July 22, 2008
Branding
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Brand marketing is the process of ascertaining, developing, and finally bringing a company’s image to the marketplace. It is important to know who will represent your target market. You want to know their age, gender, and location. You also want to know the potential consumer’s spending habits, and if your target market shows brand loyalty or if they can be swayed to another brand by a promotion or special offer.
How to Develop a Unique Brand
Always ask yourself what your brand can provide that no other brand can. Concentrate on your strengths. Remember to ask yourself what a potential consumer wants. Making a consumer believe that your brand is special or unique is an important part of brand marketing.
Why do Businesses Need Brand Marketing?
Businesses need brand marketing because it can increase sales. If a consumer knows your brand and says, “Hey, your company has a reputation for really getting things done,” then your chances of increasing sales are pretty good. You don’t want your brand to ever be forgettable because people will not spend money for “forgettable”.
Businesses also need brand marketing because successful brands will help generate business prospects. It’s just like in high school, the popular people always get their phone calls returned and are asked to go to all the social events. The same is true for recognizable brands. If you’re in the popular crowd, you get business lunch meetings and your phone calls stay at the top of the pile.
Brand Marketing Benefits Your Bottom Line
Brand marketing that is successful will help your business fetch premium fees and pricing for your product or service. If a consumer expects top quality from your brand, he is more willing to pay more for your product or service. This will also give you a leg up over the competition.
Implementing Brand Marketing
* Businesses can implement brand marketing by investing in its’ product, employees, and advertising. All of these factors are important in marketing your brand and serve to increase your brand value.
* Hire a professional graphic designer to design a unique look and feel for your logo, print, and online media. The result should reflect your market and current trends in brand design.
* You always want to be seen as unique in the eyes of potential consumers. They should only want to buy the product or service you offer, from you instead of your competition.
* Advertising should focus on your distinctiveness and consistency of service. This will affect consumer mind set.
* Remember to keep your brand up with the times. Use online advertising with an interactive feature. You want your brand to be seen by as many people as possible.
* Have your employees wear clothing with your brand logo on it. This gets people talking and asking questions about your product.
Brand marketing can prove to be another way for your business to increase revenues.
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March 28, 2008
Branding
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Nowadays, it is quite fascinating how companies from different industries try to constantly outdo one another. If you are not observant enough, try checking out the all the creative advertising and branding strategies they use to their advantage just to gain at least a few significant steps ahead from their competitors. Its a constant battle on who gets to most patronage from consumers, which will equate to a bigger market share that would ultimately mean generating higher sales.
The art of advertising and branding is quite complicated than an ordinary person would normally think. All concepts are painstakingly developed and deliberated, researches and endless surveys are made to determine the markets current preferences. This is all geared towards making an intelligent forecast and calculation on the consumers reactions to certain products, and what would be the most effective approach in introducing such product in the market. In advertising and branding, nothing can be attributed to simple stroke of luck or an instant, phenomenal success. Everything is a product of grueling work. That is why advertising think tanks employs an elite team of highly creative people to conceptualize and ensure a certain products success in the market.
So how can one correctly gauge the victory or failure of any advertising and branding effort? Well, its quite simple, really. You can try showing a certain image, logo, color combination, a pattern or a tag line to a number of consumers, and if they are able to properly identify the product behind it, you one can say all marketing efforts have achieved a certain degree of success.
The very first key role of advertising and branding is generating awareness and recognition of a certain product or service. The second most important thing is to actually condition the minds of consumers as to what image you would want them to associate with the product, whether its cheap, durable, dependable, etc. This is the intrinsic value of advertising and branding and can be a little harder to determine. For example, if you mention toothpastes, what brand would first come to mind to consumers? Or if you ask for a most wonderful vacation hotspot, what would be the first word they would be likely blurt out? This does not necessarily mean they have actually been to that particular place, its their perception of the place for what they have seen and heard that made them believe its actually the top choice.
However, on the other side of the coin, once having established a very strong and powerful brand name, companies will find it hard to step away from its shadows. If in the future, the company would want to project a new image, or take on a different market position, it can be a difficult task to veer away for the identity that have been established. This would take another series of powerful marketing effort to transform the image of the product. It all whole new ball game, and a very expensive one at that. This is the beauty of advertising and branding. It is certainly the most powerful marketing tool that can make or break a company.
For more corporate branding articles or to view a selection of marketing articles and information and market research articles and information visit Articles.net.au - Your source for free Articles, Information and Website Content.
March 28, 2008
Branding
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Many people say that the key to succeeding in business is through constant improvement and innovation, the ability to keep up with the ever-changing trends in the industry. So if you ever notice why some of your competitors enjoy more attention and interest than you do, you better move fast and find out the answer before its too late. Complacency has certainly no room in the highly aggressive world of business.
In marketing and advertising, branding goes beyond just merely creating a strong company name, it should also ensure that people would be able to easily recall it and would stay in the periphery of the consumers minds for a long time. A powerful brand would be able to differentiate your companys products and services in a highly positive way. In effect, this will create a lingering effect on consumers, thus making them potential buyers of your products or future clients that will seek your services. The company logo is unquestionably one youre your major marketing tool to get across the message that you would want to send out.
So what makes an effective corporate branding logo design? Contrary to what others believe, a logo is not just an ordinary symbol that represents your business. Such assumption could potential render the conceptualization of company logo as ineffective. To be able to maximize it to its fullest potential, a corporate branding logo design should be treated as an important communication tool that you can use to interact with consumers. Use your company logo to convey your companys message, to project a competent and highly capable company and most importantly would efficiently educate the consumers what is the nature of your products or services.
So here are some useful tips that could help you in creating a powerful corporate branding logo design:
Direct and concise - a logo usually comes with a tag line. It would be ideal to create a short one that would easily be recalled even by children. Avoid using flowery or elaborate words, as this would only defeat its purpose and confuse your consumers.
Distinctive and bold - a strong corporate branding logo design should be visible easily be seen even from afar and should not be confused with any other establishments. Being distinctive does not it has to be really a complicated design, this will only alienate and confuse consumers.
Graphic Imagery - Needless to say, if you are using an image for your logo it should complement the companys name and the nature of the business. Consistency is the key here since you wouldnt want to send out mixed signals.
Suffice it to say that brand name and brand logo is the primary tool in reaching out to consumers and developing consumer awareness. Anyone who sees a distinctive crown logo would readily associate it with Hallmark. So in conceptualizing your very own logo design, make sure to incorporate all the marketing and advertising elements to make it more effective.
For more articles and information or to view a selection of articles and information for medium sized business and articles and information for non-profit organizations visit Articles.net.au - Your source for free Articles, Information and Website Content.
March 28, 2008
Branding
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The business world is all about first impressions. If a customer likes what they see right away, they are likely to engage with your internet marketing efforts. That first impression is the essence of your brand message. It’s the promise of what a consumer will encounter when dealing with your company. Create a compelling message, and you will entice potential customers to dig deeper and explore what your company has to offer.
