Why do you need a logo? In marketing terms, it's called branding. It's how you visually communicate your company's “personality” to potential customers. Your logo design is one of the most visually identifiable elements of your company's branding campaign.
Think of a cattle rancher. He “brands” his cattle with a distinctive, unique “logo” which instantly identifies those cattle with his ranch. There's no mistaking the Rocking Horse Ranch from the Broken Arrow. The symbol and design are unique. That's the concept you want to pursue.
If you're a small business owner on the net, the importance of a memorable logo design cannot be overemphasized. A first-time visitor to your site is a potential customer, and the first impression of your web page either leads them to stay and have a look around, or quickly lose interest and leave, probably never to return.
You remember the old adage, “Make a good first impression, because you may not get a second chance.” Think about this when you set out to create a logo design for your company. You want your logo design to pack a visual punch, one that will stick in the mind of your customer.
How do you go about creating a good logo design? The criterion are short and sweet. Simplicity is at the essence. The design must be simple, unique, visually pleasing and memorable.
What you don't want is an overworked, complicated, too-busy effect. This creates a visually confusing, unfocused impression, which translates as unprofessional and disorderly! Certainly not what you want your image to convey. You may even subconsciously irritate your viewer!
As a starting point, take a look at some of your competitor's logo designs. Look at several. Note what you like, what turns you off, and take note of color combinations, fonts and shapes that work. Do not unconsciously duplicate someone else's logo design. You must make your logo design unique in the sense that all elements of your logo (shape, colors and fonts) form a unified memory in your viewer's mind.
Your type of business should give you ideas on possible concepts. For example, in the coffee business, you'll see a lot of coffee-colored tones, with steaming coffee cup themes. Think about how you can stand out in this crowd. Find a different slant that enables you to stand out from your competition. Perhaps coffee beans graphically formatted into a retro coffee pot or mug? Keep it simple and memorable.
When you have your basic concept, sketch a few mock ups with different arrangements and densities of color. Try several fonts in different sizes until you find the design which most closely matches the “personality” of your business.
Unless you're artistically competent to execute your concept, take your sketches to a professional graphic designer. They can turn your concept into a fresh and original logo design.
Your logo design can be one of your best business promotions. Make the most of it!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Business Name Suggestions
When I thought about starting a business, I knew that there would be a lot to it. You can't simply read a book on how to start a business and expect to know it all – there is just too much. There is incorporating, hiring competent people, coming up with a business plan, getting investors, getting retail space – you get the idea. One thing that I didn't consider, however, was finding the right business name.
It took me months of fruitless business name search before I really had any idea what I was doing. I got business name suggestions from everyone I met, but none of them were really good. Hiring a company to get business name suggestions seemed like a silly idea to me at first, but then one of my friends and partners told me to think about it in a different way. To him, the business name suggestion is just part of the broader business branding and marketing strategy. Your business is not just the products you sell, the people who work for you, or even the physical location where it is held. The business is about how people see it. Getting the right suggested business names is the first step to projecting the right corporate image.
The key to business name suggestions is to not think of them in isolation. It is true that every once in a while, a brilliant business name suggestion comes along. If this happens to you, you can use it as a starting point. You can cater the branding strategy, the slogans, the corporate logos – everything to that particular business name. In general, however, business name suggestions should be part of a more integrated approach. The business makes suggestions that you choose should not exist in isolation, but as part of an overall strategy. Naming a business is not only where you start as the business's founder, but also where the consumer starts. The wrong name and you will get no business.
In the end, sometimes good business name suggestions come from the most unlikely people. Our foray with the marketing and advertising agency was fruitless, and in the end we had just managed to waste several thousand dollars on nothing. In desperation, I turned to some very unlikely people to give me business name suggestions. Since we would be a toy distributor, I turned to my younger son and his friends. They came up with the perfect name.
It took me months of fruitless business name search before I really had any idea what I was doing. I got business name suggestions from everyone I met, but none of them were really good. Hiring a company to get business name suggestions seemed like a silly idea to me at first, but then one of my friends and partners told me to think about it in a different way. To him, the business name suggestion is just part of the broader business branding and marketing strategy. Your business is not just the products you sell, the people who work for you, or even the physical location where it is held. The business is about how people see it. Getting the right suggested business names is the first step to projecting the right corporate image.
The key to business name suggestions is to not think of them in isolation. It is true that every once in a while, a brilliant business name suggestion comes along. If this happens to you, you can use it as a starting point. You can cater the branding strategy, the slogans, the corporate logos – everything to that particular business name. In general, however, business name suggestions should be part of a more integrated approach. The business makes suggestions that you choose should not exist in isolation, but as part of an overall strategy. Naming a business is not only where you start as the business's founder, but also where the consumer starts. The wrong name and you will get no business.
