Branding in Marketing – Step 1 to Make Your Brand Marketing Soar Above the Competition

December 12, 2011 DanaLeave a comment

In this Internet age, branding in marketing is absolutely essential. It’s not just for big corporations anymore.

Think about this: At best, you have 30 seconds to get your prospect to click on your image. First impressions are everything!

So is your brand attracting the kind of attention you want? Or does your brand leave your traffic snoozing because it looks indistinguishable from every other brand out there?

If your brand is less than exciting, don’t worry. Over my next several posts, I’m going to share with you five steps that will help your company brand soar above the competition.

5 Steps to Make Your Brand Marketing Soar Above the Competition

Step 1) Make sure your brand represents the essence of who you are.

Your brand should accurately reflect your company’s reason for existence. Call this your mission, your vision, your Unique Selling Proposition.

Whatever you call it, the more clarity you have on why you are in business, the more your brand will accurately portray the essence of who you are as a company.

The result? You will increase your name recognition and brand awareness. If who you are is reflected accurately in your business image, your prospects will be naturally attracted to your brand and ultimately the products or services you are offering, which will increase your bottom line. Further, congruence between image and essence translates to customer trust and loyalty.

In other words, your brand delivers what you promise. When your brand does not accurately reflect your business, your prospects may feel jipped. Like you overpromised and underdelivered. You do not want your brand reflecting this bad business modus operandi!

Relationship marketing is the new wave of business. Social media makes this more relevant than ever. Don’t be left behind in the dust. Learn how to be authentic and you will soar above your competition!

Keep checking back for the next four steps! Better yet, subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss anything!

Want more valuable tips on how to soar above your competition? Check out my FREE 10 Day mini course that will have you soaring in no time at all!

Want even more help so your brand can truly slam your competitors? Sign up for my extensive course on brand marketing!

How to Make Brochures–Graphic Design Secrets that Will Make Your Brochure Sizzle!

November 10, 2011 Dana5 comments

So you’re thinking about making a brochure for your business. But how do you make brochures? And even more important, how do you make an effective brochure?

Basically, there are six stages of producing brochures:

Initial Concept
Writing
Editing
Designing
Production
Distribution

Fundamentally, brochures need to arouse attention and get interest. They need to motivate an audience toward an action.

You need to know your audience well. What is their age, location, income, family status, industry involved, job title/function, education level, political orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin?
Knowing all these things, think through what they really care about. What is important to them? What problems do they have? What are their fears, especially what are they afraid of losing?
Talk to your audience in terms of needs. What’s the problem? How can you meet that? Get benefits across to your audience. What solutions are you offering them?
Here’s some other ideas to help you create an effective brochure:

Use conversational tone “You”
Get message across in 20 seconds.
Make sure visuals work for you, that they illustrate a selling point.
Ask for action, make sure it’s easy to respond.
Use Business Reply Envelopes or include a custom domain name.

Additionally, ask these questions:

What is the purpose of your brochure?
Who is your audience?
What is your desired accomplishment?

Be sure to use graphic design elements:

Type
Graphics
Color of paper
Contrast and balance between dark and light
Balance between color and white space
Ink color
Contrast in type
Be consistent. This creates unity
Don’t use too much copy
Headlines are essential!

Follow these guidelines and you will have a brochure that sizzles!

Would you like to have a brand that sizzles and learn the principles of print design? Check out my free mini video course at Make Your Brand Sizzle.

Want even more help in turning your brand into quality print design? Get step by step guidance through my online tutorial course at Brand Identity Quest.

The Netflix Fiasco–Why Listening to Your Customers Is So Important

October 26, 2011 DanaLeave a comment

Today I read an interesting article about Netflix and how they’ve lost 800,000 customers. More than likely you are aware of this fiasco made by the CEO of one of the biggest video rental companies in the US.

The CEO decided to split their product in two and raise their prices. This caused a great deal of anger with their customer base, and as a result, many of them dropped the service.

