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Having a concise, clear image that you project to your clients
and customers is important in today’s market. More and more
people are leaving the job market and creating their own
business, whether by choice or necessity, so the competition
continues to expand. Therefore it is increasingly important to
stand out among your competition. You want your business to be
memorable!

Customers remember images and feelings that are evoked more
than just a name on a business card. What type of feeling do you
want your business to evoke in your customers / clients? How do
you want to be remembered? Do you want to be the first one your
customer thinks about over your competition? Of course you do.
But what do you want to be remembered for?

Your excellent customer service?
Your winning smile?
Your product?
Your prices?
Your logo?

How are you different from your competition? What makes your
business special? Ask yourself these questions and then look at
the answers. Maybe you are already projecting a particular
image. It is cohesive, or is it sloppy? Do you even have an
image? Do you have a brand name? Do you have any sort of
identity?

What about your services? Does each one have a different
look, feel and image, or does it tie into the image of your
business? Can you look at your services and see the brand name,
image or theme running through each description? Choosing to use
the same logo on all your materials, sticking with a consistent
color theme and playing off a specific theme is part of branding.

For example, a recent episode of Taking Care of Business on
TLC television highlighted a company that custom designed baby
gift baskets. Their logo, color scheme and theme were brought
together to expand their image. The professional business
mentors assisted the owner with creating press releases and media
kits for his baby company that were done like birth
announcements. This created visual interest, continued the theme
of the company and along with the logo and color consistency, the
branding was top notch. As a result, he had several articles
written about his business in key magazines that target his
specific market.

What about your company? Does your image reflect your
product? Do your customers recognize you by your business name
or a product name? Are you consistent with your marketing
message? These are ALL important questions whether you are
starting a business or looking to expand your existing business.
So, ask the questions, listen to the answers and create a plan
for branding your business!

© 2005 Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster is a managing partner in Baraka Bay, a visionary business and organization development consultancy. They offer unique knowledge, techniques, and expertise to provide solutions, services and products for businesses, organizations and individuals. http://www.BarakaBay.com

Publisher’s Guidelines: You may freely publish this article online, in email newsletters, or in print so long as the resource box and byline are in tact. Author would appreciate a notification, but that is optional.

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Small businesses owners today are aware of the importance of carving an image in the minds of their prospective clients. They realize the effect of a catchy business name, a distinctive logo and the perfect slogan as well as the effective execution of their brand through appropriate marketing material and advertising.

For a small business to stand out in the minds of their prospective clients, it is not enough to just look the part, they have to be the part. Thanks to developments in technology and the propagation of information, prospects today are just as savvy as business owners. Put yourself in the shoes of your clients; would you rather go with a firm that looks the part and makes huge promises or one with a record of keeping their promises? Far greater than a good image is a good reputation, for an image is who you say you are but your reputation is who others say you are based on their encounter with you or that of another.

It is essential that your reputation lines up with your image; your reputation is mostly influenced by the customer experience you provide. Here are a few tips to help you build a solid reputation and reinforce your image:

Keep your promises. Don’t promise your clients the moon and the stars if you cannot deliver. Breaking a promise affects you integrity and the disappointment your client experiences may result in the severance of the relationship depending on the severity of the situation. Offer what you are capable of delivering.

Be original. Trying hard to fit in, or mimic the image of other more successful companies may be to your detriment; be you. As an example I chose the name The SoHo Cheerleader for my business because it represents what I want to accomplish, which is providing motivation and support to solopreneurs, it also represents my fun and witty streak. Like you, your business is unique so dare to be original. Ensure that your image truly represents you.

Provide excellent customer service. Create a positive customer experience for each client from the time they contact you right until the completion of their project.

Exceed their expectations. Every time you deliver service above what is required you are adding value and giving client cause to remember you.

Become an expert in your field by:

1. Staying on top of developments in your field.
2. Investing in training opportunities.
3. Writing articles and/or books.
4. Taking on speaking opportunities.
5. Educating your clients.

Focus on a niche. It is difficult to stand out when you lack focus. Stop being a Jack of all trades and get recognition amongst the group you have decided to target. You’ll gain popularity quicker and get more referrals.

Survey your clients. Find out how you can be of better service to them and what other business needs you might be able to meet within your specialty.

Research your competition. Learn from their mistakes and triumphs.

Begin with the end in mind. What do you want people to tell others about your company? Once you have made up your list, integrate it into your mission statement and look for opportunities to accomplish the things on your list with every single client that comes your way.

