Don’t Kill Success with Perfectionism

November 30, 2015 DanaLeave a comment

Perfectionism. It’s what stops aspiring entrepreneurs in their tracks. It’s sad. I see it time and time again where a great idea is born, but the bearer of that idea won’t put it forth because it has to be “perfect.”

Your brand is like a game. If you want to win, you have to get in there and play! You can’t play if you won’t get in the field because you are afraid of failing. Because you don’t want to play unless you’re perfect.

A few years ago, I once was hired by a chiropractor who wanted me to help him with a presentation of a new service. He never completed his contract because before I could barely begin work, he decided he needed to re-brand everything. He never, to my knowledge, moved forward because he was so focused on perfection.

This false belief that your work has to be perfect before you put yourself out there is a roadblock that will kill your success.

What should you aim for? Of course, excellence. But realize there will always be something you want to change about your branding, marketing materials, and products. There’s always room for improvement!

But if no one sees your brand, you will not have visibility. And that will lead to less clients that you are attracting which will lead to less sales!

I like how many Internet marketing gurus put it: “progress, not perfection.” Take baby steps.

When I became a homeschooling teacher to my son, which is a huge responsibility, my wise sister-in-law told me this:

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

Those words apply to business owners. If you want to have success, then let go of perfection. The success of your business depends on the speed that you get your brand and products to the marketplace. Far less “perfect” brands and products that are seen by the public will do better than a superior brand or product that has not been unveiled because it’s not “perfect.”

Lay aside perfectionism. Play the game. Who knows. You might fail. But you will have already succeeded because you have become part of the action.

Let your brand be part of the action and you will sizzle! And your future will dazzle!

Want step by step help in getting your brand ready for its big unveiling? Take my systemized, proven course that will empower you to create a solid brand that results in more leads, sales, and profits.

Elephant © Odm | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Building a Brand Identity–What Exactly Branding Does

January 29, 2015 DanaLeave a comment

Last fall, Nathan Creed, my nephew and apprentice, helped me create a free video series called 3 Keys to Valor. Here is a little snippet of one of the clips. I think you’ll enjoy this!

Do you want to know more about the 3 Keys to Valor? Watch the trailer!

Branding Yourself–7 Tips to Help You Stand Out Above the Crowd

August 2, 2013 Dana2 comments

In this Internet age, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. How can you stand out with your prospects?

Here’s some ideas to help you!

Send your customers branded birthday cards, promotional products, and thank you gifts. This will keep you top of mind and show that you care!
Set up a domain for your business as well as your name. Use keywords as part of your domain.
Use domain email: your name@yourbusiness.com. Yahoo, gmail, and other free services are unprofessional and will decrease your credibility.
Send your own branded thank you cards as a follow-up to customers.
Create your own company logo wear and advertise your business when you are going around town!
Compose an elevator pitch to tell people what you do and how you can help them. Practice it until you have it memorized!
Without vision people perish! Spend some time thinking through your life and business vision, mission, and values! Then translate it into business plans, marketing plans, and most importantly, your calendar!

Would you like more ideas on how to brand yourself? Take my free video course and also get a free report! Just click here to get started right away!

How To Start Business Without Money – 4 Steps That Will Make Your Dream Into Reality

August 29, 2012 Dana8 comments

So you want to start a business and you have little or no money. How can you make your dream a reality?

In today’s Internet age, it is more than possible!

Watch the video below to find out more.

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Be sure to stay tuned for Part Two where I share the fourth tip! I will be posting it on Friday morning!

Want more help on how to start a business without money? Take my free mini-video course for free by clicking here now! Start today and you can get started immediately!

Build a Strong Brand–Get a Sneak Peek of My Brand Identity Course Materials!

August 17, 2012 Dana6 comments

How do you build a strong brand?

By discovering your brand! And that stars with discovering your passions! Then you build that into an image that reflects accurately who you are and what you do!

Why is this important? Because you create a compelling brand that will attract your customers to you!

Through my step by step Brand Identity Quest Tutorial Lesson Series, you can create your own unique sizzling brand! In the video below, I show a sneak peek of the materials you will get as a member of my course!

Get your sneak peek today! It will mean that not only will you have a brand that sizzles, you will have a dazzling future as well!

[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_detailpage%26v%3DVwHYaM7RDtw img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/VwHYaM7RDtw/0.jpg embed=true share=true width=400 height=280 dock=true controlbar=over logo=x:/brandidentitymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/redlogocropped.jpg bandwidth=high autostart=false /]

To get a taste of what I offer for free, sign up for my mini video course at http://www.MakeYourBrandSizzle.com

To sign up for my Brand Identity Quest Tutorial Lesson Series, click here now!

Business Logos Design–3 Dangers to Avoid When Designing a Logo

August 4, 2012 DanaLeave a comment

Business logos design. It seems these days everyone is a graphic designer and cheap programs are widely accessible.

You can even hire a “designer” for less than $100!

But what are you really getting?

As a graphic artist for over 17 years, I have seen a lessening of standards in the industry and a huge desire for cheap and free services by business owners.

