Do You Have a Brand?

 I hope that you are having a productive week and staying the course on your investing goals :0)

 

I attended a Marketing for Success workshop and I had no idea that I would leave looking like a real clown…lol. Seriously, I’m in the process of rewriting my marketing strategy and I’m going to share some of the highpoints that I learned.

 

1. Identifying your brand- According to the brand identity specialists of Tactical Magic and Harvest, “brand identity is more than just names and logos; it is the art and science of using strategies, words and imagery in order to build a favorable perception.”
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• How do you want people to perceive your company? Remember, impressions can be positive or negative.
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• What is the core benefit to your customers? Whatever you offer must be better than anyone else. How do you differentiate from your competition?
• Every part of your business must support your brand. Live your mission and deliver consistent experiences to everyone in your business circle!
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• Take the “logo challenge”. If you removed the logo from your various forms of communication, would customers/clients know who it is from the tone and consistent graphical execution?

 

1. Utilizing your website- Remember what I said earlier about delivering consistent experiences to everyone in your business circle? This includes your website. The internet is a crucial resource to reinforce your brand and bring potential customers. Owner of Simple Focus J.D. Graffam gives 4 tips for an effective website:
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• Be researched- when tenants go to your website, you must appear to be knowledgeable of your market.
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• Convert Visitors- use tools such as “a/b testing” and “multivariate testing” (Google these terms) to see what customers are attracted to. Google Analytics also provides the business owner an abundance of information regarding site visitors and what they’re looking for.
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• Establish Trust- if you’re selling products online or asking for customer information, your website must be secure!
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• Don’t Screw It Up!- Remember that your website keeps the prospect interested; therefore the site needs to look professional. In addition, it makes absolutely no sense for you to spend money on an awesome website and your service is crappy….yeah, I said it! Say it with me…”consistent experiences”.

 

  

If you want to get more information on the companies that presented at the workshop, here are their websites:

• www.tacticalmagic.com
• http://www.harvestcreative.com/main/index.html
• http://simplefocus.com/

 

 

Note to Self…

• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You didn’t come into the world knowing everything. God has given each of us specific gifts, so embrace those people whom God puts in your path.
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• Attend workshops that will truly help your business grow. As an entrepreneur, you have to know not only your weaknesses but your company’s needs. If you don’t know where to start, don’t be afraid to ask for consultations.
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• Linked In is awesome. One of the best business networking sites around. I found this workshop there and it only cost $30!

 

I have FAITH! Do you?

SRB