007-05-03T03:11:00.001-07:00

You receive them in the mail, see them on store counters, or they are handed to your at organizational meetings. Can you think of the name of your most popular print newsletter? What do you think makes the title stick to your mind? Does it rhyme? Do the letters formulate a word? Is a phrase or logo attached to it?

When making decisions about the appropriate name for your newsletter, always keep in mind the image you want to project to your reader. How do you want them to remember you, your organization, product or service? Your newsletter’s name should communicate that thought.

There are several helpful ways to select a name for your newsletter.

“Mind Mapping”-- Get input from others you trust. With a group of family or friends, practice “tossing ideas”. Make sure everyone understands the target objectives (description) of your newsletter content. You may want to write this information on flip chart paper and position it for all to see. Ask each individual to comment on what ideas they have based on the content objectives you’ve outlined. Encourage creativity, make it fun.

Write each idea on the flip chart for all to see no matter how ridiculous or odd it may sound at the time. Usually it is only a matter of rearranging words to perfect the combination.

Take notes. After the session review the ideas and consider your options.

Use the internet (keyword: Newsletter Names) The internet offers an opprtunity to explore variety of words to choose when deciding on a name for your business communication tool.

Take your time! Newsletter titles make lasting impressions—which is what you want. The title can either identify the content or the description of the organization you represent. Whatever the choice, make sure the name of your newsletter represents the image you want to project.

Keep in mind it is important that you decide who your readers will be. Will your subject be geared to your product only or will it have the "tools and tips" or "how to" focus? Will it attract businessmen or business women only, or offer topics relevant to both. What is the age of your audience? Are they professionals, sports enthusiasts, at working at home moms, etc.? If you maintain focus on the composition of your readership at all times, readership success happen.

Newsletters make great marketing tools. With proper planning, you can create a heading that will highlight your product, service, or organization in a unique way. Remember, it begins with the title.

Image is Everything

2007-05-03T03:10:00.002-07:00

Your reputation precedes you. Like it or not, consumers choose whether or not to use your service based on how you're viewed in the market. Your name or logo will influence when and if consumers use your service. Building credibility with your target will help you in the long run. It will also polish up your image for all to see.

Brand image is the physical and psychological reaction your brand receives when it is viewed or talked about. It can be brought up from seeing a logo or simply by two people having a conversation. It is also impacted by where they see your brand and how they perceive what it is you’re selling. When customers purchase a product, they're not just buying that product; they're buying the image that comes with that product. Users can associate with each other because by using the product they become an advocate for it.

If you've ever been around avid sports fans, you've been exposed to brand image. Think about your favorite sports teams. Now think about how many items you have that either carry that teams' logo or a slogan associated with that team. That's what I thought. You probably own countless amounts of that teams' product. Why is this? Because you love your team and you associate yourself with what that team is all about. You're proud to display your love for your team because of what its brand image means to you. And you're not alone. Millions of people do the same thing every day because they display the things they believe in. The brand image is affected by the people that use it.

Building a brand that people will love can be very easy, or very simple. It will always depend on how you as a business provider interact with your audience. That relationship will go a long way in deciding who will choose to use your services. There are many other factors that can make your brand stand out in the crowd.

1. Associate your brand with things that reinforce your mission as a company. For example, Helzberg diamonds believes in being environmentally friendly so they have an ethical standards policy for their mining efforts. Recently they were recognized by Earthworks and Oxfam America for their efforts to support ethical reform in the gold mining industry. Their efforts project positively on the company because it reinforces that when people shop Helzberg they’re shopping environmentally friendly.

2. Make sure your logo represents what the company is about. Nike’s swoosh was originally designed to imply movement. Since Nike was originally just a shoe company, the swoosh represents exactly what Nike is about. Their logo speaks to the brand and the psychology behind it.

3. Know where and what to advertise on. Remember, in order for your target to use your product, they have to be able to find it. In Newspaper advertising, you probably shouldn’t try and advertise in the Home and Garden section if your target is men 18-34. It would be more affective to advertise in the sports or business section because more men read those than any other. Even if they did see your ad, they would probably associate it with the Home and Garden section, which is a section they don’t associate themselves with.

These are just a few examples of how to build your brand effectively. In the competitive environment that we all live in, it’s very important for your brand to speak to everything your company is about. A positive brand image can be the difference between meeting and exceeding business expectations. Give your target a reason to try your product and keep them coming back for more.

Branding and Business Identity - Image is Everything!

2007-05-03T03:10:00.001-07:00

Underestimating the importance of image is a common marketing mistake. When we talk about image in business, it encompasses a broad spectrum. We’re talking about overall image of storefront; interior design, marketing materials, website and even your people, (staff members). All of these elements determine how your business is perceived. They also tie in with your overall brand and help people decide if they will do business with you, or not.

The heart of your business identity is your logo. It represents who you are and what you do. The image of your business is the foundation of your marketing and advertising efforts. If your logo and identity package is weak, your advertising and marketing efforts will not be as successful as they could be. If you aren’t familiar with the term “identity package,” it refers to your business cards, letterhead and envelopes.

Underestimating the importance of investing in your image is a common mistake of many start-up businesses. Some new business owners mistakenly believe that advertising, marketing, identity packages and promotional materials are expenses rather than investments. This can ultimately damage business success because first impressions do count and first impressions are most often impacted by image and customer service.

Do not take shortcuts with this important image building tool. Remember, advertising and marketing are an INVESTMENT in your business, not an expense.

Sheila’s Story ~ An illustration of the importance of image: Sheila had just started her career as a real estate professional. She was at a local networking function. When talking with Sheila she seemed like she had it all together. She’d obviously worked hard to get to this point in her career. Even so, she hadn’t invested in her identity package. She was distributing business cards she designed and printed at home. The cards had perforated edges and were on ultra flimsy paper. When she handed them out she made another mistake. She apologized for the cards and mentioned she was just getting started and said “the cards would have to do for now.” This single interaction determined how potential clients viewed Sheila. After all, if she were willing to cut corners here, how reliable would her selling skills be? Image does matter. Make yours count.

A brand is not a logo and a logo is not a brand ~

Logo: An identifiable insignia that represents a company.

Brand: The overall impression and experience that your customers receive from your business.

Your brand extends to the entire experience clients have with your business. From the moment a person calls or walks into your establishment or logs onto your website, you’re creating a brand.

Make your customer service count by keeping these brand experience elements in mind:

• While the heart of your business identity is your logo, the heart of your business is your people (staff).

• Your employees are an extension of your business. What they say and do at work affects your success.

• Your products and services are a direct reflection of your company values and core organization.

• Delivery counts. Do what you say you’re going to do; every time.

• Every contact a customer has with your business will determine how they feel about your brand.

• The interior and exterior of your company influences how people feel about doing business with you.

By paying closer attention to all of the elements of your image, you’ll improve public perceptions and customer service which will ultimately increase your sales and overall brand experience.

Think Big, Grow Big!

2007-05-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

When I started my Construction Business I came right out of the Corporate world and understood the value of laying out a solid foundation for my business that would be ready when we were big. In other words, we acted like a big company even though we were small. From the outside looking in we were well established as was demonstrated with the professional organizations we were members of, the equipment and vehicles we used, the signage on our office and the documentation we provided to our customers.

First thing first, we secured a professional accounting firm to ensure our taxes and book keeping was sound. Then we built a relationship with an investment accountant to ensure we were protecting as much of our revenue from the tax man as possible. Contrary to popular belief, not all accountants are the same.

Secondly, we joined the local Chamber of Commerce and our Industry Associations and became working members sitting on various committees. This was important to garner current and relevant knowledge that my competition might not have that would be beneficial to my customer.

Third, we put a great deal of money into new vehicles that saved us money over the years in maintenance and operating costs. We leased the vehicles to increase our expenses to lower our tax burden at the end of the year. When the lease was up we could have bought the vehicles out with a bank loan which would also be an expense to the business but we did not. We took out a new lease every 2 years so we continued to have new vehicles, demonstrating to our clients success.

Fourth, all our tools were leading edge, for example; laser tools and cordless ergonomic designs. This created more efficiency on the work site, reducing time and creating more profit. Again the clients perception was that we were a big and successful company who can afford the best.

Fifth, our office was promoted with professional signage and we had a website at a time when most businesses were debating if a fax machine was a useful tool or not for their business.

Sixth, all our documentation, including proposals and invoices, promoted our logo and the logos of our memberships and provided a very professional look and feel.

In our first year of business we had more money going out than coming in. This certainly made for some very interesting late night partner meetings. But our persistence paid off and before long we started receiving very large clients with very large projects. As we hired more people to meet the demand, (we grew internally), our thinking big attitude had made the transition to a bank account with now millions much more manageable. This was planned growth. We thought we were big and therefore we were big.

Intrusive Media - The Key To Profitable Branding

2007-04-28T04:18:00.003-07:00

Of all the media choices available to advertisers, intrusive media has been proven in multiple national market tests to be the most effective method for brand creation.

What exactly is intrusive media? I like to think of it as outbound promotion.

In essence, this form of advertising involves delivery methods that are actively inserted into a prospect’s environment. Unlike passive media elements like search engine listings and yellow page ads which are sought out by your target audience, intrusive media is dropped right into a prospect’s lap, and can only be avoided if a person changes channels, deletes an email, etc.

Intrusive applications can be found both online and offline. This type of media is most effective when presented in the form of audio or video broadcasting.

A couple of examples of intrusive media:

1. A thank you web page that loads a video presentation which surfers must view before continuing to their download link.

2. Radio commercials

3. Pop-up windows

4. Television commercials

Most research indicates offline methods of intrusion are more effective as a means of creating brand awareness for the small business. Even in this high-tech age, radio and television are your best bet for building what marketing consultants call equity position, or a well recognized brand name among your target market.

A little research into your local radio and television options is likely to surprise you. These incredibly effective media outlets are often far less expensive than you might think, and there is no better way to leverage your advertising dollar toward motivational promotions that position you in the forefront of your prospects’ minds.

For example, my first experience with radio promotion cost less than most Web banner campaigns, and I made a sale within my first month that covered the expense of my six month contract and put me into profit.

I highly recommend intrusive broadcasting to any small business who is looking to create a long term brand awareness among their target prospects. A quick look at some of the most profitable companies in the world will reveal their belief in this method, and as I said before the costs are minimal when compared to the potential gains.

Winning Formula For Logo Design

2007-04-28T04:18:00.001-07:00

To get a winning logo design is the biggest desire of every company. You would always be looking for secret tip or tips to design a winning logo. Why not just follow the foot steps of successful brands. Logo designs of successful brands have become icons that are embedded in the minds of general consumers.

But always remember that your winning logo design will definitely help in building brand and corporate identity.

Before starting on with the process of designing logo, you should first consider why your company needs a logo.

a) To build corporate image
b) To build brand identity
c) To create market identity
d) To create and build consumer awareness

This is a lot to think about. But the things mentioned above are a path to achieving great logos that can help in your business growth and success.

Secret tips for a winning logo design

Many companies spend loads of time and money on their creative logo designs. But the result is a complex and sometimes misunderstood logo that becomes a part of a company’s stationary. This logo is then often redesigned with the timely change in the business strategies.

Great, creative logo is not difficult to design. Follow the following step and you will finally get a good creative logo design that will help you to build your brand identity and be with you for a long time.

• Keep your product in mind. Logo must have relevance to your product and services.
• Your perception of where you would want your see your company in future
• Focus on your target market
• Corporate color theme.
• Identify some successful logos that you like
• Keep your logo design simple
• Try and incorporate your business name, message or sell line.
• Avoid complex designs
• Make sure that the logo fits your stationary and all marketing promotional materials
• Keep in mind the adaptability – make sure that your logo is made with the flexibility to adapt to all business situations, markets etc.
• Your logo design should have the ability to be memorized.

Last but not the least, you should choose a cost effective logo design company that has the capacity and ability to create your great, creative logo. You will save your precious time.

Branding Essentials - Three Impressions Every Seven Days

2007-04-28T04:17:00.002-07:00

The average citizen is exposed to thousands of ad impressions every day (statement based on U.S. studies). Most of us have learned to gloss over or look past the advertisements we are bombarded with as we go about our daily routines, so how can you be sure the money you spend advertising your business is “sinking in”?