How to Develop a Strong Brand Message
Begin by identifying your target market. Your branding strategy will depend heavily on this factor. Obviously, you will choose different messages depending on whether you are marketing to wealthy, retired men or adolescent girls. Your brand message goes even deeper than that. Your brand message is, in essence, a promise to your audience. Your brand message is the entire experience a consumer has with your organization.
So how does this promise tie into brand development? The spending habits, interests, age, gender, education level, and many other factors will play into your branding plans. If a hefty portion of your potential customers read the New York Times, the promise of your brand will be an upscale, intellectual experience. If they are a more tech-savvy bunch, making your brand hip, fast, easy and one step ahead of everyone else will hit the mark there.
Once you know who you are trying to speak to, you have to figure out what you will say. Decide what makes your company unique. What distinguishes you from the other guys? What compels a customer to choose you instead of the competition? Developing those unique selling points (USPs) will help you put a face to your company. Choose those stand-out qualities and focus on them in the branding process.
Getting Your Brand Noticed
Your brand, the promise of your company experience, exists only in relation to your consumers. There are two primary ways to realize this relationship: the visual approach, and the verbal approach. The visual approach involves the “look,” a strong visual identity that will be recognized no matter what the context. This includes logos, colors, layouts, images, any graphic representation of your brand and its message. Remember: what the eyes see, the brain remembers. Whether it be an identifiable font or a memorable graphic, the visual side of branding has become increasingly important in our media-saturated culture.
The verbal aspect of branding is directly connected to the visual. It also needs to stand on its own; especially in the context of article marketing, where the visual aspect is largely absent. The verbal message of your brand becomes even more importance when separated from the visual.
Establishing a strong voice and style for your company is critical. Everything you write — whether articles, press releases, site content, emails to your affiliates — is written in the same voice and style. Once you’ve established a strong verbal identity, consumers will begin to intrinsically know that they are reading something from your company.
The verbal brand often includes trademark phrases, a standard lexicon for job titles and departments, and an overall tone in everything your company puts into words.
A tagline is another effective way to solidify your brand message. Think of Taco Bell’s recent tagline, “Think outside the bun.” A strong tagline presents a vivid summary of the USP of the company. Something clever or catchy will stick in the memories of customers the same way an attractive logo will.
Marketing With Confidence
A devotion to the promise of your brand displays a devotion to your customers. It also shows that you have confidence in your product. Consumers will perceive that confidence and subconsciously internalize a feeling of trust for your brand. That positive gut-reaction is the sign of a successful brand. A creative, confident brand is generally the face of a creative and confident company, and that is something any customer will appreciate!
Carol Palmatier is the brand manager at Article Marketer, a highly popular article distribution service. Take advantage of the power of article marketing to build your brand identity.
http://www.articlemarker.com
March 28, 2008
Branding
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You can choose to read about all the marketing tactics you’d like, but the first step in a healthy business is the planning part of marketing. It’s so easy to get caught up in the “marketing event of the week”. But this isn’t how effective marketing is carried out.
I used to work for an advertising company (imagine that!) who reacted to the latest marketing technique. One such technique at the time was email marketing. The results were spotty at best not necessary because of the technique but because of the this-is-going-to-get-us-all-the-business-we-want mentality.
You need a planned approach which involves goals, logical steps, a budget, and partners. Anything outside of this project management approach will be knee-jerk and over time, unsuccessful. The most effective companies manage each area of the business, and that includes marketing. For some reason, many owners feel as though marketing runs on itself. Perhaps this was true in days past where one could put a sign outside the office, take out a yellow page ad, and business would walk through the door.
But in today’s world the competitive landscape is fierce. You must be good in all areas…quality, customer service, operations, accounting, management, and of course (and perhaps the most important area of all), marketing.
I would suggest the first step is to take out your business plan and develop a marketing plan that complements the vision (if you don’t have either I would suggest that you start writing). Determine how you’re doing first. This includes the business in addition to where you are in the industry as compared to others. This would involve some industry research. Then there are marketing planning steps that are essential.
First is to narrow and define the market you want to go for…in essence your target market. Starting with your ideal customer can help you to determine that. You must understand in order to be successful that you have to narrow your view down to those who value what you offer most. It’s so easy to play into the helping-anybody syndrome, and it will pull your business down quickly. You’ve got to say ‘no’ and be disciplined about this. Next is to determine a core message that will appeal to that target market and to package your business in that way. You want everything boiled down to a simple and targeted message.
Finally, you need to determine the appropriate marketing tactics for you business (e.g. direct mail, seminars, signage, etc.). Once you have defined these, you’ll need to set a budget and get help (ie. graphic designers, fulfillment house partner, etc.)
As you can see, an effective approach is a planned one…one that involves commitment and focus.
Scott Campbell owns Impact Marketing, Inc out of Atlanta, GA. He installs a marketing system, called the “Ultimate Marketing System”, into small businesses and practices in the Atlanta, GA area.
Learn more about Impact Marketing and its solutions here at http://www.impactyourcompany.com.
March 27, 2008
Branding
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Years ago I shared a very small office with a man simply know as “The Jeffrey.” He agreed to share the office with me because neither of us could afford the rent on our own. He was a telecommunication consultant and I was a customer service trainer. Even though we were very good at what we did, neither of us knew how to generate new business without spending money on advertising or making sales calls. Unfortunately, those things didn’t really work for us either.
Jeffrey was an interesting guy. He was forever trying to figure out how the most successful people got to the top of their profession. Often after work, we would sit and talk about how we could earn a million dollars doing what we loved while avoiding the things we didn’t enjoy - like advertising and cold call selling. Then one afternoon, out of the blue, Jeffrey looked up and said, “I’ve got it!”
“You’ve got what?” I asked, concerned at what he may have contracted.
“I know how the highest paid consultants got to the top of their professions and I know how we can get there too,” he said throwing his feet up on my desk. Apparently my health was safe. “They’ve learned how to position themselves as expert problem solvers in the minds of their customers! Here’s what they did.”
For the next five hours we talked excitedly about what these highly paid professionals were doing to generate such astounding incomes. They were earning between 10 and 100 times what we were earning without spending a dime on advertising. They didn’t make cold calls or prospect for new business and the demand for their service was so high that they were turning customers away. Their marketing was ingenious and yet so simple. We went home that night confident that we could to the same thing - only faster.
Three years later our customers recognized us as expert problem solvers. Our income went up by a factor of twenty and we had more customers than we could handle. We did it all without advertising or investing our time in low return cold call selling.
Here’s How We Did It
The key to getting to the top of your profession and earning the income that accompanies that spot is to position yourself as the most well known problem solver in your industry. And how do you do that? You do it by making yourself visible as a problem solver to the people you are trying to serve. Here are five ways to get that visibility.
