This guest post today is by Bill Hogg, www.billhogg.ca

Recently I had to go to a local collision repair shop for an estimate for some repair work on my car. I was sent to this particular shop by my insurance company for a quote, but was told I could have the actual repair done at any accredited collision repair shop.

The first thing I noticed was a sign on the back wall that stated “Quality starts with great service”. I was greeted quickly by the receptionist who took some basic information and then asked me to take a seat indicating an estimator would be right with me.

Well, I sat for 5 minutes watching 2 people sitting at desks working away at their computers. One of them took a phone call and the second commented to the receptionist that she would be awhile. At no time did either acknowledge me.

Suddenly the one who took the phone call stood up and indicated that I should follow him outside to my car. I guess he was one of the estimators.

After asking me some questions and taking some pictures, we returned to his desk where he filled out the forms on the computer and after 10 minutes printed out the sheets and handed them to me. The whole time I sat at his desk, he said not 1 word to me.

So what should I think about the quality of this organization? What do we learn from this example?

They did a good job of setting expectations with their sign. The receptionist was friendly and efficient. But then the problems start to show.

Here are some simple things that I think would have gone a long way to improving the customer experience.

1. Telling me that the 2 estimators were currently finishing a claim and giving me an indication of my wait time would have gone a long way.
2. If the estimator spoke to me rather than the receptionist (I was actually closer) it would have made me feel like a valued customer versus just an inconvenience that needed to be dealt with.
3. Introducing themselves when they asked me to come outside to do the estimate.
4. Explaining what the estimator was doing on the computer would have made me feel part of the process instead of an bystander.

As a result of this experience, I will probably take my business elsewhere rather than dealing with this company in spite of the fact they had been specifically referred by the insurance company as a trusted supplier.

The funny thing is, they already had me in their shop and there would have been no cost to displaying some simple customer service behaviours. No one rude or treated me badly, yet, the poor customer service pushed me away.

Too often we get so busy that we forget the simple things. None of things mentioned would have cost either time or money, yet because they were forgotten, they lost a $3,000 repair bill.

Something to think about.

Bill Hogg works with clients to help activate a “customer-focused” culture that helps employees embrace the brand promise and deliver an intentional Branded Customer Experience (BCE) — internally and externally.

As well, he is a very passionate and enthusiastic speaker on the importance of a customer-focused culture, either as a guest speaker or acting as a facilitator of a group discussion/workshop.

Guest post by Bill Hogg of www.billhogg.ca

Recently MarketingProfs sent out a note about going the extra mile. In it they referenced an article (Giving Firms an ‘E’ for Effort: Consumer Responses to High-Effort Firms) by Andrea C. Morales, assistant professor of marketing at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California.

Their research indicated that customers reward companies that are seen to go the extra mile — even if they don’t personally benefit from that effort. In fact, customers are willing to pay more for a product, frequent one store rather than another, and, in general, have a more positive impression of a company or brand that is perceived to put in more effort.

Andrea’s explanation is that customers recognize that effort is a controllable behaviour, and as a result, feels gratitude toward firms that work hard.

It reminds me of a review an advertising agency got from a client (our customer) where I worked many years ago. In that review the client was very critical of the creative product and lukewarm on the media and production. However, they were very positive about the account service team because, in their words, “we worked so damn hard”.

They acknowledged that they were not always getting the level of service they expected, but were willing to be somewhat forgiving because of the obvious effort their daily account team was expending on their account. They gave us time to address the issues while putting senior management on notice that something had to be done.

According to the researchers, customers can view a company’s outstanding efforts as either general or personal.

• A company’s actions are considered to be general when they benefit the universe of customers, such as creating new products

• However, a company’s actions are considered personal when the action is deemed to benefit a specific customer (such as outstanding customer service), even if they are not the customer receiving the benefit.

We all know that personal wins because of the emotional connection. However, the interesting notion is the halo effect created by doing a good deed for someone else. My sense is that it is driven by the belief that the company (or person) would do the same for us in a similar circumstance.

I think this concept applies to personal behaviour as well as company behaviour. So demonstrate you are making the effort even if you can’t satisfy your customers need. They will recognize your efforts and appreciate and reward you for your attempt.

Cheers!

Bill works with clients to help activate a “customer-focused” culture that helps employees embrace the brand promise and deliver an intentional Branded Customer Experience — internally and externally.

As well, he is a very dynamic, results-oriented speaker on the importance of a customer-focused culture, either as a guest speaker or acting as a facilitator of a group discussion/workshop

2.  There is no cost involved in getting information products out to the customer.  Since the customer can download them right from the Internet, you don’t have to worry about the cost of shipping and insuring your product.  Also customers will be glad that they can get your book virtually in an instant as soon as they’ve paid for it.

