Category: Business Tips

Find Your Brand–Why Start-Up Companies Need to Do More than Put a Pretty Logo Up!

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Facing financial hardship and need to find a long-term solution out of it by starting a business at home?

Or perhaps you are a transitioning professional who wants to stop relying on your employer but build a viable, thriving income for yourself.

You may be a high school or college student who is just starting out in your career and need guidance.

Or your an artist, author, or musician who needs to get name recognition.

Perhaps you are a ministry leader or community visionary who needs to build a good foundation between constituents, donors, and community.

Whatever your situation, if you are going to start a business, ministry, or promote your artwork, you need a logo. And even more than that, whether you realize it or not, you need branding.

Cheap, easy, and free ways of designing logos will not give you a distinguished brand which will mean you will not reach your goals.

Building a brand is a creative process that requires times and effort. It is an investment. But the return on investment is well worth it.

One thing’s for sure: You can’t wait for handouts or for the government to get its act together.

What you need is an invigoration of the pioneer mindset, the puritan work ethic, and the American Dream.

But with a modern twist—to work smarter, not harder. You need to have a plan.

Face it, you get out of things what you put into them. In other words, if you want the milk, you have to buy the cow. If you think cheap, you will always get cheap.

The long-term benefits of knowing your why and having a clear life and business goal will bring you out of the endless cycle of going nowhere and will result in a transformation of life and business. It will give you wisdom and direction. It will also bring you true hope for your future. Plus, you will be modeling this attitude of success and achievement for your children. You will be giving them the tools they need to succeed, no matter what the job outlook is when they graduate.

Unmasking your authentic identity takes some work, yes, but the work is well worth the investment and time. It takes time to make something of lasting value—nine months for a baby, for instance…

Because when you take your business seriously, your prospects will take your business seriously. And then you will have a life and business that truly sizzles!

Are you ready to unmask your business? Then take my FREE mini-video course at http://www.makeyourbrandsizzle.com Or just enter your name and email on the top right hand column of the page.

Once some serious help to propel your image to the next level? Then find out more about my extensive tutorial course at http://www.brandidentityquest.com

 

QUESTION MARK HEAD 2
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Steve Jobs–Remembering Apple’s Visionary Founder

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Earlier today, I was shocked to learn that Apple’s founder Steve Jobs died. I had talked about him very recently in my Brand Identity Quest webinars. He has had a huge influence on my life!

In fact, I would not have become a graphic designer without him!

When I was a high school student, I was the editor of the entertainment page and had to design it the old fashioned way, with galleys. It was horrible.

But Apple started to make it’s way in my life during my senior year and I must confess, at first I scoffed along with the rest of my family. Our school paper got an Apple IIe and started to print the galleys ourselves on a Daisy Wheel printer. I’ll tell you, it was awful! But it saved the school a lot of money.

But this experience turned me off graphic design work. I was a writer and wanted to work for a magazine.

Then fast forward a few years later in college as a journalism student. In our production class, the school had just switched to IBM computers with the PageMaker desktop publishing program. I made a brochure on this program and found that I had a natural eye for design.

Then I started a Christian arts anthology. In my spare time, I would go to the computer science lab and work on the Macintosh SE/30s. I found that PageMaker worked faster and easier on a Mac. After two issues of my anthology, I was hooked!

After college, I wanted to learn how to design on a Mac. I turned down jobs that were on PCs. Yes, everyone thought I was crazy!

Then my big break came! An editorial assistant job at The Navigators. This eventually turned into a full-time graphic design job after being mentored by the art director, Mike Hames. This happened because I had the vision to start the anthology in college, which forced me to learn about graphic design and showed off my potential in this area. Mike taught me everything he knew about design. Eventually, he left the organization and I took over many aspects of his job.

After getting married and having a child, I started my business, AngelArts. I managed to find used Macs and have quite a collection of them now, including the forerunner to the iPad, a little tablet called the Apple Newton!

But even though I am a Mac nut, I do not own an iPod, iPhone, or iPad. I do want an iPhone soon, though, and I know an iPad would greatly help my high-functioning autistic son.

Steve Jobs is truly an inspiration. He started this company in his garage and through his vision turned it into one of the largest companies in the US.

