Brand Identity System

Business and marketing experts urge small business owners to “brand” their businesses with a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials – a brand identity system.  But they rarely explain the reasons behind this advice. A logo and consistent marketing materials can increase your sales and revenue, because they convey the following impressions:

1. To convey that you are established. A logo and professionally-printed materials show that you are committed to both your business and your clients. It also makes you look like you’ve been around for some time, and that you’re stable.

2. To attract more clients. Some clients look for a well-defined company, and “look and feel” may be one of their criteria in making a purchasing decision.

3. Others are “wowed” by professional-looking materials, and your logo may impress them into buying.

4. To increase your credibility. A logo makes you look experienced and professional, and can go a long way towards making your business appear credible. And, if you’d like to be known as an expert in your field, this type of credibility is the first thing you have to establish.

5. To be more memorable. Forty percent of people better remember what they see than what they hear or read. So having graphics associated with your business and having consistent graphics on your business materials make you more likely to come to the forefront of potential clients’ minds when they have a need for your goods or services.

6. To stand out in your field. A well-designed logo and an identity system can put you far above the competition, especially if they are paired with a strong marketing program.

7. To look “bigger.” Home-printed business cards with perforated edges or cards printed with standard designs available through Microsoft software or online business card vendors scream “small-time vendor” to your potential clients-and that is how they will want to compensate you.

8. To improve your chance of getting venture capital or selling a business. If you present a well-rounded business package, including marketing materials and graphics, your business will look more complete.

9. To brand yourself. Especially if you are a consultant, you need a logo in order to build an image and a brand that is bigger than your individual identity. If you’re running a larger business, the logo will begin to create a “brand” or “face” for your business, and to personalize the larger business entity.

10. To give clients a sense of stability. You may not have been in business “since 1908,” but if you have invested in an identity, you are much less likely to fold in the eyes of your customers. It goes a long way toward building that all-important “trust.”

11. To explain your company name. If your company name contains a little-known word or an acronym, the logo can give visual clues to its meaning. To endear your company name to your clients. A difficult-to-pronounce or hard-to-remember company name may make it challenging for your clients to hire you. When potential clients have the need for your services, they might not recall who you are. But if you reinforce the name with interesting, compelling graphics, they are more likely to remember you, pick up the phone, and hire you.

12. To describe an unusual line of business. If your business is nontraditional or in a hard-to-explain industry, a logo can help to explain exactly what it is that you do by offering a visual reference.

13. To show what practices differentiate you from your competition. A well-designed logo can have many subtle meanings and can begin to tell the story of how you do business, including the special practices that make you stand apart from the competition.

14. To comply with expectations. In some industries, a logo is just expected. In the creative services industry especially, having a logo is an industry standard. To show your commitment and for the sense of personal pride it will add to your practice. In other words, do it for yourself. A logo will increase your confidence, and that will show through in all of your business interactions and practices.

These benefits will boost your business and your confidence, so start thinking about developing a logo and identity as soon as possible.

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Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand out in front of their competition and attract more clients. Her “Define Your Difference Branding Workbook” will help you with your brand definition – the most important step in the brand identity design process. www.elf-design.com/products-define.html

“Brand identity” is the combination of consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing materials. A basic brand identity kit consists of a logo, business card, letterhead, and envelope. It can be extended to include a Web site, brochure, folder, flyer, or any other professionally designed pieces.

Having a brand identity is extremely important to your business’s success. However, many business owners have misconceptions about brand identities that can damage their businesses.

My cousin/coworker/friend can design my brand identity

There are some very significant areas of your business that should be left to the professionals. First of all, while your cousin may have been “great in art class,” this does not mean that she has the knowledge and expertise required to create great graphic designs. Designing a logo, business card, or Web site is much different than painting a picture or making a collage. You must make a brand logo scalable, meaningful, and symbolic.

Second, having a professional designer on your business marketing team ensures that your projects will be a top priority. I have many potential clients who start their designs with a friend or relative and are then “put on the back burner,” leaving their project to drag on for months. After much frustration, they hire a professional and are amazed at how quickly things are completed.

Finally, would you trust a friend to do something really important for your business? Would you ask her to do something that requires unique skills, like making a client presentation for you or giving a speech? Probably not, unless she is a sales professional or a professional speaker. Would you trust a friend who is “good with math” to do your corporate taxes? If you wouldn’t trust an amateur with an important business function, then why would you trust an amateur with your brand identity, the key to your marketing success?

