Image is EVERYTHING
The absolute foundation of your small business is your image. The way potential clients and/or customers perceive your business sets the stage for the way your product or service is recognized and ultimately judged. Image is everything and it will affect your business either positively or negatively. What do you want people to think about when they see your image? When they see your logo, business card, brochure or website, what will they think? Cheap? Expensive? Professional? Successful? Expert? Amateur? Failure? It doesn't matter if you have been in business six years or six days, the failure to recognize just how important your image is and just how much people will judge you based on that image, is a huge mistake. It is a mistake that will have a lasting impact on the long-term success of your small business. People's perception tends to become their reality. How much do you charge? Is your product or service the best? Would people be crazy not to do business with you? Are you the most experienced and most qualified professional in your industry? Does your image convey this? Does it say, "we are the best and we pay attention to detail..." or does it say "we are the cheapest in town and just throw things together at the last minute"? Does your image convey your professionalism and expertise? Or, does it say, "we don't stand out, we are like everyone else, we are a commodity to be passed over"? I run across small businesses on a daily basis, that give absolutely no regard or consideration to what their image is saying. You've seen them too...they threw together a font with some clip art ripped from the Internet and call it a logo. Their brochure is printed with an ink jet printer on cheap paper templates bought at Office Depot®. Their website has been thrown together in a night and has six different fonts and twelve different colors. Essentially, what these businesses are saying with their image is, "We don't care, we are cheap, we are amateurs, we are not as professional as we claim." Is this truly what they want to convey? Probably not, but disregarding the importance of image is a recipe for misinterpretation of your small business. Image can make you look like the best. Think for a moment about Starbucks®. Its image is one of excellence and top quality in the world of coffee. Because of the image it has, we willingly pay $2, $3 and even $4 dollars for coffee when we could go down the street, somewhere else and pay much less for the same thing. But, Starbucks® image says, "we are worth the price, we are the best". Starbucks® has added to the success of its business by developing a professional, successful and quality image. Image can make you look cheap, even if you don't want to look that way. I recently spoke to an owner of a small venture capitalist firm. His business is small, but he works with very large companies to get them millions of dollars in financing. Yet when I reviewed his logo, I found it to be absolutely atrocious. He did it himself by throwing together a font and some clip art that came with Microsoft® Word. A three-year-old may as well have designed it, because it looked that elementary. Why in the world would potential clients trust his firm to handle millions of dollars in venture funding for them when his image screamed, "we are cheap"? Successful businesses know and understand the importance of image. If you spend the time, effort and money to develop a professional and successful image, your business will be seen as a professional and successful business. If you don't take the time and just throw together your image, your business will be seen as thrown together and cheap. A successful image will help you attract the types of clients you want to work with. You will convey that you are worth your price. You will convey you are the best in your industry. Additionally, you will give your prospects a sense that they would be crazy not to do business with you. Your image is what everyone sees. It is what people think of your small business and is one of the most essential elements in a successful business. Recognize its vital impact on your bottom line. Jeanna Pool is President of CATALYST creative, inc., an award-winning graphic
design, web design and marketing firm located in Denver, Colorado. She helps small
business owners who are really good at what they do, but struggle to market their
services effectively to attract more clients on a consistent basis. She can be
contacted at http://www.catalystcreativeinc.com or call 303.380.9100.
Related News
Nation building and branding Malaysia - Malaysia Star
Pro Life BC introduces its new branding - B.C. Catholic Newspaper
Pro Life BC introduces its new brandingB.C. Catholic Newspaper, Canada -13 hours agoDirector James Borkowski elaborated on some of the meaning behind the brand, saying, "A signal is a consistent message usually providing direction or ... |
Board meetings, combine clinics keep Murray on the road - The Prairie Star
SMEs to get aid with branding, packaging - Malaysia Star
SMEs to get aid with branding, packagingMalaysia Star, Malaysia -Jul 2, 2008“Tesco will provide the market access with Limkokwing University contributing the expertise on design and branding,” SMIDEC chief executive officer Datuk ... |
TEAC appoints new marketing head, announces re-branding campaign - Current.com.au
Mercury needs re-branding - Nature.com (subscription)
Nature.com (subscription) |
Mercury needs re-brandingNature.com (subscription), UK -17 hours agoResults are in from Messenger, the spacecraft that swooshed past Mercury in January. To my great disappointment there’s no mercury mentioned in the results. ... |
LG pumps Ă‚ÂŁ28 million into re-branding the former NEC Arena in ... - TechRadar.com
The value of branding becomes patent - Financial Times
The value of branding becomes patentFinancial Times, UK -Jul 3, 2008By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai More companies are filing for patents in China - and suing to enforce patent rights there - than anywhere else in the world, ... |
Downtown Lakeland teams with St. Louis firm to build branding - Bizjournals.com
Beware of Branding Success - Branding Strategy Insider
Beware of Branding SuccessBranding Strategy Insider, FL -Jul 3, 2008Becoming the number-one brand in any market brings with it new, potentially fatal dilemmas. The first is prominence: getting to the top puts you directly in ... |
|
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Brand Name Identity in the Oil Business
I submit to you that Brand Name Identity in the Oil Business is just a important today as it was when Mobil Oil and McDonalds were building their brands. Perhaps in the future it may even be more so. I have often seen others using our business name and sought either injunction or stern warning. As a matter of fact I am preparing a lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission for using one of his Brand Names and Federal Trademark in their Key Words and Meta Tags on the Federal Website, to attract visitors; a lawsuit which would have enough case law behind it to slam down the Federal Trade Commission with the help of the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Importance of Business Branding
Branding is very important to a business, whether it is an online or offline business. Your brand will be the first impression the public has of your business and could very well be the most important one. The goal in business branding is to give consumers a visual image of your company. Business branding is very important to a business because it allows the public to identify your company name on sight.
