I am happy to announce I finished a new video for my brand identity mentor program!
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Want to get started on your brand image? Click here to sign up today! The webinar starts September 14 and space is limited!
Branding strategy. How do you do it?
The other night I was thinking about the classic questions asked in journalism: who, what, where, when, why, and how; and it occurred to me this would be a fantastic tool to developing your brand and reaching new levels in your business.
So I came up with a laundry list of brainstorming questions:
1) Who
Who are you in business for? Whom do you serve? Who runs the company? Who is your staff, if you have any? Who are your important resources? Who are your mentors? Who are the business owners you admire? 2) Who motivates you to be an entrepreneur, especially in hard times? Who do you need to delegate tasks to?
2) What
What does your business do? What is the history of your business? What is your history? What do your important publics think of you and your business? What is your business perceived to be by your target market? What motivates you when you experience roadblocks? What resources do you need to really achieve the level of success you are aspiring to? What skills do you need to learn? What equipment do you need? What are your products and services. What tasks can you delegate? What obstacles are holding you back?
3) Where
Where do you serve? Is your business in geographical in nature or is it online? If you are primarily a regional business, can you expand your business online. For instance, if you teach a class in your town, can you teach it via a webinar? Or, if you teach a webinar online, can you form a local class? Where is your audience located? Where do they hang out? Where on the Internet do they surf?
4) When
When does your target market get on the Internet? When is your target market able to make purchases? When do they have cash flow? When do they have the least cash flow and therefore in the most pain? When do they need your products or services?
5) Why
Why are you in business? Why do you serve your target market? Why did you start your business? Why are you an entrepreneur? Why did you choose your target market? Why did you create your products and services?
6) How
How does your target market benefit from your products or services? How does your business work? How do you promote your product or services to your target market? How do you get paid?
That’s a lot of questions, but brainstorming the answers may help you build a brand that gets noticed and reach a new level in your business!
Want more help with your brand strategy? Join me in a journey to unmask your authentic identity! Several programs available, including webinar workshop series starting September 14! Space is limited, so reserve your spot today by clicking here!
BRAINSTORMING
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The corporate identity designer builds brands for businesses. They do this through a system of thorough analysis and strategic implementation. The designer might be part of an agency, operate as a freelancer, or work in an in-house creative department.
Here is an overview of the process most designers go through to create a corporate identity:
1) The designer will first consult with the client. She will ask thorough questions like what is your vision of your new brand, what message do you want to communicate with your new brand, who is your target market? What kind of media are you wanting to apply your brand to? Identity collateral? Brochures? Website? Blog?
Many times, this initial consultation is free. The designer will create an estimate based on the specs collected from the initial meeting.
If the client agrees to hire the designer, a working agreement is signed and 1/3 of the estimate price is collected as a deposit.
2) For a re-brand, she will do a visual audit. She will analyze all existing materials including signage, business cards, brochures, website, social media, blog, etc. She will be checking to see what’s working with the brand and what’s not working and how consistently it is applied across all mediums.
3) After collecting information and thorough analysis of existing materials, she will then think of an initial concept. This is an idea, a design direction, a vision of what the brand would like. If she needs artwork, she will download or make a For Position Only (FPO) to place temporarily in the image.
4) She will execute a thumbnail sketch or do a preliminary design in professional software, like Adobe Photoshop, QuarkXPress, or Adobe Illustrator.
5) She will print comps.
6) A meeting with the client will take place where the initial drafts are presented. The client will choose his favorite or make suggestions, desired changes. If the client is not satisfied, the designer will go back to the drawing board and come up with more ideas (depends what kind of agreement the designer has with the client).
7) The client will present the changes and will work with the process until a final design is collected.
If the designer has been hired to create marketing materials or Internet media. the designer will create designs and upon approval of the client, finalize them.
8) After the client approves the final logo and/or marketing materials or web media, the designer will collect 1/3 of the estimate.
9) The designer will work with a printer to produce the marketing materials or work with web designers to create websites, blogs, etc.
10) The designer will deliver the complete printed pieces or turn over the web media to the client, after receiving the remaining part of the estimate. If the actual job was less than estimated, the designer will adjust the bill accordingly. A good designer will not charge MORE than the original estimate, unless the client requested a change order. If the designer made a mistake with printing, etc., the designer will “eat” the charge.
That is the basic process of working with a corporate identity designer! With any designer, a company wants one that will ultimately make their brand sizzle!
Want more ways to make your brand sizzle? Check out my free mini video course and free report!
Can’t wait to get started on building an authentic identity? Join me in my branding coaching and mentoring program that will help you unmask your identity! Next webinar starts September 14! Many levels to choose from. Reserve your spot today! Seats are extremely limited!
Creating a course in online marketing is an extremely beneficial investment in yourself, especially in this information age where learning is literally accessible under the reach of your fingers.
Years ago, upon earning my Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing, my college guidance counselor told me I was a good candidate for graduate school.
Since then, I have wanted to go back to school and get my Master’s Degree. But time and money were not there. I had other duties as a wife and mother.