Designing a custom brand identity is too expensive

It’s true that having your marketing materials designed is an expensive proposition. But it may be even more expensive if you do not have a high-quality, custom brand identity professionally designed. There are many effects that will harm your business, including the possibility that your clients will not respect you or take you seriously, among others.

A strong brand identity quickly pays for itself. For most businesses, if just two or three new clients call you over the course of your lifespan because of the equity that your brand identity creates, your logo and brand identity design package would be paid for. When you have a top-notch brand identity, new customers will contact you because they remember your logo, have held on to your business card, or are impressed by your brochure. And it’s likely that many more clients than the required few will contact you and your business will grow and flourish from the (relatively) small initial investment in the brand identity.

Consider also that a brand identity is a sustainable expense. Once you have had a timeless logo and set of marketing materials designed, you can use them for years to come. And, once you have a strong logo, creating consistent, targeted marketing pieces and programs is an easy addition to your existing system.

I do not need a brand identity

If you are a professional in business, you need a brand identity. You wouldn’t consider being in business without other important business essentials-your own computer, perhaps, or a business name or bank account. A brand identity is another of these basic business essentials. It’s the central requirement for marketing and promoting your business.

There is nothing that looks less professional than not having a professional brand identity. If you do not establish a clean, high-quality, and consistent look and feel to your materials, you will have a much more difficult time gaining the trust of potential clients-and signing them on to use your services. All of the Fortune 500 companies have a logo, and for a good reason: it makes them look more professional. If you want to be perceived as offering a high-caliber service, you have to look polished and “put together.”

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Erin Ferree is a brand identity designer who creates big visibility for small businesses. As the owner of elf design, Erin is passionate about helping her clients stand out in front of their competition and attract more clients. Her “Define Your Difference Branding Workbook” will help you with your brand definition – the most important step in the brand identity design process.
www.elf-design.com/products-define.html

What motivates you to market your business…the REAL motivation? Is it fear of not having enough money? Imagining the ripple effect of helping your clients live more authentic, vibrant lives? Looking at the photograph of an aunt who swore you’d never amount to anything?

All potent enough motivators, for sure.

What’s interesting to notice is whether your motivation is going toward or going away energy. That’s because when we are motivated away from something, the results we get tend to be erratic; when we are motivated toward, we get consistent, escalating results. Let me explain with two examples:

Leandra Leandra doesn’t like marketing and self-promotion, but she has to bring in a certain amount of money each month from her private therapeutic practice for teens. So each month, she trudges off to networking meetings and puts up a new article on her website. Some months, she gets a lot of response; other months, nary a call.

This is an example of away-motivated marketing. Leandra markets only to stave off the financial wolf at the door.

What gets forgotten in her marketing equation is how much she LOVES counseling teens. She’s marketing because she needs the money. Imagine how different her results might be if Leandra’s marketing was going toward her passion for working with teens.

Frank Frank has an accounting background; he started his career in a large accounting firm and then worked for several large corporations. He’s now a coach who works with self-employed people who aren’t comfortable with finances. It was a no-brainer, he thought, to leverage his experience in accounting when defining his niche.

His first year as a coach was quite successful. But this year, he’s been putting off his marketing tasks. Seems like everything is such a chore: organizing teleclasses, putting out a consistent newsletter, following up leads. Naturally, his business is not thriving; it’s not down the drain, but it pokes along rather than races, like it did his first year.

The problem is that Frank really wants to be coaching people considering leaving the corporate world to develop work they find more meaningful. His marketing got great results his first year out, because it was new and exciting to be out on his own. But marketing to his self-employed niche has become a “should”-one of the key signs of going away motivation.

Finding yourself engaging in a “should” or “must” or “have to” is a big clue that you may be engaging in the less reliable going away motivation. Think about it…is it any fun at all to do something because you “should?” Yuck!

A couple of other clues to going away motivation:

1. Using negations. I market my practice because I don’t want to lose clients. (What DO you want?)
2. Comparing. I market my practice because if I do, I’ll have more money and a better life. (This is a little trickier. Notice that by comparing, the focus is on what you don’t have right now, not on what you want.)

Going toward motivation is all about getting clear on what we want and then putting our marketing muscle behind that.

So…what do YOU want?

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Linda Puig is a newsletter marketing expert, a writer with nearly 30 years’ professional experience and president of Claire Communications, which provides high-quality, low-cost articles to busy professionals who don’t have the time or inclination to write articles. www.articlesforsale.net

Direct marketing is, and will probably always be, one of the best ways to get a steady stream of new customers for your business. And that goes for any type business. Obviously you will need to make slight variations between one industry and the next, but it still works very well. More importantly, it is a very measurable form of marketing.