In the end, sometimes good business name suggestions come from the most unlikely people. Our foray with the marketing and advertising agency was fruitless, and in the end we had just managed to waste several thousand dollars on nothing. In desperation, I turned to some very unlikely people to give me business name suggestions. Since we would be a toy distributor, I turned to my younger son and his friends. They came up with the perfect name.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Advertising on cable TV
When my company started advertising on cable TV, I knew that we had it made. Don't get me wrong, it's not like we were small time before that. We had done radio advertising as well as some advertising on TV, but it had all been local. We simply had not had the money, and our clientele were all from the region that we were located in. For me, cable TV advertising was a milestone. It showed that we had expanded our business far enough to make it practical to advertise to a nationwide consumer base. It really was a proud moment for me and for everyone else in the company.
Of course, in many ways cable TV advertising was one of the most difficult things that we have ever done. Before that, we had done all of our advertising design in-house. We have some very creative people working for us, and some of them had some limited media exposure. I would not say that we had the best, most slickly produced advertising out there, but we did have good advertising. It got people in the door, which is all it was supposed to do. The rest is always up to the company.
But cable TV advertising was another ballgame altogether. First of all, cable TV advertising rates are much higher than rates for normal TV advertising. We could not afford to get it wrong. We could not afford multiple commercial runs so we had to get the cable TV advertisements right first time, and that meant hiring an advertising agency.
That was intimidating, to say the least. My brother had always warned me about ad execs. He had worked with them a lot in his line of business, and he was right about them. They are slick and hard to read. I know that they were working for us, trying to decide what was the best cable TV advertising campaign for our company. Even so, I didn't trust them. Their art, after all, consists entirely of manipulating people. How can you trust someone like that?
In the end, however, I had nothing to worry about. I was assigned to a great advertising marketing professional, and he made some great cable TV advertisements for us. Our cable TV advertising campaign went off without a hitch. It was a proud moment in my life, and in the lives of my family members.
Of course, in many ways cable TV advertising was one of the most difficult things that we have ever done. Before that, we had done all of our advertising design in-house. We have some very creative people working for us, and some of them had some limited media exposure. I would not say that we had the best, most slickly produced advertising out there, but we did have good advertising. It got people in the door, which is all it was supposed to do. The rest is always up to the company.
But cable TV advertising was another ballgame altogether. First of all, cable TV advertising rates are much higher than rates for normal TV advertising. We could not afford to get it wrong. We could not afford multiple commercial runs so we had to get the cable TV advertisements right first time, and that meant hiring an advertising agency.
That was intimidating, to say the least. My brother had always warned me about ad execs. He had worked with them a lot in his line of business, and he was right about them. They are slick and hard to read. I know that they were working for us, trying to decide what was the best cable TV advertising campaign for our company. Even so, I didn't trust them. Their art, after all, consists entirely of manipulating people. How can you trust someone like that?
In the end, however, I had nothing to worry about. I was assigned to a great advertising marketing professional, and he made some great cable TV advertisements for us. Our cable TV advertising campaign went off without a hitch. It was a proud moment in my life, and in the lives of my family members.
Advertising on the Internet
The advertising business has gotten harder and harder in recent years. You see, people just gotten so jaded. It used to be that you could come up with a clever slogan, flashy graphics, and throw in a beautiful model or two and you would be set. Nowadays, however, it is much more difficult than this. The thing is, people have learned to block out the vast majority of the ads that they see. This only makes sense – paying attention to all the commercials would drive people crazy. They would never get anything done.
Nowhere is this more of a problem than in the world of online advertising. A company cannot afford to ignore advertising on the Internet. There are just so many web users nowadays. The market is tremendously large and lucrative. But almost all advertising on the Internet is ignored by users. Companies scratch their heads and sigh, trying to figure out how to make use of Internet advertising, but many of them come up with nothing in the end.
Other companies, however, are much more successful with advertising on the Internet. What separates the winners from the losers? All of the classic things that work in advertising! You see, as always it is simply a matter of keeping up with the culture. Classical advertising strategies such as positioning, brand essence, and niche marketing are just that much more important when advertising on the Internet.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when advertising on the Internet are the strengths and weaknesses of the medium. Although Internet advertisements are easy to ignore – often easier than advertisements in the real world – they do have some advantages that other forms of advertising don't. Although cutting edge strategies like guerrilla marketing don't translate well to the Internet, it is much easier to get ad saturation. Space for advertising on the Internet can be bought very cheaply. Web banner displays and mass emailing cost almost nothing.
