As we discuss here at Small Business Branding, our brand gets expressed in everything that we do – as I like to describe it – at every “touch-point” a business partner, prospect, client, employee or other stakeholder may have with us. One of the ways that we express our personal brand and our company brand is through our writing – whether that be through copy on the web, offline marketing materials or letters that we write. If we are building our business online, providing a content rich newsletter is a great way to express our expertise and also provides us…

Is living your dream only for a select few or can we all realise our dreams? Here's six tips to help you live yours. 1. A Great Purpose - the greater the reason you have to live your dream the greater your motivation. Think of those who have achieved greatly in ...

Every business wants to generate new business. That’s the commonality. But that’s just about all that’s the same. Some sell high-ticket or very specialized items and services. They only need a handful of new clients to meet their goals. Others are all about volume. They have a large ability to deliver quantities of their offerings and they want the pipeline full. This is where the “one size fits all” marketing theories fall apart. The high-ticket/specialty client can and should spend more money per client acquisition. Their efforts need to be about honing in on exactly the right prospects. They are…

The Irish Internet Association and Enterprise Ireland have nominated Krishna De, one of our great writers on this blog, for the titles of “Best Blogger” and “Best Podcaster”! She is the author of a number of popular blogs such as: BizGrowth News Todays Women in Business The Podcast Sisters Talking Coaching On top of that, she also contributes to this blog and to The Huffington Post. As you can see, she’s a busy woman and her success on these websites has led her to speak on business blogging and podcasting at her website and social media un-conference at PodCamp Ireland.…

The goal of this article is to explain why focusing your corporate brand is a wise business decision. Let’s get an understanding of what your brand actually is, out of the way first. It is not simply your logo and marketing materials. These elements as well as your overall advertising are included within your brand image which is a part of your overall brand… Your brand is your company’s reputation. It incorporates every touch point from with in your company and out side of your company. It is how the principals, shareholders, customers, suppliers and employees interact with the company.…

Is it in the first flush of youth or as you get older and wiser? Hmm… Well lets have a look shall we? There’s much to be said for starting a business when you are younger. You have the energy to be working 24/7 plus as well you may not yet have a family so your focus could easily be on longer working days. That said, would you have the necessary skills to set up your business? Probably not. You may never have had to sack anyone before or hire anyone. You may not be particularly savvy as to what…

In our daily lives we encounter risk in many forms. These risks involve crossing against a light, driving to the grocery store or mowing the lawn. Much of it is minor stuff compared to risks we encounter in the course of running a business. How we face that risk has an impact on our brands. The business climate is a lot more complicated than it was even 10 years ago. A simple example is letterhead – where is it held, who controls it, how is it used? If I can steal it, I can be a company without their knowledge.…

We’ve all done it…you know we’ve made that almighty bodge up of something and it’s had a knock on effect and you can’t quite cover up the mess you’ve made, and well… you really don’t want to admit to it being because you didn’t understand how to use the technology/didn’t know how the systems ran. So what did you do… …you blamed someone or something else of course! I mean why own up to your own failings when something or someone can take the fall for you? Ooh no! There it is…the blame game. The single most useless office politics…

I believe one of the single most critical components to any comprehensive business plan is the Marketing section. I mean, regardless of how great your product or service is, no one will buy it if you can’t effectively target and reach your prospective customer base. In my many years of PR and Marketing Communications, I have developed countless Marketing Plans for businesses of all types, sizes and at different stages of growth – from the fresh start-up to the established bellwether that is launching a new campaign. From these experiences, I have learned that a carefully researched, planned and executing…

Selling is tough even for those of you out there who enjoy it. I enjoy it most when I am face to face with a prospective client. I have had success with public speaking, networking and referral efforts. One area where I fell flat on my face was cold calling. There is something about that cold hard telephone that intimidates me. But I am determined to conquer the fear regarding cold calling. Recently, I’ve had some success with cold calling. I had the opportunity to meet some seasoned sales people at a Bar-B-Q function. They listened to my concerns about…