This is something any company that does not have a million dollar advertising budget should consider extremely important, since no marketing is worth doing unless you can measure the results.

Interesting Statistics

Allow me to give you a few statistics on why I like direct marketing so much for lead generation for any type of company. Below are average response rates for various types of marketing campaigns:

Direct Marketing Response for Lead Generation
Email- .29%
Magazine- .49%
Mail- 2.56% (6.1% with follow up)

Looking at these numbers, why would any business not employee some form of direct marketing?

Key Phases to Effective Direct Marketing for Lead Generation

There are a few important things to keep in mind when deciding to develop a direct marketing campaign.

#1- The list you are marketing to is the first key to your success. Narrowing down a demographic, whether business-to-consumer or business-to-business, is a must. The size of the list is up to you (10,000, 1000, 100 names) but the type of people you are targeting should be as tight as feasibly possible. The tighter the niche, the more expensive the list, but this will also avoid sending wasteful amounts of material into the mail that won’t go to viable prospects.

There is a fine line between how much you spend on the list and how much the mailing costs. For example, a somewhat narrow list of 1000 names may be worth sending a low cost postcard mailing to, but a more focused 500 names may make more sense for sending an expensive mailing.

Where do you find these lists? Well there are many different resources to find the broadest or most minute type of prospect. For large volumes or very specified groups of prospects, you should use a list broker such as sales genie/info usa, melissadata.com, etc.

For a list of lists and places to find them, go to your local library and ask for the SRDS (Standard Rate and Data Service). You can also find the SRDS online and sign up (for a fee) for their services.

#2- Focus on one subject. The worst thing you can do is to come up with a great list to market to and push everything you do on them in one shot. Even a catalogue company does not do this. Everything is theme based. So pick one burning problem and focus on that. This also may cause you to further break down a good list of prospects into sub groups that would benefit more from one solution or product than another.

#3- You need to get the marketing piece opened. Getting an envelope opened can be a challenge, but you can get very creative with the packaging to make it interesting to open.

What you want to avoid is making it look like pure advertising if possible. The easiest way is to use handwritten addresses or print them directly on the envelope. Stickers are a bad idea that scream “you don’t know me but I want to sell you something”. Actually, the return address should be pretty void of screaming the same thing.

You may want to consider not putting the company name on there until you establish a relationship. If you don’t need to know if the mail even got there, don’t even put a return address on the envelope. The only problem with this method is that you will not know if you have a bad address or not.

There are many other very creative ways to compel your audience into opening your marketing. An example would be to put something inside like a pen or a CD. Or you can use a bigger envelope or send a box.

These methods could get expensive so that expense should be offset by a higher margin product. You don’t want to spend $2 per prospect to sell something with a $4 profit margin… unless you have the ability to sell an incredible volume of them. You get the picture.

In the case where you want to avoid the “get it opened” issue altogether, then a postcard works best, but it is limited as to the amount of information that can go on it. This really needs to be developed with a graphic designer so that it catches the eye.

Additionally, everything must be said quickly and to the point since real estate on the postcard is limited. This is a great way to avoid accidentally including unnecessary “fluff” in the mailing.
Please note that postcards must be used to contact the correct audience.

I wouldn’t recommend trying to reach executives at large companies with a postcard but smaller businesses and consumers are good targets for this type of medium.

One other method is to use a single sheet of paper and fold it closed. It becomes a self contained package that has more information real estate than a postcard.

#4- Get the actual direct mail piece read. This is not rocket science but it’s not super easy either. The purpose of the first line in a letter is to get the reader to read the second line and so on. It should be aimed at a major pain point and not talk about what you can do but rather what the benefits in solving the problem are to the prospect.

Know the difference between a benefit and a feature. For example, a car that has automatic headlights is a feature of the car. The benefit is that it adds a safety feature to make sure your lights are on when they should be.

The focus of any campaign is on the benefits of solving the burning problem and then the benefits of your solution. You can talk about features but they must be followed up by benefits.

Make the piece easy to read by using short and concise sentences with a flow more like your personal way of speaking than formal writing. Examples and stories also are a good idea to include in any written piece. These types of things all generate trust and allow you to form a bond before you even meet the prospective client.

