Can Small Business Owners Really Afford A Great Logo?

Written by Debbie LaChusa


And is having a logo really that important? My answer to both of these questions is an emphatic YES!

A logo is a graphical or visual representation of your brand. Your brand is your business, product or service and what it stands for. It's whatever you are out inrepparttar marketplace selling.

Why do small businesses need a logo? Why can't they just market using their company name? Logos are expensive, right? Can a small business owner really afford to get a logo? Or at least a good logo? Lots of questions. Some I'm sure you've pondered yourself at one time or another.

I believe ALL businesses should have a logo You need a graphic element that capturesrepparttar 146957 essence of your business and communicates an idea to your prospects and customers. A mark that can leadrepparttar 146958 look and feel of all of your marketing materials.

You only have a split second to grab someone's attention You need to makerepparttar 146959 most of that time. A good logo can communicate a message or intrigue a prospect to want to find out more.

Before you decide you can't afford a good logo Let me assure you that is absolutely NOTrepparttar 146960 case. Look, I've been inrepparttar 146961 ad agency business for 20 years. During that time I've worked with some ofrepparttar 146962 most talented graphic artists and designers inrepparttar 146963 business. But even I did not turn to them when I needed a logo for 10stepmarketing.

Dramatically Improve Your Marketing Results With These 6 Simple Steps

Written by Debbie LaChusa


What if there were things you could start doing now that could help you to market more successfully inrepparttar future? Even if you didn’t have your marketing act together overrepparttar 146912 past year. Well, there are.

(1) Review your past marketing activities and results

Take some time to review all of your marketing activities and try to understand which ones worked best. And when I say “worked best” I mean, which ones resulted in more clients, more customers, more sales, or more growth for your business?

Your goal each year should be to understand which marketing activities bring you more business and which ones do not, so you can concentrate onrepparttar 146913 activities that work, and deleterepparttar 146914 ones that do not. Even if you did not have an organized marketing plan, or marketing activities that you implemented consistently duringrepparttar 146915 past year, if you are still in business today, then there must have been some form of marketing going on.

(2) Broaden your definition of marketing

Marketing isn’t only things like running an advertisement, or sending out a direct mail piece. It's anything you do that puts your business, product or service in front ofrepparttar 146916 prospects you are trying to sell to.

You may be surprised to realize you’ve been marketing more than you know!

Any time you talk to someone about your business, product or service, in person, at an event, overrepparttar 146917 phone, or through a brochure or some form of media, you are marketing. Any time you send someone an email or a thank you card from your business, you are marketing.

Be aware of any time you are communicating with current customers, or potential customers. Takerepparttar 146918 opportunity to make them aware of new products or services, special offers or programs, or even milestones or changes in your business.

Do you include your business card every time you mail a letter to a client or prospect? Do you have an email signature that includes your business name, your phone number, your email address, your website address and possibly even your tagline? You should. You are reminding people about your products and services and making it easy for them to find out more if they so choose.

If you truly believe that your products or services can enhance people’s lives, then it should be easy to sharerepparttar 146919 word at every opportunity. After all, if people don’t know about you, they can’t benefit. Put this way, it is almost a disservice to NOT market.

(3) See if you can track your sales to your marketing, either directly or indirectly

Take a look atrepparttar 146920 marketing you did do, taking into consideration all ofrepparttar 146921 activities mentioned above. Can you directly or indirectly track any new or increased business to these activities? An example of direct tracking might be: You attended a networking event and someone you gave your business card to, contacted you or made a purchase.

An example of indirect tracking might be: You attended a networking event, and someone you gave your business card to, referred you to a friend, and that friend contacted you or made a purchase. For each marketing activity you did overrepparttar 146922 past year, ask yourselfrepparttar 146923 following questions:

(a) Did I get any new clients, customers or increased sales as a direct result, or an indirect result, of this activity?

(b) Ifrepparttar 146924 answer is yes, quantifyrepparttar 146925 result by asking yourself: How many new clients, customers or sales did it generate?

If you can't seem to track your past marketing activities, consider asking your current customers how they found out about you.

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