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Simple Techniques to Promote Your Brand

May 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

build your brandThrough a lot of hard work and thought, you have discovered the perfect brand for your business.  Congratulations!  Now, what are you going to do with it?  If you looking for a way to promote your brand, and build a solid foundation of recurring clients, here are some great tips to get you started.

First, take a long look at your brand.  Is it as unique as it could be?  Keep in mind that people will see product or services that are similar to yours every day.  It pays to do something that goes against the grain and encourages your potential clients to think.  Simply put, if your potential client is thinking about your brand, they aren’t considering the other, boring alternative.  It’s like fishing with a shiny, sparkling lure versus a simple worm.  Yes, both will attract a fish, but which one will attract the most attention?

Of course, once you have their attention, the trick is to keep it while you are providing the service or the product that the client wants.  The best way to do this balancing act is to present a brand that is stable.  Take the time to develop your brand to transcend the various fads and trends that come and go throughout the years.  You’re planning on running a successful business for many years to come.  Shouldn’t your chosen brand reflect that type of commitment?

You also need to make sure that the brand that you have chosen is used consistently throughout your presence both online and offline.  Your brand will be a way for your clients and potential clients to recognize you and the quality of your work.  You want them to equate the unique and favorable service that they got with the logo or design theme that is on your letterheads, business cards, or any other form of correspondence.
Once you have your brand established, the next thing to do is to get it out to the public.  Use promotional items, or low cost things that are used every day.  The whole purpose is to make sure that your brand is seen in as many different places as you can.  Things such as notepads, pens, and even magnetic refrigerator magnets don’t cost a lot, but can leave a great impression.

Remember that brands are very effective marketing tools.  Therefore, be sure to take the time to design one that can withstand the test of time.

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How to Effectively Brand Yourself

May 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

brandCreating an effective brand image is more than just creating an engaging logo and using a unique color scheme for your website.  If you’re interested in creating a brand that will stand out in the crowd, here are some of the things you need to keep in mind.

The first step in creating a brand that will leave the competition behind is to determine what the competition is.   So take a good amount of time and research the competition in your area, or in your chosen business field.   Find out about how your potential customer sees them, what makes them popular, or where they need to improve.  Tactics such as having potential customers take a simple survey, or basically watching your competition in action can provide significant insight into where the true competition lies.  Plus, you can use that information to further improve on their model of success.

Once you have done the necessary research, the next step in creating a brand is to clearly determine what you have to offer.  See if you can answer this question:  What would make a client off the street choose you over someone else?  Sit down and determine where your strengths and skill lie.  Be honest with yourself, and don’t try to attribute too much to yourself.  After all, this is your brand.  Everything you say you can do, sooner or later you will have to support by action and results.  Once you have determined what you can do remarkably well, the next step is to see if those would be considered an asset by your potential customers.  Once you have found a set of strengths and abilities that match up to your chosen target market, you’ll be well on your way to making a marketable brand.

Of course, understanding your strengths will get you nowhere fast if you don’t understand your potential client base.  Doing accurate research on who could potentially buy your service or product is a great way to determine exactly which people to approach, and how to work with them effectively.  Look at their buying habits.  Are they more concerned about getting the most for their money, or is quality the only thing they consider?  Are they concerned about meeting strict deadlines, or is there more flexibility involved?  Also look at the way they live, and where their interests and hobbies lie.  Those little bits of information can give you great insight into how and when they might use your services or buy a product.

So you know your brand, and your potential clients.  You know what they are looking for, and you are certain that you can provide it.  The only step left now is to be the brand that you promise to be.  If you pride yourself on being friendly and dependable, delivering on time be sure promptness and politeness is your mantra at all times.  If your focus is a superior quality material, make sure your product is second to none.

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Increasing Traffic to Your Website : Understanding the Need for Dynamic Webpage Features

April 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Perhaps you’ve run across a truly static website while you’re searching the internet.  The content may be well written, but what are the chances that you will return to it once you’ve gathered the information you need?  If you like most internet users, the likelihood isn’t that great at all.  While static websites are wonderful for being found consistently for certain keywords, they certainly lack the thing that brings most people back for more- the idea of learning and gaining new information.   After all, humans are creatures that thrive on curiosity and learning new things.  Every day we adapt what we do to reflect what we have learned.  We may learn to walk a little differently, shop a little differently, even try new  cuisine if something piques our interest.  Why wouldn’t information provided from the internet have the same effect?

The trick is, of course to find a balance between keeping some of your website static so that the search engine tools have an easier time finding it, and providing content that is timely for the very human readers.  After all,  what good is a discount price, or a new shipment of material if your web based customers don’t know about it until after the promotion is over?

In a nutshell, dynamic content or features are those that can be regularly altered or changed without going in a reprograming the entire website.  These can include message boards, news feeds, even a regular blog post.  These things are designed not for the archives, but rather for the here and now, the point where you interact with your client, and learn what they need and want, and you can show them exactly what you can provide for them.  One way to think of it is an online version of a client presentation.

Another reason why having dynamic content is so important is that most people will only talk about your website to their friends if there is something to talk about.  Sure, your static web content if written well will start a few conversations here and there, but what about beyond that?  An active discussion board will help to encourage your loyal readers to share what they see as a good source for information to their friends, thereby growing your potential network of clients and content.

