What Is Your Branding Trying To Say?

I was out the other day and decided to stop into a new bakery that opened in my neighborhood.  I was particularly excited for the young owner.  I met her a couple of months ago at an event.  She was very enthusiastic about her business. So, when I went in to her shop I expected to see a lot of strong branding.

What I encountered was a drab offering.  Not only did she not have enough product( a few cupcakes and about a dozen cookies) but the furniture in the store looked like she had gotten it from someone's basement. There was no color on the walls, her logo was only on the window glass that faced to the street, and she had run out of business cards.  Her bakery cases had no decorations inside to entice me to buy. There was little that would make me want to return. There was no brand identity at all.  Or should I say her brand identity was not good.

A UCLA study proves that 85% of all decisions are made with our eyes. That's right: the visual you have has the most impact.  And particularly food needs to be appealing.  In a sense, you need to strongly brand your products or services.

I think there are three basic branding categories that business owners have to think about:

• Marketing materials -- brochures, business cards, website 
• Business decor -- wall colors, furniture, interior design
• The way employees look and present themselves -- uniforms, identifiers, customer service 

What do you want customers to think about you? What image of your company do you want to put out there? That is your brand -- good or bad.

If your brand is not professional and congruent, attractive and attracting you will be passed over - guaranteed. To be competitive, to have a greater influence on others, to attract more business and be more successful it's essential that you develop a well-thought-out  brand.

The Six Pitfalls of Starting a Business

So, you think you are an entrepreneur.

I have come across so many "entrepreneurs" who claim to be ready to start their business but when you tell them what it will require they balk at doing what is needed.

I tend to think of these people as over enthusiastic "hobbyists" and they end up spending a lot of money on useless tools with no return on their investment.  Of course, I realize that YOU are not one of them.  But let's look at some of the signs, shall we:

1. Have not determined what the product or service niche market is for their product or service. They are convinced that somebody will like what they are doing or selling, after all they do.  And there has been no evaluation of their competition.

2.  Didn't invest in a website because they don't understand how it works or just thinks it's a waste of time. OR...they get someone who doesn't know how to build websites to build theirs.

3.  They spend money on an office and letterhead, but won't think about using money to develop marketing materials or business processes.

4.  Won't network to get their name out there (which by the way is free).

5.  Won't spend time or won't ask how to use social media. This goes back to marketing, but I had to say it again since so many people get hung up on this.

6.  Won't seek out credible organizations that can provide information to help them get going.

So, if you are an entrepreneur, you have to develop a plan, follow the plan and evaluate the plan.  You also have to have resources that will help you along the way.  Get to know your business, product and service.  Then RESEARCH what others are doing and have done to get their business going.

WARNING: As an entrepreneur myself I can tell you, don't buy anything until you have researched the product or how it works.  I spent quite a few dollars on some things that were useless or did not provide what they said.

Here's a FREE resource. So click here for a free download of my Media Buying Guide.

How to get to your niche market through digital advertising

When it comes to niche marketing many people don't really take the time to understand the importance of researching and narrowing down their target market.  They just throw advertising dollars at the next "new" thing, hoping they will hit their niche.

A niche market is a specific group of people that share something in common. In the business world they are the groups of consumers that you should be focusing on because they are the ones that will most likely purchase your product or service. They are referred to as your target market.

When I was growing up, we had three television channels.  So, if you wanted to advertise on TV, you had to be on one of those channels.  It was called mass marketing.  But very few people subscribe to mass marketing these days because we have so many options to place advertising. We have cable TV -- with it's defined audiences -- radio, various print vehicles, and of course the internet.  

So how do you reach your market?  Well, as you know, more and more people are on the internet.  So, wouldn't you like to be on the internet?  That means that you can actually find the people more likely to purchase your service or product.  How? You can actually target your customers WHEN they are ready to buy. 

By using keywords your ad can pop up when people are searching for a product or service like yours.  Based on keywords, ads are placed on websites, blogs, or other niche websites your market is viewing. 

This year Google opened up display advertising real estate for small businesses. Before this, only Fortune 500 companies could develop display campaigns and place on sites like national news, entertainment, and blogs as well as heavily trafficked local sites.   Wouldn't it be great if your potential customer was on the ESPN site and your pizza parlor showed up on the site?  And because it is targeted to your geographic area, you don't waste money advertising to someone out of your marketing area.

Advanced targeting options like “remarketing” can bring interested prospects back to your website, increase conversions and profit, keeps your business top-of-mind and help these interested prospects complete a transaction.

Remarketing is the process of your ad “following” the person throughout the internet.  This technique boosts conversions by 48 – 50% or more. You are probably familiar with this.  Have you ever been to a shopping site online and then every time you go to another site you see the same product or a product “you might like” on a totally unrelated site?  That’s re-marketing.

This type of advertising can be tracked for effectiveness as well.  Google makes it so simple to track your conversions and sales all the way back to every keyword in your campaign. 