Because of the strengths and weaknesses, it is easy to come up with the correct strategy for advertising on the Internet. A company should take advantage of the fact that there are so many opportunities to reach potential customers, and come up with a diverse advertising strategy. They should maximize hits to websites offering to sell whatever product they market. They should place references to their product wherever they can. Most of all, advertising on the Internet should incorporate a wide range of different pitches meant to appeal to different possible customers.
Nowhere is this more of a problem than in the world of online advertising. A company cannot afford to ignore advertising on the Internet. There are just so many web users nowadays. The market is tremendously large and lucrative. But almost all advertising on the Internet is ignored by users. Companies scratch their heads and sigh, trying to figure out how to make use of Internet advertising, but many of them come up with nothing in the end.
Other companies, however, are much more successful with advertising on the Internet. What separates the winners from the losers? All of the classic things that work in advertising! You see, as always it is simply a matter of keeping up with the culture. Classical advertising strategies such as positioning, brand essence, and niche marketing are just that much more important when advertising on the Internet.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when advertising on the Internet are the strengths and weaknesses of the medium. Although Internet advertisements are easy to ignore – often easier than advertisements in the real world – they do have some advantages that other forms of advertising don't. Although cutting edge strategies like guerrilla marketing don't translate well to the Internet, it is much easier to get ad saturation. Space for advertising on the Internet can be bought very cheaply. Web banner displays and mass emailing cost almost nothing.
Because of the strengths and weaknesses, it is easy to come up with the correct strategy for advertising on the Internet. A company should take advantage of the fact that there are so many opportunities to reach potential customers, and come up with a diverse advertising strategy. They should maximize hits to websites offering to sell whatever product they market. They should place references to their product wherever they can. Most of all, advertising on the Internet should incorporate a wide range of different pitches meant to appeal to different possible customers.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Marketing A Business - Important Aspects To Follow
Whenever anyone starts off a business, one of the first aspects they concentrate on is getting new clients. This is of course, assuming they have the necessary skills to survive in the business in the first place. Once the clients are in, the projects begin. Once the projects begin, the work continues till the money comes in. And the cycle continues till the business finds new clients or the clients themselves finds new places to take care of their business. But among the thousands of businesses I have had the opportunity to see through, very few, if at all, have ever concentrated on marketing a business.
Not many businessmen realize this, but marketing a business is probably one of the most important things they can do to grow their business. A lot of people see getting new clients as marketing a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Getting new clients is one of the aspects of marketing a business. But marketing a business involves a whole lot more than merely getting hold of clients. Branding is a part of marketing a business. Sales too is part of it. Why, even something as backend oriented as accounting and book keeping is also an integral part of marketing a business.
In fact, marketing a business is all about creating a brand for the business. And branding is serious business. Once a business, any business has a brand, it will begin to gather a reputation. And once it manages to gather a sufficiently large reputation, then clients will flock to it. So why waste time trying to get the clients to come to you when you can play all your cards right, concentrate on your core competency and the clients in turn come to you!
But before one presumes or assumes that marketing a business is easy work, one must realize that nothing again could be further from the truth. Not only is any marketing serious and back breaking business, it is especially so in the case of business. Marketing a business is no easy task. It takes years of assiduous application, a whole lot of patience and constant, consistent and dedicated skill before one can even begin to build a reputation. And the troubles don’t end when a reputation has been built. It needs to be sustained. Only then can anyone reap the benefits. So the next time you entertain the thought of starting your own business, seriously draw up a plan for mating a business. I assure you, you won’t regret it.
Not many businessmen realize this, but marketing a business is probably one of the most important things they can do to grow their business. A lot of people see getting new clients as marketing a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Getting new clients is one of the aspects of marketing a business. But marketing a business involves a whole lot more than merely getting hold of clients. Branding is a part of marketing a business. Sales too is part of it. Why, even something as backend oriented as accounting and book keeping is also an integral part of marketing a business.
In fact, marketing a business is all about creating a brand for the business. And branding is serious business. Once a business, any business has a brand, it will begin to gather a reputation. And once it manages to gather a sufficiently large reputation, then clients will flock to it. So why waste time trying to get the clients to come to you when you can play all your cards right, concentrate on your core competency and the clients in turn come to you!
But before one presumes or assumes that marketing a business is easy work, one must realize that nothing again could be further from the truth. Not only is any marketing serious and back breaking business, it is especially so in the case of business. Marketing a business is no easy task. It takes years of assiduous application, a whole lot of patience and constant, consistent and dedicated skill before one can even begin to build a reputation. And the troubles don’t end when a reputation has been built. It needs to be sustained. Only then can anyone reap the benefits. So the next time you entertain the thought of starting your own business, seriously draw up a plan for mating a business. I assure you, you won’t regret it.
