I have seen it over an over. One person creates a marketing piece, such as an advertisement that is really good. The ad is converting leads into sales and the marketing is seen as a success.

Unfortunately, the next thing that usually happens is that others try to copy the successful ad for their business.

Here is the problem, they don’t adjust the ad to fit their marketing or their focus and the ad fails to answer the three key questions every marketing piece must answer for its audience in order to be successful.

The result is failure and money and time wasted on a marketing piece that was copied instead of thought out and planned.

I don’t want to see you make the same mistake, so I am sharing with you the top three questions every successful marketing piece needs to answer to produce the results you want and attract the clients you want.

READ MORE

Whether you are a business owner or a service professional, I can bet that when it comes to marketing, you’re feeling more than a bit overwhelmed.

I can also bet that even though you may be an expert in your niche, keeping your marketing pipeline full of new customers isn’t your specialty.

That is why I want to share with you three things that you always need to think of when you are working on your marketing materials.

1. Think of Your Mother.
Write the content and design the piece with your mother in mind. Your mother represents a great cross-section of your audience. Would she understand the message? Would she understand the action that you are asking her to take?

READ MORE

I’ve been working in the creative field since 1997, when I landed my first job as a production grunt at a small advertising agency. Since then, I have been a Graphic Designer, Senior Designer, Creative Services Director, Graphic Design Specialist, Publication Manager, Creative Director, Instructor, Lecturer, and Business Owner. I also did internships and worked at a magazine, a newspaper, an advertising agency, a public relations firm, a marketing firm, a design company, and a printer.

As you can imagine, I have seen some pretty bad graphic design mistakes and marketing mistakes over the years. The graphic design mistakes alone could take up a few blog posts, so I am going to focus on and share with you the biggest marketing mistakes I see business owners, service professionals, and entrepreneurs make.

Marketing Mistake #1
Forgetting about your current clients and customers.
While it is very important to always be marketing your business, engaging new prospects, and generating new leads, it is just as important to nurture the relationships with your existing customers and clients. They are your most valuable resource and you want them to always feel important.

READ MORE

I know you’ve seen them; the homemade brochures, the flyers that use Microsoft word art, the business cards that were printed at home and cut crooked by hand, and the websites that look like a high school homework assignment.

If you’re anything like me, you pause just for a moment when a business person hands you something like that, and you wonder how they can represent themselves so poorly.

Investing in professionally designed marketing materials instantly gives your business an image upgrade.

READ MORE

Recently, a fellow entrepreneur asked me for some brand strategy advice and we ended up getting into a friendly debate about the difference between a logo design and a brand. This entrepreneur has a beautiful logo, but from my perspective not much of a brand to support it.

While his logo is on his business cards, brochure, website, email newsletter, and flyers, the message, the colors, the typefaces, the design, and even the voice used in the materials was completely inconsistent. If I cover up the logo on any of his marketing materials, I would have no idea who or what business the piece is for.

When I brought up this observation, he told me that his logo is his brand and asked, “My logo is on everything. Isn’t that enough?”

Unfortunately, when asked the question, “What’s the difference between a logo and a brand,” most entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and small business owners respond with the exact same question, “Isn’t a logo and a brand the same thing?”

No. They are not the same thing.

A logo and a brand are in fact two very different things that must work together cohesively. Here is a quick explanation of what a logo is, what a brand is, and how they are different.

READ MORE

Marketing is often a word that when mentioned around business owners draws out grumbles, moans, and sighs. While the task of marketing your business may not be your first choice, it is a vital part of the success of your business.

Here are three simple things you can do to make your marketing, advertising, public relations, and sales efforts much easier:

Differentiate yourself

When your marketing and sales message is too similar to your competitor’s message, your prospects and customers are left with price as the only differentiator. Trust me. You never want to be in that situation.

READ MORE

Yes, digital printing has made traditional marketing materials more affordable. But let’s face it, print marketing is still expensive in comparison to online marketing. As an entrepreneur myself, I know how tight your budget can be and that even though you know you need the print marketing materials, it i sometimes very hard to spend your valuable budget dollars.

So, to help you get the most bang for your buck, I recommend creating print materials that not only use your colors, graphics, message and typefaces to reinforce your branding. But I also recommend materials that can be used for different purposes and in different circumstances.

READ MORE

Ok. You’ve started a business and you have your new, professionally designed, custom logo. Now you need some marketing materials so your can get out there and promote your business, your products, and your services. But what do you need exactly? A brochure, stationery, folder, flyer, website, blog? With all of the different options you have to choose from, how do you know what to do first and how do you know which is the best choice for your business? And more important, which pieces will get you the biggest return on your investment and bring you the most value?

These are questions I get asked all the time and my answer is always the same. There are three main marketing pieces that every solopreneur, entrepreneur and small business owners needs. They are: 1) A business card, 2) A website, and 3) A marketing piece.

READ MORE