Write an Article
I love reading articles that help me solve a problem. Take a moment right now and sketch out an article idea that your customers will find interesting. Start by identifying the problem your readers have and show them how to solve it. Use examples, stories and terminology they understand. Encourage them along the way. Provide a tag line at the end of your article with your credentials and contact information and send it out to potential publishers. Submit it to article directories on the Internet for distribution and make it available on your website, but don’t stop there. Send it as an email attachment, print it and send it to your customers through the mail or send it to the local newspapers or trade journals and watch what happens.
Be a Guest on a Radio Talk Show
There are 40 million Americans who listen to talk radio every day and the hosts of these shows are always looking for interesting guests to fill the airtime. Are you an expert on a subject that a radio audience would find interesting? If so, there are thousands of radio stations just dying to hear from you. Write out a description of what you can talk about along with ten of the most commonly asked questions people ask. Fax or email you’re page to the radio stations and follow up with a telephone call. If you’re subject is interesting, unique or timely there is a very good chance you’ll be invited on as a guest. It’s not only fun, but profitable as well.
Build a Resource Website
Most professionals have what’s known as a brochure website. This is a site that talks about what they do, how much they charge for their service and where their office is located. Problem is, people don’t visit brochure sites more than once. There’s no reason to do so.
If you have a brochure site, think seriously about converting it to a resource site. Load it with tips and articles and links to other great websites. Add your own articles and comment on what’s going on in your industry. Make your website a place where people will want to come back time and time again. Let them see you as the go-to-guy or gal in the process. As an added bonus, search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo will place you near the top of their search pages when they see the changes you’ve made.
Stand Up, Speak Out
Look for opportunities to speak at meetings where your customers and potential customers are likely to gather. This includes associations, corporations, churches, PTA meetings etc. Virtually every organization needs speakers who have something interesting to share with their members. You can find these organizations listed in the newspaper, on the Internet and through the people you know. Ask yourself who would be interested in what you have to say and give them the chance to invite you to speak at one of their meetings.
Write a Book
Writing a book is arguably the best way to position yourself as an expert problem solver. It separates you from the masses. Imagine sitting on an airplane talking to your seatmate about what you do for a living and they ask, “How do you know so much about thus subject?”
You can answer by saying, “I wrote a book on the subject!” I like the sound of that, don’t you?
Writing a book is a big undertaking but not so big that it’s impossible. Think of your book as an accumulation of many smaller ideas (chapters). Create a file for each of these ideas and begin to gather your information today. Spend the first few weeks accumulating and sorting your stories, facts and statistics and placing them in your file. You will be amazed at how quickly the information piles up. Soon you will have enough content to write a single chapter and then another and then another until you’ve written an entire book. Now imagine one of your prospects picking up your book and seeing your name on the cover. Bingo! They’ve just reframed you from salesperson to expert problem solver. That’s quite a transformation.
These are only a few of the things you can do to position yourself as the expert in your field. There are some great books on the subject and many additional resources on the web. Strive to think differently about your business and how people see you. Remember, it’s not who you know or who knows you - it’s how people perceive you that matters most. Change the way your customers see you and it will change the way your customers treat you.
Bob Sommers is the host of The Recognized Expert Marketing show on Maui. Find out how you can become the Recognized Expert in your field by taking Bob’s popular free e-course available at:
http://www.RecognizedExpert.com
March 27, 2008
Branding
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We have all learned about the 4P’s of marketing in undergrad: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. If not, you can open up one of your old marketing text books, blow off the dust and read about it there. The 6 C’s, however, is a not a concept that replaces the 4′Ps; rather, it just expands on the promotion element and provides a more granular look at consumer marketing.
CUSTOMER
In this day and age, a company’s marketing strategy needs to be customer focused. It’s about understanding the target consumer; their wants, needs and motivations. Not as demographics, psychographics or any other graphics, but as real people. Its understanding why customers do what they do (or don’t do),when they do it and why they do it. Such knowledge is critical in marketing since having a strong understanding of buyer behavior will help shed light on what is important to the customer. It’s about focusing on the target customer first and then working back to the brand. It’s imperative that companies have mindshare before focusing on market share.
CONSISTENCY
Companies need to maintain consistency in their message; a practice called integrated marketing communications, from packaging and advertising to sales promotion and publicity. This will maintain and reinforce a brand’s personality and image in a real life context and avoid doing something brainless like changing the distinctive color of the UPS truck to orange. I am sure it’s been talked about.
CREATIVITY
Creativity is imperative to attract attention in a world cluttered with thousands of messages. Creativity means laying aside the rules, and engages in out-of-box thinking so that marketers can reach beyond logic and structure and tap into their imaginations.
Creativity Informs - Marketing’s responsibility to inform is greatly enhanced by creativity. Creativity makes marketing more vivid, and many researchers believe vividness attracts attention, maintains interest, and stimulates consumers’ thinking.
Creativity Persuades - The ancients Greeks created legends and myths about gods and heroes, symbols for humankind’s instinctive longings and fears, to influence human behavior and thought. Today’s marketers are doing the same thing; they are creating new myths, heroes and symbols like Ronald McDonald, the “Can You Hear Me Now” guy from Verizon, and more recently the Gecko from Geico Insurance.
Creativity Reminds - Imagine using the same invitation, without any creativity, to remind people to try a particular product everyday for a month. The invitation would become stale very quickly. Only creativity can transform boring reminders into interesting, entertaining marketing communications. Nike is proof. Several commercials in a Nike campaign never mention the company name or even spelled it out on the screen. Each communication told a story. And, the only on-screen cue identifying the sponsor was a single “swoosh” logo inscribed on the final scene.
CULTURE
All marketing communications needs cross-cultural research to be able to succeed. It’s simple to see things from your own perspective, assuming that everyone else in the world thinks exactly like you and should understand what’s so great about your product or service. Just reading about all the mistakes made by large corporations proves that even the most sizable and experienced marketers have made errors time and again.
One of the most famous examples is Coca Cola translating the name into Chinese without back-translating it (”bite the wax tadpole”), ultimately resulting in a horrible response from an insulted society. Marketing books are full of examples like these. As David Ogilvy, known as the Father of Advertising, states, “If you are trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language in which they think”.
COMMUNICATION
This one is basic. Consumers don’t want to be “marketed to”. Rather, they want to be “communicated with”. Good marketing communication creates value with target customers, speaks in their language and tells your story. It’s about building long term, trustworthy, and profitable relationships with your customers. As Seth Godin states, it’s about reinforcing the lies that consumers tell themselves everyday (i.e. I look much better in these jeans from Abercrombie; they make me look sexy).
CHANGE
Marketing is not just a business function, but a process. There is a beginning, middle, but there is never an end. Marketers must constantly CHANGE as society changes. They should never be afraid to try something new. Marketing today is not what it was 2 - 5 - or even 20 years ago. Marketing needs to be an evolving process that considers change in the world, economy, market, consumers; as well as internal change within the organization.