#5- You need a call to action. The reader must be asked to do something or the piece you have sent out is a total waste of time and money. Unless you have a mail order company, this mailing should really be a prospecting piece and therefore should prompt the reader to download a free report on the pain point, use the enclosed coupon, etc. It is usually best to not go for the sale immediately.

When you offer something for free, you can determine a good prospect when they actually take it and you can track it. Now you have begun a relationship (giving) and opened the door to selling something later (taking). You can’t easily take unless you give first. Being in the business of helping people and getting them what they need and want is the key to any successful and fulfilling business.

#6- You need to test your piece including the delivery package. One of the best parts about any direct marketing campaign is that it can be measured and tested.

Read the piece to yourself. If it doesn’t flow almost as if you were speaking instead of reading, consider revising it. Have others read the piece that have no interest in the subject as well as colleagues that understand the subject at hand.

Don’t forget to also test the entire package. Mail it to yourself to see how you react to it when it arrives. Send it to a colleague and don’t tell them it’s coming. If you don’t hear from them in a few days, you know you have some work to do on the package.

Once you think it’s ready, send it out to a small test group from the list you have developed for this campaign. Pick out about 10% of the list and see what happens. As long as the list is good (i.e. the names and addresses are valid), you can expect about the same result from a full blown campaign to the list.

#7- You need a SYSTEM. The best direct marketing piece in the world is worth very little if you do not have a process or system in place. This entails issues such as; tracking your success rate on the piece, having a follow-up sequence for those that did not respond and a follow-up sequence for those that did respond. Constant waves of contact will eventually produce a full sales pipeline.

Don’t Forget the “Waves”

The first pass is just that- a first pass. You really need to have 3 to 9 points of contact, or “waves”, in your system for it to be effective. Sometimes that also involves phone follow up and not just mailings or emails.

For each wave that involves a mailing, you need to follow phases 2 through 6 from above. Don’t forget to add in the proper tracking to all of the waves in your lead generation system.

Wrap-up

These are very basic steps to a direct marketing campaign. Every type of business out there can, and should, use some form of direct marketing/lead generation in their marketing mix. This includes low tech to high tech, B2C and B2B, retail to manufacturing as well as everything in-between.

Although a tight niche of prospects is a big key to any successful campaign, picking one subject to talk about and not going in for the kill immediately is really the most important thing.

Build a relationship with those interested in what you have to offer and they will sell themselves. Everyone likes to buy, but nobody likes to be “sold” on something.

Copyright (c) 2007 George Sierchio www.actionbusinesspartners.com

The logo and graphic elements that you include on your business card are quite important, but having the right text and contact information on the card is equally important. Here are my tips about the elements to include on your business card:

Business Card Contact Info

Your name - Consider whether you want to include your middle name or initial, degrees or professional credentials that are unique to your field.

Title - Including a title on your card will help your potential clients to identify your position within your company. Including a title can also make your company seem larger. A reason to not include a title would be if you’re a consultant, and want to market your solo nature as a benefit to your clients.

Address - Always include an address on your business card, even if you are operating a business out of your home. Including your address greatly increases your credibility and makes your business appear established. If you’re concerned about privacy, a post office box is a great way to go. When signing up for a post office box, consider using a commercial mailbox vendor (such as the UPS Store) instead of a box at the United States Post Office. At a mailbox store, you are given a street address instead of the typical “P.O. Box”. The store also accepts shipped packages from UPS, FedEx, and other carriers, so you won’t need to give out your home address as a shipping address.

Phone number (and toll-free number) - Include your phone number and, if you do business long distance, consider including an 800 or toll-free number as well, as an amenity for your clients.

Cell phone number - This is an option to consider if you’d like to make your services available to your clients around the clock, or if your business often takes you on the road. If you’d like to keep your cell phone number private, you can do that tactfully by offering to make your cell phone number available to clients once they have signed up for your services-then your clients will feel special and know that you’re taking good care of them.

Fax number - If you have a fax number you should include it on your card. If you rarely receive a fax, or if you don’t know if faxes will be useful in your business, you can try using efax (www.efax.com). This is an online service that can provide you with a free fax number that will email all of your faxes to your email account. They also offer a paid service that is available as an upgrade if the number of faxed pages you receive per month exceeds their free offering. That enables you to upgrade if needed, without changing your fax number and reprinting your cards.