Branded Email: Email Branding is the Next Generation of Email
All You Need is Branded Email
Or
Always Branded Email There to Remind Me
Brand Identity - Corporate Identity and Brand Value
Companies work hard building the strength of their brands - it is critical to the ongoing brand management process to have meaningful and actionable data-driven measures of these efforts.
Not So Stationary Stationery
The elements and functionality of the basic stationery system is changing. With the advent of email, fax, web and cell phones, stationery systems must be adjusted to meet the needs of today's business.
When Search Engine Marketing and Trademarks Collide
In the world of marketing, branding issues are always an important part of any campaign. Companies work hard for their name to be recognized as a quality organization and a leader in their field. Companies will defend any action they see as a negative to their brand. They do not want unauthorized third parties to advertise their products, because they may do it in a poor manner which will generate negative consequences for the quality of the company's brand. Recently, Google was charged with trademark violations by Geico and American Blinds. The cases (C 03-05340 JF US District Court For The Northern District Of California San Jose Division) have gone to the discovery phase of litigation, which means the judges have said there is enough there right now factually to potentially justify these lawsuits. The impact of this trial could be vast for search marketers.
Brilliant Branding Builds Business
Branding is more than product recognition or a simple logo. It is the overall intellectual and emotional impression people have when they think of your company and its product. It is a strong and consistent message about the value of your business.
Corporate Branding and Professional Logo Design
Any business with the minimum interest to be successful should concentrate on developing their corporate image and when I say "any business", I mean it, absolutely any business-even if it's a mom-n-pop shop. "Corporate image" might be a big word for such small ventures, however, what I meant by that is how the business wants themselves to be perceived by their customers. Irrespective of the size of the business it is very important to determine how do you come across to your potential customers? How do you compare to your competitors? These factors are largely determined by your branding and marketing strategies. Branding tools like logo designs, business cards etc goes a long way in creating your corporate image. Any marketing communication material should ideally have your corporate logo on it, which would give more credibility for your business as well as help your client to perceive your business as a professional enterprise.
Branding Is Not Selling Out: ITS SELLING IN
Ever see an amazing band perform and wonder why you've never heard of them
before? Ever see an astonishing artist on the street and wonder why isn't their work
isnąt in a gallery? Ever see an astounding independent film and wonder why people
all over the world don't know about it?
The Big Uneasy: Clearing the Clouds of Guess
People often come to me to assist them with developing
their brand because they are unable to accomplish the
business success they desire. They're experiencing what
we call the Big Uneasy--the state of being when things are
hard. They are stuck in an idea, unable to make it happen,
and dreams are unfulfilled. Life is heavy, there's a lack of
flow... the Big Uneasy has taken over.
Product Positioning for Enterprise Software and Information Technology Companies
Good marketing positioning is like good lying. No, we're not suggesting that you lie when creating your company and product positioning. Anything but, in fact. But, it's remarkable how much the properties of good positioning resemble the properties of a good lie.
Franchising is Virtually Fraud Free
The number of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission on Franchising do not indicate ramped fraud in the franchising sector. The FTC before Congress gave a report showing that the number of complaints was fewer than one tenth of one percent, lower than any other industry. Nearly all the franchising cases the Federal Trade Commission filed, were gray, crying wolf area of law and most settled as soon as possible; considering the slow nature of our courts in America.
Trademark: Do I Need One for My Business Name and Logo?
Wondering if a trademark is important to you as a business owner? Let's start with the basics. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or logo that distinguishes and identifies the source of goods of one company or person from another. For example, the name Kraft is trademarked, as is Nike's "swoosh" logo.
Brand Image ? Brand Identity Guru
Having a brand image is not a "have or have not" proposition. Everyone has one. The problem is that you might have more than one brand image, depending on whom you ask. You know yourself, but depending on whom you talk to, others may think you're something completely different. That's when a brand image company can help. You need to consider hiring a brand image company that identifies your most powerful brand image and then works to make it your only brand image. The phrase "brand image" gained notoriety when sales patterns began to show that feelings and visuals associated with brands were powerful motivators to purchase products. It isn't just products that consumers buy. It's their associated personalities and values.
You Bored Me at Hello - Top Three Strategies for Networking Your Brand
"You had me at hello," those famous words from the movie Jerry McGuire let Tom Cruise know that Rene Zellweger's character was hooked from that point and the rest of his talking was unnecessary. When in networking situations, many small business owners leave people with a slightly different feeling. If questioned for the truth, what would likely be said is, "you bored me at hello!" That is definitely not a great way to grow your business into a powerful name brand. Networking works, but not if you leave your prospects bored.
Don?t Overlook Your Email When Considering Your Brand Identity
You wouldn't skip letterhead when sending out a sales letter - Or would you?
Does Your Message Pass the Test?
Develop an effective benefit message and you're well on your way to building your company's entire marketing program. After all, you need focus to create success. Without it you can wind up expending effort without getting the reward (income, that is) you're looking for.
Value-pricing Strategy: Were not The Cheapest but...
In this highly competitive online marketplace, it can be difficult to persuade customers to buy from you when you offer a similar product to your opposition but with a higher price tag. And trying to beat competitors on price alone is a cut-throat business, very risky and not recommended. It attracts bargain hunters ready to defect to competitors for a better deal.
Understand Brand
Branding has been defined, explained and examined extensively. There are books, articles, publications, seminars, and groups all dedicated to exploring the meaning and use of brand today.
Effective Branding...Whats in a Name!
Ask any marketing executive and they will tell you that a company's name is golden. There are certain associations that people have with a name, one that invokes emotions -- good or bad. Let's examine three case studies of branding involving companies that have merged and where the buyer kept the name of the company they bought or are considering purchasing.
|