It’s easy to blow money on ad space, promotional broadcasts, etc. and see absolutely no results. Society is inundated with so much advertising that we as small business owners face the danger of simply ‘blending in’ and not even being noticed by our prospective customers.

There are actually several things you can do to rise above your competitors in the advertising arena, but one of the most important things to ask yourself is this: Will your customers know who you are without an ad staring them in the face to remind them?

In other words are you trying to rely completely on direct response to your ads, or are you creating a broad and lasting awareness in the minds of your target audience? Direct response marketing is what pays the bills here and now, but without a strong effort to brand yourself you will be required to constantly be advertising for this week’s profits.

By branding, I’m referring to the act of exposing prospects to your name, logo, tagline, etc. on a recurring basis, and to the extent that people are already aware of you when they are ready to purchase a product or service that you offer.

Odds are when you feel like a soda, you already know which particular brand you are going to purchase before you walk into the convenience store. Likewise I’ll bet you already know right now, this very minute, the brand name of the next computer you intend to purchase.

This is because in almost every case your preferred product has been stamped into your consciousness by effective repetition. And believe it or not, you can create the same results within your target market without spending a fortune or running the same ads for many years.

In fact research shows that shorter ad campaigns can actually be more effective as a means of long-term branding.

Most marketing firms will agree that for optimal results a business needs to expose each prospect to the same ad impression three times within a seven day period. So by running a very strong campaign during the course of a month you can easily create a very lasting effect on the people you would like to have as your customers.

I recommend a variety of advertising mediums be used in any given month, but care should be taken to maintain continuity through use of the same logo, business name, or tagline in all your promotions so your targets are receiving the same impression with each exposure, regardless of the exact mode of delivery.

Radio and television are by far the most effective means of brand creation available for any business model. And these formats can be reinforced with yellow page ads, flyers, or even the aggressive distribution of simple business cards.

You want people to be aware of your name, logo, or tagline and associate this awareness with your products and services well before they even need what you have to offer. Time and again, the top branded business will outsell the second and third most branded entities in their field combined.

What can you start doing right now to see that your prospective customers are exposed to the same message at least three times over a seven day period?

You can and should contact local radio stations to discuss time slots and programming that might cater to your specific prospects, and invest in an aggressive monthly package.

Also, if your target customers spend most of their time on the web, invest in banner advertising and Web radio spots.

And certainly any product or service can be effectively promoted on broadcast television. I encourage you to beg, borrow, and scrape if need be to at least test this most powerful of mediums.

Your tactics will vary according to your exact business model of course. But the important thing is an awareness of the three on seven rule and a willingness to test various avenues of execution.

Many of today’s most renowned companies started as very small operations, and have grown into the giants of their market place as a result of proper branding strategies. While perhaps less exhilarating a topic than sales conversions and lead generation, no advertising plan can live up to full potential without applying the concepts of brand awareness creation.

Brand Match And Brand Usage - Can't Hurt If They Use The Product

2007-04-28T04:17:00.001-07:00

When selecting a celebrity endorser it should go without saying that you need to select a person who matches the goals of your product or company and its brand message. Too often I see brands using individuals that do not match the demographics or targeted consumer. Why is that? I think many times companies are just so caught up in using a celebrity they tend to overlook what the message is and who it ultimately needs to reach. In the case of a large company, it is safe to say they have conducted extensive research to make sure the fit is correct for the company. However, things can and do backfire. The most recent example of that would be McDonald’s and Kobe. Here is a situation that when the relationship started it was the perfect match, at least on paper. In one fleeting moment the well thought out strategic plan turned into a media nightmare for both McDonald’s and Kobe. His guilt or innocence didn’t matter - the damage was done. McDonalds quickly and probably correctly choose to sever all ties with the star.

Because you are most likely working on a smaller scale those types of things hopefully will not come into play as chances are you are hiring your celebrity endorser for a much shorter and lower profile promotion. What the Kobe situation does illustrate is the importance of making sure your celebrity endorser is a match and has nothing hiding in the closet that all of sudden could turn into a media mess.

One of the great things about hiring retired athletes or long forgotten TV and movie stars is the fact that they, in most cases, are very eager to get the work and will usually go the extra mile to make sure your promotion is a success. Use a current star and the tide changes quickly. Sometimes they just make so much money that they don’t care…and when they don’t care it’s almost guaranteed that your promotion will experience choppy water. Often times they are hard to work with and instead of you being able to dictate to them what they need to do, they will try and tell you. Like spending a little extra time hanging around after the event - forget it…they are out of there quick. It’s too bad because they overlook or forget that without the fan base they would be nothing. It’s nice to be a purist but realistically, you have to deal with the overpaid and spoiled celebrity. That’s why we work extra hard to find the perfect fit, selecting someone who is not working. When a retired person is positioned correctly it can make your promotion extremely successful. It just takes time to plan…and plan you must.

Over the years we have built a small but reliable stable of celebrity endorsers who have not failed us once. However, when first starting out and matching the celebrity endorser to a brand it is much more difficult to guarantee your results. That’s why when the time comes when you seriously want to investigate using a celebrity endorser, use us for FREE to help you make a success of your promotion.

When we consider anyone for a celebrity endorser we always insist that they try and use the product or service themselves. We want them to be able to have first hand knowledge that the product works. In so doing we are able to have them walk into the appearance much more confident than having no prior use or exposure. The deal that we just completed had the celebrity endorser using the product for a month or so before we ever signed a contract. In this particular case it was great because the celebrity endorser was already a user of one of the companies other best selling products. In fact, he had been using this other product for himself and his entire family for the last eight or nine years. Needless to say, the celebrity endorser was already sold on one of the companies other products so he went into the promotion with a good positive attitude. Because of that, he has turned out to be not only the celebrity endorser, but he has turned into a true believer, introducing the product to important people that he already knows and feels would benefit from it as he is out traveling the country at various events. Hopefully, you are getting a picture of how we are making this celebrity much more than the picture on the box. We are making him into a walking billboard. Next time he is a guest on a TV show, guess whose shirt and logo he will be wearing. We are planting seeds that we hope to reap the rewards of for a long time. We are also being extremely proactive with the celebrity endorser while at the same time knowing the invisible boundaries from which we can work. At no point do we want to overstep our welcome. We are very tactful in the way we present ideas to the celebrity endorser, as we don’t want to ruffle their feathers. We are proactive but very discrete as to how we approach the celebrity endorser with extra duties. Most are willing, but the benefits need to be clearly identified for both parties.

Don’t ever make assumptions regarding your customer. It’s imperative to know your customer so that you make an intelligent decision as to your celebrity endorser and your brand match. Many who use celebrity endorsers go to great lengths to track down the prospect and then mail them some type of formal plan. We prefer to do things a little different. If we don’t know off hand how to reach someone we do a Google search and many times that will give us the information we need to contact the person directly. Yes, many times we will try and make a direct contact, less any agents, and see where that leads us. Sometimes we will get a favorable response or “you need to talk with my agent”. We prefer the direct approach and in every instance using that will lead to a better deal. I’m sure this statement will get agents all hot and bothered, but the truth of the matter is many times you can do a deal with a celebrity endorser without an agent. It’s important to remember the celebrity endorser loves the color of green. The more green they receive the better they like the deal.

Brand Presentation - Go Out of Your Way to Have Fun

2007-04-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed the brightest colors, and the funniest scenes are the most memorable?

A little old granny with her red hat and red vinyl purse looking at a teensy weensy piece of meat on a big round bun saying, “Where’s the beef?” comes to mind when I think of funny commercials. Everybody for years walked around commenting “Where’s the beef?” It became the instant putdown on every date, the end all of party conversation, and the choice location to have a burger.

Splash yellow paint across the screen, zap it with a green jagged line, and add a pair of bright red lips talking from the depths of creation and you’ll get some attention. If the lips happen to have a quirk and say something funny, you’ll have people repeating your catchy brand slogan for months, or maybe years afterward.

When the world learned to sing in perfect harmony a few years back, it was to the tune of the Real Thing, Coke Classic in a shapely bottle. Nobody needed to ask what the wave was when Coca Cola brought back an old favorite.

For your new brand, strike up a funny pose, brightly colored, with a prime phrase, and keep the energy high. You’ll want everyone to remember your kick ass brand because it’s funny, its repeatable, and it captures attention. If it just happens to be a phrase that catches on and everyone uses for a variety of reasons, you’ll have a recognizable BRAND that presents your product every time it’s used.

How many years did we walk around singing “Please don’t squeeze my Charmin?”

Even my children, born twenty years after the fact, know that when I’m singing the ‘charmin’ song, I’m singing a jingle about toilet tissue. And, ya know what? I still sing it.

When you create a new brand for your business, think presentation and have some fun!

Please don’t squeeze my Charmin!

Don’t hold her so tight!

If Charmin needs Squeezin’…

After all, you shouldn’t have to say “Pleeze” just to get a little “Squeeze”, right Mr. Whipple?

The Promise: Developing Your Company's Brand Message

2007-04-21T04:12:00.001-07:00

The business world is all about first impressions. If a customer likes what they see right away, they are likely to engage with your internet marketing efforts. That first impression is the essence of your brand message. It's the promise of what a consumer will encounter when dealing with your company. Create a compelling message, and you will entice potential customers to dig deeper and explore what your company has to offer.

How to Develop a Strong Brand Message
Begin by identifying your target market. Your branding strategy will depend heavily on this factor. Obviously, you will choose different messages depending on whether you are marketing to wealthy, retired men or adolescent girls. Your brand message goes even deeper than that. Your brand message is, in essence, a promise to your audience. Your brand message is the entire experience a consumer has with your organization.

So how does this promise tie into brand development? The spending habits, interests, age, gender, education level, and many other factors will play into your branding plans. If a hefty portion of your potential customers read the New York Times, the promise of your brand will be an upscale, intellectual experience. If they are a more tech-savvy bunch, making your brand hip, fast, easy and one step ahead of everyone else will hit the mark there.

Once you know who you are trying to speak to, you have to figure out what you will say. Decide what makes your company unique. What distinguishes you from the other guys? What compels a customer to choose you instead of the competition? Developing those unique selling points (USPs) will help you put a face to your company. Choose those stand-out qualities and focus on them in the branding process.

Getting Your Brand Noticed
Your brand, the promise of your company experience, exists only in relation to your consumers. There are two primary ways to realize this relationship: the visual approach, and the verbal approach. The visual approach involves the "look," a strong visual identity that will be recognized no matter what the context. This includes logos, colors, layouts, images, any graphic representation of your brand and its message. Remember: what the eyes see, the brain remembers. Whether it be an identifiable font or a memorable graphic, the visual side of branding has become increasingly important in our media-saturated culture.

The verbal aspect of branding is directly connected to the visual. It also needs to stand on its own; especially in the context of article marketing, where the visual aspect is largely absent. The verbal message of your brand becomes even more importance when separated from the visual.

Establishing a strong voice and style for your company is critical. Everything you write -- whether articles, press releases, site content, emails to your affiliates -- is written in the same voice and style. Once you've established a strong verbal identity, consumers will begin to intrinsically know that they are reading something from your company.

The verbal brand often includes trademark phrases, a standard lexicon for job titles and departments, and an overall tone in everything your company puts into words.

A tagline is another effective way to solidify your brand message. Think of Taco Bell's recent tagline, "Think outside the bun." A strong tagline presents a vivid summary of the USP of the company. Something clever or catchy will stick in the memories of customers the same way an attractive logo will.

Marketing With Confidence
A devotion to the promise of your brand displays a devotion to your customers. It also shows that you have confidence in your product. Consumers will perceive that confidence and subconsciously internalize a feeling of trust for your brand. That positive gut-reaction is the sign of a successful brand. A creative, confident brand is generally the face of a creative and confident company, and that is something any customer will appreciate!

International Brand Naming And How Words Can Hurt You

2007-04-21T04:11:00.002-07:00

It was the famous publicist PJ Barnum who said in 1855 "I do not care what people say about me but get my name right".

In today's international marketplace, getting names right is vital.

