Branding: 5 Tips to Quickly and Inexpensively Improve Your Brand Identity
October 3, 2008 by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein · 3 Comments
Guest post by Kelly K. O’Neil, Award-Winning Business & Marketing Coach
In an overcrowded marketplace, if you’re not standing out, then you’re invisible. Establishing a brand is absolutely critical to long term, sustainable business growth – especially in service oriented businesses. The single biggest motivator in buying is not data, nor is it facts, it’s emotional response. People buy when they feel comfortable, when they feel they can trust you, when the process feels natural and reassuring, and when they come to the feeling that buying will make them feel good.
The best way to captivate your audience is with an authentic and powerful personal brand. The benefits of a strong personal branding will give you an edge over your competition and enhance your value in the global marketplace. Branding identifies and differentiates you, your business and your products and services so you stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Your brand could make the difference between prospects and customers.
Once you have a powerful personal brand, the next step is to consistently communicate it through your brand identity: logo, business cards, letterhead, web site, invoices and any other outward communications you have.
I strongly recommend that every service professional develop a powerul brand first. While that process is taking place, I wanted to provide 5 simple tips that can be implemented quickly to provide an immediate improvement in your brand identity.
1. Have a consistent Web address and email address.
If you own a web site, then you own a domain name and it is hosted with an Internet Service Provider. For example, my domain is journeyavenue.com. Call your service provider and ask them to set up your email account. I recommend keeping it simple – firstname@yourdomain.com .
I recommend including a signature block with all your outgoing e-mail. A signature block is a four to six line mini-advertisement at the end of the message. This can be easily done within the e-mail software so that every outgoing e-mail will automatically include a signature block.
Resource: If your ISP doesn’t provide this service, I recommend switching to an ISP that does. I have been very happy with MyHosting.com. Their plans are affordable and they offer email service if you don’t want to move your whole site: http://myhosting.com/email/.
2. Use consistent fonts on your site and in your materials.
Have you ever been on a Web site that uses unbearably small type, or tries to cram way too much information in to a small space? Each aspect of your customers’ interactions with your business, from awareness all the way through to sale, needs to be optimized for success. Any difficulty they experience, at any stage of engagement, is likely to cause you grief.
Web sites are now a key channel for people to interact with your company. They have become an integral part of ‘the total user experience’. However, they need special attention as human assistance is rarely available should your customers encounter difficulties.
Ease of Use could be more broadly referred to as “Make Every Interaction Simple’ because it encompasses the total user experience. The actual use of your product or service is only one important factor contributing to your user’s overall impression of your company. This impression is formed by everything that your customers see and touch - by every contact with your product or company, through any channel, and for the entire life cycle of your offering.
Consistency is one way to improve ease of use. I have noticed on several small business sites where the fonts are very inconsistent. They range in size and character type. My recommendation is to choose a font that is easily readable and widely available such as Arial or Verdana. People find comfort in fonts they recognize. If you choose a wild or funky font, your customers will spend more time focusing on the font than your message. Also, keep your font sizes consistent using a larger font for head lines and a smaller font for the body of the communication.
Resource: To see a complete list of fonts to choose from visit www.fonts.com . Just remember, if you send or view information digitally and the recipient doesn’t have your font, it will default to something else.
3. Use consistent color schemes on your site and in your materials.
We all love to be creative and colors are an excellent way to express your enthusiasm for your business. However, using a rainbow of colors in your identity is confusing and makes communication hard to read. I recommend choosing two or three colors that represent your brand and stick with them as accents. I don’t recommend using colors as font treatments regularly throughout your text. It makes the communication harder to read. If you want to highlight a specific communication try bold, italics or bullet points.
Resource: To see the meaning behind specific colors, visit: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html
4. Print a professional business card.
Nothing against Vista Print or the cards with the perforations you buy at your local office supply, as I am sure there are some uses where they are appropriate, but do not use them for business. Primarily, your business card is an advertisement of your business. It is a representation of the value you will offer to your customers. Nothing says “Me-too’ more than a card that everyone else has and is being passed around. Also, it communicates clearly what you are willing to invest in your own business and some might make the leap that it is a symbol of what you will invest in theirs.