His life teaches us that you have got to believe in yourself and work hard to achieve it. Jobs has had a huge impact on the whole world. He has had a huge impact on my life! We are all better off because of this tremendous visionary!

Rest in peace, Steve! My heart goes out to his family and my prayers and thoughts are with them!

Starting a Business from Home–How Multiple Streams of Income Can Recession-Proof Your Life!

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Doom and gloom news about the economy is everywhere. Unemployment is incredibly high, food prices are going up, and the stock market is threatening to plummet. Even Hallmark is jumping into the game and offering sympathy cards for those who have experienced the pink slip!

What’s the ordinary person to do?

Recession proof your life! How? Start a business from your home. In fact, start several businesses and create multiple streams of income!

Starting a businesses from home has never been easier and more exciting. With today’s Internet media, you can reach more people for less money and effort than you would believe. For example, companies spend thousands of dollars a year on Yellow Page advertising, yet these days Google is outperforming the phone book!

The Internet is the new gold rush. Amazon’s ebooks have surpassed their print books. Kindles, iPads, and the smart phone have given us the ability to carry the Internet on the go.

Retail sales are increasing on the Internet and it’s not a trend that’s going away anytime. In fact, have you noticed that “box” stores stock less and less inventory and you have to order specialty items online?

The Internet is full of possibilities like never before. The marketing methods are easy to learn, proven, and best of all, inexpensive. And in many cases, they’re free!

How do you start a home business? Your first step is to discover what your passions are and how your skill set and unique knowledge can help a specific segment of people. Then once you have determined your Unique Selling Proposition, you need to build that into a brand that will get you noticed.

But once you get one business built, you don’t have to stop there! Opportunities abound, from direct selling to affiliate marketing to network marketing. And the smartest way to build a business? Turn your specialized experience into an info product that people need, want, and desire!

Multiple streams of income will indeed recession-proof your life!

Want FREE help in learning how to build a business from home, including a brand? Subscribe to my FREE mini video course and download my FREE report!

Want to get started right away? Purchase my online self-paced step by step course on branding and home business building.

Recession proof your life today!

Want a sparkling future? Join me in a FREE webinar tonight!

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Do You Want a Dazzling Future?

I am holding two events that will make your future so bright you will have to wear shades! One is free and one has a limited offer that will knock your socks off! Keep reading for more info!

FREE Webinar: 3 Ways to Make Your Future Sizzle!
In these uncertain times, is a dazzling future possible? Absolutely!

Come to my FREE webinar tonight at 7 pm EST and be inspired to live an abundant life of joy and peace! This will give you hope and encouragement for your future as well as the future for your children.

Register here!

Special Time-Limited Offer: Discount on My Brand Identity Webinar Workshop Programs!
One way to have a dazzling future is to create multiple streams of income. In my webinar training course starting on Wednesday, I will be sharing with you step by step guidance on how to start a business, build a brand, and design your own strategic marketing plan.

Whether you are interested for yourself or would like your high school student or college student to participate, this course will help you discover your unique God-given passions and build them into an authentic brand/logo image identity that will help your future to truly sparkle. Even if business isn’t your forte, this course will help job seekers, ministry leaders, musicians, artists, writers, and authors! At the end of the program, you will learn the graphic design skills necessary to create a one-of-a-kind logo!

My webinar training program starts Wednesday, September 14 at 2 pm EST. If you can’t make all the sessions, don’t worry; you will have access to the recordings.

And for a limited time, you can receive a 50% discount on your first month’s tuition fee! There are programs to fit all budgets, so reserve your seat today! Just enter coupon code SIZZLENOW upon checkout.

Your satisfaction is of utmost importance to me and it is a 100% guaranteed program. What do you have to lose? Get started right away! Your dazzling future awaits you!

Register here for the webinar programs!

Register here for the self-paced study program!

Thank you so much for being a valued fan of Brand Identity Mentor! I look forward to seeing you on the webinar tonight!

Blessings,

Dana Susan Beasley
Publisher, AngelArts

Make Money Immediately with Your Brand–Make a Plan and Stick to It!

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Making money. It’s why we’re in business, right? And don’t we want it immediately?!

Well, here’s my second idea for making money immediately with your brand: Make a plan and stick to it. Get your name in front of people everyday, whether online or offline.