And then I started my home business. With so many resources available on the Internet, I realized I didn’t need to take formal classes.
I could make my own course of study. After all, education is a life-long journey. The credentials don’t matter in the long run, especially as an online at-home business owner.
What matters is that I apply what I learn on a daily basis.
So that’s why a couple of years ago I started my self-paced study on Internet marketing. I made a plan to study each day and to apply what I learned immediately in my own business.
The result? I am becoming recognized as an expert and attracting clients to my graphic design services business like never before!
How did I do it? Here are some ideas to get you started:
1) Ask yourself this crucial question: what does success look for YOU? Not anyone else. What is it that you want to accomplish in your life and business? The next 10 years? Five years? One year? Six months?
One of the most valuable insights I got from studying online was learning to make decisions from where I want to be instead of where I am now.
Keeping the end in mind will help you create a vision for your life and business, which will in turn help you decide on what and how to study.
2) Analyze what kind of learner you are. Do you learn best in an analytical, step by step method? Do you learn best by studying what truly interests you? Do you process information better by hearing or seeing or doing?
As a homeschooling mother to a special needs child, I have learned the value of this knowledge of learning style for both teacher and student. This is crucial information as I choose and develop my son’s curriculum and has at times prompted me to throw out everything I have and create my own curriculum more suited to his learning styles and challenges.
3) Find the people in your field you admire most and want to be like. Make sure they are truly successful at what they do. You don’t want the blind leading the blind! Invest in yourself by buying one course to start with.
Many online marketing gurus have packages with several different learning styles in mind. The first one I bought was from Ali Brown, her Online Success Blueprint, which included a workbook, CDs, and DVDs. This gave me a birds-eye view of what I needed to do to accomplish my online business goals.
Other coaches offer continuity programs through email. This is a very effective way to study. They break it down into weekly assignments, which forces you to immediately apply what you’re learning to your business. Taking one of these continuity programs is how I learned to create my own online course based on my particular area of expertise–branding.
Be careful of information overload, though. Once you start taking courses from “gurus,” you will be inundated with offers. In the online marketing world, this becomes like candy. “Oh, the next best thing that will bring me success,” you think. Don’t look for magic pills that will make all your dreams come true in one easy shot. Actually, lifelong learning and life success is a journey of hard work. But it is a journey abounding in rewards, both personally and professionally.
After you take your first course, drill down. What area of learning do you need to pursue in order to reach your goals, both short term and long term? Master one skill at a time and put everything you learn into practice immediately.
4) Find a business coach or mastermind group. This is an extremely important step! After you have gotten your feet wet, join a coaching organization. Find a mentor who will help you step by step. Be involved in a mastermind group.
I have never heard of a successful online marketer who didn’t invest in themselves through one on one coaching and mentoring. There are many ways to get involved to fit any budget. I started with Ali Brown’s lowest mentorship circle, which consists of monthly teleseminars. Now I am part of a coaching group called Internet Marketing, Mentoring and Coaching Center and I have mentors who are constantly cheering me on. I could not have gotten a vision for my marketing plan without them. In fact, I wouldn’t even be writing this content without this coaching program! My involvement with iMMaCC has given me incredible focus and direction that I lacked before.
Facebook groups are also a great source for this. I have found tremendous support there, not just professionally, but personally. Take advantage of social media, not just to be a sponge of new information, but to be an authentic voice in a community. This is a very rewarding activity when you can give and take with like-minded people.
5) Develop a local Dream Team. Nothing beats face to face time. Period. No matter how sophisticated technology gets, personal interaction with other human beings is the best, most effective means of learning.
Recently, I met with a fellow homeschooling mother who is in the same position I am–we must get our businesses contributing to our families or we will be having to look into getting jobs in the marketing place. Not a great option when number one there are no jobs and number two we have children with special needs that require our full-time care!
So we decided to get together once a month to help each other toward our goals. We will barter services. We are both committed to seeing the success of the other person.
This is going to be a huge motivation. In a few weeks when we meet for the first time, you bet I’m going to want to report my progress to her! And I’m going to want to impart my knowledge to her as well. Teaching others what I learned increases exponentially my own course of study!
6) Get in the habit of learning on a daily basis. Instead of watching tv, watch DVDs on your chosen course of study. Listen to podcasts while you clean. Take audio CDs in your car. Read one chapter a day. Integrate it into your daily life instead of thinking, “Oh I’ll get to it after I…” You won’t! Do it now while you’re doing the ordinary tasks of life. Then use your learning to guide you in your business activity.
So there you have it in a nutshell. How to create your own course of study. Whether you want to study online marketing, writing, design, or fine arts, this method will help you reach new heights in your life and beyond!
Ready to start a mentorship program? Introducing my new Brand Identity Mentoring Program!
There are several levels to choose from that will fit your budget, including a webinar course, one one mentoring, brand development, and identity collateral design and printing.
Class starts September 14 so reserve your spot today! Space is limited!