Conclusion (not the 7th C)
So there it is; the 6 C’s of marketing: Customer, Consistency, Creativity, Culture, Communication and Change. I am sure that these will be published in every text book in the country within the next ten years and I will be a rich, well known author. Yeah right!
To read more about online marketing strategies, please visit our internet marketing blog. Michael Brito specializes in internet marketing and offers web marketing strategy services for small business clients.
March 27, 2008
Branding
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Notice how the top earners online, be it a Super Affiliate, Ad Sense Master or Internet Passive Income Guru, all seem to have their names secured in a niche industry on the internet. When you think of the Coca Cola brand, what comes to mind? Does an image of a red can with words Coca Cola written in white display in your mind’s eye, or perhaps a coke bottle? Likewise we must pick our niche on the internet and brand our name accordingly. Be known for doing good in 1 area before moving on to the next project.
Here are the things we need:
1) A website that belongs to you. Even though an affiliate can utilize the merchants affiliate page, it is still preferred to have your own website. This allows you to present the sales/business opportunity in your own words and pre sell the product, before sending your visitor to the merchants sales page.
2) Auto Responder and Opt In box. Your visitors will most likely not make a purchase on the 1st attempt and when they leave your site, you will not see them again. Don’t forget, there are also other competing sites that want a share of the sale too. So do capture your visitors details with an auto responder opt in box and follow up with a series of emails. For ideas on what to write, you can use information found on the merchants site and re-express them in your own words. Follow up emails reinforces your brand name in the mind of your readers. Respectful persistence wins sales.
3) Photograph & Signature. A picture paints a thousand words. Scan a groomed, smiling photo of yourself and your a penned signature. This adds that personal touch to let your audience know you are a real person. When your readers establish a connection with you on a personal note, they will make a purchase based on your recommendation.
4) Audio. Do you have a nice speaking voice? If so, combine this with your photograph and signature to humanize your website and establish rapport with your audience. You’ll need a recording software and a microphone. Internet audio streaming software you can use are BYOAudio and Audio Generator.
5) Blog. A blog can be an addon to your main website or be used as a free alternative to a website, at least until you are generating profits. You can combine every aspect of name branding mentioned in the above points into your free blog. Update your blog at regular consistent intervals with content specific to your vision. If you’re into internet passive income programs, then write about that topic and do not deviate. It is ok to write about other matters that lead to the finalization of the end goal. Refrain from writing about off topic content so as to keep your message and theme consistent. One way to keep your readers posted about your content is to use RSS feeds. Check out Feed Burner for their free service.
6) A Domain name. You can register a domain name and forward it to point at your Blog. Use the domain masking feature that allows your website to have a professional look. This will allow www.yourdomain.blogspot.com to appear as www.yourdomain.com
For more ideas on effective Internet Marketing, visit http://www.FundedSponsoring.WS and subscribe to our Home Business Newsletter.
Sherman Choo is an Internet Marketer helping people all over the globe achieve Financial Freedom. To discover the perfect Internet Network Marketing business model that has helped thousands make money online and find out if this Internet Home Business is right for you. Visit==>http://www.success-university.us
March 27, 2008
Branding
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College marketing courses teach the four Ps, in a marketing mix and are defined as product, price, placement and promotion. These four Ps are essential in developing a marketing strategy.
The marketing aspect of business takes into account what your business is going to sell and how it is going to sell it. It is how your company markets itself.
What your business produces to sell is a reflection of what you company is all about. In other words, your product could be your company’s brand, and your company could be a brand on its own such as Coca-Cola or Starbuck’s Coffee.
Whether your business produces duck decoys or electrical services, your goal is to build and sell a quality product that will ultimately be your company’s brand. Basically, we need to build a better mousetrap!
Why is it that Starbuck’s coffee is larger than Gloria Jeans’Coffee or Seattle’s Best Coffee? (Starbucks has recently purchased Seattle’s Best Coffee). I am sure some of it has to do with capital investment and timing, but most of Starbuck’s success is the result of marketing its coffee as a brand and developing the brand so that it is well known. This is known as brand awareness and brand recognition.
We are all aware that Starbuck’s exists and we are very knowledgeable of the company as a brand. As consumers, we are all brand conscious shoppers, even though we may not be aware that we are.
For example, what does GE stand for? Most consumers would say that GE sells washers and dryers, so GE must stand for washers and dryers.
Actually, GE puts more emphasis on the quality of everything they produce, which results in consumers buying most of the things GE produces, whether it is washers and dryers, home appliances, financial services, or airplane engines. As consumers, our perception is that GE produces high- quality products.
The same could be said for Carnation in the western U.S. (Nestle USA has discontinued the Carnation brand). Back in the sixties, the Carnation label meant that contented cows produced the condensed milk in the can. Does the mood of a cow really affect the flavor of the milk? Carnation made us believe that it did and that their condensed milk tasted better than the rest.
So what is it that you produce that distinguishes you from your competition? Some will say that your pricing should set you apart from everyone else. This may not be true because your pricing could affect the perception of your product. Consumers may interpret the price of your product as a reflection on the quality of your product. Be careful when apply price to your products.
Wine is an excellent example. Most people believe that higher priced wines are better wines. This also may be false. Quality makes a wine good, and many wonderful bottles cost less than $10.
Unless you are like Microsoft, where the demand of your product is greater than the supply, you cannot be as flexible with pricing as you might think.
Consumers are fickle: Anything you do to annoy them could cause them to stop doing business with you in the future. So, what separates you from the rest of the business owners in your field? It could be pricing, service, or quality. It should be that your product is unique and that it satisfies a specific need for consumers.
For example, if you are a doctor, lawyer, mechanic, plumber, or electrician, you will always be able to market yourself as such. Everyone needs your expertise. Keep in mind, though, that everyone does not need poor service, high prices, or poor quality. Your field is saturated, and consumers have choices.
On the other hand, some consumers will go with the first company they might see in the yellow pages or on the web. So your goal should be to separate your product by producing a quality product or service making yourself the first choice your customers think of when they realize they need something.
There are “barriers to entry” that marketers develop to keep competition at bay. What are the barriers that keep your competition at bay?
Placement has to do with the channel of distribution in which you sell product. For example, if you own a successful bakery and you want to grow your business by offering your baked goods to more than your current client base, where do you sell?
Currently you may only sell to the customers in your neighborhood, but let’s say you would like to grow your business and start selling to the local grocery store bakery or the local university foodservice establishments on campus. Placement identifies your distribution direction.
Let’s think of other strategies that separate your business from the rest. I think poor service is easy to figure out. If your business treats your consumers poorly or really doesn’t care about consumers after they have purchased your product, it will only be a matter of time before consumers pass the word along. Word of mouth is also an effective marketing tool.
Again, unless you have such a unique product like Microsoft did 20 years ago, you should take customer satisfaction into account. As small business owners, we don’t have the luxury of television advertising. We must rely on positive word of mouth. It is the best and least expensive advertising a small business can have. The quality of your product and the quality of the service you provide is going to get around.