Marketers and brand managers are becoming more and more concerned that their newly created name will be inappropriate in their target markets.

We've all seen middle aged marketing executives embarrass themselves when trying to appear trendy to the youth market but things get even worse when attacking overseas markets.

What many people don't realize is that innocuous English product names often do not travel well. So called, 'bad' names, names which embarrass, offend or are just plain unsuitable, are profligate.

Bad products names, bad brand names and even bad company titles, are continuously spawned and the headlong drive towards globalization has given unwelcome publicity to all of them. There are many instances of where things have gone awry, most of them too rude to mention in this article.

It's not just names which need careful attention, straplines can go just as wrong. Take for example, Electrolux, the Swedish white goods company, who used the strapline "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux" to great effect when promoting a vacuum cleaner across Europe. Unfortunately, when they used the same line for the US launch they became a laughing stock as 'sucks' means something is 'very bad' in America.

Bad translations on apparel can also convey the wrong message. Take the slogan "I saw the potato", instead of the correct Spanish translation of "I saw the Pope," used on promotional T-Shirts for the Pope's visit to Miami.

The cost of such a damaging event cannot easily be counted. The very fact that a product might have to be hurriedly withdrawn, or quickly re-badged can have a catastrophic effect on the image, position and value of the brand and, of course its owner.

How can one put a value on that? The cost can be enormous, with the repercussions leaving careers in tatters. It seems almost ridiculous to many outside the marketing business that there are still organisations that undertake no due diligence and take a chance on it being 'alright on the night'.

Most sensible people take out insurance to cover them for almost every event and occasion, yet when instances of such obvious potential devastation occur, it is always too late to do anything about it.

Traditional remedies such as expecting your advertising agency to provide such a service is, with some exceptions, a waste of time. It's like asking your dentist to give you a diagnosis in respect of a pain in your toe.

You might expect your translation agency to offer this service but, unless they are very experienced and have regularly handled the needs and demands of checking words worldwide, again you could be wasting your money. Proper checking involves much more than whether the word means something contentious or just risible in a foreign language.

So, what can be done to reduce the risks of things going wrong? Fortunately, there are a few simple but highly effective precautions which can be taken:

1. Remember names change with speech

There's a world of difference between the written and spoken word. Accents and dialects play havoc with the pronunciation of English words and vice versa.

Most of have had an experience of the way our own language is treated by foreigners. We sound similarly strange to foreigners when we try to speak in a language which isn't our own. Before deciding on a name, simply ask a native speaker of the target language if it sounds OK to them.

2. Avoid names that can't be pronounced easily, or at all

Although this sounds like another blatantly obvious point, it's something which many people forget completely. Many languages have an alphabet and a way of speaking which makes the reading of English words difficult or, in some extreme cases, practically impossible.

For instance, all words in Japanese end in either a vowel or the letter 'n' so it makes sense to chose a name which follows this convention. By doing this, you can be confident that your Japanese customers will be able to pronounce it without difficulty or embarrassment.

3. Avoid names that confuse

A name may meet every other criteria but due to culture, product qualities or its position in the market place, it may still confuse its intended consumer. This fault will seriously endanger product positioning and so clarity must be established.

Many years ago the then President of the USA, John F Kennedy was making a speech close to the Berlin Wall. He finished off in an effort to try to identify himself with the long-suffering inhabitants by announcing to his audience "Ich bin ein Berliner". Unfortunately, and unknown, to the President he was telling everyone that he was a doughnut; a Berliner being the popular name for a local pastry.

I am often amazed that companies spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars launching a product with a name which is so obviously wrong that it would have been flagged as inappropriate immediately had they undertaken proper checking.

The cost of checking is tiny compared to the damage caused by not doing so.

Identity Theft: Count the ways

2007-04-21T04:11:00.001-07:00

I received an e-mail message from "Paypal" not to long ago. The e-mail stated that PayPal needed me to update and verify my security information for their database. I didn't. One of the sentences in the e-mail read:

"Complete the necessary verification tasks within 5 days, or your account might get temporarily suspended."

That didn't sound like the PayPal I've been doing business with for several years. The grammar of "your account might get temporarily suspended" raised an alarm bell. Also the logo while quite professional looked odd.

But the obvious giveaway was knowing Paypal would never contact me at an e-mail address I never gave them. I could have become a victim of a technique called phishing. Just another form of Identity theft.

The effort criminals put into stealing your identity staggers the imagination.

With Phishing also called brand spoofing, criminals set up phony but legitimate looking websites then spam you with e-mail like the one described above in the hopes of catching a percentage of Internet users. No reputable business will ever ask ask for your personal information via e-mail.

Phishing just became a parent to a newborn child called "pharming". Hackers plant phony information into DNS servers. This allows them to match domain names with the database of IP addresses maintained by various web hosting companies. In other words you type in a web address press enter and get rerouted to bogus websites where identity thieves are waiting to grab any of your information.

2003 saw identity thieves target Ebay account holders, this year it's Paypal's turn but any company with a database of information remains a target.

Choicepoint a veritable clearinghouse for the insurance industry finds themselves trying to explain how identity thieves tapped into their system to defraud 145,000 customers across the U.S. Investigators in California place that number closer to a half a million.

The hackers apparently used previously stolen identities to apply for and receive business licenses then bought information from ChoicePoint whose database totals 19 billion public records.

The FTC estimates that this year alone identity theft will cost the business community 4.2 billion dollars and 8 billion by the end of 2006.

Easy access to computers provide more chances for identity theft but the majority of cases according to the Better Business Bureau happen offline. Mail fraud, public spying known as "shoulder surfing" or telephone scams that target the elderly contribute greatly to this epidemic.

Unfortunately senior citizens face another threat known as the "sweetheart scam" in which a criminal offers to run errands or do chores around the house for the express purpose of taking control of the victim's finances.

Taking control of someone's finances can also happen in a restaurant, department store or any legitimate place of business . When a clerk swipes your card twice without your knowledge then stores the information for later use this is know as skimming. Often the clerk will make a duplicate card with your info to go on a buying spree or sell it on the black market. The illegal selling of credit card information as you might have already guessed is big business.

Identity theft has forced many financial institutions to revamp their ATM's due to criminal rigging. A person uses the ATM but after putting in the pin# the machine keeps the card. Usually when the person goes to report it, the thief strikes, taking card, pin # and most importantly the victim's identity.

The methods of madness can include something simple like going thru your trash known as dumpster diving or an elaborate hoax similar to the one reported by the Associated Press.

A family in the Pacific Northwest posed as tax preparers and used stolen identities to go on buying sprees across several states that included million dollar homes and luxury vehicles. According to authorities, since the thieves stole the social security # of children as well as adults, the damage won't be fully known until these young people start applying for credit later on.

Law Enforcement officials believe the next step with this criminal outfit involved applying for health care positions. Hospitals and doctor offices provide a wealth of personal information. Perfect for Identity thieves

These methods along with old fashioned robbery show why identity theft according to the Department of Justice maintains it's ranking as the number one and fastest growing crime in the US for 5 consecutive years. Unfortunately, it will maintain that status for the near future.

Putting a Face to a Name: Developing a Company Brand

2007-04-21T04:10:00.002-07:00

The business world is all about first impressions. If a customer likes what they see right away, they are likely to invest. This is what makes branding so important. Your brand is what consumers will initially encounter when introduced to your company. You want your brand to entice potential customers to dig deeper and further explore what your company has to offer. With any luck, they will like what they see!

How to Develop a Brand
Begin by identifying your target market. You branding strategy will depend heavily on this factor. For instance, you will choose different approaches depending on whether you are marketing to wealthy, retired men or adolescent girls.

The spending habits, interests, age, gender, education level, and many other factors will play into your branding plans. Similarly, your target market will also dictate where you make your brand visible. If a wide margin of you potential customers read the New York Times, you'll want to advertise there. If they are a more tech-savvy bunch, making your brand well known on the Internet will become a priority.

Once you know who you are trying to speak to, you have to figure out how. Decide what makes your company unique. What distinguishes you from the other guys? Why should a customer come to you instead of the competition? It is in developing those unique selling points that gives a face to your company.

Perhaps it is dependability, innovativeness, or creativity that sets you apart. Regardless of what it is, choose a couple of stand-out qualities and focus on them in the branding process.

Getting Your Brand Noticed
There are several ways to make your brand known to customers. The two main methods are the visual approach and the verbal approach. Any company would be wise to utilize both.

The visual approach involves a specific look to your brand that will be recognized no matter what the context. The best way to do this is through a logo. While it is helpful to have several versions of your logo to fit into different promotional settings, it is essential that a common "look" is maintained throughout.

Remember: what the eyes see, the brain remembers. Whether it be an identifiable font or a memorable graphic, the visual side of branding has become increasingly important in our media-saturated culture.

The verbal aspect of branding is directly connected to the visual. Sometimes they are one in the same, other times the words appear alone, away from the established "look." The wording involved in the brand becomes evermore vital when separated from the visual.

Choosing a good name for your company is part of the branding process. Be sure to choose a name that is descriptive. Don't get too creative with made-up titles that "sound cool." They might be pleasing to the ear, but they won't be remembered by the brain. Whether a customer sees the brand name with your logo or in a newspaper article in plain text, they should instantly recognize it.

A tagline can also be helpful in bolstering the brand. Taglines should always be short and sweet. Something clever or catchy will stick in the memories of customers the same way an attractive logo will.

Marketing With Confidence
You thought coming up with a brand was challenging, now try maintaining it. A devotion to your brand displays a devotion to your customers. It also shows that you have confidence in your product. Consumers will perceive that confidence and subconsciously internalize a feeling of trust for your brand.

It is that positive gut-reaction that you want. A creative, confident brand is generally the face on a creative and confident company, and that is something any customer will notice and remember.

Branding Yourself as an Expert

2007-04-21T04:10:00.001-07:00

Establishing yourself as the expert in your field will help you gain both recognition and respect. Luckily, that recognition and respect transfers directly to your company. If people trust that you truly know what you are talking about, they will feel good about investing in your product.

How to Gain Recognition
There are countless vehicles through which you can brand yourself as an expert. Budgets tend to limit what most companies can do, however. While television and radio appearances will reach the greatest number of people and are also the most personal, most cannot afford such an endeavor. Newspapers, magazines, and other publications are a more cost effective way of gaining exposure.

The Internet has become an increasingly popular place for business owners to showcase their expertise. The opportunities for brand establishment on the Internet are countless.

A website is the best place to start. Build a professional looking site with sound and informative content and you'll have a source of expert information to direct customers to. It is wise to upload a variety of self-written material to that website. Whether it be e-books or articles, good writing commands respect.

Remember that it is okay to give away some of your precious knowledge free of charge. Offer the customer something useful up front and they will label you as a legitimate source to go to for whatever your company may offer.

Branding on the Internet
Once your website is in good shape, it is time to attract some site-goers. Article marketing is one way to do this. Appearing as an expert in these self-written articles published on various sites will give readers the option of linking back to your site.

Article marketing is an especially effective way to gain that expert status because it gives you the ability to dispense a small number of articles to a huge number of content-rich sites. The more places your name pops up, the more people will be exposed to your site and product. You can be assured you have risen to an expert level in the eyes of consumers once these associations are made.

Another way to display your expertise is through online forums and blogs. This is a bit more casual than article writing. It allows you to remain in the first person and talk candidly with interested web surfers. The conversational tone used in such settings will put many potential customers at ease.

Not only will they view you as an expert, they'll also feel connected to you as a real human being. Similarly, such an environment gives customers the chance to ask questions as well as giving you the opportunity to back up your product in the face of criticism.

What to Highlight
While the language you use and the information you present is most important when it comes to branding, there are other things to consider. Perhaps most vital are your credentials. Related degrees, certifications, licenses and accreditations that you may have are always good to highlight.

For instance, at the bottom of an article you have written about your clown entertainment business for a circus magazine, you might include a small blurb that says something like the following: "Tom Jones received an M.A. in the Creative Arts from Bozonion University. He is a licensed Balloon Animal Artist as well as being certified in professional stilt-walking. Mr. Jones has been successfully entertaining for over twenty-five years."

