Lowest Price Guaranteed – All The Way To The Bottom.
Lowest price guaranteed!
We will not be undersold!
If you find a lower price we will…
Competing on price, not something we all relish. If you’re a discount store, it is part of your brand values. It’s what gets ‘em in your door. For the rest of us, it’s something that can easily drive us out of business. Reducing our business to a commodity, is a horrible place to be. That’s especially true if the other guy is willing to buy the business or sell below their cost in an effort to outlast you. (who has the deeper pockets).
In the graphic design business, designers are repeatedly competing with anyone with a computer. How does a graphic design business compete with others who charge a fraction of their cost? Branding – plain and simple. When a person hires design projects on price they surrender professionalism, expert business advice, experience, communication smarts and ethics. Design professionals repeatedly win projects for several thousand dollars where their competition sells it for a few hundred. When you are aware of how brand works, you stop taking client relationships for granted. You over deliver on service. You keep your brand front and center and you continue to add value. Take the high road with your brand, look as powerful as you can.
The minute a business takes their eye off their brand, they start to slide toward commodity hell. At first glance, you might assume that there isn’t a problem competing on price. But ask yourself, “Where will this strategy take me, if my competitions believes it is the solution as well?” Definitely – it will take the both of you straight to the bottom. Deepest pocket wins!
Some may scoff at this article. Even they have to admit that at times they too have purchased the more expensive product or service, from businesses that on the surface are identical to their competitors. Roofers, hardware and auto parts suppliers for example. But the reason for these more expensive purchases was the value added. The experience of the employees from whom you draw great advice. The fact that they look like they are going to be around next week. All these perceptions are branding advantages. Consistency of image itself breeds familiarity and a sense of comfort.
If you want to avoid commodity hell, find valuable ways to build relationships with your customers. Stay in touch with them. Offer them valuable advice and connect them with resources that make them appreciate their connection to you. Have a positioning strategy that absolutely differentiates your brand and resonates with your audience in a big way.
Sure, every now and then it’s about price. Nothing is absolute. But this doesn’t mean you can’t step your brand up and try to side step the approach, by adding more value. You want to grow the new relationship not based on price but on brand. This involves a sell-up strategy and strong adherence to your brand values. It’s a constant battle – but the good news is that it’s winnable overall.
Brandless At The Beach – NEVER!
Just because you’re on vacation and lounging at the beach doesn’t mean your brand has to relax too.
Here are ten ways you can promote your brand when you’re supposed to be relaxing:
1: Build a sand model of your store or office.
2: This one’s for the ladies. Get a one piece suit and using an exact-o knife cut out a stencil of your brand logo. Next time you wear a two-piece suit your logo will be in a nice golden brown against your lighter skin.
3. Buy the beach volleyball team playing near-by some drinks and get them to wear your swag.
4. Stock a super-size cooler with free refreshments to share with your beach neighbors. Wear your t-shirt with the logo and website on it.
5. Put a sandwich board on your dog for that walk down the beach.
6. Whistle your companies jingle while you read your beach book.
7. Put that same jingle many times through out your music mix. Be sure that others around you can hear it easily.
8. Park your logoed vehicle next to the washrooms or refreshment stands.
9. Hire a plane to drag your sky advertising back and forth.
10. Be sure the whole family is wearing the corporate colors.
As interesting as these suggestions are, don’t blame the writer (me) if your family and loved ones abandon you for another locale down the beach.
Jump And Grow Your Wings On The Way Down.
The headline to this article is a quote from a client of mine – Belinda Bond. Belinda is the visionary behind the Celebrity Mama Tour. I thought it was the perfect bit of advice for entrepreneurs. How many times have you sat down for a chat with someone and they are pondering the age old question, “When is the best time to launch my idea?” or “Is it the right time to go into business for myself?” As someone who has been on their own for some time now, I don’t believe there is a right or wrong time to jump. The point is the jumping part. That action is what separates the true entrepreneur. It reminds me of a past article I wrote about planners and doers.
The wings referred to in the headline are really the passion and belief in yourself. The only way you are going to succeed is to DO IT. Nike had it right, “Just Do It.” If you jump and crash, then your wings were not fully unfurled. But like any new life, you have to grow. You have to brush yourself off and get back up there and jump again. Each time gaining the confidence to learn from past errors and gaining ground.