Effective And Successful Promotional Marketing Plans
I have always felt that marketing promotions were broadly applied but not very well thought out. Promotional marketing in some ways is a pretty good idea for a wide variety of things. You can give out pens, calculators, or other little trinkets with your brand name on it. This is a way to spend little money on an advertising campaign that will generate some degree of name recognition. The question of how effective these promotional marketing campaigns are is open, however. If I open my pen drawer, I will find dozens of promotional pens and erasers in there, but I couldn't name a single brand offhand. Unless you sell something like stationary which people associate with pens, these type of promotional giveaways are nothing but a waste of money.
In my opinion – and I always tell my clients this – marketing promotions should only be done for special purposes. Guerrilla marketing can work wonderfully depending on what kind of product you sell, but the marketing promotion must be carefully tailored. Just going out into a public square and holding a contest or giving away a product will not generate any business for you at all. You need to think strategically.
One of my favorite places to do marketing promotions is at nightclubs and bars. When people are drinking, they will do what they can to win anything. Whether you are giving away shot glasses, food, drink mixers, or just T-shirts, people will get excited about your marketing promotion. If they get to come home with a souvenir of their night, they will forever associate it with the fun of going out drinking with friends. This is what successful marketing promotions aim to do – create those kinds of positive associations around your product or brand name.
Hot summer afternoons are also a great time for marketing promotions. If you are willing to spend a few thousand dollars giving away free drinks in a crowded public thoroughfare, people will absolutely love you. Even if you are giving out something that doesn't strictly go along with the weather – such as a salty snack – people will still be grateful as long as they get some water with it. If you can catch people at an unguarded moment, you can gain their brand loyalty before they even know what hit them. That is what successful marketing promotions are all about. Leave the brand-name pens at home!
In my opinion – and I always tell my clients this – marketing promotions should only be done for special purposes. Guerrilla marketing can work wonderfully depending on what kind of product you sell, but the marketing promotion must be carefully tailored. Just going out into a public square and holding a contest or giving away a product will not generate any business for you at all. You need to think strategically.
One of my favorite places to do marketing promotions is at nightclubs and bars. When people are drinking, they will do what they can to win anything. Whether you are giving away shot glasses, food, drink mixers, or just T-shirts, people will get excited about your marketing promotion. If they get to come home with a souvenir of their night, they will forever associate it with the fun of going out drinking with friends. This is what successful marketing promotions aim to do – create those kinds of positive associations around your product or brand name.
Hot summer afternoons are also a great time for marketing promotions. If you are willing to spend a few thousand dollars giving away free drinks in a crowded public thoroughfare, people will absolutely love you. Even if you are giving out something that doesn't strictly go along with the weather – such as a salty snack – people will still be grateful as long as they get some water with it. If you can catch people at an unguarded moment, you can gain their brand loyalty before they even know what hit them. That is what successful marketing promotions are all about. Leave the brand-name pens at home!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Customer Relationship And Marketing
As an expert in customer relationship marketing, I can tell you that it is much more difficult than most people think. Customer marketing, in most people's opinions, is a pretty simple matter. As a consumer, you assume that a company sends out either a flyer, postcard, or a broadsheet almost indiscriminately. They may use radio marketing, television marketing, or anything else. From the consumer's perspective, it may be all the same, but from a business prospective, all of these are radically different approaches. Consumer marketing must be carefully targeted towards the image that the company wants to portray and the clientele that it wishes to attract.
For example, there is a good reason why Auto service centers, doctors offices, and even clothing stores often send out postcards for customer marketing. When you send out a business postcard, you play off of the perception of an intimate relationship between you and the customer. This type of customer marketing is extremely effective because it encourages brand loyalty. Although the consumers, of course, know that it is not a custom-made postcard, it still seems thoughtful. Some companies take customer marketing so far that they send out happy holiday cards to many of their loyal consumers around Christmas.
One of my favorite customer service marketing strategies is to send out targeted advertisements to consumers. This is such an effective form of customer marketing because consumers always appreciate it when you are in tune with their own interests. You can even try to educate about the products while you advertise them, speaking about the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. Usually, people assume that you do not want to ever speak badly of your own products, but sometimes it has its advantages. A few negative details thrown into a customer marketing report can give the customer the perception that you are unusually honest and concerned with the welfare of the consumer.