Find the right places to gain recognition. Put yourself out there and command respect through that exposure. Highlight your achievements and successes. Branding yourself as an expert is all about getting other people to recognize something about you that you already know. It is your business and you know your industry. Get out there and showcase your expert talents!

How To Create Wild Success - The Easy Way

2007-04-19T03:42:00.003-07:00

The road to success is paved with all sorts of surprises; pot holes, rough patches, dips, road blocks, twists and turns.

There are times when an alternate route will get you to your final destination rough patch free. Other times, there is no route to take but the one facing you.

Follow these four steps no matter the road conditions to get you moving towards your final destination, with ease:

Take it one step at a time

It's been determined that walking one mile takes about 2,000 steps. No matter how you slice it, it will take you 2,000 steps - there's no way around it. Each step you take is therefore a small success because it gets you one step closer to the one-mile goal. Your goals in business (or your personal life) follow the same pattern. It will take a certain number of steps to get you to your final destination. Breaking down your goal into doable steps gives you something within reach to shoot for. Do you have a new monetary goal for yourself this year? Great! Break that goal down into doable monthly steps you can achieve and feel good about. Success comes in all sizes and small successes breed large ones.

Don't take yourself too seriously

Hugely successful people differ from those less successful in how they respond to setback. Adapting a wildly successful attitude means laughing at yourself, dusting yourself off and getting right back out there. Having a setback does not mean you have a bad life or that you are inept...unless you choose to believe that. A setback can still get you to your final destination but only if you're willing to push through barriers.

Having fun is allowed

If you don't enjoy what you're doing, why are you doing it? Let's be honest, the more you enjoy something the more apt you are to keep doing it, do it well and get paid handsomely for it. As you travel the wildly successful super highway, take a moment to assess if you're having any fun. If you're not, consider shifting gears and embracing a new endeavor that makes you giddy. Life is meant to be lived with vigor and passion. If your passion quotient is running on empty, it's time for you to take a pit stop and refuel.

Reward yourself

Have you heard this before...reward yourself for your accomplishments, big and small? You have? Ok then, are you doing it? If you're like most people you aren't. You know you should but instead you look for ways to do things better next time. Hey, I've been guilty of that myself so I know where you're coming from. Slow down long enough to relish in your accomplishments.

Each step you take towards that one mile mark is a small victory that is worthy of reward. Step 2 is as precious as step 1,999. You would reward a friend or family member for their successes wouldn't you? Treat yourself with the same love, compassion and regard. You are worth it!

Three Branding Lessons I Learned From Inside the Yoga Temple

2007-04-19T03:42:00.001-07:00

I'll let you in on a little secret...I've recently become addicted to Yoga! It's a great way for a type-A personality like me to unwind, get centered and focus on something other than the next task on my list of to-do's. The added benefit is that I've gained more physical power and strength and an abundance of clarity in all aspects of my life.

I've been practicing Yoga now for several months and have been so focused on my movements that I failed to notice there is much to be learned about business success in the midst of the 'om'. Here are 3 lessons we can all learn from:

1. Let your inner voice guide you
Unlike competitive sports, Yoga practitioners don't compete with the rest of the room or even themselves. Instead, they honor where they are at in the moment and stretch not based on what the rest of the group is doing but based on how far they can go that day. This requires really listening to your inner voice, honoring where you're at and not imposing preconceived judgments on yourself.

In business, instead of moving at the pace of the pack, or making decisions based on what others are doing (or not doing), develop a strategy that honors your brand statement. When you are clear on your brand, and the value it represents, you are able to make decisions that point back to what really matters and is right...for you.

2. Expect to get out of balance
One of the moves I had the most difficulty with in the early stages of my yoga practice, is called 'Tree Pose.' As a yoga newbie, I didn't have the focus I have today and balancing on one foot while my hands floated in the air above me was challenging. I'd fall out of the move, and became frustrated.

No matter the size, or age, of your business there will be times when what you forecasted doesn't go as planned. It's easy to just throw your hands up in the air and give up or change your course completely - your brand isn't built on that now is it? Before you become frustrated, take a moment to readjust and try that marketing strategy or sales tactic again.

3. Model the actions of those that are achieving what you want
Whether you practice yoga in a studio with other people or prefer to move into downward-facing dog in the privacy of your own home, it helps to model someone who is performing the moves successfully. I'm always keeping an eye on my instructor when she introduces a move I'm not familiar with so that I can copy her movements.

As a small business owner, you don't have to go it alone! Look for role models that are achieving the success you want and learn from them. The trick is to avoid taking advice from those that aren't more successful than you. Beware of 'wanna-be' mentors that position themselves as know-it-alls when in fact they are do-nothings.

The most enjoyable part of my yoga practice is the 'Salutation Seal' when we place our hands near our heart and reflect on our accomplishment. As part of your business' practice honor your accomplishments and remember, tomorrow is another day.

Set Yourself APART - if You Dare

2007-04-19T03:41:00.003-07:00

Follow these steps to stand out from the crowd and achieve the results you want:

(A) Actions

Everything you do, has an impact on your life and on the impression you leave with the people around you. Consider all that you do. How do you respond to others? How do you treat those who help you in your daily activities? How much effort do you put into your work, your sport, relationships? Everything counts.

(P) Presentation

In all that you say and write you communicate to the world your values, beliefs, knowledge, what you stand for. Look at the work that you produce. When you craft communication in your business, does it reflect your brand values or are you giving mixed signals? Don't be fooled, people do notice.

(A) Associations

Hugely successful author and millionaire maker, T. Harv Eker has been quoted as saying he can tell you how much earning power you have by meeting the three people you spend most of your time with. Who you align yourself with speaks volumes about you, your brand, and your ability to succeed. So, whom do you associate with?

(R) Results

Lets face it. We live in a results based culture. I can think of a number of soft-spoken leaders whose career histories speak for them. Achievements say a lot to the outside world about your abilities. Awards, promotions, and successes in any area lead to increased recognition. Don't be afraid to go for it! More importantly, don't be shy about sharing those results with others.

(T) Timing

You might not remember the names of every astronaut that traveled to the moon but you DO remember the name of the first. Set yourself a goal to set yourself apart in this manner. Do you have an idea to take an old concept and turn it into something new? Is there a need you've identified in your market that no one else is serving? Find a goal that motivates you to be your best and be the first.

There are of course those that don't want to stand out and would rather "blend in." For some, anonymity is comfortable and safe. It's a shame because those are the people that miss out on lifes opportunities. Opportunities don't knock at the door of those who hide. Instead, opportunities are just waiting to be embraced by those who dare to dream and achieve. Those that have the courage to set themselves APART experience the greatest rewards.

Does Your Brand Pass the KISS Test?

2007-04-19T03:41:00.001-07:00

You've heard the adage Keep It Simple Sweetie (K.I.S.S.)? Well, that saying couldn't be more true when it comes to personal branding. Like many areas of life, keeping things simple is the most effective tact and personal branding is no exception.

No matter how challenging or 'unique' your business is your brand will always be more relatable and effective when your target audience can understand it in mere seconds. If you find yourself having to over educate your audience, that's a sure sign that your brand has not passed the K.I.S.S. test.

The most powerful personal brands are built on a three-prong approach - your brands three most critical messages that are simple, direct and one-of-a-kind. Like a tripod, omitting even one of these three elements can negatively impact the stability of your brand.

To ensure that your tripod is well balanced on all sides, check for the following brand elements:

1. What you do

How are you describing yourself when you're asked the 'what do you do' question? If you find yourself saying things like:

"I'm in real estate"

"I'm a Life Coach"

"I sell skincare"

"I'm in sales"

You're saying very little about what you actually do and instead, are describing a function. Consider how you benefit your clients/customers. In what way do you affect their lives? THAT is what you do!

2. How you create value for others

When you know what you 'do,' you are in a much stronger position to describe how you create value for others. Don't make the mistake of confusing your 'do' with your 'value.' Instead, think of your value as the unique way(s) in which you deliver your 'do.'

3. How you're different from your competition

The three legs of your brand tripod are well balanced when you also include how your 'do' and 'value' differ from that of your competitors. This is one of the reasons why understanding your competitive landscape is important. Many small business owners omit this step and therefore are at a disadvantage in clearly articulating how they differ from others.

When you can clearly express all three elements of your brand, in a simple and clear message, you are making the decision to do business with you an easier one for your audience. Communicate all three points in everything you do (brochures, elevator speech, flyers, internal brand systems, everything!) and you're on you're way to being a KISS-able brand.

Brand Your Market: Simplicity Goes a Long Way Toward Identifying Your Brand

2007-04-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I come across a brand so simple and precise I have to stand back and appreciate the austerity of it. Most often these brands are signature brands.

A copywriter friend signs her work “Dina” and it’s quite effective. Her name is simple, clean lined, and unique enough that it’s all she needs. Everyone in the industry recognizes her work, because it follows the simplistic style of her signature; straightforward, implicit, and concise.

Our current President is identifiable by his middle initial. Through all of history I imagine he will be recognized as George W.

Nobody has to tell you that “Bugs” is a bunny. Everyone knows that “Bugs” has long pink ears and a fluffy tail.

When a local business owner came to me this week with an issue about renaming her business, the solution was obvious. Her non-storefront location offered a blazing trail of business, if only there was an identification of what she provided. The secluded entry hidden behind a rock wall, prevented folks from seeing into the establishment, and her site offered no front windows. Since Leesa is a familiar name locally in food establishments, we embellished it and stopped there.

Leesa’s Backroom Diner was born. Gussied up with Leesa’s color “pink” the sign stands out, states a fact, and gets the job done, with simplicity. We painted the door Leesa’s signature color and lined the hallway leading to her dining room with the same color and posters of prime menu items. Of course, her tablecloths are pink and her waitresses dress in pastel pink uniforms. Everyone remembers Leesa’s because her brand is simple and recognizable.

When branding your business, remember: simplicity goes a long ways toward making your brand both recognizable and memorable.

Brand Your Business: Power Image Marketing Imprints Recognition in the Mind

2007-04-16T02:42:00.001-07:00

Finally! You’ve achieved your goal of being an entrepreneur with the business of your dreams, but… it’s unrecognizable.

The solution may be in the moniker you choose to identify your business, or the logo, or even a colorful phrase that describes your business to those who know you. Either way, your business needs to be identifiable to the general public, easily recognized and memorable.

Online recognition requires searchable keywords and identity. Using Search Engine Optimization in your website design increases your visibility online.

Site Visits require a recognizable image. Adding a sparkling logo image to your site, makes your site memorable.

On the streets, your image should be visible either on the product or as the product. Your logo on the product should remind the client where the product came from.

In person, your product or image should stand out. If you meet a client and shake their hand, will they remember you when they need a specific product? If you introduce yourself with a memorable line they will.

When your name is spoken, an image should appear in the minds of those who hear.

What is your image saying about you? Besides being memorable, your logo image should be saying something positive about your product.

Brand your business with a power-image designed to imprint recognition on the minds of your clients.

You can identify your business with a brand that brings people back, keeps your business in mind, and promotes recognition. Developing a Power-Image to identify your product and business increases recognization factors in the marketplace.

Minding Your Own Brand: What Are You Going To Name It?

2007-04-16T02:41:00.004-07:00

My wife and I recently had our second baby, and like all expectant parents we had to go through the often difficult process of picking a name. Choosing a name is one of the first big decisions you make for your child and it can have a large impact on their future. Anyone familiar with the 1980s movie The Sure Thing remembers the diatribe of John Cusack’s character in which he expresses his disgust for the name “Elliot” who will grow up to be “a fat kid with glasses who eats paste.” He then goes on to explain that “You gotta give him a real name. Give him a name! Like Nick….Nick’s a real name! Nick’s your buddy. Nick’s the kinda guy you can trust.”

Choosing a name for your company or product is as important as naming your child, so don’t take it lightly. First and foremost the name has to be unique. Growing up in classrooms filled with Davids, Johns and Jennifers, the one thing that set me apart was my last name. Speaking of my last name, that brings me to the next point. You have to be able to say it and spell it. I know first hand how having a name like Lubelczyk, which is both difficult to say and spell, can be a real pain. In this world of URLs, search engines, and online directories, being able to spell your company’s name is crucial unless you want to spend a lot of money registering all the misspellings of the name. Before you pick a name, make sure you can get the .COM because chances are if you can only register the .NET, the .BIZ or you have to put in a lot of dashes or an “e” in front of it, no one will ever find you...but they will find your competitor.