Choose three or four online methods, like article marketing, video marketing, pay per click advertising, social media marketing, banner advertising. Decide on the frequency you will engage in these activities. Make a daily, weekly, and monthly blueprint of these activities.

Another important tip: track your marketing, especially ads! I recently did a banner ad campaign and loved that I could create tracking codes for each link. Next time I do banner advertising, I will know which websites to display my ads in and which ones to avoid! I will also do a spreadsheet. This will really help my efforts. I have a spreadsheet for all my content and it really helps me keep track of my marketing.

What about offline marketing? Create marketing materials and pass them out on a regular basis. One simple idea is to tuck business cards in books your target market reads at bookstores! Where is your target market in your geographical area? Be involved and be prepared to share your business and ALWAYS carry around your professional business cards!

You will be building brand recognition and your bottom line will be improved a ton sooner if you do nothing!

Do you want your brand to make you immediate money?

Join my webinar mentor program starting September 14 where you will learn how to make a brand that sizzles! My program includes a section on creating your own brand strategy!

Sign up now! The quicker you get started, the quicker your brand will make you money.

MONEY CHEST
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Branding Strategy–Steps to Making Money Immediately with Your Brand

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Make money immediately imageYou have a brand or are developing one. So now what?

You need a branding strategy. A branding strategy that makes you money immediately!

How is that possible? I am going to spend the next few posts on some ideas that will help you gain not only name recognition, but monetary reward!

Make sure your brand is consistent across all mediums, both online and offline.

Inconsistency makes your prospects confused. Whether it’s signage in front of a brick and mortar store or a banner on your blog, differences in the application of your logo can derail your profits.

Why?

Because it creates a lack of trust and a gap in credibility. If you don’t take your brand seriously and protect its integrity, why should your potential prospects?

Make sure your brand is the same on your website, on your blog, on your business cards, and your signage, if you have a physical office or store. Invite your target market into an experience with your product or service.

And not only make sure your brand is consistent, make sure it is of high quality. If you don’t take your brand seriously, why should your prospect take your business seriously?

Lessen confusion and communicate trustworthiness and you will increase your ROI!

To show you the immediate value of a consistent brand, let me tell you what happened to me last week. I received a call out of the blue from a retired photographer looking for graphic design help with a photo book. He had discovered me through a Craigslist ad I had posted nearly a month ago.

On the Craigslist ad, I included a link to my website. He had visited it and so was already familiar with my brand when he called to inquire about a job.

He wanted to add me as a Facebook friend, so he looked me up while we were on the phone and he immediately recognized me because my branding, including my personal photograph, was consistent!

Now here’s another story to illustrate what happens when your brand is not consistent: several months ago my husband and I were looking for a jazz club I had heard about. We really wanted to listen to live music. I had the address and the name of the business but I saw no sign. It was confusing and this uncertainty led us to ditch the idea of going to the club. We went to one that was already familiar to us! It’s brand was definitely strong and had burned into our minds that it was reliable!

Do you want your brand to make you immediate money? Join my webinar mentor program starting September 14 where you will learn how to make a brand that sizzles! Sign up now! The quicker you get started, the quicker your brand will make you money.

GREEN DOLLAR SIGNS CASH MONEY
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Branding Strategy–Build Your Brand Identity Through the Five Ws

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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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Courses in Online Marketing–How to Create Your Own Self-Study Marketing Course

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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!

 

Brand Identity Marketing-My New FREE 10 Day Mini-Video Course!

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These days, gaining brand visibility over a wide variety of mediums is crucial to a successful business, especially for online marketers.

But in order to be effective, your brand must soar above the competition!

How? By creating a compelling brand based on your authentic identity!

Announcing my new free video course for online marketers, entrepeneurs, business owners, ministry leaders, authors and writers, and high school and college students!

Here is the first video:

[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dk9QV4gcbm2E img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/k9QV4gcbm2E/0.jpg embed=false share=true width=500 height=300 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /]

Sign up below and you will get 10 free videos delivered to your email. While a few of them are available for public viewing, most are exclusively unlisted just for my subscribers!

Plus, every subscriptions comes with my free report, 10 Ways to Make Your Brand Sizzle. And, to give you ongoing support, you will automatically be enrolled in my ezine, BrandNotes.

Just enter your name and email below and you will receive your first emails immediately.

I hate spam as much as you do. I promise never to rent or sell your private information.








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