Email address - Your email address is an often-overlooked opportunity to brand your business. Instead of using a generic email address such as “yourname@aol.com” or “yourname@comcast.net”, purchase your own branded domain name to use as your email-yourname@yourbusiness.com. It’s inexpensive and easy to set up, especially if you use GoDaddy.com to register your name and set up the new email address to forward to your existing account. This makes your business look larger and more professional.

Website address - A website is a must in today’s business world, even if it’s a simple, one-page site that gives a few paragraphs of information about your business offerings and your contact information. A website offers potential clients an easy, no-pressure way to both learn more about your business, or to refer you to new clients. This is also another way to take advantage of the branded domain name that you set up to use for your email address-using it for your website URL will extend your business brand further.

Tagline - If you have a tagline, including it on your business card will contribute to your branding and memorability, and a graphic treatment of the tagline (font, color and any graphic effects used) can add visual interest to the card as well.

License Numbers - Include your license number if you are required to display them by your industry regulations (i.e., insurance or contractors), or if your being licensed is a benefit that you offer to your clients, or if it differentiates you from your competition.

If you have room on the front, or would like to create a two-sided card, consider adding:

A few bullet points about your business offerings - This provides you with an opportunity to further explain what you do. This is most helpful when your business name is not specific, so potential clients can identify what you can do for them.

Your photo - The people you meet while networking will remember who you are. Putting a face to your business also makes your cards more personal for potential clients. However, we recommend that you do this only if it’s appropriate, or somewhat standard, in your industry (for example, with certain types of coaching, or real estate).

A “next appointment” area – If you often make appointments with clients (for massage therapy or health care, for example), consider printing a line or two on your business cards to make them into appointment cards as well. This makes a lot of sense from a printing standpoint-you’ll be able to print a dual-purpose card for the same price as printing one card design.

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Erin Ferree is a brand identity and marketing design strategist who creates big visibility for small businesses. Through her customized marketing and brand identity packages, Erin helps her clients discover their brand differentiators, then designs logos, business cards, and other marketing materials and websites to reflect that differentiation, as well as to increase credibility and memorability. www.elf-design.com

The Bay Area Search Engine Academy has scheduled their SEO classes and internet marketing training to start in February 2010. The classes are open to anyone who wants to learn search engine optimization or internet marketing for their business.

Livermore, CA (PRWEB) January 19, 2010 — The Bay Area Search Engine Academy has opened registration for their upcoming SEO classes and internet marketing training for businesses. Registration is limited to fifteen people in each of the classes being held in San Ramon and Santa Clara (near San Jose), California.

“We keep the classes small so each of the students gets lots of individual attention during the course of the week,” Thomas Petty said. Petty is the President of the Bay Area Search Engine Academy, and will be teaching both hands-on workshops. “We teach a lot of advanced techniques, but anyone can learn them. We want to make sure everyone understands it so they can put it to use as soon as they leave the classroom.”

The Academy starts the week by teaching a six-step process that gets its students started quickly without having to know technical code. “Anyone can learn our six-step process and get results,” Petty adds. The rest of the week is spent learning techniques that can get a business listed on the search engines many different ways.

Each student is encouraged to bring their wireless-enabled laptop and work on either their own Web site or their client’s in the class. They are each given class time to present problems to the other students, get constructive feedback, and help each other.

“Some of the terms people hear are ‘SEO’, ‘social media marketing’, ‘internet marketing’, and so on. We dispel the myths around all of this, and make it clear so business owners can get results with what we teach,” Petty said. “After all, we use these same techniques with our own clients.”

The Bay Area Search Engine Academy is part of the larger Search Engine Academy, started by John Alexander and Robin Nobles many years ago. They teach a standardized curriculum at all their academies around the world.

Once a student has completed the workshop and passed the exam, they receive a certificate showing they have have a thorough understanding in search engine marketing. In addition, students can request nationally-recognized continuing education units (CEUs) through the University of Southern Mississippi (an additional $60 fee covers the cost of the paperwork).

Interested students can register online at the Bay Area Search Engine Academy’s registration page or contact them directly toll-free at (888) 807-5658.

Brand research expert, Debra Semans, senior vice president of Polaris Marketing Research, is the keynote speaker at the GSAE luncheon.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) January 17, 2010 — Polaris Marketing Research, Inc. (polarismr.com) announced today that senior vice president and brand research expert, Debra Semans will be the keynote speaker at the Georgia Society of Association Executives (GSAE’s) luncheon on January 20, 2010. Her topic, “Top Ten Branding Mistakes You Can Avoid,” is timed to coincide with the Society’s rebranding efforts.

