Creating a Brand that SticksWritten by Eileen "Turtle" Parzek
Most people, when they hear word branding, think logos - but in fact, branding is really much more than that. A brand involves blending image, purpose, and focus of your business, with your core marketing message, and coming up with something which will stick in minds of people who encounter it. As a business or an independent professional, it is who you are and what you do, packaged neatly, clearly, and memorably. A logo is only a tangible representation that works to reinforce a brand.So - what kind of personality does your business have? Is it conservative and solid? Outgoing and fun? Or robust and strong? And, what is your business focused on doing? Whom do you want to work with? How does your business differ from competition? And what makes it so special, after all? Do not try to name every special quality or unique selling point - you can actually build a brand on just one unique quality! Once you can answer these questions, you can begin to create your brand. The question is what you want YOUR brand to leave behind in people's heads. Practically any business or professional can benefit from a strong brand. But branding is even more important for micro businesses and independent professionals because they face tighter competition. A well executed brand and identity can help them compete on a larger playing field, appear more professional, and stand out from hordes of competitors. Once you determine how you want to be remembered, your image and your message will need to communicate that. The image can simply be a consistent look used in all your correspondence, a logo that marks everything that comes from your business, and identity you use on your web site and brochure. The message can be a tag line, your 30 second "elevator speech," and woven through content on your web site.
| | Get Business Now: Play by the Marketing RulesWritten by Charlie Cook
Marketing a business is like any game. If you know rules you are much more likely to win. All to often small businesses spend their limited time and money on advertising, networking, making calls, mailings, meeting with prospects, yet only achieve middling results. The problem isn’t that they don’t know their business or provide high quality products and services, its that they don’t know rules of marketing game. Marketing To Win To win marketing game, you need to know rules. The key rules to getting clients you want are:1. Market Solutions 2. Target Your Market 3. Demonstrate Value 4. Build Your Network 5. Stay in Touch 1. Market Solutions Most service professionals focus their marketing on their expertise, their approach and products and services they offer. While competence is a key to doing work, most clients' primary concern is getting problems solved and having their spoken and unspoken needs met. Instead of marketing your credentials, your processes and methodology, market your knowledge and solutions you offer. Marketing is about making connections, specifically between a client's unmet need and solutions you provide. The best way to impress clients is to show them you understand problems they are experiencing. If you want to leverage your credentials, mention past clients when you provide examples of how you solved similar problems. 2. Target Your Market Are you getting a positive response to your marketing efforts? If not, then you may not have targeted your market and their specific needs and interests precisely enough. Independent professionals or small business owners often try to do impossible and be everything to everybody. Instead define your niche market and get attention of this group.
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