A name also has to fit the personality of the company now and the personality you want it to grow up to be. Unlike Little Rickey who can become Richard the CEO or Rick the Fireman, you are stuck with that name for a long time. So choose wisely. If you have to change it later, the costs both financially and in lost recognition will be massive. The longer you have a name, the harder it will be to change. Just ask KFC who has recently gone back to Kentucky Fried Chicken because despite massive amounts of advertising telling us that KFC was their name and it stood for “Kitchen Fresh Chicken”, no one really forgot that this company southern-fried their chicken.

Another thing to remember when picking a name is to avoid trendy names, names based on a fad, names that include current technology, or names that expire. Let’s face it, does anyone get the latest electronic equipment at the Hi-Fi Shack or Computers 2000? I don’t know many people who still want to go to the Cineplex, the Roller Disco, or the Bowladrome. These all may have been great names “in the day”, but now they seem dated and irrelevant. So unless your company offers a retro theme or wants to forever stay in a time warp, avoid these names at all cost.

A popular naming trend is the use of only initials. This comes from the success of companies like GE, IBM and AT&T. But unless you’re a “Blue Chip” company, this is probably not a good idea. Not many people want to buy from EDP NOW nor do they see ABC Office Supplies as unique. I can’t even guess what ADSP Inc. sells. Finally, AAA Computer Repair may get you the first listing in the phone book but does it really differentiate your service?

My entire family had very strong feelings about what the baby should be called and your company’s stakeholders do too, therefore you must choose wisely. Always remember to consider if the name is appropriate, will people be excited about it, does it sound good, will people relate the name with the products or services you offer, and is it the type of company name people want to associate with. If all else fails, ask for help. There many good companies who specialize in developing the perfect name for your business.

Checking Your Celebrity Values Index

2007-04-16T02:41:00.003-07:00

The real goal and hope is that your celebrity endorser will boost the effectiveness of your marketing, product, or company campaign in a positive fashion. The value index, as we like to call it, is extremely important. Just look at companies that had deals with the likes of Kobe or O.J. when they ran into trouble. Disaster was and is always just around the corner if your celebrity endorser has the misfortune of having any form of legal trouble. Bad news for them only means worse news for you and your company. Over the years, millions of dollars have gone up in smoke because of a DUI, drug, or sex scandal. It just isn’t worth the risk. So, get to know your celebrity endorser and perform a thorough background check. You might be very surprised at what a simple Google search might turn up. Don’t let your celebrity endorser get caught with his or her pants down, as you will also feel like your pants are down.

I can recall all to well a situation where a major star was scheduled to appear at a major meet and greet. The deal was done, the athlete had been paid and was scheduled to appear the next day at a very large function. The company decided to fly the athlete in the night before. To bad the athlete decided to have a few drinks before going to his hotel. Instead of being in a cab he had a rented car…big mistake. He was picked up one block from his hotel for a DUI. He spent the night in jail. He was too embarrassed to attend the function later the next day so he decided to hop the next plane home and leave the company high and dry. Not only did they never recover their money, but the event planned around the celebrity was a disaster, to say the least. Make sure you know your celebrity and his or her tendencies.

It’s so amazing to me that what you see is not necessarily what you will get. Too many high profile celebrities are just full of themselves. It’s a shame but its reality. There are so many nice, decent, honest celebrities that one need not be subjected to a bad apple.

When considering the value index, another crucial point is to always ask for referrals. It may seem unnecessary but believe me, if you can’t get any it’s time to walk away. When speaking with referrals, make sure you ask all the pertinent questions such as: Are they easy to work with? Do they arrive on time? How do they dress? Were they cordial? Did they ask for money for doing little extra things? Were they at ease or in a hurry? Did they hang around after it was over, or immediately leave? Were they accommodating when asked for autographs? Did they make eye contact? and so on. Ask the questions, as you may be surprised at the answer. Above all, ask if they would hire that person again.

A good question that we ask the celebrity if we can’t get referrals is, who have they have done endorsements for in the past? We then do our own investigating by calling the company directly. It’s usually safe to say that if you can’t get referrals there have been problems in the past. If that’s the case, we advise you to keep looking until you find your perfect match. It will be time well spent.

There are a number of reasons for using a celebrity endorser. But also consider the value proposition of the endorser as a key to your success. The reason you are using the endorser is probably one of the following:

• Credibility

• Adding new ideas to your brand image

• Celebrity can add his or her values and refresh the brand

• Celebrities draw attention

• Rising above the competition

• PR possibilities

• Way to convince customers about a product or company

• Adding value to the product or company

• Building a solid back end proposition through extended use

There is one reason to use a celebrity endorser that I don’t want to add to the list above, as it is often the early signs of a company in trouble. That reason is desperation. Companies often times will think that a celebrity endorser might pull them out of the hole. Unless it is a brilliantly conceived marketing strategy, the chances for failure are greater than the chances for success. Sometimes, if a product cannot stand on its own, companies are lead to believe that a celebrity might produce magic. Usually that is not the case as the product or company is already too far gone to hope that a last minute advertising bailout will make a difference. There are certainly instances where a celebrity has come in and immediately turned things around, but unless you can afford Michael Jordan or some other big name, failure is more realistic than success.

The bottom line is, don’t count on the celebrity endorser being your savior. The celebrity endorser can certainly enhance most businesses with a well thought out plan, but to use one as a savior may be asking to much from the celebrity and isn’t fair to the celebrity or to the company. Miracles are hard to come by.

Beware if you are desperate.

Visual Branding For Events

2007-04-16T02:41:00.001-07:00

Visual branding is a great way to create big impact at a special event such as a launch, customer relations dinner or trade show.

Although some people think of this as a wasteful self-indulgent practice, shrewd marketers know that a focused visually branded event can leave a deep impression on customers and prospects amidst a flurry of competitors.

The general rule when it comes to visual branding is to do as much as you can within your budget, otherwise don’t do anything at all. There’s nothing worst then a ‘half-past-six’ job when presenting your corporate image.

Here are some creative ideas that we have come across:

STATIC BRANDING PROPS & DECORATIONS

Besides more standard branding tools such as posters, table stands, cocktail napkins, name tags, light boxes with logo, ice sculptures and backdrops, think of a visually aesthetic approach by using decorations that are coloured-themed to your corporate colours.

Such as; flowers, tea candles, gobo lights, buntings, ribbons, balloons, theatrical lighting, fish in bowls and lava lamps.

INCORPORATING BRANDING INTO FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS

Brand all functional elements in your event. For example, if you are having a dinner launch, create dishes or cocktail drinks named after your brand and using your corporate colours.

Brand all printed information that guests receive. Brand or colour match all cutlery like plates, water goblets, napkins, cups, table cloths, table center pieces and chair covers. You can even choose cocktail snacks to reflect your corporate colours.

USING ENTERTAINMENT FOR BRANDING

A creative way to brand your event is to have different entertainment items that communicate your branding or message. Experienced corporate entertainers can customize and tailor their shows to your event.

Mingling entertainers like costumed performers and mascots in tasteful costumes accented with the corporate colours can help add to the atmosphere and further visually promote your brand.

EXTENDING YOUR BRANDING BEYOND THE EVENT

If you are considering giveaways and ‘goody bags’ for customers to take home, think beyond the usual pens, notepads, key chains and T-shirts. If you have the budget, think of custom labeled wine, packets of nougats or sweets.

For more economic alternatives, consider creative giveaways that people would actually use or show around.

Concept:Magic creates customized giveaways that are in the form of simple magic effects that highlight a brand. It is relatively low cost and everyone enjoys performing it for their friends and families.

Best of luck and think ‘out of the box’ the next time you are planning a marketing event.

Applying Positioning Strategies to Boost Profits

2007-04-16T02:40:00.001-07:00

As human beings we tend to label things, to generalize things, to simplify, so that we can assimilate the tons and tons of information that are being dumped our way every single waking hour. We become so good at it that it becomes a subconscious activity. To demonstrate:

You won’t notice your breathing pattern (until I mentioned it), the weight of your body on your bum that is being supported by the chair (until I mentioned it), even your urge to blink right now. You just blinked didn’t you?

Ok, Ok, so what has that got to do with increasing profits? Simple! We tend to shut out things that are ‘common occurrence’, ‘the norm’, and ‘the standard’ in favor of paying attention to things that stand out and are different. Knowing that, you can easily and very consciously set up your business/service/product/offer to be different than what is on the market. And when you do that, you will be guaranteed a huge jump in profits!

Just think about it.

There are hundreds and hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs who are promoting themselves as gurus. Only a handful are extremely successful. And those are the ones who have differentiated themselves and created a powerful positioning for themselves.

For example, they positioned themselves as the product creation expert, the web copywriting expert, the teleseminar expert, the super affiliate, the Adsense specialist, blogging specialist, etc.

Each of them have their own story to tell. By creating a strong differentiation and positioning, they stand out and attract attention. YOUR attention. They are no longer “another one of those”. Do they profit more than “another one of those”? Absolutely!

Here’s an interesting case study: Many years back, the beauty industry in Singapore was inundated with so many beauty salons that were all promoting very similar things. If the trend is facial whitening, you can expect all of them to advertise about that service. If the trend is on getting rid of cellulite, then everyone is a specialist on how they can help you get rid of it. (Putting the words ‘everyone’ and ‘specialist’ is ironical don’t you think? If everyone is a specialist, then maybe they have not specialized enough.)

But since then, I suspect that the salons started to realize the importance of positioning themselves and being focused in a category. Now as you flip the newspaper and see their huge half-page ads, you will realize that most of them are positioning themselves better.

You can find:

- BottomSlim: Specialize in slimming lower parts of the body (by the way, which parts do you think are the problem areas of most people? Very smart move!)

- Jean Yip: Beauty through haircare (even though they have slimming services, they are known as the experts in hair treatments).

- Hair Away: Specialist in removal of unwanted hair.

- Strip: Brazilian waxing. I was told that their most popular request is ‘the strip’. If you don’t know what that is… you need to get out more!

- Marie France Bodyline: Well-known as the premier slimming and beauty specialist.

- SlimFit: Natural breast enhancements.

Build, Brand and Sustain

2007-04-03T05:52:00.002-07:00

What do you want to be known for and what will you stand for in 2007? Being a leader, taking a stance and setting the agenda are good ways to build what I call "reputational capital".

Every individual or organisation is like a stool. There are three legs to the stool. The first leg is your hard capital - your hard assets - bricks and mortar or computer networks. The second leg is your soft or human capital, your people. The third leg is your reputational capital. This takes years to build up and you can lose it in seconds.

Increase your reputational capital in 2007 and you will increase your financial capital by following these three tips.

1. Build

Logos are bought. Reputations are earnt. Continuously work on activities that will help build your credibility and visibility. The activities that have the highest return on investment for time, money and effort are usually the ones that are free. These are speaking, writing and being quoted in the media.

Aim to write and distribute one media release a month based on something new. For example a new idea, a new product or a new benchmark. Distribute it to a global audience using www.prweb.com

2. Brand

A brand is a set of perceptions around you or your business. A brand contains aspirational elements of what you want your reputation to be. This can operate at a personal, internal or external level.

Build your personal reputation by working on three areas: core, built and perceived.

At the centre reaffirm your core values and what matters to you most. Nourish your built brand in your area of expertise (I call this expert power) by adding new skills, experiences and ideas. Aim to read at least one book a month and attend one professional development event in your area each quarter. Work on your perceived reputation by ensuring your intent, actions and public persona match your core and built reputations. It is about clarity, consistency and congruency.

3. Sustain

Sustain your reputation by putting in mechanisms to protect all you've worked for. Protect your unique intellectual property, products or processes using trademarks, copyright and other tools. Develop templates, processes and systems to streamline all your activities and make them easy to replicate by others. This will add real value to your reputation.