Risk is simply part of the process. If you try and wait for the “right time.” You will never jump, because there is always something that will give you reason to pause. We spend our whole lives trying to win. Most times we lose. We understand and recognize losing. Sometimes we are too comfortable with it. Comfort in the status quo keeps most of us from jumping.
If that sounds like your situation then my only advice is to STEP ASIDE, and let other visionaries start their journey. Not everyone is cut out to take the risk. Their role is to be the lightening rod for others. The key is to understand your role in business, and step into that role. Recognize your strengths and join the right team.
Belinda Bond is a ball of fire. Her comfort zone is in the risk taking. But don’t kid yourself – she and thousands like her couldn’t take that risk without key support behind her. But in the end it still boils down to jumping or not. If you want it bad enough you’ll jump. Growing the wings is the fun part!
How Your Brand Values Strengthen Your Business.
How fast do you return a telephone call or an email from a potential lead?
I ask myself this every time a lead remarks to me, how quickly I responded. I wonder if perhaps most businesses do NOT return contacts as fast as they could. I try to respond the moment I get a contact. Even if I am busy, I at least try to respond and inform them that I will return their call when I have time enough to respond properly.
Yesterday I left a message with a store, asking them to give me their store hours. The message said that they would get back to me. It’s been more than 24 hours and nothing. How many businesses do this – make a promise and then fail to act on it. What is the message their brand is saying to me? I believe it’s telling me that I am not important to them. Maybe the next time they complain about how slow business is they could also talk about how they failed to get back to leads who called to inquire about something and they chose to ignore them. Nobody is going to beg your brand to do business with them.
Most small businesses that I speak with, have service as one of their brand values. When a business leaves their customers on hold for extended periods of time, or they fail to return their calls and inquiries, then service is not something that their company takes very seriously. Service when it suits them would be more appropriate. Your simply can’t compromise your brand values if you hope to grow your business based on consistent delivery of quality. The marketplace thrives on authenticity in their brands. Paying lip service looks good on the surface, but when your offer is tested in the marketplace, you will be quickly found out, and your market share will diminish.
A great example of this in today’s marketplace is Toyota. After spending years bragging about their quality, they got greedy and failed to live up to their brand value regarding quality. Now their brand is suffering in the marketplace with lower sales and a renewed confidence in American models. Their arrogance cost them huge, and it will take years to regain their polish. Now I’ll bet those short cuts on quality, don’t look like such a great idea in their boardrooms anymore. They grew so comfortable with their quality reputation that they obviously felt that the brand would carry the day no matter if it were authentic or not.
Don’t make this mistake. Brand Values are essential to your growth and prosperity.
Branding Voodoo That’ll Smoke The Competition
There are lots of ways that you can approach your brand to make it more effective. Some can be
costly, while many are simple and relatively inexpensive. It is the latter that I will outline for you today. They don’t take much thought or effort but can impact your brand in a big way.
1) Sponsor a local adolescent sports team.
This is not so much to get your logo on a jersey but it
is part of giving back to the community. Volunteerism speaks to your brand values. Not to mention that many of the organizers are also leading members of the
business community.
2) Join local networking groups.
Don’t just join groups and wait your turn to say your
elevator speech, but take an active role. Join committees, offer your assistance where ever you see an opening. People are impressed by go getters.
3) Write a short eBook.
You are an expert in your field. Take that valuable knowledge and apply it to a subject your potential customers might find compelling. Offer it up on your website or blog for free. Doing this puts you on
the path to building a niche group to sell to.
4) Consistency of image.
Make sure that all your materials have the same brand image. Any deviation only causes confusion among your audience. I go to great lengths to be sure I stay on track with my brand, so should you.
5) Do you have a new product or service that needs attention?
Do a press release and spread the word in the media. Any pick-up is free advertising for you.
6) Do a color analysis of the competition.
See what colors the competition is doing and choose a color they are NOT using to own that color and differentiate yourself. Of course this is great if you’re willing to re-do your brand image. If not, look at the attitude or tone of their messages and differentiate based on that observation.
7) Go on blogs that your audience is on and purposely leave constructive comments.
These comments will lead customers back to you. This is a great way to get the conversation started. It also works the same way in Linkedin groups, Facebook and Twitter.
Track your online visitors.
Be sure that your websites and blogs have analytic code installed so that you can see what keywords people use to find you. Use those keywords as the basis of links back to you rather than your company name.
9) Record podcasts/videos.