I like to think of marketing strategy development as brand building. Everything you do to manage your business should incorporate brand building. When you are having staff meetings, ask everyone to think about the impact decisions have on your brand. As your staff engages customers, they should be thinking of ways to make such encounters a better experience for your customers.
When we think of marketing, the first thing some of us think about is getting our name recognized. This is known as promotion, it’s about getting your good name out there as opposed to just advertising. You are promoting your company and you are prmoting one particular product or all your products.
Marketing your company or products through print advertisements and billboards is a great avenue. But I want to make sure you understand the value of marketing a good company or product rather than just approving the advertising budget.
You need to understand what it is that you are trying to tell consumers about you and your business. They are going to want to know who you are and what you sell.
Consumers also want to know about the quality of your product, and they will also want to know if your company is good at what it does. That information can only come from their experience with your product and your company. Think of it this way: You never get a second chance at making a first impression.
When you are ready to advertise, it is important for you to know whether you have a unique product or service and if your product or service is a quality product or service. Most important, you need to know that you can satisfy consumers’ needs. Do you know what you customers really need from you?
Let’s look at this scenario:
Let’s say you have the budget for a billboard advertisement on Main Street and your agreement is for three months. In three months, 5,000 possible consumers of your product see your advertisement. Twenty of them are interested in your service. Of those, let’s guess and say that 10 never call, because they just simply don’t call. Four of them call but decide, for whatever reason, they’re not going to purchase just yet.
We need to find out why we lost those four potential buyers. If we don’t understand our product, we will never know why we lost those potential consumers. Three of the 20 potential consumers just don’t call because they heard negative comments. The other three actually come to us and buy our product or use our service, but wait; we made mistakes during the transaction and two of the last three are dissatisfied.
Here is the marketing question: “What did we lose by all that”? Well, let’s take into account the cost of the billboard advertisement, the cost of losing potential consumers, and the negative impact of our brand. We lost a lot! I can’t put a dollar figure on it, but I can tell you that we lost some serious money in this example. How; future business?
You MUST know your business inside and out before you present it to the general public. Part of this process takes into account some form of management, most of which is marketing. That means marketing the right product at the right time. We can market our product directly to specific groups of consumers, but we can’t do that until we know what it is we sell, how we sell, the quality of what we sell, consumer expectations, and our own expectations. Consumers can tell if you know what is happening in your business based on how you market your product.
I always say; consumer perception can make or break your business, unless you have supply and demand advantages. Here’s something fun. Notice your purchasing habits the next time you go to the grocery store, notice your buying habits. Why do you buy what you buy? Think about it.
Marketers play to particular stimuli that consumers react to. As a business owner you should create marketing stimuli that entice your future customers. Differentiate your business and your product or service. Create large barriers to entry, keeping your competitors at bay, and develop products or services that meet the needs of your customers.
Luis Luarca is the President of Allectus LLC, a management consulting company helping small to mid size businesses and is the author of “Business Management for Business Owners; How to Manage Your Small or Mid Sized Business”. http://www.allectus.com
March 26, 2008
Branding
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If you’ve read my work for any length of time then you know that I recommend articles because you can use them to brand yourself as an expert, brand your products and services, and the search engines love them because they are content.
However, once you’ve written your article, where do you promote it?
Although there are many ways online to promote your business, articles offer you several options. Below are five easy ideas for promoting your articles.
1. Article Directories
First and foremost, you should submit your articles to as many article directories as possible. You can easily find article directories simply by searching for article directories in the search engines. You’ll find plenty of high ranking sites out there where you can submit your articles.
Here are several you can try:
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articlecity.com
http://www.isnare.com
2. Lists
Unless you’ve been marketing articles for some time, you probably haven’t thought of submitting your articles to lists. There are thousands of lists out there where you can promote your articles, but you’ll find the best ones on Yahoo Groups because these are the most active.
You can find article lists on Yahoo Groups by searching for article submissions or articles. Here are a few I recommend.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness/
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/articles_archives/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freeezinearticles/
3. Individual Sites
There are plenty of website owners who offer article directories on their websites. Before submitting to individual sites, I recommend you read the article guidelines. It’s a waste of time to submit an article to a site that’s not targeted to your market.
Business - http://www.boazepublishing.biz
Marketing - http://www.killermarketingarsenal.com
Marketing and Webmasters - http://www.ezau.com/
Technology - http://www.oracle.com/technology/contact/otn_submit.html
Multiple Topics - http://www.rlrouse.com/submit-article.html
4. Submission Services
If you’re in a hurry to get your article distributed, there are plenty of sites that will do the grunt work for you. Prices vary. It’s usually a good idea to compare prices and services so that you get the most bang for your buck. You’ll also want to consider how much of the distribution work you want to do.
These two services are both reasonable, as well as being industry leaders in article distribution.
http://www.articlemarketer.com - One click submission of your article. Offers free option.
http://www.thephantomwriters.com - Article distribution to thousands of publishers for a fee.
5. Software
It’s hard to find good software to submit your articles. Until recently, the only software available to do is is Ezine Announcer, http://www.ezineannouncer.com. Although this can be a little time consuming and cumbersome, it’s still a good deal if you’re on a budget. Once you learn how to use the software, you’ll find it speeds up your submissions.
Regardless of how you decide to market your articles, you need a plan. Keep a bookmark file of sites that you market to and make it regular habit to submit. Not only will this spread your marketing message quickly, by providing valuable information to your potential customers, but it will increase your search engine rankings too.
Jinger Jarrett is a writer and internet marketer living in Alpharetta, Georgia. You can submit your articles, press releases, blog and ezine announcements, and book and product reviews to her article directory for free. Get your account today. http://www.101articles.com
March 26, 2008
Branding
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Although there are over 100 ways to market your business on the internet, some methods will get you a lot more traffic than others.
Unlike the offline world, where advertising is very effective, content rules the internet. You’ll develop a more effective marketing campaign when you focus on strategies centered around developing content for your site.
Below are some of my most effective ways to market online, and I do it all for free.
1. Search Engines
Before you even develop your website, the first thing you should do is focus on the search engines. Organic, i.e. free search engine listings that are highly ranked, will get you far more traffic than using any kind of advertising.
The most important thing you should do here is find the right keywords. You can do this by using any of the pay per click search tools. You can also download a free tool like Good Keywords, http://www.goodkeywords.com
2. Articles
Writing articles not only allows you to brand yourself as an expert, it helps you to create original content for your website. The more quality content pages you have in your site, the higher it will rank in the search engines, and you will also create a viral marketing strategy for your business.
3. Press Releases
Press releases are news. Just like the offline world, where press releases are more effective than advertising, so too are they more effective online.
You should remember to focus on news about your business. Don’t make your release a glorified sales letter. It will get rejected.
A simple search for press release writing will help you find resources to help you write an effective press release.
Press releases, like articles, are spider, or search engine food. The search engines love them, and a good release can be very viral.