Create a dynamic online video with little or no money

Over the last five years, technology has made it very easy for entrepreneurs and small businesses to decrease the cost of  marketing their products and services. This is especially true about video. Now, with a little creativity and a few quick clicks of the mouse, you can create a  professional looking video that can be used in many venues and in many media outlets. Here are a few of my favorites:

Animoto 
Animoto is a subscription-based service The number of templates you can use is based on your basic or pro subscription. It's the easiest of the three programs listed here.  All you have to do is upload your favorite photographs.  The templates weave your photos through backgrounds -- from seasonal, romantic, business and techno.  There is a pretty extensive music library that you can use.  Or you can upload your own music.

Goanimate
Goanimate creates some really cool animated videos. It comes with ready-made templates or you can create your video from scratch. The program has a diverse number of characters. So many programs don't offer as many character options. A variety of backgrounds and extra "props" are also available to spice up the visual appeal.  It's a great program for a designer or marketing professional.

VideoMakerFX
I've done several videos using VideoMakerFX.  I have one on my website  It too, provides a sampling of templates but in animated slide presentation form.  Very limited on characters (although they will be adding more in the coming months), but you can mix and match slide templates, move them and re-color backgrounds and text. Much more fun than PowerPoint or Prezi.

Unlike the other two programs, no subscription is necessary -- just a one time very reasonable yearly fee that you can upgrade.  It only takes about an hour to learn and create a video.

While a good visual image always attracts attention, you still need to communicate to your niche with message development and good copywriting.  The combination of strong visuals and clear messaging will make your video awesome!

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Drive sales with your words

Getting the word out about your company can help drive sales.  You already know that.  But with the advent of the internet there are other options other than print advertising.  If you think just putting up a website and leaving it alone is good enough you're wrong, too.  Here are some things to think about:

1. First of all, YES, you need a website.  That is the basic online strategy.   (I'll tell you later about a company who has NO website).  By the way, what is it about entrepreneurs and small businesses who don't have one?  Ok, thats another blog.  Let's continue...

2. E-mail marketing. Stay connected with your customers.  If you are a part of my VIP Marketing Academy you get an email from me once per week, sometimes twice.  I personally think that is enough, unless you are promoting something special.  I personally think it shows you care about your clients/customers. Share some "special" information with them not given out to the masses.

3. Content distribution.  Everyone is saying that if you don't have any content out there you are missing out.  Content is basically articles about some aspect of your business. It positions you as an expert.  For, example, when I am finished with this blog, I could turn it into an article and submit it to SubmitYourArticles.com, EzineArticles.com or GoArticles.com. Not only are will the articles be listed in these directories, but they will distribute them to other social media sites --sometimes for a fee.  I currently have an article listed in SubmitYourArticles.com on the six tips of how to shine at expos and fairs (see earlier blog post).

4.  A blog. This is a blog.  I am authoring some information that will be picked up by search engines (I hope) and distributed throughout the world.  You don't have to be a member of my VIP Marketing Academy to see it.  But I will use it to promote my VIP Marketing Academy.

I'm only going to mention these four this time because I don't want you to get overwhelmed.  So, here is your homework:

You don't have to do all of these right away.  Choose TWO

1.  Think about what you would want to tell your customers on each of the platforms
2.  Decide how many times you want to send information out if you decide to do a blog, submit articles or do e-mailing.

HINT:  You don't have to write everything from scratch.  Once you get information about your product or service, you can re-purpose it and use it in all four categories.  If you are not a writer, then I suggest you get a content strategist to help you.  Or....you can e-mail us and we will walk you through it.

Bring in Customers with Sales Promotions

"Bring in Customers with Winning Promotions" makes debut

I completed the Bring in Customers with Winning Promotions e-book.  While this e-book benefits my clients and readers, you have to understand that it is part of my marketing strategy, also.  You see, I want to provide content that is relevant for my clients.  After all, that is what my business is about -- providing marketing advice.  

Similar to you, I have to continue to produce while also marketing my other services.  Yes, it is very time consuming.  But as I say, if you don't do it, you won't have a business. It took well over 20 hours to research and write.  But as a business owner I have to "make the donuts".

Are you interested in creating content to distribute to your clients?  It is a good way to engage them and brand you as an expert in your field.  I will be doing a blog on that soon.

If you choose to get the e-book, I hope you find useful information in it. If you want an e-book that has promotion ideas, a handy 12- month listing of special days,  and events that you can use to develop your promotions, then this e-book is for you.  Also, I have examples and resources you can use.

Want to get it?  Click here

If you sign up for the VIP Marketing Academy, you will get a free download.

When will they learn?

When I was reading the link I have included below, it made me say "sho' you right!" It really hit home and says what I tell entrepreneurs and small businesses all the time: The money you pay someone to do what you are trying to do will actually bring in MORE money.  

And while the link speaks about a content strategist, it could very well speak about marketing specialists, website developer, social media specialist in general.  

The article just reminded me of a client that wanted to nickel and dime every little thing and then say, "I can do this myself". It's sad because they are doing it and they are in the same place they were in four months ago.

So, here is the link:

http://www.startupnation.com/grow-your-business/market-your-business/not-hire-content-strategists/