Archive for the ‘Marketing’ category
My Branding – Shamrock Analogy
A great ‘brand’ does not just revolve around good visuals or targeted advertising alone. A great brand and a successful branding campaign should help to illustrate three things; identity, personality and passion. I visualize a successful branding campaign as a shamrock.
In my visualization the three leaves are the identity, personality and passion. Just like the leaves are the first thing we associate with a shamrock, the three aspects are what a potential consumer or client are looking for. The stem in this analogy is the branding itself. It is where these three pieces connect and are allowed to be shown. The stem eventually settles down to the roots. The roots simply enough is the organization/business/individual itself. The roots being unseen are not always associated with the plant much like when you see a branding item, you don’t immediately think of where the organization is headquartered and what the building is like. The leaves cannot exist without the roots, nor can the roots fully prosper without the leaves.
The business as the roots do possess an identity, a personality and a passion, but in order for these to show in the leaves there needs to be a successful brand or a healthy stem. In the end a healthy stem can support the leaves which the roots utilize to thrive, as in creating a successful brand will convey an organization’s identity, personality and passion, which will help the organization thrive.
What analogies do you tend to use when explaining branding or other aspects of marketing and design? Let me know in the comments, this is a topic definitely worth expanding upon and discussing further.
If there was only an Easy Button for Business Blogging
Blogging is a great way for people to express themselves online, share their feelings and to write about and share their passions. Blogs can also be a powerful media for businesses and organizations as well. A business that blogs can be seen as a more personable company and if done properly can help a business be more relevant in its field. Blogging as a business though is not entirely an easy task… that is if you want it to be a successful blog and marketing tool.
A serious business blog is one that posts frequently and usually on a schedule. Whether you post weekly, biweekly or monthly, having relevant content that is delivered in a fresh perspective and a personable yet professional manner is also very important. Achieving these goals is often easier said than done. A serious business blog that follows these guidelines is not a free venture monetarily. If you have employees write your articles and have them reviewed and edited, you are looking at the labor costs for their pieces, or as is the practice sometimes, you can hire a freelance writer to put the posts together for your business. The model you go with is up to you, however having employees who are knowledgeable about your business and field can yield a more professional read.
Blogging is also a great tool for search optimization, but be careful not to play onto this too much; writing naturally in this case will pay off just as well if not better than writing a post then altering it to plug in as many keywords as you can. Keyword count in quite a few blogs is a huge distraction and often does not help the search ranking at all. Write a post as though you were writing an article for a trade related publication. One important thing to consider though is to have your blog on the same domain or at least make it a sub-domain of your business site. Hosting your blog on wordpress.com or any other service, or creating a new domain just for the blog just doesn’t make sense. Keep everything on one domain and help your SEO efforts. Another thing that should also be said here is once you post something, leave it alone unless you find out later on there is an error in it. Changing the content of your individual posts by a few words to feed the myth that “fresh content” is rated higher by search engines is just a waste of time. Frequent posting will help in the sense that you have more content to be rated by the major search engines, but editing everything every couple of months does nothing to further boost these ratings.
One last thing to consider when starting your business blog is to consider promoting your new blog. This step is very important if you want regular readers early on. Consider promoting your blog on your business’ social media outlets if they exist (if you do not have business pages on the major social media outlets, consider creating one) and one nice ‘old school’ method are to send out post cards to your regular clients and customers informing them of your new blog and encourage them to read and contribute though comments and subscriptions.
As you can probably tell from the last few paragraphs, a starting a serious business blog is not necessarily for the faint of heart. But for those of you that do take this step, the initial investment plus effective planning and well written posts can definitely pay off in terms of new business, returning clients, and search engine placement.
Using Print to Promote yourself and your Brand
Contrary to popular belief, not all business owners or people in general are online. Access to high speed internet is still a rarity in some parts of the United States ( but its expansion is accelerating), but promoting yourself on ink and paper is still a great way to reach the broadest possible client base. Work on promoting and marketing yourself online and on paper, find an effective balance but at the very least focus on the following print items as a start.
The business card, it is still the king when it comes to networking. Yes you can give potential clients and peers your URL or twitter handle and hope they remember it or visit it right away on a smartphone or other mobile device, but let’s face it, it is better to have this on a ready made card to hand out. The few square inches that you have is actually the smallest high exposure canvas, so take advantage of it. Make it memorable and it is less likely to end up in the trash. Make it informative as well. Keep the content short but relevant. Also these days, I have more and more clients who want their twitter handles, blog URLs and websites to address an ever growing online audience. A good business card is worth well more than its weight in gold, seriously consider it.
The next thing to consider are brochures or pamphlets. Before the internet these were (and still are today) a great way to explain who you are and what you have to offer. Having a larger canvas here means you can give more information, and more effectively pitch your brand while showing something that is creative as original as you and your company. Get a good balance between creative aesthetics and informative power, along with a good printer (not the machine in your office, but a good print company) and impress your visitors.
The last thing to note is something that is seriously overlooked… correspondence. This means everything from letters, to memos, proposals, contracts, invoices, thank you letters and basic letterhead. This is a broad category, but it is one that is very deserving of a creative touch that reinforces your brand, seems more personable and is easier on the eyes. Make a stable and simple, yet creative and engaging template for your correspondence. If it stands out it is remembered and often handled sooner than basic bland correspondence. Having an invoice with some zest can help keep it at the top of the pile. Having a sharp and creative template for your letters not only looks more professional, but gives your organization personality on paper.
Being able to work on these three items is a great start and it will help in the initial impression, and staying power of your marketing. You and your company are unique entities in a market where you compete for business. Set yourself and organization apart on paper and online, make it as interesting and as unique as you and your brand and you will effectively stand out in the crowd.
Are the days of the Resume over? I wouldn’t say goodbye yet.
I read a very interesting article today called “The Resume Is Dead, The Bio Is King” on behance.com. Please feel free to read it here. In this article Michael Margolis makes a great point for having a personal, professional, yet brief biography that showcases who you are, what you do and what you believe (mine can be found here). For many creative professionals this is an invaluable tool for letting clients learn about you and your work. It is also a great way to break the ice to employers in the form of a cover letter as well.
The only thing that did not sit well with me was the declaration that the resume is dead. I will concede that in the freelancing world a resume is an often overlooked document. The reality of the market though is that freelancer’s do not just do business with small business or tech companies that know what they’re looking for in a person right off the bat. For each business or organization that is seeking the employ of a creative professional, that stays with the current trends or knows what they want in a person, there is another that does not. When it comes right down to it, most businesses would benefit from a designer or other creative professional, but not every one that does is a small or modern (web savvy) business. Having a resume on hand for these more traditional clients or employers keeps all of your options open in the market.
The resume may be a formality for some and a waste of time for others, but this piece of paper or electronic document can still be a valuable tool if you are seeking new clients or full time employment. The resume may be down across the board, but I would not call it defeated quite yet. A bio is always a good option and really is starting to become king. Whether it be posted on your website, sent as a cover letter or sent alone it is a great way for a company to know more about you which not only helps them, but helps you to find a good working environment. Definitely read Michael’s article for some helpful tips in getting yours in good shape.