The problem is that you get what you pay for.

If you want cheap, you will come across as cheap. And you will be making mistakes in your logo image. This is going to cost you in the long run. Because a logo is more than just an image on a page. It is the representation of your brand.

A poorly constructed logo is going to confuse your prospects which will hurt your revenue in the long run. This is truly dangerous to you and your business!

Major corporations recognize that their brand is their most important asset. They pay tens of thousands of dollars to high dollar ad agencies. Business logos design is not something to be handled lightly or cheaply. It takes thought, tender loving care, and strategic implementation.

So what are the common mistakes in logo design to avoid?

Here are a few that come to my mind:

1) The symbol in the logo has nothing whatsoever to do with the message the brand is trying to communicate. Sometimes the logo owner will have an esoteric idea that he thinks his prospects should just “get.” This will lead to confusion.

Your goal: instant recognition. I know I have done a good job when a person looks at a logo I’ve designed and says, “Oh, so you do so and so…” and nail it without having to explain a thing! This happened recently involving a sweatshirt design I had made with a logo printed on it. A stranger saw it and immediately understood what that logo represented and what it meant the owner of that brand did as a business.

2) A name that is complicated and full of initials that mean nothing to an outsider. I have seen this one a lot lately. The brand identity, the business name, may mean something to the business owner, but it is a complete mystery to a prospect. This is not good. When naming a business or a product line, great care needs to be taken. Initials, abbreviations, and acronyms very rarely work for the small business. These are usually only successful with corporations that already have a lot of brand recognition. A name that is unclear is only going to confuse your prospects.

Before you go with that name you think is going to represent your brand, be sure to do some research. Ask for feedback. Share the name with trusted colleagues and ask them if they understand what the name is describing. If they don’t understand it, you need to go back to the drawing board!

3) Inferior typography. Okay, I admit it, I am a typography snob. I just can’t help it. In the beginning of my career, I learned what set apart a professional from an amateur design. And it is all about typography.

What is that? It is the art of using fonts to create a picture. But not only that, typography encompasses symbol design such as quote marks. When I see a design that has an inch mark or foot mark rather than a quote mark or bona fide apostrophe (called Smart Quotes in most software programs), I instantly know that the design is amateurish.

This makes your brand look amateur! People today are used to sophisticated brands. If your brand looks less than professional, than the perception will be that YOU are less than professional. If you don’t take your business seriously, no one will take you seriously. The opposite is true, too: If you take your business seriously, you will be taken seriously!

And this will ultimately lead to increased revenues! That’s why having a high quality business logos design is so important.

Want to learn more about how to create a well-constructed business logo design? Take my FREE mini video course today and get your FREE report on how to make your brand sizzle!

DANGER, KEEP OUT! © Photographer: Brett Rabideau | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Truett Cathy and Chick-Fil-A–A Branding Success Story!

August 3, 2012 DanaLeave a comment

Funny how life works! I had it in mind to write stories about founders of famous companies, and then the broo ha ha erupted about Chick-Fil-A!

And as an aside, yes, I support Truett Cathy, Dan Cathy, and Chick-Fil-A. They believe in traditional marriage as do I. In fact, that is all that Dan Cathy, the current CEO, apparently said for a Baptist publication interview which created this firestorm. He did not say he condemned gay marriage, he only said he upheld traditional marriage!

I stood for this company because the attempted censorship and discrimination by city leaders (that’s what started the whole thing, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel saying they weren’t welcome in Chicago, as well as the mayor of Boston), could happen to me, though of course I am a much smaller concern! Shut down because my beliefs are different than some other folks. My company is founded on biblical principles and Jesus is my CEO! Not everyone will like that, but that’s just part and parcel of who I am!

However, just because I disagree with another person’s viewpoint does not mean I hate anyone. It means I have a deeply held religious conviction that no one can take away from me! This issue is all about free speech whatever your beliefs are!

I am not the judge, Jesus is. I have to concentrate on overcoming my own struggles. As He said long ago, don’t try to take out the speck in someone’s eye when you have a log in your own! And I’m convinced if Jesus were here today, he’d be seeking out the hurting, the wounded, the unacceptable to society and loving on them. He would not condemn the heart who truly wants to know Him, but say, “Go and sin no more,” just as He said to the adulterer caught in the act. If you look at 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 there is a whole laundry list of behavior that can get us in trouble. I believe we better concentrate on our own struggles. In Jesus, we all can have a fresh start: “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:12 NIV)

So all that to say, on Wednesday, August 1, I attended Chick-Fil-A appreciation day with my family!

As I stood in line, I was reading about the history of Chick-Fil-A and that reminded me about this blog topic! What a way to start!

Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant in 1946. It was called the Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia. He is credited with creating the first chicken sandwich and started Chick-Fil-A in the 1960s.

The first stores were in malls. In fact, Truett Cathy pioneered the movement to create quick serve restaurants in malls. The business steadily grew and in 1986 after popular demand, the company opened their first stand-alone restaurant.

Today, there are over 1,615 Chick-Fil-A locations and their annual sales in 2011 were over $4.1 billion.

