In an attempt to maintain originality and set your business apart from its competitors, your first instinct may be to squash these done to death phrases and go for something fresh and new.

What you need to consider is reason these cliche, standby phrases are so frequently used. Advertisers continue to incorporate overdone phrases into ad copy because they are effective. And as long as an advertising technique elicits desired results, advertisers will use it.

Sad but true, you may be an absolute whiz with your equipment and you may be a virtual expert in your chosen field, but if your company looks like a bunch of amateurs, you personally may be treated like one, and not get respect (or big budget projects) that you so rightfully deserve.

If you've ever worked for a big corporation, no doubt you've been specifically told how to use their logo, what typeface to use for their name, and what corporate colors you must use for reproduction of same. You may even have been handed a bulky "Corporate Graphics Standards" binder, replete with color swatches and exacting dimensions of everything from door signs to envelopes. The name of game is "corporate identity." And it's just as important for you as it is any Fortune 500 company.

When you strip away all clutter and marketing gobbledygook, real purpose of a corporate identification program is to produce a system of graphics that is professional, attractive and that will enhance image of your firm. Such a program should encompass all aspects of visual communications --including your stationery, advertising, packaging, brochures, signage, trade show booth design, and other printed material that will be viewed by both current and potential clients.

Okay, so you're not quite at level of General Motors or Microsoft. It doesn't matter what size you are. Establishing and maintaining your corporate identification is very important in your marketplace --whether you're doing business on a local, regional or national scale.

Why? Simple. Because whether you're a company of one, or a company of 100 people, you want people to remember you; you want to look like you know what you're doing; you want to look stable, creative and --most of all --professional.

Let me tell you how we made my last company look much larger than life.

Great Lakes Video Services was incorporated about a dozen years ago. At time of our inception, staff consisted of yours truly, my partner and two part-time technicians, and we had two dinky offices on a side street office building.