4. Blogs/RSS
Blogging is the latest craze online. It’s a very effective way to promote your business not only because of RSS, but because you can quickly and easily create content without knowing HTML, and with trackback, it has its own built in link building strategy.
RSS is nothing more than a very search engine friendly code that allows you to syndicate your content to other websites, or to be read in RSS readers.
With trackbacks, you can link back to other sites and build your links. This raises your search engine rankings.
5. Free reports
Free reports, like blogs, articles, and press releases, not only allow you to build a content strategy for your website, but you will also create a viral marketing strategy for your site.
A viral marketing strategy is very important because it’s mainly passive. If you create good content, your content will be recommended by others. One person reads your content and recommends it to someone else, and before you know it, your content is all over the internet. The more entries you have in the search engines, the more likely you are to be found by your potential customers.
The point is, if you develop an effective content and search engine strategy for your business, you will get your message out a lot faster. Potential customers will find you, and they’ll be eager for what you sell because they were already looking for you.
Jinger Jarrett is a certified Web CEO Search Engine Optimization professional living in Alpharetta, GA. You can get her best free search engine resources, software, and ebooks when you download her free toolbar from her special offers page at http://www.jingerjarrett.com
March 26, 2008
Branding
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Do you struggle to attract and retain business? Do you yearn to be seen as an expert in the field? In an increasingly challenging market flooded with fierce competitors and extremely savvy consumers, learn how to develop a killer brand that will inspire you, attract loyal customers, and knock out the competition.
1. Identify your values: This is the most critical step and the one most often overlooked in business. Do some soul searching and get a crystal clear idea of what matters most to you as an individual and then as a company. Your values form the base of your company and should influence every decision, from what kind of toilet paper you buy to the business partners you seek.
2. Identify your mission: Once your values are identified, it’s time to write a mission statement. Ask, why does my company exist? What do we aim to do? Write it in simple language that a 12-year old can understand. Do a search on the internet for mission statements and use the most compelling ones as a template. This is the statement that should get you out of bed each morning and inspire you morning, noon, and night.
3. Identify your ideal client: Again, a critical step. Look at your mission and why your company exists at all and ask, “Whom do I serve?” The hard part is getting as specific as possible to the point of potentially turning off a lot of other people. Don’t worry. The biggest mistake you can make is trying to please everyone. This dilutes your service/product so much that you really don’t strike a nerve with anyone. No one will have a compelling enough reason to buy from you. By turning some people off, you attract others who will bond with you for life. And a final benefit to knowing the specifics of your ideal client is you then have a much better idea of where to look for them.
4. Create an emotional connection: Every potential customer wants to know one thing, “What’s in it for me?” In order to compel someone to pull out their money and buy, you need to connect them to you in an emotional way. How are you going to make their life better? What pain is your product or service going to eliminate? Watch some television and notice how the best commercials create an emotional atmosphere. Which commercials get your attention, which ones stick with you, and how do they get their message across?
5. Identify the benefits vs. the features: Know your product/services inside and out. But instead of just listing the features, describe them in terms of how the client will benefit. Remember, it’s all about creating that emotional connection with your ideal client and telling them how you can make their life better.
6. Create an experience: Why should consumers buy from you as opposed to any one of your competitors? What makes you unique? Successful companies are now in the business of creating experiences that enrich lives. Starbucks does not just sell coffee. From the music they play (and sell) to the comfortable furniture and inviting d
March 26, 2008
Branding
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If you sell a product or service, and want to be successful quickly, you must tell people about it through advertising and marketing.
TV, radio and newspaper are still considered the major media for effective marketing off-line.
However, a lot has changed with these top three marketing vehicles in the past 15 years.
In this article some critical changes are revealed that have occurred and how you can get the maximum impact for your advertising dollar.
Television is primarily an entertainment medium. Research shows the average person spends more time with television than with radio and newspaper combined. For many years, TV was considered the most powerful advertising choice because of the huge audience it provided. Even today, nearly everyone watches some TV every day.
There are three things you must consider before spending money on TV advertising - limited lifespan of your ad, audience fragmentation, and ad avoidance.
Keep in mind that once your ad has aired, it is gone for good. There is no way your potential customer can refer back to it. This fact makes it imperative that you run your ad many times to embed your message in the mind of the viewer. Frequency is important with any advertising, but especially broadcast.
Audience fragmentation is one of the major problems local broadcast television faces today.
At one time, a huge TV audience was split over only a few local channels. Community businesses could reach a large majority of their potential customers very quickly. Large national companies, such as Coke, only had to choose from the three major networks - ABC, CBS or NBC - to reach over 80% of the population.
Today, with cable and satellite TV, this same audience is now fragmented over 200 or more channels. The percentage of viewers on local TV has dropped dramatically. Yes you can run ads on cable and they will spread them out over ten or more channels. This shotgun advertising has not worked well for small businesses because many of these stations have only a half percent or less of the total viewers. And, what are the odds that they will be watching during the 15 or 30 seconds that your ad is presented?
Ad avoidance is also a very rapidly growing problem for TV today.
Because the public watches TV primarily for entertainment, they see advertising as an unwelcome interruption - not unlike the hated telemarketing. This was true 30 years ago but there was nothing a person could do about it except channel surf or leave the room. As you know this was, and still is, often done. Today, with TIVO, pay-per-view, public broadcast stations, and the multitude of satellite and cable channels, the public has shown a willingness to pay for reduced interruption from advertising.
Radio has similar problems. It is also primarily an entertainment medium. As such, advertising is also considered an interruption. Satellite radio is one of the fastest growing industries today primarily because people, again, are willing to pay to avoid commercials. In fact, most new cars have satellite radio built in.
Additionally, radio has evolved into an entertainment source for primarily driving, and background noise at work. If you buy any radio advertising, it should only be aired during drive time.
At home, radio use drops off. People can play CD’s or listen to satellite radio. This way they can choose exactly the music or programming they prefer without commercial interruption. The radio industry understands that folks do not want to be interrupted with advertising. Many times radio stations promote themselves by offering “more music, less commercials”.
Newspaperes have had their ups and downs, but have steadily maintained their local readership base and strength for local marketing. Even when radio, then TV, came on the scene, people still were loyal in reading their local newspaper.
Unlike TV and radio, advertising in a newspaper is not viewed as an interruption. In fact, one of the reasons people buy newspapers is for the advertisement content. Surveys have shown among 15% and 23% of those buying a newspaper do so primarily for the advertising.
You see, people do want to see and read advertisements. They do want to - and need to - buy products and services. They just want the ads on their terms.
TV’s best day of the year is Superbowl Sunday, delivering nearly 40% of U.S. households. In striking contrast, newspapers consistently deliver well over 50% of your community households. They do it every day, 365 days a year. Now that is some serious marketing power.