Of course, this is not the only type of custom marketing that companies routinely engage in. As a matter of fact, the job of a marketing consultants is to come up with new and more innovative strategies to market products. Techniques such as guerrilla marketing and word-of-mouth have revolutionized the marketing industry in the last decade, and customer marketing continues to evolve because of that kind of bright thinking. Not only does it help companies to make more money, but it also helps consumers to receive a product more carefully tailored to their own interests.
For example, there is a good reason why Auto service centers, doctors offices, and even clothing stores often send out postcards for customer marketing. When you send out a business postcard, you play off of the perception of an intimate relationship between you and the customer. This type of customer marketing is extremely effective because it encourages brand loyalty. Although the consumers, of course, know that it is not a custom-made postcard, it still seems thoughtful. Some companies take customer marketing so far that they send out happy holiday cards to many of their loyal consumers around Christmas.
One of my favorite customer service marketing strategies is to send out targeted advertisements to consumers. This is such an effective form of customer marketing because consumers always appreciate it when you are in tune with their own interests. You can even try to educate about the products while you advertise them, speaking about the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. Usually, people assume that you do not want to ever speak badly of your own products, but sometimes it has its advantages. A few negative details thrown into a customer marketing report can give the customer the perception that you are unusually honest and concerned with the welfare of the consumer.
Of course, this is not the only type of custom marketing that companies routinely engage in. As a matter of fact, the job of a marketing consultants is to come up with new and more innovative strategies to market products. Techniques such as guerrilla marketing and word-of-mouth have revolutionized the marketing industry in the last decade, and customer marketing continues to evolve because of that kind of bright thinking. Not only does it help companies to make more money, but it also helps consumers to receive a product more carefully tailored to their own interests.
Marketing A Business The Best Way
Whenever anyone starts off a business, one of the first aspects they concentrate on is getting new clients. This is of course, assuming they have the necessary skills to survive in the business in the first place. Once the clients are in, the projects begin. Once the projects begin, the work continues till the money comes in. And the cycle continues till the business finds new clients or the clients themselves finds new places to take care of their business. But among the thousands of businesses I have had the opportunity to see through, very few, if at all, have ever concentrated on marketing a business.
Not many businessmen realize this, but marketing a business is probably one of the most important things they can do to grow their business. A lot of people see getting new clients as marketing a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Getting new clients is one of the aspects of marketing a business. But marketing a business involves a whole lot more than merely getting hold of clients. Branding is a part of marketing a business. Sales too is part of it. Why, even something as backend oriented as accounting and book keeping is also an integral part of marketing a business.
In fact, marketing a business is all about creating a brand for the business. And branding is serious business. Once a business, any business has a brand, it will begin to gather a reputation. And once it manages to gather a sufficiently large reputation, then clients will flock to it. So why waste time trying to get the clients to come to you when you can play all your cards right, concentrate on your core competency and the clients in turn come to you!
But before one presumes or assumes that marketing a business is easy work, one must realize that nothing again could be further from the truth. Not only is any marketing serious and back breaking business, it is especially so in the case of business. Marketing a business is no easy task. It takes years of assiduous application, a whole lot of patience and constant, consistent and dedicated skill before one can even begin to build a reputation. And the troubles don’t end when a reputation has been built. It needs to be sustained. Only then can anyone reap the benefits. So the next time you entertain the thought of starting your own business, seriously draw up a plan for mating a business. I assure you, you won’t regret it.
Not many businessmen realize this, but marketing a business is probably one of the most important things they can do to grow their business. A lot of people see getting new clients as marketing a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Getting new clients is one of the aspects of marketing a business. But marketing a business involves a whole lot more than merely getting hold of clients. Branding is a part of marketing a business. Sales too is part of it. Why, even something as backend oriented as accounting and book keeping is also an integral part of marketing a business.
In fact, marketing a business is all about creating a brand for the business. And branding is serious business. Once a business, any business has a brand, it will begin to gather a reputation. And once it manages to gather a sufficiently large reputation, then clients will flock to it. So why waste time trying to get the clients to come to you when you can play all your cards right, concentrate on your core competency and the clients in turn come to you!
But before one presumes or assumes that marketing a business is easy work, one must realize that nothing again could be further from the truth. Not only is any marketing serious and back breaking business, it is especially so in the case of business. Marketing a business is no easy task. It takes years of assiduous application, a whole lot of patience and constant, consistent and dedicated skill before one can even begin to build a reputation. And the troubles don’t end when a reputation has been built. It needs to be sustained. Only then can anyone reap the benefits. So the next time you entertain the thought of starting your own business, seriously draw up a plan for mating a business. I assure you, you won’t regret it.
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