The luncheon is the feature of the organization’s quarterly meeting and draws about 200 executives from non-profit organizations, professional and trade associations and their corporate suppliers. The meeting will be held at The Centre at Arbor Connection in Douglasville, Ga., and the luncheon will begin at 11:30. (gsae.org)

“Debra Semans is a nationally recognized expert in branding and she has a wealth of information to share. I am sure everyone will benefit from her speech,” said Polaris President Jan Carlson. Semans’ speech expands on an article she wrote last year about the brands experiences she has gathered from attendees at a seminar she teaches on Internal Branding (sponsored by the American Marketing Association, marketingpower.com.)

About the brand research firm, Polaris Marketing Research:
Founded by Jan Carlson in 1989, Polaris Marketing Research is a full-service firm that provides state-of-the-art online interactive marketing research reporting, interviewing and data collection, quantitative and qualitative research expertise and personalized project management.

Atlanta-based Polaris Marketing Research is affiliated with the Council of American Survey Research Organizations, the American Marketing Association and the American Society for Quality.

For more information, call Dianne Hill at 404-816-0353 or visit us at polarismr.com.

To hear the latest on what industry leaders are saying about marketing as it pertains to marketing research, visit our blog at themarketingdialog.com.

Most small business owners and independent professionals start their business primarily because they have knowledge and skills that are in demand.  While they understand intellectually that they have to market and sell, often it does not translate on an emotional level. Many business owners tend to look at marketing as a necessary evil and in many cases have negative beliefs toward it.  They could not stand to be hounded by those pesky salesman in their previous jobs and do not want to “become on of them.” As a result, the tendency is to focus on the aspects of our business that were the reason we chose to go into business in the first place, the actual application of our knowledge or skills.

First, understand what the definition of marketing strategy is before you dive into the mentality.

What is a marketing mentality and how is it developed? There are three components all that link together.  The first component is belief.  What are the underlying beliefs that affect our mentality?  It encompasses our attitudes, thoughts, fears, expectations, and lack of experience.  Our actions are shaped by what we think about, what we assume to be true and where we choose to focus.  If the thoughts are negative or avoidance minded then we will see marketing as undesirable and in some cases unethical.  It will manifest in self talk such as I don’t deserve referrals, my marketing won’t work anyway, I will look desperate, if my service or product is good the market will know that, I don’t like networking etc.

The second component is behavior which is generally driven by our beliefs.  The decisions we make every day are critical and negative beliefs about marketing affect the decisions that are made.  For example, how often do we plan for the week and tell ourselves that on Tuesday we will focus three hours on marketing.  Tuesday morning rolls along and we receive a client call or an issue or problem with an employee and then rationalize that the marketing must be put off because these issues must be dealt with immediately.  The question is how often this is really true.  In my experience working with clients the answer is rarely.  Although we know that the marketing is important we let our negative beliefs affect our behavior.  Before we know it the pipeline is dry and then some type of marketing activity is undertaken in an unplanned haphazard manner.

The third component is relationship.  In order to have consistent lead generation and sales there must be a relationship cultivated with an adequate amount of prospects.  This is the main function of marketing.  It is the adage of people do business with those they know, like and trust.  Without a consistent and systematic marketing plan there will not be a sufficient lead generation process.

The linkage is very powerful.  The beliefs affect the behaviors and the behaviors affect the ability to develop the relationships.  The connectivity between these elements is extremely leveraged in both a positive and negative direction.  When there are aligned the results are extraordinary and when they are not the results can be devastating.

So if you are in this quandary what can be done about it? First sit down and make a list and inventory what your beliefs are about marketing.  Be honest and list as many as you can.  Then ask yourself about whether these beliefs are really true or just simply a personal bias.  Second, are you really absolutely sure what you believe is true or is it possible that it is not. Next evaluate how this belief affects your behavior and what would happen if this belief is changed. Try to reconstruct the thought to a more positive mindset.  The next step is to translate those new thoughts into new behaviors.  One of the best techniques for doing so is to block out time on your calendar and treat it as if it were an appointment with your best client.  You surely would not miss an appointment with your best client to deal with a task that was short of an emergency would you?  After a short time these new behaviors will become habits and the rewards will follow.

If marketing is a struggle it is absolutely critical to engage in this marketing mentality process. Many companies with great services and products go out of business because they could not implement a consistent lead generation system. Most often that failure starts with the lack of a marketing mentality.  The great news is that the necessary mentality can be developed with effort, focus and an open mind.  You will amazed by the impact on your business.