Another advantage over broadcast that only newspapers can deliver is engagement of the consumer at the moment they are making a buying decision. When a person is reading your ad, it is because they choose to. At that time you have their full and focused attention. And the working life of your newspaper ad is enormous because it is physical and static. Your potential customer can refer back to it anytime they wish, or even cut it out.
You may have heard on TV or radio that newspaper subscriptions and readership are dropping. This is true. But it is not to the degree they would like you to believe.
What they do not tell you is newspaper on line versions are growing much faster than the 7% or so losses in subscriptions. In fact, you will find newspaper web sites are usually the busiest web sites in any community. Be sure you take advantage of this.
Now you can see why today’s trend among business people who are in-the-know is away from broadcast and back into the old, reliable newspaper. Most all the major stores are getting back to the basics and finding the print advertising to be the best return on investment. So will you.
Newspapers, of course, should not be your only advertising medium, but it is the solid foundation on which you build an effective marketing plan in today’s environment
Mr James has owned The Cartridge Specialists (Melbourne, Australia) since 2004 selling ink & toner cartridges, fax rolls etc & regularly writes articles about his industry http://www.cartridgespecialists.com.au
March 26, 2008
Branding
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Promoting your CD to radio takes a lot of organization and time management skills. Let me help organize your process. First you need to find radio stations that are willing to accept submissions from independent artists (Contact names, addresses, phone and email for radio stations across the globe are listed in “The Indie Guide To Music, Marketing and Money” ISBN 978-0-9746229-4-1 and The Indie Contact Guide - it’s companion book.).
You have to decide whether you are going to local and regional stations (which are a good recommendation if you don’t have a lot of money to work with and you aren’t worried about charting.), or if you are going after national stations, which is only a good idea if you are already established locally and are seeking national exposure and a chance to chart.
As with all submissions, always get permission ahead of time before you submit your music. There are two easy ways to find radio station information. The first is to log onto the internet and search the radio station databases available. This method is free, but will take some time. The best resources I have found are “MIT Radio Stations on the Web” and “BRS Radio.
Most sites list the stations by genre (style of music), state, etc. You should bookmark these sites in your Internet browser. You will find yourself going back to these sites often.
The major advantage the internet offers is the ability to download information into a spreadsheet or word processing document to make labels and save data for your follow-up files.
However, if you decide looking for information on the internet takes too much time, an alternative is to purchase books that already have all the information for radio stations listed in them.
When finding radio stations to submit to, it’s best to start with college radio first, especially if you are a new act without a track record. It will be easier for you to get added on college stations, which are usually “free format” and are more likely to air something new and exciting.
If you decide on the college route, make sure you have verified they have a format for your music. Most college stations have a variety of music styles and Music Directors.
Rock, Jazz, and Alternative Music tend to be the main stay for college stations. Country acts will have a more difficult time on college stations and there are many that have Folk Music programs. For Country acts you’ll have a better opportunity at stations that play Country Music specifically and/or those that play Americana.
Once you conquer the college charts, you will have a solid base and track record to promote yourself to the larger stations. It’s like a snowball that rolls down the mountain. The more it rolls, the larger it gets. Make sure when approaching larger stations that you ask specifically if they play independent artists.
If they tell you they occasionally give an independent artist an opportunity, and you have the extra resources, go ahead and submit your CD to them. You never know, they may play it.
But if you hear: ‘No. We only play major-label releases, or artists that are in the top 50 of the Billboard charts, but why don’t you go ahead and send it along anyway.’ Think long and hard about it before sending your CD. You’re better off to be patient, record the comment on your spreadsheet and wait until you chart before contacting that station again.
If the goal for your music is charting you will need to make sure that all of the radio stations you submit to, report to the same charts. This will help ensure that all of your “spins” count. (Spins are the amount of times a song is played.)
If the radio stations don’t report to any charts, or the charts they do report to are not consistent with those you already have, you may want to think about passing on them until you have more resources. It would be like sending an unsolicited press kit to a management firm that doesn’t accept them. It’s a waste of time, energy and press kits.
If you are only looking for exposure, then by all means send it to every radio station you get permission from as long as your budget allows. However, try to stay in one local/regional area so it’s saturated with your music. It will give you a much better chance at lining up a distributor as well as selling more CD’s.
It is easier to get added to a play list on stations that don’t report, than do. The competition is not as fierce. Remember: air time is an important commodity to a radio station. Each station only has so many hours and slots they can play songs. If you can get your song charted, you will have a better chance of getting into one of those precious slots. You have to decide which route you want to take.
Once you have found the radio stations you plan to submit to, and you have entered that information into a database, you are ready to send the press kit out (assuming your CD is ready).
At this time, make sure to call the radio stations again and verify that all the information you’ve gathered is still the same. The industry is very volatile. Stations get bought and sold very quickly, and there is an extremely high turnover rate for personnel. You don’t want to send your Heavy Metal CD to a station that is now a Smooth Jazz station. And you don’t want to send something out with the words “Material Requested” on it, to someone who no longer works there.
You’ll need a cover letter for your press kit, make sure to suggest the tracks you think radio personnel will like, and the ones you think are more commercial. Give them an opportunity to listen to several tracks, but don’t ask them to listen to the entire CD. It’s not professional. Radio promoters push one track at a time.
Pushing only one track will show them you know what you are doing and are respectful of their time. To push a track means to tell the radio personnel which track you are suggesting at this time for airplay. Tell them it’s the first release off your new CD.
In order to chart you must have a substantial amount of “spins”. Here’s another major reason to push only one spin: If you have a lot of tracks that are being played, but no stations are playing similar tracks, your chances of charting for a particular song are very slim. While you really don’t have a choice of what is played, you can help it along by constantly suggesting the same track.
Most Program Directors (PD’s) and Music Directors (MD’s) have specific call times, on specific days, every week. You can only call them on these days or they will not take your calls. Once you have sent your press kit out, wait approximately two weeks, then call and confirm that your CD has arrived safely.
If the CD has not arrived, wait one more week and call again. If at that point the CD has still not arrived, tell the PD or MD that you will send another package and then send it. Wait another week and then follow up again.
The life of one song is anywhere from 4 - 6 weeks. You can’t just assume that at the end of 6 weeks the radio station is going to automatically play another track from your CD. It’s up to you to suggest it.
At the end of your first 4 weeks of air time, continue to push the first track but also start suggesting the next track you plan to release. Start building a rapport with the PD’s and MD’s. Find out their likes, dislikes, and interests. You will get much farther if you are truly interested in who they are and what they do, than if you are only interested in what they can do for you.
Because Program and Music Directors have different call times and days, time management is essential. To help make your job a little easier, create a database to hold all your contact information and keep track of calls and call times. If you have succeeded in getting a station to add your music, here are some questions you should ask:
March 26, 2008
Branding
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Do you struggle to attract and retain the right clients for you? Do you yearn to have word-of-mouth renown? In an increasingly challenging market flooded with talented therapists and extremely savvy consumers, discover 10 Keys to developing a brand full of integrity that will inspire you, attract loyal customers, and make promoting your practice effortless.