Ensure you think of the "what if" scenarios and have a plan for this if your initial strategies do not work out. What if my laptop got stolen for example?

Leave a legacy by giving back to the community - either in time, resources or support. Do this in a selfless way without expectation and your reputation will have a lasting impact.

Case Study: The Branding of an Actors School of Performing Arts

2007-04-03T05:52:00.001-07:00

The competition for performing arts schools is tough and indeed it is important for those who are in such an industry to pay special attention to branding. Recently, I met a gentleman who started a performing arts and actors training school during my travels and he called it V-Stages.

Later I considered what V-stages meant and the marketing value of that brand. The gentleman had done an excellent job designing his business cards and the whole thing made perfect sense. Did you know that "Vstages" is an agricultural term? It refers to the various stages of growing wheat in fact.

Thus the Various Stages or Vstages can also relate to the growth stages of crops. In education it could be the nurturing stages of young minds! In the entertainment process it perhaps could also relate to the "acts of the play" as it develops. Or as the audience comes to understanding in their own minds.

Thus it embodies the fruits of ones labors in entertainment encompassing both the extroverted self and introspective enlightenment. What does all this Vstage discussion have about the price of rice? Ever thing actually; Abstractly thinking out loud here of course. Wheat and rice go thru the same stages.

So for an; "Actors Network" V-stages can be also many things. For instance the stages of a Delta Rocket launching satellites into space or the actor taking the audience on a ride into another World of thought? Three stages, Three Guys and One Piano, as the music plays and SpaceShip one takes another space tourist into their own future, propelling them into deeper understanding.

Perhaps you can see the ability to allow visualization in the minds of the public and potential customers. V-stages are also the stages used in aviation as an aircraft goes down a runway until the speed allows it to fly; V-1, V-2, V-3, you see? What can you do to enhance and visualize your brand name?

I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple, to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

Logo Design

2007-04-03T05:51:00.003-07:00

Logo Design

A logo is a symbol that represents a particular company or a brand. Logos are a very important since they help in attracting customers. Remember that your logo is a business tool. The logo you have represents your very company. How it appears tells the potential customers what kind of business you have.

Your logo design should be unique, functional, and effective regardless of the size and attractive regardless of the color. It should also represent the brand/company image well. The ultimate purpose is for the people to recognize your logo and associate yourself with it. Make sure that your chosen logo stands out in the crowd.

A company’s logo should avoid complicated and intricate designs. Too complex a design hinders rapid visual identification and thereby defeats the purpose of the unique identification associated with the company’s logo. A busy, intricate logo may look wonderful but when the same logo is reduced in size for use on a business card it may become a meaningless blob of ink. Keep it simple and clean. Also, avoid using too many colors, highlights, special effects, etc. Most companies wish to use their logo for more than just a single application. Complex designs and color patterns tend to cost more to reproduce and often need to have an additional simplified version created. Another added expense.

A Text-based design is often text only with exclusive typographic behavior. You should prefer a Text-Based design when funds are tight; your company’s name is logically distinguishing but not a household word just yet. Good examples of this are: Yahoo and Wal-Mart.

A Letter-mark design is similar to text but is either an abbreviation or a company’s initials. Good examples of this are: IBM and BMW. Another type of design is Icon-based. This usually involves an abstract piece of art or picture. Good examples of this are the “swoosh” emblem for Nike or the apple logo for Apple computer.

Designers should be aware of copyrights and trademarks, and should be very careful not to copy any other logo. Using a person’s face, clip-art, third-party fonts, imagery or photographs, and culturally suggestive imagery should be avoided as much as possible. The use of too many effects like shadows, glares, embossing and photo imagery is also not recommended. The logo should also be flexible enough to retain its shape when printed on certain materials that tend to crease or fold.

Determining If Using A Celebrity Is In Your Company’s Best Interest

2007-04-03T05:51:00.001-07:00

This is obviously the key ingredient in determining your overall strategy. Based on lots of practical experience and much diligent research into the subject, it seems apparent that a well-placed celebrity endorser can dramatically impact all phases of your business. The key is to find that one celebrity that fits the mold you are working from. The tremendous impact, goodwill, referrals, continued sales, and repeat customers that celebrity endorser can provide is incredible. While it’s seemingly tough to determine the value, the reality is that it’s easier than one might think. In our vast experience we have found that the key to finding the perfect fit is to know what you as a company are looking for …without that knowledge, you are rolling the dice. When talking about an expenditure on this level it never pays to roll the dice. You need to formulate a very specific strategy as to overall goals and then accurately, intensely, adequately, and with piercing precision, hone in on your target with a razor sharp tactical launch.

When considering what you are trying to accomplish with your company, you need to so with precision and make sure that every aspect of the overall strategy is driving you towards your goal. Your goals can be many and varied, however, your main goal should be centered on the added value and to what extent that value will drive overall sales. It doesn’t do you much good to have a one- day promotion and only see a days worth of extra value. That might work well if you were selling cars and because of the endorser you sell an extra 10 cars at $40,000 each. Realistically, that doesn’t happen very often. Always consider long-term benefits and ways that you can extend the promotion far beyond the actual appearance or endorsement.

The name of the game is brand exposure and its maximization. By carefully orchestrating your plan, you will reap benefits over the long term. Here is a simple example we have used a few times. When we have athletes making an appearance we always have a nice stack of 8 x 10 photos (in fact in most cases we have the athlete call their source for photos and we take advantage of their discount which reduces the cost to the customer) nearby so when that athlete isn’t busy, we have them sign the photos. Photos are quick and easy to sign and you can get a lot signed in twenty or thirty minutes. Sometimes, celebrities can sign as many as three hundred to four hundred an hour. If the picture costs $1.50 and the athletes signature is worth $15 in the open market, with possibly a much higher perceived value, then getting a hundred or so photos signed for a back end sales promotion really makes a lot of sense. Once you have the signed photos, you can save them for a rainy day and run a special promotion. For example, when your customer purchases $100 worth of goods they receive for FREE a signed picture. Good will also brings in new customers.

A careful evaluation of your company will usually determine the potential value of using an endorser. Who are your clients? What age group? Are they male or female? What is the lifetime value of a customer (this helps you to determine what you can spend on a celebrity endorser)? What is the competition doing? More than likely, using an endorser will separate you from the competition, providing you with a clear market advantage. According to an American Public Opinion Survey and Market Research study, more than a fifth of all advertising today features a famous face, voice, or image. It also further states that almost 72% of consumers who bought a product pitched by a celebrity said that it was the endorser who first grabbed their attention. Powerful stuff, wouldn't you agree? Celebrity sells and continues to sell. But why? Many theories are floating around, but the most interesting one is the fact that we as consumers are somehow pre-programmed, hardwired if you will, to pay attention to celebrities. We think of them as people we can trust even though we don’t know them personally. In many instances we think of them as friends we can trust. Another less obvious reason is the repetition of seeing a celebrity over and over again. We become accustomed to seeing their smiling face…they become believable. We tend to think, if it’s good enough for the celebrity it must be good enough for me, even though there is absolutely no basis for such thinking.

In the end, it all boils down to your brand profile and finding a creditable celebrity that matches your needs.

5 Key Lessons I Learned From Working at AOL About Creating a Brand For Your Business

2007-04-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

After 10 years of forging my career at AOL during their rise to global dominance, I consider myself corrupted. The lessons I learned there are seared onto my brain. And, thankfully so, because I've used everything single one in building my own business.

One huge lesson I learned was about BRANDING. By 1997, AOL was the number one online service, but the lead wasn't so huge that Microsoft's new MSN service couldn't take it away. If AOL was going to continue to bust open and take a huge lead, we needed to do something a bit different. Enter COO Bob Pittman. His first, foremost, and I believe, most valuable, thing he ever did was to insist that the company get serious about creating a brand. Not simply a well-known company, not a recognized logo, but a brand, something that evokes a strong emotion, that's incredibly attractive, and that people want to stay attached to.

We started to get deliberate about creating a brand. Everything we did – from look and feel to marketing to customer service to pricing to online content and more – communicated several tenants of the AOL brand: easy, affordable, and useful. It worked. By the year 2000, AOL was a $7 billion dollar company with 23 million members and a wide lead in the top spot.

When I left AOL and started Bodacious! Ventures, I took everything I learned about branding and applied it to my new business. Here are five key lessons about creating a brand that you can use for your own business:

1. Every company has a brand. The question is, "Is it working for you?" Creating a brand isn't just for the big companies; it's for companies of all sizes. We're all fighting for attention from our target customers. If you don't create a brand, then you risk not being remembered and not being emotionally attractive. Both are a prerequisite for sales.

Ask Yourself: What is my brand? Is it working for me? Am I willing to make changes if needed?

2. Your brand must evoke a strong emotion. Neurologist Donald Calne said, "The essential difference between emotions and reason is that EMOTION leads to ACTION while reason leads to conclusions." Customers buy from emotion and back it up with their head.

Ask Yourself: What emotion does my brand evokes? Do I know how others experience my brand? (Psst! Ask at least 10 people.) Is that the emotion I want my brand to evoke?

3. Your brand isn't a logo. It's everything you offer, say, and do. A brand is an experience with many facets. There are a ton of ways a person can interact with you and your company, for example, marketing materials, business card, website, personal appearance, quality of your product or service, how someone answers the phone, voice mail message, e-mail, and customer support.

Ask Yourself: What are all the ways a person can interact with my company or brand? (Psst! Make a list.) Is each interaction supporting or derailing the emotional experience I want my brand to create?

4. As a one woman show, YOU are your brand! 87% of all women owned businesses have one employee – the woman herself. Who you are and what you do affects everything about your business.

Ask Yourself: What about my brand is "just like me"? Do I support my brand experience in how I dress, speak, and interact with others?

5. Your brand needs constant tweaking. You have to start somewhere. So, you launch your company and brand, see what works, and you keep adjusting. What ultimately matters is what the customer thinks and feels.

Ask Yourself: Have I given much thought lately about the brand experience I'm creating for my customers? What's one thing I've heard again and again from customers that I need to change about my business?

Unearthing The Unspoken Through Storytelling

2007-03-27T02:19:00.001-07:00

Ssshhhhh.... Did you hear that? It's the whisper of another brand trying to be heard.

Against the clamor of consumer-controlled media and me-too product introductions with me-too pricing, it's becoming nearly impossible to find a voice that resonates. Marketers are grappling with the question of how to get consumers' attention. What does it take to get their ear?

The answer is simple, but the process is far from easy. The best way to get consumers to listen, it turns out, is to learn how to listen to them.

Many companies are paying lip service to this idea. "Storytelling" and "conversation" have become business buzzwords. But if marketers don't know how to elicit and interpret the stories that resonate most deeply with customers, companies may as well be having a conversation with themselves.

Women pose a particular challenge in this respect. Under social pressure to be polite and accommodating, they're more likely to tell marketers what they want to hear, rather than what keeps them up at night. As a result, we need to pay close attention, not just to their words, but to the truth that lies behind those words. Mining for Truth

For example, if you ask a customer "which do you like better? Butter or margarine?", she'll state her preference. But will she tell you that butter makes her nostalgic for her grandmother's oatmeal cookies? Or that she pores over nutrition newsletters for the latest information about fats? Maybe butter reminds her of a bouquet of buttercups she got from her very first boyfriend... Direct questioning will never get at these associations.

Focus groups have their place. But alone, they rarely reveal the succulent details that lead to a distinctive voice in the marketplace. Interviews need to be augmented with observation, in other words, watching what women do in a particular context. Equally important is a process we call "structured intuition." This creative approach encourages women to express their deeper thoughts and feelings non-verbally through the use of stimulus tools that dig deep for the unspoken, the unarticulated.

Structured Intuition

Structured intuition is not just a matter of asking a woman "how do you feel" about, say, cooking. Structured intuition involves giving her images and words, and asking her to tell a story - in this case, perhaps to convey her vision of an ideal meal with her son, and what stands in the way of making that vision a reality. The former approach will tell you her likes and dislikes (assuming she's honest). The latter, however, provides a much richer picture of her inner world. Maybe she'll draw in detail about her fantasy kid-friendly healthful frozen entree. Or perhaps she'll vividly describe her dinnertime battles and how much she hates being the "vegetable police."

