Branding: It's more than a logo

Written by Julie Chance


Branding: It’s more than a logo By Julie Chance How clear is your image inrepparttar minds of your potential customers? How can you bring that image into focus? Defining, developing and maintaining a brand identity isrepparttar 119649 key.

The word “branding” is frequently tossed about inrepparttar 119650 marketing and advertising world by marketing professionals and customers alike. Many times, what is being referred to as branding can be more accurately described as logo development or corporate identity programs at best. While a logo and corporate identity certainly are part of a branding program, they are only one piece ofrepparttar 119651 puzzle. And when companies start their branding program with development of a logo or corporate identity package, they are gettingrepparttar 119652 cart beforerepparttar 119653 horse.

So what exactly is branding? In doing research for this article, I came torepparttar 119654 conclusion that branding is very much like what has been said about pornography: “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.”

I define a brand image as beingrepparttar 119655 picture that appears in a member of your target market’s mind when they see, hear or think about you, your company and your service. In this sense, your logo and print materials becomerepparttar 119656 symbols representing everything you and your service stand for, much likerepparttar 119657 letters ofrepparttar 119658 alphabet are symbols that when combined form words and sentences with a common meaning to everyone who understandsrepparttar 119659 language.

We often think of branding as being something that only big corporations must attend to. However, a strong branding program is as critical to smaller businesses as it is to Fortune 500 companies. And smaller businesses are challenged with building our brands withoutrepparttar 119660 mega resources ofrepparttar 119661 huge corporations. So how can a business with limited resources, develop an effective brand image? Here is a step by step guide to steer you throughrepparttar 119662 process.

Step 1: Define your desired brand image. What isrepparttar 119663 picture you want your target market to develop in their minds when they see, hear or think about you, your company and your service? The more clearly you can seerepparttar 119664 imagerepparttar 119665 better able you are to communicate it to your prospective clients. Start to define your brand by answering these questions in writing: •What do we stand for? •What are we passionate about? •How are we different from other businesses that providerepparttar 119666 same or similar products or services? •What are our strengths? •What is our specialty? •What are our values? •What do our clients most value about what we provide? •What are we trying to accomplish? •What problems do we help our clients solve? •What do we want to be known for? •Do we have any “quirks” that we can incorporate into our brand image?

Step 2: Develop your logo. Only when you haverepparttar 119667 picture clearly in your own mind that you want your target market to have of you is it time to beginrepparttar 119668 process of logo development. And this is an area to invest in some professional help. Don’t use a clip art logo or down-load a free logo fromrepparttar 119669 web. Answeringrepparttar 119670 questions above in detail will makerepparttar 119671 logo development process not only more effective, but also more efficient from a cost perspective.

"How to destroy your competitors and explode your sales with Joint Ventures"

Written by Gabriel Howes


Dear friend,

You are about to learnrepparttar most powerful, yet least understood and very often overlooked form of marketing that exists today. Marketing greats like Jay Abraham have called this concept “the fastest and easiest way to make a fortune on earth”.

A JV endorsement is when one company endorses (recommends) someone else’s products or services to their customer list that they have a relationship with, and both sharerepparttar 119648 profits. It’s a win/win arrangement.

Smart business owners send periodical, quality information to their customer lists, thus building a relationship with them. And when they have a good relationship, its a lot easier to get them to buy more.

Very smart marketers dorepparttar 119649 same things, but they also endorse (recommend) other peoples products or services. Many businesses have their own client list that they send periodic helpful information to them.

Why would they do this?

You see, it’srepparttar 119650 relationships that make uprepparttar 119651 greatest factor in sales. That’s why people will buy more often from a friend with a mediocre sales letter than a stranger with a killer sales letter.

I want to give you an example of why endorsements can be extremely powerful.

Let’s pretend for a moment that I’m your best friend. We’ve known each other for a long time and you trust me. I give you a call and I tell you about a new product or service that I have just tried out and I rave aboutrepparttar 119652 quality,repparttar 119653 service,repparttar 119654 value, etc.

Will you believe me? Of course. Will you buy that product/service following my highest recommendation? Quite possibly. Since you trust me, you will set aside your skepticism and really listen to what I have to say.

Now imagine for a moment that a complete stranger calls you and suggests you patronize some other business or service. Chances are you won’t believe him because you don’t know him and trust him -- and also because he doesn’t know your likes and dislikes. You will rarely, if at all, follow his recommendation.

When people don’t buy, it’s only for 2 reasons; either they don’t want to purchase whatever you’re trying to sell inrepparttar 119655 first place... or... they are skeptical and need to be convinced.

So when you leverage that relationship, that trust,repparttar 119656 prospects will feel a lot more confident buying from a complete stranger – because someone they know and trust told them it was alright to.

You see, allrepparttar 119657 people who wouldn’t have bought inrepparttar 119658 first place because of their skepticism can now buy with peace of mind.

People almost always react positively whenrepparttar 119659 endorsement is positive. All of a sudden they have a reason to trust an unknown person or business. They have proof that they’ll be happy dealing with them.

I see it allrepparttar 119660 time.

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