1. Identify your values: This is the most critical step and yet, the one most massage therapists overlook. Do some soul searching and get a crystal clear idea of what matters most to you as an individual first and then as a company. Your values form the base of your business and should influence every decision, from what kind of logo you print on your business cards to the business partners you seek.
2. Identify your mission: Once you clearly identify your values, take the time to write a mission statement. Ask, why does my practice exist? What do I aim to accomplish? Write in simple language that a 12-year old can understand using, ideally, 8 words or less. If you are stuck, do a search on the internet for “mission statements” and use the most compelling ones as templates. Your statement should energize and inspire you morning, noon, and night.
3. Identify your ideal client: Again, an incredibly critical step. Looking at your mission statement, ask, “Who do I love working with most? With whom do I have the most success?” Although you might be reluctant to narrow down the potential pool of clients, the biggest mistake you can make is trying to please everyone. This dilutes your service and identity so much that you fail to strike a nerve with anyone. Even though you will turn some people off, you will attract others who will bond with you for life. And the best part about identifying your ideal client is knowing where to find them.
4. Create an emotional connection: Every potential customer wants to know one thing, “What’s in it for me?” In order to compel someone to purchase a session with you vs. any other therapist, you need to connect with her in an emotional way. How can make her life better? What pain will your service potentially reduce or eliminate? What problems do your clients face? How will hiring you solve those problems? What will his life be like afterwards? Think in terms of the benefits your client will receive instead of the features of what you offer (see Key #5).
5. Identify the benefits vs. the features: Know your services and/or products inside and out. But instead of simply listing the features of the various methods you offer, describe your menu in terms of how the client will benefit. So instead of simply listing “shiatsu massage,” describe it as “a relaxing and soothing experience that will erase the knots and twinges of your stressful environment.” Remember, it’s all about creating that emotional connection with your ideal client and telling them how you can make their life better.
6. Create an experience: Why should your potential client hire you as opposed to any one of your competitors? What makes you unique? Successful companies understand that they are in the business of creating experiences that enrich lives. Starbucks does not just sell coffee. From the music they play (and sell) to the comfortable furniture and inviting d
March 26, 2008
Branding
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While marketing and branding are alike in some ways, they are also sometimes mistaken as the same business action. This is not true, but definitely understandable on the two can be misconstrued as the same.
There are several brand tools that can also fall into the marketing category. This is what makes the two concepts so closely related, but at the same time so much different. Brand tools can consist of several different components, all of which are useful. Brand tools such as positioning, or where to position a product, can be a very important and effective technique. These brand tools can also be lumped into the marketing aspect of a company’s effort. If a product is not positioned correctly, in other words if it is not placed in the appropriate market, you are not going to see a lot of return on investment. Another component that would fit into the brand tools category would be perception. The best way of identifying this is by conducting market research. Brand tools can become more effective if the company knows what the market is looking for. Therefore they can gear their efforts towards the appropriate party without losing out on time, money, and most importantly potential profits.
Brand software is also a very effective way of saving you or your company time, money, and headaches. With brand software, sometime referred to as marketing software, a company or individual can track their efforts with ease, instead of guessing on how well a certain project or plan is performing. Without brand software companies would be left to speculate on how much money their product is making, or how their marketing efforts are doing. Some versions of brand software allows the tracking of marketing plans so that the user can see which plans are effective and which ones are not. If you know what is effective, then you will also know what you can discontinue, thus saving time and money and again maximizing profits!
Brand software can be bought in every major electronics store. Customizable software is also available through some software developing companies. These companies will design a specific program so that everything you need is customized right into your system. Do you need to track profit per sale? That can be done. How about which marketing plan performed best during the first and third quarter of last year? Yep, they can do that too. One thing to remember is to do your research and find a company that fits your needs. If you are new to brand software you may also want to try some of the free demo versions that are available through numerous internet sites. Just go to your favorite search engine and type in “brand software.” You will have several sites to choose from. Do your research, and then decide which one is best for you. You can then buy the full version knowing that you made the best decision for your company, making the profits grow and grow. Your company is like part of your own family and you want to see it succeed through everything that you do. That is now possible thanks to the brand software that is highly available.
Kevin Dark is an online marketer. Find out more about his new project - Brand Directory.
March 26, 2008
Branding
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If you’ve been on the internet for any length of time, you’ve probably seen thousands of ebooks, courses, and other types of tutorials on just about any topic that you can imagine.
The problem with a lot of these courses and ebooks businesses are giving away are junk. They don’t contain any real information. Many are nothing more than blatant sales pitches.
Although it may seem like a waste of time to create a course when this technique seems to be so overused, have you ever considered that this could be a way to sell more of your products and services?
Although the market seems to be flooded with courses, ebooks, and tutorials, there’s alway room for this material provided it’s high quality.
What is key is creating a course or ebook, or some other type of tutorial is to offer some real choice information nuggets your readers don’t know.
Although you can create a course, ebook, or tutorial out of others’ articles, this isn’t really a good idea unless you can find really valuable, and useful, content.
If you decide to go this route, you’ll need to do some research. There are plenty of top notch article directories where you can find articles to create your course:
Ezine Articles - http://www.ezinearticles.com
Go Articles - http://www.goarticles.com
Both of these article directories are general article directories and contain plenty of articles on just about any topic.
If you can’t find enough quality articles to create your course, then you may want to consider more specialized article directories.
You can find find article directories here:
Directory of Article Directories - http://www.directoryofarticledirectories.com/ - Although this is a fairly new directory, you’ll find quite a few niche article directories on a lot of different topics.
When selecting your articles, you should select at least seven. It takes an average of seven contacts with your reader to make the sale.
Send them out over a period of at least 30 days or more. One or two emails per week is plenty. Don’t bombard your reader with email. Include a short note to your reader, and make sure that you mention your product or service. Be subtle about it. No one likes to be sold.
The other alternative is to write your own course. Personally, this is a better choice because your content is original. You have an opportunity to give your reader a few choice nuggets they won’t know, and it’s an opportunity for you to really show your potential customers what you really know.
Tie these nuggets to your products and services and show what your products and services can do for your readers, and you have a winner.
When you’re ready to take your course to the next level, you need to publish it for wider distribution. Sites like Learno, http://www.learno.com, can help you publish your course, as well as turn your course into a real book for publication. This will allow you to leverage your work and share your knowledge and expertise more quickly.
By leveraging your work, you’ll brand yourself as an expert more quickly. Potential customers who are interested in your offers will seek you out. This will save you time and money on your internet marketing efforts. by driving targeted visitors to your site.
Although using courses, ebooks, and tutorials to promote your products and services has been overused, if you create quality content and offer your visitor something useful, you’ll increase your chance of making the sale.
Jinger Jarrett will show you how to get more traffic and sales with free marketing. Get her book, “1001 High Traffic Sites Where You Can Market for Free”, at her site Internet Marketing Services..