It's possible to get at this kind of information by giving consumers a palette from which to discover their ideas, thoughts, fantasies, and needs. But equally important is the ability to listen to the stories they tell; because the stories are what reveal who they are and what they care about.

When a company takes the time to connect with a customer's hopes and dreams, it enters a relationship that is based on more than rational decision-making. Connecting to what matters to a customer allows you to compete beyond price, upgrades, "bells and whistles," and a proliferation of brand extensions (as in the toothpaste category). "More," "better," and "cheaper," is not enough to attract or sustain women's interest. Women today are bombarded with so many choices that they experience "cognitive overload," which leads them to put off their purchase until someone reaches their soul.

The best brand stories are successful, not only because they are unique. They succeed because they show the customer that she has been heard and understood. That somebody knows her. And when it comes down to it, isn't that what everyone wants?

Nancy Lafferty-Wellott is the Founder and Chief Strategist at Habits & Habitats, a marketing consulting firm that works with companies to increase their business value by helping them to better understand consumer experience as it relates to brand, product and retail strategies.

Utilizing proprietary methodologies and processes, Habits & Habitats uncovers the hearts and minds of consumers’ everyday experiences, so that market development efforts meet real needs and engender more satisfying and relevant brand experiences.

The Personality of an Event Venue

2007-03-27T02:18:00.002-07:00

If you build it, they will come. Unfortunately, this axiom does not necessarily work in the event venue world. Not all conference spaces are created equal, nor are they branded equally – or effectively, in many cases.

A successful event venue has a defined “personality” and ably addresses a need or void within its space. A branding process is vital, especially when establishing new conference space. This article addresses five steps to creating an identity and securing an audience for an event venue.

• Create a visually appealing brand

What a conference center communicates through its outbound materials helps define the experience attendees’ will have. For instance, is the space better for interactive meetings or educational symposia? Does the facility have more appeal to corporate executives or to customer service staff? Will attendees be treated to a plush experience?

Don’t forget the power of the Web to communicate a venue’s “vibe” as well. A custom-built website allows event planners to learn about the facility and its configuration options. A great website is a key marketing tool, with the ability to provide updated facility news, including floor plans and photographs, and interactive tours of the facility.

• Identify the audience

The best meeting space matches its attendees’ needs perfectly. To get to that point, a venue must identify primary users of the space. If the key audience is IT professionals, the venue should have the latest technology: wireless hot spots, great A/V and more. If the audience leans toward scientific groups, ensure the conference center has breakout rooms, poster presentation areas and lecture-style auditorium.

• Illustrate value to prospective audiences

Technology, design, flexibility – a great conference center offers many things to many people. As with any investment, showing a positive return is important. Does the technology inside a venue meet the needs of the most demanding presenter. With so much competition for events business, building great technology and design into a conference space and delivering a positive work environment to attendees is vital for “state-of-the-art” venues.

• Communicate an identity

Having a great facility and attracting qualified meetings to it are not necessarily linked. Event planners have an array of tools to identify meeting space that fits their specific criteria. With the Web, industry publications, trade shows, advertising and direct marketing, there are many ways to find a facility and many ways to market one.

Using a multi-pronged approach of direct marketing, public relations and advertising, an event venue can saturate key audiences with news before and after a facility has opened.

Marketing initiatives to communicate a brand include:

• Conducting “hardhat” facility tours during its construction phase to build pre-opening interest.

• Building a direct marketing database.

• Creating partnerships to add to the richness of the venue’s offering and to create a referral source community for the facility, by targeting collaborating with continuing education programs, hotels, travel agencies, destination management companies and exhibition companies.

• Participating in meeting industry trade shows.

• Hosting charity events and industry association events, especially those that attract potential users of the space.

Public relations initiatives target meetings publications by securing venue listings and placing news in industry association publications, such as Meeting Planner International’s Meetings.

• Ensure structure exists to support the offering

It’s vital to deliver on what you promise. Managing an event facility is time consuming. Having the proper support systems in place, and automating as much as possible, eases the operational side of venue management. Administrative details to firm up before attracting an audience include:

• Determining pricing for all audiences and types of functions (day vs. night, poster session vs. lecture series, corporate vs. non-profit, full facility use vs. partial, etc.)

• Creating catering packages

• Identifying additional elements, such as security, staffing and parking

• Building a comprehensive sales kit and contract

• Selecting venue management scheduling technology

• Deciding whether to keep A/V technical staffing in-house, or to outsource it

Great branding isn’t the only strategy that makes an event venue work, but it certainly helps create an individual personality to drive success.

Simple Yet Appealing: That's The Recipe For A Perfect Logo!

2007-03-27T02:18:00.001-07:00

How do you want your logo to be? No matter what the answer is, there is only one ground where we all agree i.e. we want our logos to be popular. No matter what your logo represents, it should possess the power to make the onlookers instantly relate it to the product it is meant to represent. Logo designs thus should possess not only simplicity but also an inherent appealing power.

There is no magic formula to create such a logo. However, there are ways to make one. An ideal logo should capture the emotions of the onlookers, stimulate your vision and create an indelible impression on your mind. It's the logo that speaks and is responsible for establishing the corporate identity of your business. In other words, your logo design is very, very important for your success. A corporate logo design makes you have the first glimpse to your corporate business. It should enable the onlookers create an image of your company in their minds. This is what makes an outstanding logo. To make such a logo, it is advisable to choose an outstanding design, not to create one! This is because an already popular design establishes an instant rapport with the onlookers. In case you adapt a completely new design for your logo, it will take a long time to establish itself in the market. On the other hand, a familiar logo design can become an instant hit with just a few modifications. You can put your company's name or initials or change some colors. But make sure not to make it gaudy, which would result in a loss of its simplicity.

This is not all! Few more ingredients go into the making of a perfect logo design. First and foremost, a corporate logo design should represent the vision of your company. It should have the power to immediately arouse the vision of your company when viewed by the onlookers. For example, the PEPSI logo possesses the ability to make a person feel thirsty! Such is the power of a perfect logo! It makes you crave for the products they are known for. So if you can really get hold of one such logo, half your way to success is guaranteed. With the competition growing day by day in the corporate sector, you need to gear up yourself with all possible aids.

Since your corporate identity resides in your logo, you need to pick up your logo designers judiciously. In other words, seek the help of professional logo designers and make them aware of your company's vision. That's all you need to do because professional logo designers have enough expertise to judge your company's requirements and design logos accordingly. It's obvious that logo designs for a sports company will differ greatly from that of fast food chain. Colors, font, size and style play an important role to bring out that outstanding logo! All these speak volumes about the quality of your company as well as the services offered! No doubt, why our earlier greats had once said "First impression is the last impression!" So make sure not to overlook this essential fact in the way of establishing your corporate identity. Your corporate logo design, “cooked perfectly”, will turn out to be an irresistible recipe for your customers.

Corporate Branding: A High Priority For All Companies

2007-03-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

The great gurus of the business world have understood that if you want to communicate a powerful idea, you may do better by a visual representation than by spinning abstract representations. Visual representation of a business and its services is very crucial for gaining an identity and creating a customer base in the market. A successful tool for representing your company, your products and your services with an unforgettable identity is a "logo". The logo is the first object people look at to build an impression about the organization.

Originating in the mid 19th century, after a surge in industrial manufacturing that led to an increase in output, global distribution, and the commencement of competition, logos were created to differentiate between products within the same industry. Emblems or symbols were included on products, packages and labels. So buyers could easily recognize the product they preferred. There was a time when only affluent organizations could afford their own crest, emblem or logo. Through the years, a variety of graphic images had been used to represent a business. Technology has changed the ways in which we project our image. Logos have hence revolutionized the world of marketing and advertising for businesses, irrespective of their sizes.

Today, successful companies continue to say, "the simpler, the better". Especially when the world is advancing so rapidly, you have less and less time to impress your customers. Logo designs, now, are very stylish yet remain conservative, which makes them eye-catching and easier for the brain to memorize. Consider, however, that some of the most successful logos are simple, and most importantly, easy to remember. Think of Nike, McDonalds, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. These are all very successful images that are, at the same time, very simple. The consistent use of these logos has been imperative in creating a strong, unified image for the customers.

The logo becomes a symbol of making a positive impression to the stakeholders in the network of businesses. A quality logo can instantly and intuitively communicate the style professionalism, overall presence and even philosophy of the organization and their services performed. This should be simple but not so easy. The most crucial aspect of logo creation is always the process of conceptualization of the logo. A "good" logo shouldn't be too trendy, but ideally last many years before needing a redesign. You need to ask yourself if the design will hold relevance in the next 5 or 10 years.

Logo design, believed to be one of the most difficult areas in graphic design, is essentially the heart of a corporate marketing strategy. Everyone wants a cutting edge, high tech, 'cool' logo. Professional logo design firms create company logo designs to deliver the message to the public that the company is unique, credible and professional. They conceptualize the entire process after listening to your business goals through a quick questionnaire. The production and customization of a logo is based on a one to one interaction and feedback system. While creating the design, they get into picky little details and essentially sketch the image in their minds before putting it into pen and paper. If you are planning to get your logo designed for your new business, new product or service, or thinking of redesigning your existing logo, hire a professional graphic designing firm at significant expense. Get a stylish and elegant company logo to make the perfect impact on your customers.

Apple Gets Sued Over The iPhone

2007-03-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

Many people wondered how Apple managed to gain the rights to use the name iPhone from Cisco Systems who have trademarked the name. Apparently Apple doesn’t actually own the rights to the name iPhone, but they went ahead with their huge launch regardless. The real owners of the name, Cisco Systems, are suing Apple for making free use of a name they have already trademarked. This could spell a large amount of trouble for Steve Jobs and the Apple clan if this suite is won by Cisco. Jobs has stated that he believes that Cisco won’t be able to uphold their claim “because other products have already been released with that name.” It’s almost a case of; well, everyone else is doing this so why can’t we?

There may very well be other products out there labelled iPhone, but Apple has made the biggest splash with theirs. They shouldn’t be surprised that they are targeted by Cisco. What surprised me is that Apple went ahead with the unveiling while the name was still unsecured. Why put an entire marketing campaign at risk because you can’t set up the groundwork properly? That’s bad enough, but for it to be justified by a childish response like they used is inexcusable for such a huge corporation. The revelation may also show Apple and the iPhone in a bad light to many consumers, but whether that makes a difference to sales is yet to be seen.

Did the guys at Apple really expect to get away with it after the huge amount of publicity they drummed up by such a public unveiling of the product? Particularly since the Linksys division of Cisco Systems recently released their own iPhone product. The products may be widely divergent, but only one of them will get the universal brand recognition that comes with the name. Regardless of the fact that one is a VOIP product and the other is the new every function phone. The people who gain the benefit from the recognition should be the people who legitimately have the right to use that name.

Silver Bullets to Getting Consumers to Remember Your Brand

2007-03-23T03:39:00.001-07:00

The average American is bombarded with more than 3000 commercial messages daily, presumably responsible for the recent decline in money allocated to corporate advertising departments. American consumers senses are heightened to commercial advertising and are turning the page, tuning out the billboard, fast-forwarding the commercial and becoming more agitated at pop-ups.

This is causing increased spending on marketing and public relations to communicate the consumer message, and it is a matter of time before the American people make that connection. Marketers adamant attempts has brought forth many new strategies to replace the advertisement.

Guerilla, live and on-site marketing strategies exist as a disguised-approach solution. These new methods often include demonstrations, stunts, interactivity and personal interaction to generate "buzz" about a product and create personal relationships with brands. Campaigns of this nature include a wealth of room for creativity and require very determined individuals to design operations that embed an interactive experience with consumers.

These campaigns have proven to be very successful in putting a brand's impression in consumers memories. These tactics include hiring activists to protest products, hiring product educated models to casually stand by to deliver surprise sales pitches, projecting movie trailers onto city buildings and many other surprise real life situations aimed to generate consumer interest. An example of guerilla marketing is shown through Bostons' recent and unfortunate exposure to a guerilla marketing campaign that went awry when residents mistook LCD monitors that projected cartoon characters for active bombs. Outwardly, the endurance of these strategies depend on how the American people will react as increased recognition and acknowledgment to these messages increases and whether they find difficulty distinguishing between real experiences from consumer targeted ones.