3.  Information products can be used in a number of ways. You can use them as a way for people to learn more about the aspects of your business.  Written information on certain subjects are always in demand.  Make sure that it is good quality information presented in a way that has not been done before.

4.  Give them away as contest prizes. With each order, a customer is entered in a draw for an eBook of their choice.  You are making money because the customer has to buy something from you in order to get a chance to have the eBook for free.

5.  Information products can be written by you.  Having a book with your name on it makes you more credible with your consumer base.  If you have a knack for writing, money will be saved by not hiring a ghostwriter to do it for you.  All of the profit is going directly to you and your company.  Once you get started you will get hooked on the idea and want to write an entire library of eBooks.

6.  The money that you spent to have the eBook created will be recouped as soon as you sell the first few eBooks. People are willing to pay for convenience.  Having a book at their fingertips as soon as they want it is as convenient as it gets.  As long as you are willing to put in the work, the earning potential is limitless.

7.  Sell your information products in other marketplaces. EBay is the most noted marketplace on the Internet.  Creating how-to books and other books dedicated to subject matter of interest to the public is a moneymaker.  Who knows?  A publisher may get a hold of it and want to offer you a deal to publish it in hardcopy form.

There are many uses for eBooks that can bring extra profits to your business.

Let’s weigh the pros and cons of this question.  Whether you should buy other domain names that are close depends on how well your name was chosen.  Just like you conduct research before choosing a niche for your business, do the same before choosing a domain name.

Domain names can be triggered by keyword searches.  If part of your domain name contains a keyword that is popular in search engine searches it could be a future winner.  Ideally, you want your domain name to appear on the first page of a search.

A winning domain name will have others trying to get as close to it as possible without infringing.  Buying those domain names yourself means that they will have to come to you for those names.  You may want to use those names in the future for other websites that you will create.  Having names that are similar will ensure that others can find your sites with their keyword searches.

If your domain becomes a household name, the other domains will become even more valuable to you in the future.  You will have the option of selling them for a fair amount of money or holding on to them.  Selling them will mean that someone else will get to ride your popularity with a name similar to yours.

One reason to buy similar domain names is for misspellings.  Do you know what homophones are?  They are words that sound alike but are spelled differently.  If you are doing a podcast or talking about your business website to someone and tell them your domain name, it is possible that they could misspell it when they type it into the URL address space.

If someone misspells it, that person could be directed to another website.  Thinking it is your site they could recommend it to someone else or buy from that site.  It could end up being a costly faux pas on your part.

When you enter your own address, purposely misspell it and see what comes up.  If there are no matches, then you might be safe — for now.  You may want to think of all the spellings that could come up and buy those domains as well to avoid this problem in the future.

There is a lot to know about domain names besides just coming up with the names.  Before you choose your name, look into all the possibilities so that you are sure that a good name that can’t be duplicated is chosen.

This guest post is by Wendy MacQueen, www.mormac.ca

Know Your Customer

Throughout history, businesses have used demographics to define their customer base and tailor where they deliver their marketing messages. These tried-and-true methods of marketing helped businesses focus only on their customer, rather than a mass approach.

Now, in the 21st century, we have access to customer information that far surpasses the basics of demographics.

Demographics are the standard pieces of age, marital status, income, sex and education. Within each demographic category, there are many different groups of people defined by more than these five items.

Think of yourself. Your age, marital status, income, sex and education. Now think of a friend that fits the same profile. Do they like the same kind of clothes or food that you do?

There are two deeper definitions at work in truly knowing your customer. The first is lifestyle, or to use the fancy word, psychographics.

Psychographics take into consideration things like where people choose to live, their hobbies, interests and leisure-time choices. The value here for the small business owner is the opportunity to mold the messages to reach a more fine-tuned group. There is also the advantage that your competition probably isn’t looking this deeply into their customer definition so you have a leg-up.

An example: A tutoring business knows their demographic is women, 35-50, high education level, high income. And their competition knows this too. But when they drilled down deeper into their customer’s habits, they discovered the majority love to read and garden. And over 70% were into food. Knowing this, the company could target messages in garden magazines and on food-related programming. There is big value in speaking to your customer when your competition is nowhere to be found.

To discover the psychographics of your customer means you need to interact with them. Surveys, either online or in-person, that include questions about their leisure activities, can help you develop unique ways to reach them. This information can also have value when you are developing special promotions. If your incentives or give-aways speak to your customer’s leisure preferences, they are more inclined to find value in them.

The second, and arguably the most difficult, definition pertains to the personality or intellect style of your main customer. This information helps you formulate the writing style for your marketing materials but also gives a great tool to your sales staff.

Personality/intellect styles are how your customer talks, how they listen and how they read. There are basically four “types” - task-oriented, analytical, intuitive and emotional. Everyone has portions of each of these styles in their make-up, but the majority of people have one type that stands out.