They don’t have to be super professional, just decent so as not to cast any negativity on your brand. A/V adds a distinct tone to your online content and positions you nicely. It helps add a personality to your brand.
10) Lead don’t follow.
How can you lead in your category? Determine a way to take the high ground from your competition. In Branding Voodoo, you MUST have the bigger pins, anything less is just doodoo.
Drew Gerber Speaks on PR and your Brand
As part of my interview series with “Thought Leaders,” PR guru and author, Drew Gerber from “Pitchrate.com” shares his wisdom with us. I’ve been following Drew online for some time, so I was pleased as punch that he agreed to this important interview.
Ed Roach: How much does personal branding matter in Public Relations?
Drew Gerber: Personal branding is as important in the world of business survival as food, shelter, and water are to personal survival. If you want to set yourself apart from the competition you have to make a name for your products and services. Chances are someone else is doing the same thing you are, so you really have to find what’s unique about you. The goal of branding is to make it so your target market remembers you. When you’re giving an interview you have to make sure you deliver your message in way that forces people to take notice of your brand. You have to make it like a song they can’t get out of their heads.
Ed Roach: Whenever I speak of corporate branding, I believe a company is smarter to lead than follow. Taking their PR efforts into consideration, how important is “being the leader”?
Drew Gerber: Being a leader is definitely important, but you also have to know what others are doing. I would never advocate following or “riding the coat tails”, but with the Internet and social networking, ideas and thoughts are being exchanged at a very rapid pace. It really comes down to progression these days. How far you can take an idea and how you can leverage it to really make a difference in you company.
Ed Roach: Drew, I’ve heard you say, “When it comes to small businesses, PR is in everything you do.” Since your PR is a part of your brand would you agree that the tone of your brand should be reflected in your PR initiatives?
Drew Gerber: Definitely! The tone of your brand should be reflected in all your PR initiatives. Your brand is who you are. It’s counterproductive to deliver a message in an interview that doesn’t align with your branding. You have to be memorable, not confusing.
Ed Roach: Let’s say a company is in crisis, how can PR play a role in re-establishing brand reputation?
Drew Gerber: PR can be a company’s most effective tool– as long as they are willing to take responsibility and be vulnerable. Crying on camera seldom hurts either. We all watched as Toyota launched a huge PR campaign after all the recalls. They had to reestablish trust with its current and potential customers. They went hard after their long history and track record, and even brought emotion into the campaign, which we don’t see too often from large corporations. When a company’s relationship with the public is tarnished for whatever reason, PR is the most effective way to get the shine back on.
Ed Roach: As a Public Relations expert, how do you believe the Drew Gerber brand is perceived?
Drew Gerber: Well, I always think it’s hard to be objective about yourself, even if you a branding expert. Ever try cutting your own hair? I hope I’m perceived as approachable, passionate, and, above all else, committed to making a difference.
L. Drew Gerber is CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc. (www.PublicityResults.com) and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media tool that connects journalists, publicists, and experts. Gerber’s business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with Online PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed (www.PressKit247.com). Contact L. Drew Gerber at: AskDrew@PublicityResults.com or call him at 828-749-3548.
How To Discover The Social Media Fit!
Every week it seems there is another channel we can use to market our companies. Social Media for one appears to be leaping on to the stage at every opportunity. My inbox is constantly pushing out new sites to sign up to in the promise of delivering to us a new and exciting piece of business. I’m sure, like me, you wonder is it worth all the hype and will they get me any more notice than what I am experiencing with my current nest of sites.
All I can advise is that it is extremely important that you do your research and see what “appears” to be a good fit for you. By that I mean, how much effort you have to put forth to get the results you hope to achieve. You can’t do them all and be effective. As long as you realize that social media marketing is unlike any other traditional channel, you will appreciate what it takes to build audience. That difference of course is that social marketing is not about selling but is about the conversation. Branding loves social marketing because that conversation leads to relationships.
Social media also can be powerful in the right hands. Would you enjoy knowing when a key person in a business you have been aching to do business with leaves, opening the door for a new relationship, quite possibly with you? Trolling social sites can harvest this type of information. Developing a social media guide for your employees, can establish points of reference and alert them as to how the company wants them to identify themselves when ever they comment on the company online.
How ever you use the medium, finding that great fit, reduces unrealistic expectations and allows you to connect with your audience in more meaningful ways.