The truth is that making sure your website has dynamic features is a great way to get people talking about what you have to offer.  And the more people talk, the more chance there is that someone will stop to listen.

Dynamic means that it can change. When something is dynamic, it is possible to affect the outcome of it. So a dynamic web-site is a web-site where the content can be changed.

Now, when speaking of dynamic web-sites, it doesn’t just mean that you are going to update the content. No, it means that the user can interact with it. Most sites today are less or more dynamic. As an example, picture-hosting sites. There is millions of images up. You as a user get the option to sort them by tags, views, ratings, etc. That is dynamic.

Another example of a dynamic feature can be a news-box. While the user can’t affect this one, you can. By having one, you don’t need to redo your index-page and upload it again. You just log on to your own site and then type the news and click the submit-button. Makes life a lot easier.

If you create a image-gallery, you will only need to create one page, and then depending on the users selection, this page will reload but with the new image. A lot easier than creating a 100 different pages and linking back and forth, right?

Have Dynamic content on your site – Message Board, Links Directory, Guest Book, Online Search, Picture Gallery, Quote of the day, News items, Site Search, Links Engine … It all makes for a more enjoyable experience for your visitors … and interested visitors come back.

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Making Sure Your Social Media World Doesn’t Overtake Your Real One

April 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you have hand any exposure to the online world, including social media, you know how addicting and time consuming it can be.  There certainly is a time and place for browsing social media sites – after all chances are you’ve gotten a fair number of your contacts and clients through this ever-reaching network of status updates, friend requests, and online gaming.  However, if you’re anything like millions of people worldwide, the social media world often encroaches on your everyday life a little more than you would like.  Here are some great and super easy tips to help you make sure that the social media world isn’t taking over your life.

Tip #1:  Give into Temptation… at least a little bit

One of the main reasons why people are so apt to visit social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter is because they offer so much in the way of entertaining information.  There are friends to check up on, news events to relish over, and of course telling the world what is going on with you at the given moment.  In truth, there is really nothing wrong with doing any of these things.  The problem arises when a person spends too much time doing these things.  So, one trick is to allow you a set amount of time each day to handle social media stuff.  Decide on a scheduled time, say between 4:00 and 5:00pm each day where you do nothing else but surf the social media sites.  Spend the time reading a favorite blog, or playing a game on Facebook.  Or perhaps you can use this time to comment on the various status updates of your friend or coworkers.  The choice is up to you.  The trick is of course, once you spend that hour, that’s all you can do for that day.  Treat it as a business appointment, and one that you shouldn’t miss.

Tip # 2:  Don’t be Afraid to Skim and Save for Later

One of the great things about the World Wide Web is that what your network puts online today will probably be their tomorrow.  So if you see something that is intriguing today, make use of your Internet’s bookmark feature and save it for your next scheduled session.  Also, since web content developers realize that their material isn’t studied carefully by many, they often design their article to highlight the important points.  Often they are highlighted in the subheadings, or the first or last sentences of a paragraph.  If you know that, you’ll be able to skim through the article and get the essential parts for your use right then.

Tip # 3:  Utilize Social Media Tools

Believe it or not, all those different widgets, RSS feeds, and apps floating around cyberspace do serve a purpose besides providing a way for computer nerds to have a bit of fun.  In some cases, they can be a wonderful way to save time when you’re dealing with social media and the networking options it can provide.  Applications such as Tweet Deck, Threadsy, and Digsby are great tools to pull all the various threads of information and internet social contacts into one place, making it easier to quickly respond if needed.  Imagine going to one place to get your social media fix each day.  It’s a great way to save your precious time for other, more pressing, or more enjoyable things.

Tip# 4:  Set Up a Blog Feed

If you run an online business, you’ve probably found out how important it is to stay in contact with your network and clients.  The whole purpose of using social media for business is to make sure that what you do, and what you offer stays on the minds of the people you want to do business with.   One of the easiest and most effective ways to get the word out about your business is to contribute to a regular blog.  The problem of course is how to make sure the people see it.   Thankfully, if you have a Facebook Fan page, or a twitter account, there are widgets available that will notify your clients of new blogs, or post comments on your social media accounts advertising the fact that you have a new edition to the blogosphere.  It certainly saves a lot of time in your day if you are able to click a few buttons and have your blog distributed anywhere you want.

Tip # 5:  Let Others Share Your Expertise for You

As an online business owner, you know that a good chunk of your time is spent spreading the message about how good and beneficial to others your business is.  It can truly be exhausting work.  Why not delegate that work load to others who are already eager to do it?   It’s a fairly easy process to add a sharing button to your website and blog, making it super easy for the readers of your website to share it with their friends and family.   With a share button, and great content, you shouldn’t be surprised if your marketing plan reaches more people than you think.
These are just a few tips that can aid you in your attempts to balance your life and the social media world that has become a part of it.  Remember, your time is precious, whether it is spent laughing with your family, browsing through status updates, or making the evening meal.  Make sure you spend it to the best advantage of your life.

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: ,
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