If you are tuned into your customer’s personality/intellect, you can shorten the sales funnel and create engaging marketing materials.

Example: A small business owner is an emotional personality/intellect. She loves to use adjectives and tells lots of personal stories. Because these are her preferred ways to communicate, she insists her marketing materials be written this way and that her salespeople follow this style. Her audience however is task-oriented. They prefer blunt facts and cutting-to-the-chase as quickly as possible. They make fast decisions. Because the owner uses lots of adjectives and personal stories, her task-oriented audience stops listening. They have already moved on to something else. The result? They don’t hear key pieces of information that might make them want to spend their money.

To manage this deep definition well, you need to learn what personality/intellect style you and your salespeople reflect. There are a number of online resources to help you do this. Familiarize yourself with the characteristics of each personality style and start watching your customers. They will show you what style is the most prevalent in your business.

Going deeper than demographics can speed you up in the race against your competition. Take the time to really know your customer and modify your messages to meet their needs.

About the Author: Wendy MacQueen is owner of Mormac Brand Re-engineering, a full-service marketing and training company. Educated in the psychology of message-delivery, Wendy has over 25 years of experience in marketing communications including assisting businesses from large multi-national companies to small sole proprietorships.

She has been recognized at the international and national level as a strategist/tactician, brand developer, copywriter and radio producer. Her portfolio includes strategies, tactics and creative that have increased sales for businesses in franchise, retail, manufacturing, financial services and many others.

Wendy assists companies in identifying their true audience definition and expressing their brand to increase sales. She brings experience in stage, radio and television performance to her delivery of marketing seminars for audiences of every level of expertise. She has coached senior executives, sales and customer service representatives in media relations, marketing practices, speaking skills, active listening and using intellect styles in sales and marketing.

Happy 4th to everyone! Hope you’re enjoying time spent with family and friends on this holiday. For fun, here’s a great apple pie recipe for your dinner today, who doesn’t love a good slice of apple pie with icecream?

Grand Ole American Pie

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pound Golden Delicious apples, cored, cut into 1/2 inch slices (6 cups)
1 pound Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into 1/2 inch slices (6 cups)
1 (15 ounce 2 crust) package refrigerator piecrust
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1 (12 ounce) jar caramel ice cream topping

Instructions:

Combine butter and cinnamon together in a large mixing bowl. Add both types of apples and toss to coat. Line two large baking pans with aluminum foil. Heat oven to 475 degrees. Roast apples one pan at a time for 5 minutes turning once while roasting. The apples should just start to brown around the edges. Allow the apples to cool right in the pans. Reduce oven heat to 375. Bring piecrust dough to room temperature. Place one crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. In a mixing bowl combine the brown sugar, flour and salt. Place the roasted apples, both pans juice included into the bowl with the brown sugar mixture. Coat the apples well. Place the apples in the pie plate. Flour a flat surface and roll the second dough out to a 14 inch circle. Cut 4 slits in the dough. Place the dough over the top of the apples. Cut dough to 1/2 inch beyond plate. Crimp edges. Place the lightly beaten egg in a bowl. Add the water and mix together. Brush the top of the pie with the egg mixture. Place aluminum foil around the edge of the pie to keep the crust from browning too much and becoming hard. Bake 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil from the edges and bake 35 minutes longer. The top should be a golden brown and the filling bubbly. Drizzle with the caramel topping as soon as you take the pie from the oven. Cool.

The 2008 Olympics are fast approaching and buried amidst the flag-waving, medal-winning and money-spending you might just find a host of, not exactly inconspicuous, Official Sponsors, Partners and Suppliers.

Of course, some of these associations make good sense, but, there are also dozens of Official Suppliers whose sporting links are tenuous at best. For example, McDonald’s, not best known for its healthy menu, is the official restaurant of Beijing 2008.

And while Mao is no doubt spinning in his grave, it’s a perfect example of why sponsorships appeal to business. Not only do they get massive exposure but they also get to ‘borrow’ an event or organisation’s brand equity and goodwill in the process.

Now the Olympics may be a bit out of reach for most businesses, but with so many events and causes in need of support, even the smallest of businesses can effectively use sponsorship as an exciting way to connect with their target markets.

Here are five quick pointers for getting started:

1. Consider who and what you might like to sponsor. Your sponsorship will ideally align well with your product / service but it’s even more important that it aligns with your prospective customers’ interests and values.

To create the perfect sponsorship package, it’s often better to do the approaching as a potential sponsor rather than wait to be approached. To help generate some unique sponsorship ideas, start by asking yourself what matters to your customers (outside your business) and then look for opportunities to get involved - and events and organisations to get involved with.

2. It’s about more than just advertising space. You should be looking for as holistic a sponsorship package as possible. This might include advertising, being named as a sponsor in marketing materials, joint press releases, data collection or anything else you can think of.