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David Eissman founder of Guaranteed Growth Systems and the creator of the Growth Accelerator System – “The fuel to get you there faster “teaches business owners and independent professionals how to create a step by step lead generation and sales conversion system resulting in increased revenue and profits. For FREE content rich information on how to accelerate the growth of your business visit,
www.GuaranteedGS.com

From politicians to phone companies, reality-oriented marketing has become the hot new trend that can benefit your business.

Interestingly, back in the 2004 election year, the Republican party’s presidential team created a presidential or “marketing” campaign that went deep into a community, attaching itself to high-profile decision makers, neighborhood leaders and trend-setters to get their message out. The business sector has now harnessed this marketing strategy.

The phone industry, can we say AT & T, created local marketing teams that went deep into communities to find neighborhood leaders to pitch its newest service. The telecommunications giant developed lists within the communities that included Sunday School teachers, “influencers”, trend setters and others whose opinions are sought out and valued by neighbors and peers. This strong word-of-mouth influence has helped AT&T find customers that have agreed to sign up for their TV service after the influencer’s hosted TV parties.

Jaguar is capitalizing on a marketing trend that is referred to as a “living product placement.” The luxury car maker is using high-profile trend setters to drive around in their car and hope to be “seen” in it. Just ask any perfume, cosmetics, handbag maker or fashion house how important it is for them to find a celebrity (based on high-profile) to wear their product in public.

Let’s look at this marketing trend a little closer:

* First, companies are going deep into a local community to find the decision-makers and trend setters who others value and respect for information from presidents to commercial lifestyle brands, i.e. Jaguars, host TV parties, woman’s fashions, etc.

* As the major television networks lose market share and viewers to cable channels and Internet programming, companies that would normally advertise on these channels are looking for ways to tap local markets to find their customers.

* Network marketing businesses have understood the importance of reality-oriented marketing by inviting friends, neighbors, family and business associates to their homes to try cookware, make-up, necessary home products, health supplements and the list goes on.

* Banks are using real customers in advertisements, on billboards and on television to share the benefits of using this specific bank and services in their everyday business.

* The Wall Street Journal, car companies and others are highlighting their customer with real names and photos with the benefits of using their products and services.

* Businesses are bringing in their customers to taste foods prepared by local chefs (Think: kitchen appliance centers, supermarkets, culinary sections of bookstores, wine stores, and confectioner’s businesses to name a few).

Why do People Buy?

What makes marketing deep within a community with focused placements and living product placements appealing to your clients and buyers? Certainly there are several reasons that people buy a product or service, but a few of these reasons or benefits are:

*  People are always looking for something new, slightly different. One of the most powerful words you can use in your marketing campaigns is the word “new.”

*  People want to look hip, young, cutting-edge, and want to keep up with the current lifestyle. The 20-somethings to 60-somethings look and act at least a decade younger.

Psychographics

Certain eras and generations feed and are motivated by the current political, economic and social changes they perceive happening around them at certain stages in their lives. This is a major component of generational marketing and it needs to be an important piece in your marketing campaigns. You need to know who your best customers and clients are by way of their demographics and psychographics.

The advertising campaign that Dove used in capturing “real women” of all sizes, careers and cultures was a hit. There seems to be a duplicity however, in marketing campaigns today, just as there is a polarizing effect from the retail world in that consumers are buying products and services from the two extremes: the discounters or the prestigious, expensive lines. This too is happening in advertising and marketing; Celebrity-based reality advertising and Real People-based reality advertising.

* Celebrity-based reality advertising  – Marketers use celebrities more commonly now than models. We can’t seem to get enough information about celebrities as People Magazine is one of the top magazine attractors nationally.

* Real People-based reality advertising – Marketers are increasingly using “real, everyday people” who are perceived as a center of influence, from neighborhoods to office workers as well as those who are perceived as beautiful and as trendsetters, to influence buyers to purchase their products and services.

Then there’s www.youtube.com which I believe is in its infancy stage where ebay was several years ago! This website has become a gathering place for people to “show” videos of all types and much more. How can you showcase your business (services or products) in this new and very visible media?

Marketing Tips:

* Find ways to “show and tell” your clients and customers the benefits of using your products.

* Find the “influencers” in a group or a demographic/psychographic segment.

* Allow your customer to use their own “benefit” words and phrases which are usually much stronger and “real” to others when creating advertising copy AND creating a marketing campaign.

* Think globally when creating your marketing campaign. For example, one company uses the word “excellent” in seven different languages to define their products.