Bisi Adepo-Bassey (The SoHo Cheerleader) is a business coach and workshop/group facilitator, who helps sole proprietors achieve success by providing practical tips and advice as well as motivation and support. http://www.sohocheerleader.com/

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Let me tell you a story about Pete and a pizza. After a long day of fighting uncooperative pipes and fixtures, Pete P. Lumber, of Pete’s DuperRooter, was looking forward to a nice, hot, decidedly Atkins-disapproved pizza the stuff of which dreams are made. The week before, Pete was doing a bathroom remodel at Bob’s historical Chicago bungalow. The house had only one bathroom, so Pete had to complete the project as fast as possible. Due to a series of unfortunate events, some of which involved a repeated, forceful application of a rather large hammer, Pete stayed much longer than he initially anticipated. To bungalow owner Bob’s delight, Pete completed the remodel the same day.

Bob decided to take Pete out to dinner to show his appreciation. Bob knew that Pete liked pizza, so he took him to the MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium across the street. The restaurant was small, unassuming, and had the charming aura of a hole-in-the-wall. And it had the best pizza that Pete has ever tasted. Just the memory of that pizza he shared with Bob made Pete’s stomach growl. The crust was browned just right. The sauce had the perfect balance of tomato sauce and spices. And the toppings….there were over 20 toppings to chose from.

It’s no wonder that this week, Pete was looking forward to having pizza delivered from MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium. By the time Pete got home and was ready to pick up the phone, he could almost taste it. But, (these stories never seem to end well, do they?) he realized that he didn’t have the pizza place’s phone number. Pete didn’t remember the name of the place either the sign above the door had been tiny and hard to read.

Even if Pete had been paying attention, he would have had a hard time figuring out what the name was, since most vowels fell off the neon sign sometime around the Roosevelt administration (Teddy, in case you were wondering). It gets worse. As he and Bob were leaving, Pete had asked Kate, the hostess, for a take-out menu. She apologized profusely and said that they ran out four months ago and nobody bothered to reorder new ones.

The phone book turned out to be useless remember, Pete couldn’t recall the name of the pizza place. Scanning the restaurant pages didn’t ring a bell either. The only thing Pete could recall was the approximate address (across from Bob’s bungalow). Pete was too tired to go out and drive again, since he had just returned home. To add insult to injury, the weather person on Channel 5 news was gleefully pointing to the latest Doppler radar and cheerfully informing his audience that yet another 15 inches of snow were going to fall in the next hour.

That sealed it. Pete, who almost never surrendered, gave up. He ordered pizza from his usual joint, OKPizzaParlor. Pizza there was nothing to write home about. However, the proprietors always stocked a four-year supply of take-out menus and business cards. As an added twist, they gave out 4×6 magnets with “OKPizzaParlor” emblazoned on them with three inch high neon green letters with every order. Pete’s fridge was plastered with at least 20 of these.

OKPizzaParlor also sent their customers coupons and specialized promotional flyers. OKPizzaParlor even sent their customers a free 16 inch thin crust pizza coupons for their birthdays. Finally, all advertising materials prominently featured OKPizzaParlor’s contact information.

The MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium, didn’t get an order that night, even though Pete vastly preferred their pizza, and desperately wanted to order from them. MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium committed one of the cardinal sins of marketing: they didn’t bother with branding. The proprietors figured that their superior product would speak for itself, and decided not to waste their money on pointless advertising. Little did the MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium owners realize that skipping branding is like leaving the cheese off the pizza!

Don’t make the same mistake. Here are a few ideas you can use to make sure your marketing plan doesn’t follow in MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium’s footsteps and to remind your customers of your business long after they leave your store or web site:

* Create and maintain consistent corperate branding. A logo, font and a color scheme are the three crucial elements of an online image. Once created, use the same color scheme, logo, and font everywhere else on your brochures, business cards, newsletters, and signatures. Menus, magnets, employee t-shirts, name tags should all be consistent with your brand.

* Don’t dilute your brand. Having a web site and business cards with an inconsistent look and feel will confuse your customers.

* Reinforce the corporate branding in all communications. Every mode of communication should provide information about your business. This includes letters, invoices, e-mail, and so on. At the very least, include the business name, web site address and e-mail address.

* Use a signature with every e-mail. How many emails do you send in a single day? Wesend around 75 on a typical business day. This translates into 75 opportunities to remind customers about our brand every single day. Keep the signature short: your business tagline and URL or a link to your latest blog entry will do. The point is to do this consistently, early, and often.

Make sure that your business is the first thing that pops into your customers’ minds when they need products or services you provide. Make your brand memorable, and take advantage of every change to reinforce it. Not every customer is going to be like Pete, who drove out to the MostDeliciousPizzaEmporium the next day, and wrote down their name and phone number. Incidentally, that day he came home with 6 pizzas.

Biana Babinsky is the online business consultant, expert and author who teaches business owners how to make more money online. Learn step by step techniques to drive more traffic to your web site and make more money online in Biana’s Complete Step by Step Online Marketing Course at http://avocadoconsulting.com/rlinks/zcourse

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