If you’re the person being approached about becoming a sponsor, it’s worthwhile suggesting additions the organisers may not have thought of. The costs may be negligible and your ideas will usually be of benefit to you both.

3. Sponsor in kind, not just cash. Quite often your expertise, product or service can be as valuable as your cash. Look for opportunities where you benefit from both promotional opportunities and the chance to show off what you can do. For example, a landscaper could sponsor a neighbourhood renewal project by providing supplies and manpower rather than just cutting a cheque. A bakery could support a children’s hospital by supplying goodies for a bake sale.

4. Do the follow up. Make sure you get the most from any PR opportunities through the local press both before and after the event. Likewise, sponsorships are an excellent opportunity for you to network and build contacts.

5. Think social. Supporting good causes and events is something that shouldn’t need a whole lot of financial justification anyway. So if you’re in need of sponsorship ideas, look to put your time and money towards something worthwhile for your community.

Based in Ireland, Mark Nagurski is a small business marketing consultant and blogger. The Really Practical Marketing blog provides a daily dose of (un)commonsense marketing advice for real small businesses both online and off. You’ll find it at www.reallypractical.com

The streets were quiet in the morning but by the time we left, celebrations were in full swing and we were ready to go home to watch the fireworks.

So Happy Canada Day to all of our fellow Canadian readers!

This is why I choose to run my business completely online, so I can take in the wonder and memories of this beautiful life we have.

Now I’m off to plan dinner for the family.

Start taking responsibility for your own actions in all situations, even the ones that you cannot totally control. Do you think Tiger at the US Open blamed anybody for his mistakes (missed swings) to win on Sunday? No, he took responsibility about his business of playing Golf and became a winner today in a Sudden Death Playoff Challenge. You need to take this level of action thinking when it comes down to your small business today!

If it happened to you, your actions, no matter how small a part that they played in the outcome, are still a part of the outcome; so take that portion of the responsibility without hesitation. There are many factors as to why things happen the way they do. Some of your own actions account for it; some do not. No matter the “what ifs,” remember that sitting around and wondering about them will only displace your time and stop you from changing your situation. Stand out of the crowd, accept your situation, and stop questioning, “Why me?” and, “What if?” after you commit to an action of change to resolve the situation. Only then can you execute a plan to change within.

No matter what, you and you alone have the ability to change your situation. It may not be immediate, but change will happen with an executed plan from a person who has first accepted the reality that it is only his actions that can improve this situation. Taking responsibility for actions in your life is a big step to turn your situation at your small business into a success.

You are your own change element!

About the Author: A graduate of Indiana University, Tom resides in the greater Fort Myers, Florida area. He is a dynamic, professional, career-driven leader focusing on daily operations while continuing to be productive in a fast-paced sales environment. Tom has built a career that has given him extensive knowledge and execution of new business openings, troubleshooting, program and technology implementation, business turn-around, complete management, and sales of many different industries in positions as an owner, president, consultant, and regional director over multi-state business units. He is known as “The Profit Repairman®.”

Now that the design process is complete for Small Business Branding, I’ll be phasing in some new goodies for you.

The first of those goodies is to give you a spot to become a Guest Author. We are looking for individuals that are passionate about small business to add some flare to our site.

As a guest blogger you will receive a link to your site or blog at the top of each of your posts. Along with a small bio at the end of each article you submit.

Just contact me here to let me know you’d like to write for us as a Guest Author.

PODCAST

The podcast is coming along, I’m still fussing over the music choice so if you have any music ideas I’d love to hear it. For some reason the biggest things I fuss over are the pictures for the posts, and the music.

I’d love to hear from you

UPDATES

Behind the scenes here at Small Business Branding I’m working on yet another project to make your life easier.  It’s all very exciting and I have some awesome people that I work with on a daily basis to make things happen here.

I’ll be keeping you posted on this development soon. Plus I’m going to be running a Contest here soon so watch out for that. It’s one you will not want to miss.

Word of mouth marketing is often confused. It all boils down to getting people to talk about your company. It’s the water cooler chatter over that great new Amazon.com product, the after the Super Bowl blogging about which company created the best commercial or worst case scenario…how you spent an hour on hold with ABC company and they still refuse to solve the problem.

Word of mouth marketing is so important to the reputation of a company and the success of a brand, there is a Word of Mouth Marketing Association – WOMMA, www.womma.org/ There are even studies devoted to tracking word of mouth marketing effects.

A study conducted by WOMMA in 06 cited the following brands as having the most Word of Mouth Marketing:

Ford
Verizon
Dell
Cingular
Wal-Mart
Chevy
Toyota
Coke
Honda
Apple/iPod

It’s important to note that not all word of mouth marketing is good marketing. People are more likely to complain about a company than they are to promote a company positively. As anyone for a review and you’ll see – arms need to be twisted and bribes offered to motivate reviews. However receive bad service and people run home to post reviews on their computer to tell the world how awful a company is.