An alternate solution is found through cause-marketing strategies that deem positive results for all. Cause-marketing consists of choosing a cause-related charity or nonprofit that speaks to a product's consumers, resulting in an emotional relationship between the consumer and your brand. Action sports marketing firm, Imagine Marketing Agency was producing a skateboarding contest for a client and when looking for sponsors, they decided to contribute the proceeds to at-risk youth charity, StandUp For Kids. This charitys' partner Virgin Mobile was instantly interested in becoming title sponsor of the contest since the cause and the production spoke to their target audience. In these situations, the brand's impression is embedded in the consumer's memory, but all parties are contributing to good causes.

All of these strategies' message is simple. People have the right to know about products, but the style and execution of your message should be well planned. Caring about the consumer is as important as caring about the product.

Famous Corporate Name Sell-Outs

2007-03-23T03:38:00.002-07:00

There are often individuals and small companies who are in the lucky position of having the rights to names that larger companies want. Where the name is crucial to a marketing concept the owner is in a position to dictate terms and conditions before selling out to the larger company. This is often the result of large amount of research and can be more prevalent on the internet than anywhere else. Often the sell-out can be very public with both parties gaining a large amount of publicity. Unfortunately this does not always reflect well on the smaller company since the sell-out association is a definitively negative one for most people.

The recent controversy over what Apple was going to name their new iPod phone highlighted the problems that many companies, both large and small, face. If you’re going to make a big splash with a product then you need to make sure you own the rights to that name, whether it’s a web domain or the actual name. In both cases Apple appears to have been caught short since we all know Linksys had the rights to the name and even brought out a VOIP product with the name attached. This almost ruined Apple’s i-branding run and the only solution was to buy the rights to the name from Linksys which is likely to have cost Apple a large amount of money. The upside is that the tie in with the iPod can now offset that cost by helping to increase sales of the iPhone.

Sometimes people can buy out a name when they buy out a smaller company which has a single product or range of products that are very well known. An example of this is the Macromedia buy out by Adobe where the products retained their original names to retain consumer identification. This is particularly so with the Flash program since it will never be known as Adobe Flash by consumers so if Adobe attempted to change the name consumer recognition would decrease and sales would likely decrease as well.

Another example of a smaller company selling out is the sale of the Alienware brand to the Dell Company. This is due to the reputation that Alienware enjoys in the gaming communities and the particular style that they use when creating computers. It is the name and reputation that Dell really bought since the components and construction methods that Alienware utilises will be changed to be in line with Dell operating standards.

While the appearance and name remain the same the public’s purchase of the Alienware branded products is far less likely to decrease in some areas. A low key private buyout tends to be the most utilised option where companies are of unequal size when the assets of the smaller company are intangible. This allows the larger company to continue leveraging those assets while putting their own infrastructure in place.

What Does Your Brand Smell Like

2007-03-23T03:38:00.001-07:00

Close your eyes for a moment and think of the smell of freshly baked bread – what does that wonderful warm smell remind you of? Perhaps it takes you back in time to your childhood, to Sunday mornings when you used to walk down to the corner bakery to buy a fresh loaf dusted with flour.

In the same way that an everyday aroma can instantly take us to another place and time in our minds and remind us of people and places, so too is it possible to associate your brand with an aroma in the minds of your customers and clients.

Aromas have the ability to build powerful brand recognition, quickly. In his book, Brand Sense, Martin Lindstroem says, ‘Seventy-five percent of the emotions we generate on a daily basis are affected by smell…Next to sight, it's the most important sense we have’.

Dr Eric Spangenberg, Dean of the College of Business and Economics at Washington State University, ran a test in a clothing store in the Pacific Northwest of the US to determine how scent affected customers by gender. He diffused the subtle smell of vanilla in the women's department and rose maroc (a spicy, honey-like fragrance) in the men's. When he examined the cash-register tapes, he found that receipts almost doubled on the days when the scents were used. However, when he reversed the scents (diffusing vanilla with the men and rose maroc with the women) customers spent less than average. ‘You can't just use a pleasant scent and expect it to work,’ he says, ‘it has to be congruent’. That is, the fragrance has to make sense with the product or environment it's supposed to enhance: ‘When you go into Starbucks, you don't expect to smell lemon-scented Pledge’.

Whether your company operates retail stores, hotels or corporate offices aromatic branding can give you the edge. Here’s how aromatic branding works:

• Our sense of smell is our most acute sense. We take in more information, more quickly and retain it for longer through smell than we do through any other sense.

• Our sense of smell interacts with the limbic system in the brain, where memories are linked to aromas. We’ve all had the experience of smelling an aroma that instantly transports us to another time and place because we associate it so strongly with a certain person, time or experience.

• The deliberate use of aroma is the final frontier in creating a truly unique and memorable brand experience.

• Aromatic branding is about creating a unique aroma that people associate with their experience of your brand – effectively, it anchors a certain aroma to the brand experience so that every time a person smells that aroma, they will be instantly reminded of their experience.

• Most companies already use sight, sound and touch to create an integrated brand experience, but few use smell. This is an opportunity for your company to be at the forefront of aromatic branding.

Jennifer Jefferies International (JJI) is already working with leading brands to create a unique aromatic brand association for their customers. Among them are Palazzo Versace and Sofitel Hotel at the Gold Coast, for which JJI developed a unique ‘signature’ scent that captures the ‘essence’ of the hotels experience. The hotel uses its signature scent throughout both public spaces and individual rooms to anchor its guests’ experience and memories of their stay with that particular aroma. This scent is available exclusively to the hotel, and through it, to its guests.

For GU Health, JJI created a Workplace Wellbeing blend. This blend was designed to create an environment that increased productivity and performance and at the same time reduced burnout.

Life Balancing expert Jennifer Jeﬀeries is one of Australia’s best-known authors and speakers and she has a prescription for modern living. Her powerful message is of work, life and balance – and how to have it all through 7 Steps to Sanity®.

Jennifer is a qualiﬁed health practitioner who speaks to corporations throughout Australia, Asia, USA and New Zealand, sharing practical real-life strategies that help people to improve their health, wellbeing and productivity by ﬁnding balance in their lives. Jennifer is a refreshingly downto-earth, engaging and informative speaker who leaves her audiences feeling empowerd about the things they can do to achieve balance in their lives, rather than feeling guilty about what they’re not doing!

The "Theory of Everything" T-Shirt slogan

2007-03-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

Physicists are striving to quantify the four forces of physics, a "Theory of Everything". Without boring you to tears, they want a single equation to explain gravity, electromagnetism, and a couple of subatomic forces you can look up yourself: Strong & Weak. One noted scientist explained that it would be an equation you could fit on a t-shirt.

Self-branding is about the same thing, without the clipboard and lab coat. One strives to sum up everything in a pithy, well written sentence. Or two. Even better, a pithy, well chosen word. Or three. The trick is to understand what the strongest brands have that you may not - yet. And, no, it ain't a slogan. It's congruency.

Coming up with that slogan means you are committing to it. Choose wisely - the less congruent you are with it (and it with you), the weaker your brand will be. Contrariwise, selecting the perfect slogan in advance (cart-before-the-horse methodology) means you will grow towards each other in an organic, meaningful way. There's no guaranteeing you won't outgrow each other. Hope that it's you that's doing the outgrowing!

Already tried and rejected by me, as Vince Runza Online:

* It's the customer, stupid.
* I'm not for everyone, but that can be good!
* Always Busy (saw this one chiseled into the facade of a building in Downtown Scranton).
* Good Products, Good Service.
* Bootstrap entrepreneurship.
* It's not work if you love doing it. It's even better if you get paid for it!

A Customer Service Tale

2007-03-23T03:35:00.000-07:00

If you're in business for yourself, how you treat others defines your "brand". You may not be a household name, but I guarantee what you do (and to whom you do it) will create a perception of your worth. It's not enough to just put out a press release of your mission statement. You and everyone who works for you needs to understand that everyone in the company is a Brand Manager.

In the world of Internet Marketing, many people are taking the route of "self-branding." They are the brand. Their name is synonymous with what it is they do. In the world of brick-and-mortar business, that's an option many select, too. No matter what your company's name might be, how you treat your customers will determine if your name is trusted, or MUD. Here's an example:

After a busy, productive day with much good feedback from others online, I drop by the corner market. I chat with the counterman, who's the spitting image of a guy who is the most miserable person I've known in quite a while. As I turn to leave, Bill, the counterman asks, "You have a minute?"

My default response, when asked this is, to silently start counting down: 59, 58, 57, until I reach 0 and cut 'em off in midsentence. Bill reaches into his pocket and says, "You made a purchase a few weeks ago." He pulls out his wallet. "You forgot your change." He handed me a five dollar bill.

This made my day. Talk about each employee being a "brand manager"! And his name! Oh, the irony/synchronicity!

Many people are using Internet Marketing to make their fortune. The people who make the most of Internet Marketing know that knowledge and information are critical to your success. Knowing how to build a successful business in your niche means learning how to find out who wants to spend money. The biggest profits in Internet Marketing often come from products you create yourself. Knowing how to market those products can make the difference between success and failure.

About Face: The Value of Face-to-Face Meetings

2007-03-06T04:35:00.001-08:00

As the business world becomes more impersonal, with automated phone trees and a dizzying amount of online tools, the bond between company and constituent becomes less personal. Increasingly, organizations are utilizing face-to-face meetings to unite with key audiences, communicate their messages and make an impact. As a result, meeting trends are leaning toward a more interactive and personal structure, as illustrated below:

• Incentive Programs
Rather than provide incentive trips to the same top-producing members of their sales force, companies are involving the entire organization by offering team awards that reward R&D, manufacturing and customer support. Incentive programs, traditionally recognized as simply a sales tool, are now considered an important part of brand building and marketing.

• Marketing Integration
As products and services come to market faster, companies cannot wait for year-end marketing meetings or large industry conferences to discuss tactics and strategies. Instead, companies are planning regular meetings and events to discuss and refine marketing plans. As a result, today’s marketing meetings and events are shorter in duration, smaller, more frequent and more focused.

• Return on Investment
As the economy gains ground, companies are spending more on meetings and conferences than in previous years, and a stronger emphasis is placed on ROI gained from meeting budgets. Many companies will “piggyback” meetings as a creative way to maximize meeting expenses. An executive meeting may be held in conjunction with a sales incentive program, allowing senior executives to participate in both. By combining meetings, companies can also leverage better hotel rates and other meeting contracts (transportation, airline, etc.).

• More Substance
Another trend can be defined as “less fluff, more stuff.” Meeting agendas are no longer packed with recreational activities or extended free time; rather, the bulk of the sessions are filled with content and training. Does this mean meetings are becoming lifeless and dull? No, there’s simply more need to place emphasis on finding smart ways to engage audience members with unique activities and team-building techniques that are instructive and fun.

• Clear Messaging
Consider a conference budget wasted if key corporate messages fall flat due to weak presenters, poor clarity or lack of defined expectations. Increasingly, companies are investing in presentation training for executive speakers or hiring professional speakers so that the message delivered is clear, concise and “sticks” with the attendees after the meeting has ended.

• Partner Participation
To underwrite the cost of meetings, companies are relying more heavily on their vendor and partner relationships. Firms are asking partners to sponsor portions of meetings or events, such as a reception or breakfast. This supports both partner and corporate interests; the vendor has the opportunity to get in front of company representatives, while the sponsorship dollars offset meeting expenses.

• Location, Location, Location
Finally, expect more interesting meeting locales. Companies are more often conducting meetings in Asia, Central America and Western Europe, connecting global counterparts and increasing the overall value of the meeting experience.

Do you remember the airline commercial in which a CEO hands plane tickets to each staffer following the loss of the company’s oldest client? Trends in the meeting world reflect a similar theme. While technology is indispensable to businesses, personal interaction, intimate settings and reinforcement of corporate messages and culture are back. Some may call it “old school,” but the companies embracing and leading the new meeting environment are those poised for the most success, internally and externally.