* Think locally as well, focus on going “deep” within a community in a particular well-defined segment(s).

* Think of ways you can entice your prospects and clients to “try” your services or products before purchasing?

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Always appreciate fresh new marketing and branding tips to drive your business several steps forward? Tap Ruth Klein’s expertise at her upcoming Brand and Pitch Boot Camp.
www.ruthklein.com/

The ultimate goal of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to drive traffic to your site. Many people don’t know why, but they aren’t achieving this goal.

The key is staying current and evolving with the times.

Way back in the good old days, SEO was a lot easier and we saw results quickly. What do I mean “we saw results”? We ran a ranking report and we were able to see what words held what positions in the various engines. And admit it now, when you received your ranking reports, you promptly pulled up Google or Yahoo and did a search, waiting with baited breath to see your results right there in the top 20. Ahhh, the good old days.

Now, you get a ranking report and you don’t see all those wonderful rankings you have seen in the past. Competition is fierce and even though your site deserves to be on top, it may take a while to work its way up there. So, what do you do? You call your SEO Firm, you complain, you work on a strategy to get the results you want.

The missing piece here is called Website Analytics. A well optimized site will bring traffic from many engines, for various keywords that are related to your site. Those keywords may not be on your “approved keyword list” – however they are words people are looking for and they are driving traffic to your site. Many people don’t give credit to their SEO company for these words – however they are mistaken. The fact that your site was properly optimized and content was added is what made the site get noticed by the engines, so the optimization is directly responsible for these “bonus” keywords that are driving traffic to your website.

Because most people don’t understand this, and they don’t give credit to their SEO Firm, many SEO Firms don’t bother looking at or sharing Analytics information with their clients. They simply care about rankings for the keyword list.

At EcomBuffet we understand the value of Web Analytics information and as a result have added these “bonus” keywords to our ranking reports to show our clients how they are being found.

“Yeah, you point out how great you are and the “bonus” keywords – but how does that really help us – the client” is something we heard when we started sharing this information.

It’s true, it is a feather in our cap – it makes us feel good that we have created more exposure for our clients – but it’s more than that. The information we share tells them what words people are using to find them – it gives them insight into how their prospective clients think and search. That information can then be used to improve and really target your marketing efforts.

In addition to the value of the “bonus” keywords – the other thing we do is look at the other information in your web stats. We can figure out what pages people are spending time on, what pages people are leaving quickly, we can see what interest’s people and what drives people away.

Having someone prepare that information for you and deliver it to you in any easy to comprehend manner is invaluable.

That information becomes your blueprint for web site improvement which means increased conversions, which means more sales, which means more money, which means you are one happy camper!

Imagine, rather than guessing at what to tweak on your site to improve results you can take our analysis and suggested changes and use that as a guide to improving your traffic and conversions. Then you monitor the response to your tweaks to ensure your traffic and conversions are growing because the competition isn’t sitting idle and what worked yesterday doesn’t necessarily work tomorrow.

Web stats or Analytics isn’t new – it’s been around forever. However most people don’t know how to interpret their stats, they often don’t have time to gather the data and SEO Firms typically do not tie this information into a SEO campaign.

Our focus is on results. We can deliver the traffic and use Analytics; to get that traffic to take the action you want – whether it is more sales, more people opting in to your site, or calling you. Whatever “results” means to you – we can deliver them.

Case Study: One of our sites has:

* Top rankings for the phrases “phoenix homes” (generic phrase) and “historical homes in phoenix” (specific phrase) Analytics tells us:

* “phoenix homes” brings traffic but has only a 0.82% conversion rate.

* “historical homes in phoenix” brings less traffic but has a 6.67% conversion rate.

The Lesson Learned:

* Add up the traffic from all your “minor” specific phrases — all with high conversions and compare it to the major traffic and low conversions from your generic phrases – you can learn where to focus your attention — on the phrases that convert! (Note: We wouldn’t even know about the specific phrase without Analytics)

* We can add content for the phrase that converts higher, and drive more traffic from that phrase. We can also use that information to guide us in creating marketing material. Along with an affordable website.

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Jennifer Horowitz is the Director of Marketing and co-owner of http://www.EcomBuffet.com . Since 1998, her expertise in online marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has helped clients increase revenue and achieve their business goals. Jennifer has written a downloadable book on Search Engine Optimization and has been published in many SEO and marketing publications. Jennifer can be reached at Jennifer@ecombuffet.com