Where does one start to build a brand? Do you just let nature dictate, or should you plant your own seeds and nurture it along? My answer has to be the latter. As I see brand as essentially your reputation, I often tell start-ups to determine what they’d like their brand to stand for and then to work to that end. I think that that’s a little easier than to trip along unengaged with who you are and what you stand for. I also think that you should differentiate your brand from the get-go. If you use differentiation as a…

Is your brand continually evolving? Are you always watching for tools and education to put more opportunity in your cross-hairs? Just last year I fine-tuned my website. I really thought the look and functionality was exactly what my brand reflected. In the year or more since that re-do I recognized that to update or improve the sight I really should have not completed it in html (which I did myself). I am now in a major re-do porting the site to a Wordpress platform. This is beyond me so I had to engage the services of a professional in this…

If you’re anything like myself – you do a great deal of local networking. At least two or three days a week, you might run into me at some event or another. Some are professional groups where my target customers lurk and others are general professional organizations local and national. In a few of these organizations I play a managerial role, (one I’m the president). As you may well understand this takes a great deal of commitment and effort. I absolutely believe that these groups help get my brand in front of the right people who desire what I’m offering.…

Your brand is anchored in what differentiates you. Without that differentiator, you have to fall back on image or (god forbid) price. A good number of small businesses think to raise the bar they have to changes their logo, update their image and refresh that website. I’ve sat through enough meetings with graphic designers who still push this antiquated notion. My background is in graphic design so I have a healthy respect for the industry. But, I don’t rest the success of communication and sales initiatives squarely at the feet of design. Design from my perspective is the compliment to…

I’ve seen several cases lately where graphic designers will gather opinions on Facebook regarding logos they’re designing. I can’t help but think that reflects badly on their brand. The client is retaining them based on their professionalism in the field. I feel letting Facebook friends chose their best says plainly that these designers don’t have the confidence to know what is the best solution. A logo speaks to the face of a brand. It’s not a work of art but a communication vehicle. These designers are doing their clients a disservice. I believe that a designer who is charge of…

Before the web was a dominant influencer to a brand, a company could essentially hide behind their brand. How their advertising portrayed them was all the contact the public had with the companies they bought from. With this in mind a company could say one thing on the surface and do an entirely different thing behind the scenes. The tobacco industry is a good example. In the public eye, the advertising showed a lifestyle that was glamorous and appealing while the reality behind the scenes was that they were selling a product that could kill the user. At that time…

If your business offers customer service, then you should know that treating your customers kindly and with respect makes all the difference in the world to your reputation and your bottom line. There is nothing worse than a dissatisfied customer talking badly about your business and the way they were treated by you—yes you because to them YOU are your BRAND It doesn’t matter that you are not personally there, the people representing your company represent you. Here are some tips to help you get your customer service associates up to par. Always ACKNOWLEDGE your client/customer.  Customers walking in your…

With the new year, our podcast is revived and have every intention of keeping it going through the year (and beyond). That’s the important thing isn’t it? Setting goals and wanting something for the new year is one thing. Taking action on it and keeping on doing it for the whole year is a whole other thing. What better way than to kick off our podcast talking just about that? Join me (Lynette Chandler), Melissa Ingold of SpecialReportsClub.com and Kelly McCausey from SoloSmarts.com as we casually chat about: Our direction for 2013 and how they come to be Why you…

It was more than a year and a half ago when I realized I needed to make a big change. After more than nine years in the ‘work at home mom’ niche, I had an empty nest and an increasingly awkward sense of self when I sat down to blog and podcast content for that niche. When you love your niche the way I did (do!), you’re slow to notice that you may no longer fit in with the people you’re talking to. But that’s the key – when you realize you’re talking TO them, not WITH them. I realized…

Nothing is more striking visually in a brand than its colour palette. It can move people, calm people and agitate them. Colour has meaning and can be historically relevant. An example of what I mean by this is – let’s say you have an antique store or modern store for that matter that sells 1950’s era goods that are original or retro. You would be wise to use the pastel colour palette from that era (shown here). On doing this, your audience would immediately relate to the environment you are trying to create. Color also can help the customer feel…