The mission of Chick-Fil-A is to “Be America’s Best Quick-Service Restaurant.”

After my experience on Wednesday, I can wholeheartedly say that’s true, even when they are completely overwhelmed by customers!

Chick-Fil-A is a model of superb branding. From its logo image of the chicken in the “Chick” part of the identity all the way to how employees serve customers, it is congruent.

Even with the deluge of customers, employees were cheerful and welcoming. The restaurant is a warm place to be and their food holds up to their promises.

And this friendliness of employees even held up under extreme pressure. I heard of a case where a customer purposefully harassed an employee because he was angry with Dan Cathy’s statement on marriage. She kept her cool and proved even in that circumstance how superior the Chick-Fil-A brand really is!

What I also love about this company is that it is family owned! To me, the Chick-Fil-A brand is a picture of the possibilities of creating a family economy. I looked at the board of the corporation and it is all family members! In fact, I noticed how involved the family was in the particular franchise we visited. A woman dressed in plain clothes was cleaning tables and helping in various ways, acting like a true hostess. I assume she was the owner’s wife.

No matter what you feel about Chick-Fil-A and Dan Cathy’s statement on marriage, the experience I had is an example of this: If you create a superior brand you will have a dazzling future!

How can you start on your dazzling future? Learn more today by taking my free course on how to create sizzling brands!

Source: http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Company/Highlights-Fact-Sheets

Brand Logo–A Show and Tell of My Logo Portfolio!

July 31, 2012 Dana4 comments

Brand logos and logo design seem to be a dime a dozen these days. But my passion is excellent graphic arts. I am passionate about helping people create effective brand images that get noticed.

But some of you may be asking, who is this gal anyway and what has she done?

Because just because one says she is an expert doesn’t make her one!

So since the proof is in the pudding, every week on my blog I am going to highlight some of the work I have done in graphic design.

This week I am going to emphasize logos.

What makes my logo design unique?

I approach the design with creativity
I always keep marketing objectives in mind
I thoroughly analyze branding issues
I always communicate a message through my logos that support the brand that is behind the logo
I use graphic design standards
I make sure the logos are workable across many mediums
I make words into images using typography

Now what I’m going to show you today is only a small representation of my work. My file drawers are full of items that I need to scan! Follow my blog and you will see a lot more!

So here are a few examples:

I designed this logo for a building designer:

I designed this for a contest in 2007 and I won!

I designed this for a greeting card and novelty art line:

I designed this for a greeting card line. I made the mountain image through a special process that I invented: shaping torn construction paper into a picture and scanning it. This is an example of my creative ability.

The logo “CloserWalk” was a rebranding project. It was the masthead for the Walk Thru the Bible magazine. I gave these magazines a fresh, updated look. The printer was very impressed when they saw the makeover I had achieved!

I did this logo for a school arts extravaganza event. The logo was used in programs, invitations, t-shirts, and more.

I created this logo for a Christmas craft show.

I designed this logo for an optical sciences company:

I designed this for a book series that is available in ebook format as well as on Amazon.

*All logos belong to their respective owners.

Not only am I logo designer, I also am experienced in teaching people how to design their own! Click here now to take my FREE mini course and download my FREE report that will teach you how to create a sizzling logo!

Invest Yourself–Why Investing in Yourself is the Wisest Investment You Can Make!

July 27, 2012 DanaLeave a comment

Invest yourself. This is the wisest investment you can make, better than the stock market, even wiser than real estate. When you invest your particular passion and channel it into a small business or career, you are safeguarding yourself in any economy. You will be thriving, not just surviving!

Watch the video to learn more about why investing in yourself is the wisest investment you can make!

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Want to know more about how you can invest in yourself by creating a sizzling brand? Click here now to take my FREE mini-video course!

Brand Marketing Success–When What You Offer Lines Up with What You Say!

March 1, 2012 DanaLeave a comment

Today I experienced what it is like to be satisfied with a brand.

As an As Seen on TV fan, I had always been curious about Pajama Jeans.

The commercials always say that they are so comfy, that they’re just like sweats.

Well, it’s true!

The product really does live up to their brand marketing!

How refreshing!

Now think about this. How do you feel when you purchase a product or service and it doesn’t live up to its promise? The brand is damaged in your eyes, right?

That’s why building a brand based on authentic identity is so important!

You’ve got to thoroughly analyze who you are and what you offer and WHOM you offer it to!

When your customers find out that you came through with your promise of delivery, your brand will stand out. Because they will want to talk about you! In a positive light!

What was the first thing I did when I realized I was thrilled with the jeans? I shared my experience with my friends, especially on Facebook!

So be authentic in your brand and it will sizzle!

Want to learn more about how to make your brand sizzle? Take my FREE 10 day mini-video course and read my free report!

Need to get started right away on how to make a custom brand and custom business cards? Take my online tutorial course! You can get started immediately even if it’s 2 am on a Sunday!

Want even more help? Help from a branding consultant in a workshop atmosphere? Join my webinar program starting on April 10! You will have a new logo image, business card, and web banner in seven weeks!

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Tag: brand positioning