Social media marketing tools have become an integral aspect of word of mouth branding. Blogs, chat rooms, membership sites, forums, and of course social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter are all excellent resources for business owners looking to take advantage of word of mouth marketing power.

Social marketing gives business owners the ability to communicate with their target audience on a more personal level. Word of mouth recommendations and endorsements are more valuable than any advertisement, affiliate program, or marketing tool for one very simple reason. If an employee or partner promotes your brand it’s viewed as marketing. If a customer promotes your brand, “I just love Amazon.com’s new Kindle,” that is seen as an extremely valuable endorsement and it plays right into one of the most significant buying behavior triggers – social proof.

Tips to help increase positive word of mouth marketing using social media tools like blogs and networking sites include:

1. Make your information or networking page interesting – entertaining and interesting information spreads like wildfire.

2. Earn the trust and respect of your prospect and customers – people are happy to promote brands they like and brands and companies who follow through on their claims.

3. Make it easy for them to spread the word – always provide contact information including an easy to remember URL or phone number. Every marketing tool whether it is a blog or a brochure needs to have contact information.

4. Give people something to talk about such as a special offer or promotion or a fantastic innovation.

5. Respond to positive and negative feedback. Thank people for positive feedback, blog posts, reviews and endorsements. Address negative feedback as soon as possible to mitigate the effects.

Word of mouth marketing has a profound effect on your brand. One positive comment from a well respected person in your industry and opportunities can rain down upon your business.

I’m very funny with these things, I can churn things out pretty darn quick (you can just ask Ed ;-)) but the one thing I always sit and ponder over is the BEST picture to portray my thoughts for an article, and the BEST music for our new podcast.

I’ve been over at www.musicbakery.com all week trying to find the most suitable music for the new show. If you’re looking to start a podcast for your business, this is a great place to get some music.

So far here are the ones that I like:

progress express
the leaders
effortless mastery
shared vision
corporate progress

I’d love to hear YOUR feedback because I have a feeling my brain may turn to mush on this one.

Marketing Material Must Haves

Business Card I know this sounds simple and basic however it is a proven fact that when you don’t have a business card with you – you’ll meet the one person you’d love to do business with. It may be in line at the grocery or while you’re on vacation at Disney. If you don’t have cards with you – opportunities to build your business will come up. The solution…get business cards and keep them with you at all times. That doesn’t mean you have to be ready to make a sales pitch but the ability to hand deliver a business card to your next greatest customer means no missed opportunities.

Make sure each business card has your Unique Selling Proposition – your tagline or slogan which identifies who you are and what you do. If you have a logo, it also belongs on your business card AND of course, contact information including your URL.

Opt-In List Each name on your prospect database is worth its weight in gold. Companies spend thousands of dollars building databases because each name on their list is worth sales. Bath and Body Works created the largest specialty retail database, 10 million names, and values each name on their list at $18.

An opt in list gives you the potential to communicate directly with individuals who are confirmed prospects. You know they’re already interested in your products or services.

Website Even if you’re a brick and mortar operation, a website will help your local customers find you. Local search, typing your keyword and city into search engines – Pizza, New York, are quickly becoming a small business owner’s best friend. You don’t need a website to be represented on local search rankings; however it definitely helps drive traffic to your storefront. Additionally, a website serves as a quick and easy brochure and is an absolute must in today’s competitive economy.

A USP, unique selling proposition. A USP is quite simply your slogan or tagline which identifies what makes you unique. It’s what differentiates you from your competition. A classic example is “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”

Other tools to have in your marketing toolbox include:

Content in the form of articles, reports, books, case studies and blog postings
Direct response like postcards, sales letters, and email marketing campaigns
Social networking efforts like a MySpace or FaceBook page, forum and chat room memberships, and local organization and association affiliations.

Marketing is the lifeblood of any business. Without it even the best products and services go unnoticed and business falters. To be successful, to attain business goals, take a look at the marketing tools in your toolbox. Do you have what you need to get the job done?

I’m stirred up and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Marketing is something so important to us, yet alot of times we don’t take any time to implement them or we are so busy focusing on our customers that our heads are in a zone. So I’d love to hear from you today:

If you could only use ONE marketing technicque, which would it be and why?

The strategies for online and offline businesses differ slightly however the value of the database for both is equally important.

To create a database of leads, as a business owner of an online business, one simple strategy is to place a form on your website. Research indicates that the right upper corner is the best place for this form; though test to validate this for your particular business.

On the form, experts recommend keeping them simple, ask for a name and an email address so prospects can be notified of news, new products and updates or you can exchange their email address or contact information for something. It’s important to ask for a name in addition to the email address so you can personalize your marketing messages.