Resource: For really inexpensive cards , you can go to Kinko’s. For recommended designers , please contact UpLevel Strategies.
5. Use a professional head shot.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Make sure your headshot conveys your message and captures the essence of what your audience desires. If you are a success coach or consultant, make sure you are dressed professionally, and convey confidence and success.
Resource: A headshot doesn’t need to be expensive. If you know what you are going for and have a strong sense of style, go to your local mall and get your pictures taken. If you feel you need more professional direction, call local photographers and ask them for a complimentary consultation. Just remember to get the rights to your photo so you can use it anyway you wish.
Glossary
Brand: Your brand is the cultivation of a feeling. It is the emotional response of your customer to you, your company and its products/services.
Brand Identity: Your brand identity is the graphical and verbal representation of your brand. It is the way you communicate your brand promise to the world.
© Kelly O’Neil 2005
About the Author: Kelly K. O’Neil, Chief Strategy Officer, UpLevel Strategies. Business & Marketing guru Kelly O’Neil is passionate about helping entrepreneurs succeed in business through her Business Mastery Success System™. She is the lead author of “Visionary Women Inspiring the World: 12 Paths to Personal Power” (Skyward, 2005) and is writing her second book Guerilla Business Strategy with mega-marketing genius Jay Conrad Levinson. Kelly’s company received several awards for her exceptional work including the PR Compass award for outstanding Public Relations, The ADDY Award for Branding and recently received the Purple Cow Award acknowledging her company as one of the Most Innovative Companies in America by best-selling author Seth Godin.
For more information, or to subscribe to O’Neil’s Arrive! E-newsletter filled with countless tips and resources for creating more profit in your business, visit www.uplevelstrategies.com. Please contact UpLevel Strategies at (408) 615-8150 for a Complimentary 30 Minute Strategy Session.
Media
September 2, 2008 by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein · Leave a Comment
Elizabeth is available for media interviews as well as speaking engagements. Contact her staff via the Contact Us form to arrange an interview. The best way to contact Elizabeth directly is via Twitter.
About Elizabeth
About Elizabeth’s Book Grow Up! Strategies: The 7 Legal & Financial Strategies You Need to Up-Level Your Small Business (2008)
Interview Topics
Small Business Finance & Law
- The 7 Strategies You Need to Grow Up! Your Small Business
- How to Control Your Small Business Cash Flow So It Does Not Control You
- Financing Secrets: Use Cheap Money to Grow Your Empire
- Trademarks & Copyrights: Find, Protect, and Make Money Off Your Big Ideas
- 4 Simple Strategies to Pay Less Income Tax
- Why Incorporating May Be Wrong For Your Business
- Asset Protection: 3 Strategies to Manage Your Risks So You Can Take the Big Opportunity
- The 3 Types of Exit Plans and Why You Need All of Them
- 5 Methods to Finance Your Small Business Retirement & Exit Plan
Personal Finance
- 6 Simple Steps to Get Out of Debt & Stay Out
- Top 10 Mistakes Women Make with Their Money
Entrepreneurship
- Balancing Chaos with Grace
- How to Use a Mastermind Group to Up-Level Your Business & Life
Media
Television
Radio
- Voice America Business: host of The Wealth Spa Radio Show, weekly at 11:00 AM Pacific
- Global Talk Radio: Efficio Radio Network, 12-11-2006. “This week, Sherese talks with Elizabeth Weinstein about why women consistently sabotage their profits.”
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Also Find Elizabeth on …
Ep #42 Facebook Fortunes - How to Explode Your Online Profits Using Social Media
May 28, 2008 by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein · 1 Comment
Elizabeth invites Mari Smith, Relationship Marketing Specialist and Facebook Business Coach, to share her top reasons why you need to be active on Facebook and how being active in social networks can establish you as a leader in your industry. Elizabeth then answers a listener question of the week regarding the bare minimum legal and financial practices you need in your business, even if you’re just starting out. Elizabeth also shares her Entreprenuer’s Success Tip of the Week: Take a Stand.
Click here to download the show.
Get on TV in 2 Weeks!
January 18, 2008 by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein · Leave a Comment
Last night was my first time on television — you can see the video at:
http://video.nbc11.com/player/?id=206640
So what’s my secret? What did I do to get on TV? Read more
