Posts Tagged ‘Branding’
How to Build Your Brand With Social Media | Part 1
This is the first post in a series of posts about how to build your small business brand using social media. You can read the second post Small Business Social Media Branding Tips.
Social media is an increasingly popular way for individuals and businesses to build brand equity and brand strength. With more and more businesses turning to social media to marketing their products, services, and programs, it is imperitive that you dedicate the time to not only present your brand consistently across all media platforms, but that you actively protect your brand.
The first thing you need to do is secure your social media brand by registering your name and business name, where appropriate, on all of the different social media sites you will be using.
Posted in Social Networking | 1 Comment »
Three Parts of a Good Small Business Logo Design
Your small business brand is made up of three branding elements:
- The written brand
- The spoken brand
- The visual brand
As you can see a brand is so much more than a single logo design. The visual portion of the brand is the most well known and is made up of the brand logo design and support marketing materials such as business cards, letterhead, brochures, email newsletters, websites, blogs, and more!
The key to and starting point for all of your marketing materials design is the brand logo. A small business brand logo is made up of three different parts:
Posted in Branding | 1 Comment »
Web Design Tips: Nickelodeon's iCarly Says .net Domains Are For Losers
My six year old daughter loves the sitcom iCarly on Nickelodeon. It’s a show about three kids – Carly, Sam and Freddie – who run a web show called iCarly. So, the entire show is centered around their web show and publishing online content.
I have to admit that as far as kid shows are concerned, I am totally hooked. I even found myself (yes, I am admitting this) watching it the other day when I was home alone!
A couple days ago we were snuggled up watching iCarly before bed and I almost wet my pants! In the episode, Carly and Sam were filming the intro to their live web show and when they were driving people to the iCarly website, they said…
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Ali Brown Shine Event: Why I Said No to Advice From a Billionaire Entrepreneur Coach
This post is the third in a series based on the Ali Brown Shine event in Las Vegas. Check out my previous posts I Didn’t Really Come For All The “Woo Woo” Junk and Billionaire Entrepreneur Coach Makes Social Media Blunder.
At the end of the Ali Brown Shine event, I was speaking with some ladies in the lobby area and one asked me if I had my brand/business card evaluated by Ali’s billionaire business coach during one of the breaks.
No way.
I have to say they were a little surprised. You see, they had assumed that as a branding/marketing expert that I would love to get advice from someone so important.
When they asked why I wasn’t one of the women huddled around this billionaire business coach for jockeying for a few words critiquing my business card, my answer was simple.
Posted in Branding | 4 Comments »
Ali Brown Shine Event: Billionaire Entrepreneur Coach Makes Social Media Blunder
This post is the second in a series based on the Ali Brown Shine event in Las Vegas. Check out my first post I Didn’t Really Come For All The “Woo Woo” Junk
The Shine event was a mix of Ali and several others speakers. There was a buzz humming through the room on the first day of the event and everyone was looking forward to hearing Ali’s billionaire entrepreneur coach speak.
I was especially looking forward to the presentation because it was on branding. As a trained graphic designer, former corporate branding instructor, and current brand strategist for entrepreneurs, I was interested to hear her insights on branding.
I wanted to hear her thoughts on branding a business versus branding an individual person. I wanted to hear some strategies about building a strong brand and brand equity. I wanted to hear how she would communicate to the room how much your brand can do for your business and what a difference it can make.
Posted in Social Networking | 23 Comments »
Avoid Domain Name Regret: How to Pick a Really Good Domain Name
As a website designer and online marketer, I have seen quite a few bad domain names come across my desk – and that is putting it nicely. Some domains are down right horrible like the domain for the promotional product company Pen Island (www.penisland.com).
Sometimes my best advice for clients who have a bad domain name is to get a new one. Some of those clients have taken my advice and changed their domain name and some have not. But no matter what, every time the topic comes up I get asked the same two questions…
“Why is my domain name bad?” and
“How do I pick a good domain name?”
Posted in Branding | 4 Comments »
Attract More Prospects and Customers with Ease
Recently I was at an eWomenNetwork event and the chapter director asked the audience, “How many of you have all of the clients and customers you could ever need?”
Let’s just say I wasn’t very surprised when not a single person in the room raised their hand. These eWomenNetwork entrepreneurs understand that you don’t just market your business for the customers you have right now, but for the customers you want to attract in the future.
For example, the signed contracts that are coming in to my office almost daily are results from contacts made and relationships built over the last three to six months. Likewise, the marketing I am doing now will fill my business in the future.
Posted in Client Attraction | 1 Comment »
Why Do I Need a Marketing Plan For My Small Business?
Imagine running your business by the seat of your pants with no plan in place.
You know where you want to go, and luckily you make the right turns, take the right roads, and hit most of the green lights. You’re coasting along on auto-pilot, knowing that someday your dreams will come true.
But what happens if you get lost along the way?
Your marketing plan is your own personal road map, helping you stay on the right course, making continual progress toward your big vision. Think of it as your very own personal small business success compass. That way, if you do get lost or run into a detour, you can review your marketing plan and correct your course to keep you headed in the right direction.
What is a Marketing Plan?
Your business plan defines what your business is about, what you do, and what you don’t do. Your marketing plan outlines how you’re going to get your customers to buy your products, invest in your services, and join your programs and the actions needed to achieve your marketing objectives.
Over time, the approach to creating and maintaining a marketing plan has drastically changed:
- The OLD SCHOOL Marketing Plan: A really long (think 30+ pages and more!), incredibly detailed plan that sets in stone all marketing actions big and small for your business for anywhere from one year to five years and limits what new ideas can be implemented. This usually ends up on a shelf or in a drawer somewhere and is only referenced and updated once a year.
- The NEW AGE Marketing Plan: A flexible tool that helps you decide what strategies are the best fit for you and your business, that changes and flexes as your business changes and grows, that defines the reasoning and logic behind the marketing actions. It can be one page to 10 pages and is reviewed and updated on a regular basis.
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »
Increase Revenue by Re-Investing In Your Business
This past weekend we took a family trip out to Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm for some fall fun. I love the smell of fresh apple pies baking, the caramel apples, the miniature stream train that winds through the walnut orchard, and the 67 acres of pumpkins… I look forward to this outing every year!
We usually end up there at least two or three times before Halloween, so I guess you could say Bishop’s has become a yearly tradition. Each year, the Bishop’s Farm re-invests in the business, adding new attractions and improving old ones. And, each year, we come back excited for the traditional train ride, petting zoo, pig races, caramel apples, and to see what’s new!
This year I noticed something different.
Posted in Business Building | No Comments »
Client Success Story: Brenda Stanton
“Jennifer thank you for taking a high-level vision
I had and making it into a reality!”
“Not only did you develop a beautiful website that feels and looks like an extension of the inner ‘me’ and my brand, (I receive compliments on it daily/weekly) but you also designed a beautiful, functional e-newsletter that my subscribers not only love to read but to look at each Monday in their inbox! The note cards you designed are beautiful as well – and there it is priceless to be able to write my clients personal notes and continually extend my branding and Claim Your Worth!® message. You have a beautiful and unique gift for making business beautiful – and taking the intangibles and bringing them to light and to shine in lights! Thank you again for everything and I look forward to your input and services for future projects as well!”
Brenda Stanton
www.brendastanton.com