Another strategy is to offer something in exchange for an email address – ideally something that must be delivered via email – a digital product. Options include reports, video or audio tutorials, e-books, memberships and so on. The offer largely depends on your business model and products or services.

You know what your prospects value most- give it to them in exchange for their permission to contact them.

For offline, brick and mortar businesses, building a lead database is as simple as frequent customer card, a sweepstakes entry, contest, or special promotion. Retailers are often excellent at this and many point of sale software systems are designed to integrate data collection into ringing up the sale.

Bath and Beyond gave away coupons for free lip gloss in exchange for customer email addresses. JosABank asks for your information directly when you make a purchase and DicksSportingGoods uses the discount card/points strategy to obtain customer information.

Email address can be collected as part of a promotion or in exchange for a coupon or drawing. Let your imagination help you create a promotion that will stimulate interest and build an extensive database of leads.

Generating leads is of course the first step.

The second step, the one that makes your database of leads profitable and worth the effort, is to communicate with them. Again, how you communicate with your leads is based largely on your industry and business model but also on your target audience. For example, a business catering to a young high school or college aged audience may have better results reaching their audience by text message while other audiences may prefer email or even snail mail communication.

The key is to stay in touch with prospects in a manner which captures and maintains their attention.

Like most things in business, lead generation is a process – a strategy. Take the time to plan it, test it, and perfect it and then follow through and make the most of your efforts by marketing to your database.

The good news is that for small business owners – spending millions on branding just isn’t necessary. A small business owner’s number one branding asset is their personality. Stiff, quirky, loud, intelligent, adventurous, straight laced, whatever your personality – use it to brand your company.

How?

Well here’s the part that takes focus branding involves a commitment to the process. It requires frequent messages and communication.

Consistency - Yes, you need a logo, a unified appearance, and a slogan or a USP - unique selling proposition; however you also need to communicate with your prospects and customers on a regular basis. Consistently using each marketing tool as part of a unified strategy increases brand image and awareness.

For example, an email newsletter can use the same format, colors, company logo and even the tagline in each issue.

Planning - To make the most of each and every marketing effort and to enhance and strengthen your brand and brand awareness, it takes careful planning. It takes sitting down and not only making a comprehensive marketing and branding strategy but also sitting down on a regular basis and evaluating branding goals and strategies. Is each marketing and branding effort accomplishing its objective? What can you do to achieve better performance? Is each marketing tools resulting in a return on investment? Does each message strengthen branding?

Systems Systems are the processes you or your employees or contractors take. Systems are in place for each and every phase of your business from initial client contact to customer service and follow-up. For example, when someone contacts you via email regarding your products or services, what action steps are taken? When taking a look at your systems and processes what efforts are being made to strengthen branding? For example, if you have a slogan or tagline do you answer the business phone with it? When you respond to a customer inquiry is your logo and company information part of your response?

Time is the key ingredient - It takes time to create systems which integrate branding into them. It takes time to evaluate your marketing initiatives and optimize them for maximum branding results. It takes time to ensure consistency throughout your company’s actions. Set aside time each month to analyze your marketing strategy. Plan systems ahead of time, rather than winging it, and evaluate your efforts to ensure they’re consistent with the brand identity you want.

It doesn’t take a million dollars to create a fabulous brand. It takes time, commitment, focus and something you already have – personality and a brand identity. You know the image you want others to have of you and your business. Focus your efforts to make it happen.

I’m working with a Sweetie, and you can too!

This is a completely honest review of the service I use, and have used since it launched in December 2007. This is truly the BEST thing I’ve ever done for my business.

When building your online business and presence it takes alot of work to stand out. It takes time and dedication to work on your sites, have them perform properly, and draw new visitors.

My online journey started solely because I wanted to build something that didn’t keep me locked up inside a retail store for hours on end. That was my main goal, was to break free. If you’ve ever owned your own traditional physical retail business, you know exactly what I mean.

You are stuck to a contract that says, “You must be open during these times of the day, and if you’re not then you’re just out of luck… we will fine you.”

My kids were growing up before my eyes and I was not really living life, I was existing.

Before Alice Seba launched her Outsourcing Sweetie, I was building my business but did not have a specific formula I was using. I did daily what I felt was best for building my income and presence online.

But there’s one thing that stopped me. I’d get stuck on installing a code, or just plain caught up in everything that I had to do and get done that I couldn’t focus on the big picture, the big plan.

Getting back to running my own traditional business where I had 5 retail stores I think back to the many conversations I’ve had with business owners from all walks of life and in different locations. Over 12 years I got to know people even on a personal basis, we were friends.

We often would talk about our business in passing or we would visit each other in our stores to see what’s working for eachother. But I can tell you not once, did we ever discuss how to brand our business better, not once in 12 years did I EVER have that conversation.

The only time we discussed branding was when we were picking our store name, or when we were having a beautiful new sign created. That’s it.