From what I have read, I understand that the CEO decided to do this without any market research. He did not listen to his customers at all but arrogantly decided to make this decision.

Now Netflix is admitting their mistake and doing damage control. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but as a Netflix customer myself, I hope they get it straightened out soon!

This fiasco made by Netflix underscores the importance of listening to your prospects and customers. It’s so important to have your ear to the ground and know your audience. Making arrogant decisions just because you have the power as the business owner may result in loss of market share!

So listen to your customer. Do market research. Get to know your audience.

This fiasco made by Netflix is a great object lesson in why that’s so important!

Make Money with Your Brand–Turn it into Gold with Promotional Products!

September 17, 2011 DanaLeave a comment

Making money with your brand. Is that possible? Absolutely!

One way to make money with your brand is to turn it into promotional products!

Promotional products are a great tool to increasing brand awareness.

Recently, I hired a dog groomer and she gave me a logo-branded key chain. Do you think I will keep that and call her next time I need a groomer? You bet I will!

Create a memorable product with your logo applied to it. One of my favorite products I tried was chocolates. When I passed that out to prospects, people remembered me for sure!

Turn your logo into a golf shirt or baseball cap. Wear it around town and you will be promoting yourself, building name recognition, sparking conversations, and yes, resulting in more leads and sales!

And you can turn your products into sellable items. Yes, you can make money from selling your logo branded products! A professional products consultant can help you find the best deal for high volume products, or if you want to create the items on demand, try CafePress or Zazzle.

But again, make sure your logo is consistently applied. And make sure it is applied with excellence!

By following these ideas, you will not only increase name recognition, you will make money with your brand!

Want more help with your branding? Join me in a journey to uncover your authentic identity! This 14-week extensive course will help you discover your passions and callings and find the audience that will most connect with you. You will turn this information into a well-constructed logo and then create name recognition through a strategic brand marketing plan you will develop.

Class starts soon! September 19 at 9 pm EST! And the first month is FREE if you enter the coupon code FREEWEBINAR upon checkout. This FREE offer applies to the webinar workshop program only. If you choose a more advanced level, enter the code and you will get a $47 discount off your first monthly fee.

Click here to reserve your seat today!

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

September 8, 2011 Dana3 comments

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!

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

September 4, 2011 Dana4 comments

You 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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Just Finished a New Video for My Brand Identity Mentor Program!

August 25, 2011 Dana4 comments

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–Build Your Brand Identity Through the Five Ws

August 24, 2011 DanaOne comment

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!

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

August 20, 2011 Dana6 comments

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!

Marketing Strategies for Women–Implement Key Offline Marketing Methods

July 28, 2011 DanaLeave a comment

A marketing strategy is essential for you as a woman in business. Perhaps you are already a stay at home mom but need a way to earn some extra money. Or you may be stuck in the corporate world desperately wanting out so you can spend time with your family. You may be a seasoned business woman but are feeling stagnated. You might be an artist or writer, passionate about your craft, but you hate marketing.

Whatever your particular situation, how can you develop an effective marketing strategy that will propel your business to the next level? Or, if you’re just starting out, how can you get your business on a good, solid footing? If you are an artist or writer and hate marketing, how can you be better at promoting yourself?

One idea is to implement offline marketing methods.

Decide how you are going to duplicate your brand. One essential would be business cards. Design professional ones and keep them with you at all times. Have prepared a 30 second elevator pitch. What’s that? It’s the quick answer to the question, “So what do you do?”

When conversations naturally lend themselves to handing out your card, give one to your prospect and say, “You may or may not be interested, but I have this free….” Develop a free offer that your prospect can easily download online and have this printed on your cards.

Be sure to put your photograph on your card and all marketing materials. Be consistent with your brand. This lessens confusion and builds credibility with your prospect or customer.

Keep checking back for more ways to implement offline marketing in your business! I will be posting more in upcoming days!

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 a journey to unmask your brand identity today!

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