Our focus was not on branding our business (which it should have been) but on how to get more customers, how to sell what’s hot, how to be more unique than our competitors. I guess yes, that does fall under “branding” but it never came out like… “So how will you build your brand today?” It was more of a side effect of what we were doing.

Fast forward to December 2007, yes I was making an income online. But my goal has always been to go over and above anything we ever made with 5 stores. If you imagine, we went from a 5 store income, down to nothing. That’s a pretty drastic change.

Getting back to Alice Seba. One day in Spring 2004 when I was working from home, I noticed an article in the local newspaper about a lady who was helping moms work from home. I thought to myself, “sure but how can you make a living without a traditional business?” It certainly peeked my interest and I knew I had to meet her.

I believed with my whole heart that Alice was the real deal, I knew she was making a full time income online, I just knew it. And I knew I had the smarts to do this too, I was going to create my online business and I dug my heels in.

Today as I type I have an incredible business that is growing by leaps and bounds. I have a happy husband, and children who get to see me every day, for years that just did not happen.

But what changed?

Secretly I wished that I could know exactly what kind of “system” Alice used which I knew she had one, and she started all this talk about outsourcing parts of your business. So I went ahead and started outsourcing, but came against a few roadblocks.

1) I had to train someone
2) I had to rely on someone to get the work done
3) I’d get stuck on something technical

But because I didn’t treat this “online gig” as a real business (remember I’ve been stuck in the traditional brick and mortar mindset), I didn’t treat it as such. I’d get sidetracked with my “real” business and think of my “online play toy” as something I’d get to when I learned how to fix whatever got me stuck.

I don’t know why I did this, call it a strange thing. I just believed it was something that would eventually do well. I truly did NOT treat it with the respect it deserved. I did not use the business sense that I had and apply it to my online business.

When Alice opened Outsourcing Sweetie, I’ll be honest. I was definitely making an income online, but nothing that would compare to my goal of owning the 5 retail stores. I joined to “try it out” and learn her “system” with full intentions of maybe staying for 1 or 2 months.

But well into my 1st month I knew that this was something that would need to run my online business. I swear I would be 50 steps behind right now if I didn’t use OS services. Seriously.

I can now focus on the big picture of my online business, I can focus on branding, I can focus on solutions, I can focus on moving forward while all the little and big tasks are being taken care of for me.

Even the entire transfer of this site over from Yaro was completely handled by the programmer inside OS.

Now I was thinking to myself for the last while here I am, making an incredible income (also largely due to this site), how can I help you? How can I help everyone here at Small Business Branding?

Ah Ha! I figured I’d offer you services too, I know this outsourcing gig pretty well now and I can help you build your business with my intricate knowledge of offline AND online business.

But guess what? I’ve been hesitating..

I hesitated because I know the WORK it takes to build an online business, now imagine if I try and take that over for you and everyone else here. Not a good plan. I will take my focus away from my own business and growing what I’m already doing.

The best way to serve you is to leave the outsourcing to the EXPERT staff inside OS. Plain and simple. There is no need for me to do this, I don’t have the time or the desire. So here I am, recommending to you what has helped me grow my business.

By not outsourcing you are limiting your own growth. I can highly recommend using Alice’s Outsourcing Sweetie. I know if you do this, you will thank me for it.

Grab Your Spot To Alice’s $10 Trial Here

So if you’re a brand new company with a handful of customers how do you establish credibility?

First and foremost – offer an exceptional customer experience. Word of mouth marketing is an exceptional tool to build credibility. Consider who you’d be more likely to do business with? A brand new company who came by recommendation from a friend or associate or another company who has been around for 50 years but you’ve never heard of? Many people will go for the company recommended to them. Thus superior customer service, and of course superior products and services, are a sure way to create and enhance credibility.

Provide evidence – demonstrate data and statistics. We’ve all seen the claim, “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days,” or at least claims just like it. That alone isn’t enough to demonstrate credibility; however actual proof gives credibility to the claim. If your claim has credibility it transfers to your overall brand name and company. Provide case studies, charts, graphs, and relevant data to support success and people see – yes, this weight loss company knows what they’re talking about.

Testimonials, endorsements and reviews are other tools which serve provide evidence to your claim’s credibility and the credibility of your brand. When other people outside your company talk about how wonderful you are, how well your products or services are and how your company followed through or exceeded their expectations its ‘proof’ of your credibility.

“The more you are willing to accept responsibility for your actions, the more credibility you will have”
- Brian Koslow

Integrity – regardless of the size of your company, integrity is crucial to building a credible brand. Don’t follow though on promises, forget to follow up on a complaint, or treat customers poorly and your credibility plummets. This is particularly important for small business owners because size often implies credibility and success. Small business owners must maintain integrity. A reputation for poor customer service or misleading information ruins even the best of business models. You are your brand, act accordingly and reap the benefits.

Share the wealth – sharing knowledge and industry information increases credibility. Articles, reports, published books, and white papers all help establish brand credibility in your industry. For example, Microsoft’s brand and vast catalog of products and software are enhanced by their constant flow of valuable information ranging from their small business center to personal accounting, Microsoft consistently publishes valuable information.

The more credibility your brand acquires, the more confidence prospects will have in your products or services. This credibility will trigger purchasing decisions – the result…a bigger better bottom line.

Yaro recently mentioned on his blog that he was coming to Vancouver before he heads off to Toronto. I have to say that it was a really great time to meet him. I also met with several others and had a great time chatting it up with David at the end of our table as well. John Chow was there but I was at the other end of the table so we didn’t have any time to connect.

My husband Leo came along with us and sat right next to Yaro, it helps because Leo does his own thing so it was nice to welcome him to my online world for a bit. Leo left with some ideas of his own so who knows when we’ll see what he comes up with.

The one thing that I did notice is that when you have an online connection with someone or have done business with others online, that connection extends in person as well. It’s definitely fun to come together with others who are online business owners.

I also attended the Speed Money Seminar last weekend. Again, it was great to spend time with other online business owners and learn from them as well as the speakers. I am really growing to like Armand Morin, super nice guy and he’s really funny too! I’ll be sure to post on that seminar shortly.

So why would I attend these? Well, I am a people person naturally. I used to love helping our customers and chatting with others. Some times I tend to get a bit loud so I have to really keep myself “in check” at times. Plus meeting others who are doing the same type of business to me is also a learning opportunity.

I love business, have been doing it for a super long time. I also really enjoy learning new technologies and creating income for my family. The best part is that I’m at home with my kids, I’m very blessed.

It was a great time to meet with Yaro, you can tell he is a very laid back person who seems genuinely interested in who you are and what you are doing. I can see why he has such a great following because his personality really shines through.

We all have our own personality, and I encourage you to let your own business personality come through and show people who you are and what your company stands for.

In the world of internet marketing branding plays a very critical role in an overall marketing strategy. Branding tactics, designed to increase familiarity, ultimately result in front of mind awareness, trust, and purchases. To leave it out of a business marketing equation is to risk future success and sustainability.

The good news is, becoming a familiar brand doesn’t mean spending millions of dollars on a Super Bowl ad. Becoming a familiar brand simply requires patience and a strategy that encompasses a variety of marketing tools designed to increase brand recognition.

Recognition means you’ve established front of mind awareness. When people think about your industry, your business is first in their thoughts. For example, imagine you’re traveling through an unfamiliar city, you’re hungry and you have a choice an unknown burger drive through or McDonalds. Chances are you’re going to choose McDonalds simply because it’s a known factor. You know exactly what you’re going to get. Even if you’ve never been to a McDonald’s you’re likely to choose it because you’re familiar with it. This familiarity has a direct result in purchasing behavior. In fact, it has a direct effect on your emotions.

The Ludwig-Maximilians University Hospital in Munich, Germany studied 20 men and women. While in a MRI scanner, the participants were shown a series of automobile manufacturer logos and insurance company logos – think Mercedes Benz and AFLAC. Some of the logos were well known, others not very well known. Each logo was shown for three seconds. As the men and women viewed the logos, they were asked questions to determine their perceptions of each brand.

The results of the study showed that well-known brands activated the inferior frontal gyrus, anterior insula and anterior cingulate gyrus on both sides of the brain, and activation of the precuneus in the left hemisphere – all associated with positive emotions. Unknown brands had the opposite effect. They activated the precuneus in both hemispheres – an area activated by negative emotional response.

The conclusion? Strong brand names produce favorable emotions. Favorable emotions most definitely play an important role in a customer’s buying decision. It pays to increase brand recognition.

You may also be familiar with the “Coke versus Pepsi” taste test. Where subjects were blindfolded and asked to taste unmarked soda and identify which they preferred. What wasn’t generally shared was that when subjects were told that one of the drinks was Coca-Cola they were more likely to show a preference for it even if it wasn’t Coke. Interestingly enough the people who were told it was Pepsi, even when it wasn’t, didn’t seem to show any biased behaviors. These results were attributed to Coca-Cola’s branding and the reason Coke generally sells more product than Pepsi.

With so much competition for market share online and off, branding is an integral part of a marketing campaign. You don’t have to be Coca-Cola or General Motors to benefit. Brand familiarity works on all business sizes, all industries, and all consumer types. Familiarity breeds comfort and confidence in a product even when we’ve never tried the product before. It’s why building large databases and contacting them often is such an integral part of marketing. It’s why retail stores create loyalty programs and give consumers little cards to keep in their wallet and it’s why a long term branding strategy adds significant profits to a company’s bottom line.