April 24th, 2009
© Shelley Gibb
In 3 seconds or less tell me why I should care about you. Not 140 characters- about 7 words.
Get to the point. I’m busy and you should be too. Don’t tell me what you do. Tell me what you can do for me. How can you empower me to evangelize you? How can you enrich my life? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: benefit, brand, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, conversation, evangelism, feelings, goals, Google, interaction, interactions, life, network, networked, networking, passion, productivity, second, social, Value, widget, words
Posted in featured, life | No Comments »
April 22nd, 2009
© dbking
Is your brand outstanding or just standing out in the cold?
A business‘ full visual identity is what sets it apart from its competitors. With a landscape full of copycats, fakes and mundane bussinessmen, it’s your duty as an exceptional entrepreneur to set yourself apart from the rest. Getting an amazing business card is only one part of the equation. Receiving multiple business cards from different people at the same company is when you realize a brand is truly special. Here’s why your brand is sucking at making a lasting impression.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: blog, brand, brand identity, branding, business, business card, business cards, card portfolio, clever design, cohesion, collectibles, colors, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, copycats, core values, design, designers, differential, digital space, entrepreneur, excitement, fakes, feelings, fight club, gift recipients, gimmick, grouping, lasting impression, marketing, media, organic matter, organization, productivity, science, social media, twitter, unique snowflake, update, Value, visual identities, visual identity, visual translation, visuals, words
Posted in branding, featured | 4 Comments »
April 18th, 2009
Businesses are often so focused on selling and making money that they stray away from their core message. The way your customer receives you is crucial for sustained sales over time. If you’re operating with the short term just in mind you’re setting your business up for failure.
- Why did you get into business?
- What are your core values?
- What sets you apart from your competitor?
- Why should your customer favor you over anyone else?
Selling is easy. Cast a wide enough net and you’ll catch some fish.Catching a specific type of fish and plenty of it is a whole different story.
- What is your customer telling you?
- Do you know their lifestyle inside and out?
- Have you bought their mindspace?
- Will they give you your exact message or something completely different when asked?
Your customers don’t just exist for you when they buy your product. They always exist. How do you always exist for your customers?
It’s important to keep your lines of communication open with your customer. Constant feedback is the only way you can know exactly how they feel about you. Their word isn’t the whole picture but it is a major part of it.
Some tools you should be using to gauge your business impact are:
- Buying patterns
- General industry & product consensus
- Word of mouth in social media networks
- Feedback on relevant bulletin boards
- Comments on blogs
- Customer service surveys
- Face to face questioning
When was the last time you asked your customer what they thought and felt about your business? What did they say?
What can you do RIGHT NOW to find out how your business is doing?
Tags: blog, brand, brand message, branding, bulletin boards, business, business impact, commenters, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, consensus, core message, core values, customer service surveys, different story, exact message, failure, feelings, generalities, lifestyle, making money, media, media networks, mindspace, network, networked, networking, productivity, relevance, selling, social, thoughtfulness, type of fish, Value, when was the last time, word of mouth, words
Posted in business, featured | 3 Comments »
April 8th, 2009
© Will Lion
Consumers seek meaning and a brand they can trust. They are busy at work on Web 2.0 platforms creating ways to cut through the noise in search of products and services that resonate with integrity and transparency; in a word, authenticity. That quest for authenticity is a call to action for any company intending to be relevant in the 21st century.” | Sohrab Vossoughi, Business Week
Branding is an art not a science. What may work for one company may not for another. The most important thing is to engage and listen to your customer. The following is a brand checklist that every brand (personal and professional) should go over before doing business. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 21st century, advantage, aggregation, attribute, authenticity, benefit, brand, branding, business, business vision, communicating, communication, communications, company values, competitor, consumer, consumers, design, designers, differential, doing business, functionality, goals, integrity, interaction, interactions, knowledge, life, listening, marketing, media, platforms, productivity, reading, science, screwdriver, screws, social, technology, transparency, Value, viewpoint, words
Posted in branding, featured | 2 Comments »
January 16th, 2009
http://www.will-lion.com/digitalbites
“I don’t think brand as “broadcaster” is going away anytime soon, but I do think the exciting challenge which lies ahead of us is to figure out what tactics actually work in the “brand as facilitator” category” -David Armano. WHAT IS A BRAND WORTH? This was a question that was inevitably sparked by my one-on-one chat with my infinitely wise friend Carl Gucciardi about Freemium Marketing. Upon moving the conversation to Twitter this back and forth arose between myself and @AdInfinitum:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: benefit, brand, branding, broadcaster, business, chat, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, concerts, consciousness, conversation, corporate practices, david armano, decentralized conversastions, es, evangelists, event, freemium, friends, gay, goals, good stuff, hero, homonyms, lesbian, life, marketing, mentions, models, multitude, new media, niche, noun, Paris, perception, plans, platforms, present, product customers, productivity, reality, relevant questions, reply, responsibility, signs, social experiment, social media, social network, social networking, strategy, tagline, Television, The L-Word, twitter, video, Web 2.0, Whatever X.0, wise friend
Posted in featured, social media | 20 Comments »
Is Your Business Communicating The Right Brand Message?
Businesses are often so focused on selling and making money that they stray away from their core message. The way your customer receives you is crucial for sustained sales over time. If you’re operating with the short term just in mind you’re setting your business up for failure.
Selling is easy. Cast a wide enough net and you’ll catch some fish.Catching a specific type of fish and plenty of it is a whole different story.
Your customers don’t just exist for you when they buy your product. They always exist. How do you always exist for your customers?
It’s important to keep your lines of communication open with your customer. Constant feedback is the only way you can know exactly how they feel about you. Their word isn’t the whole picture but it is a major part of it.
Some tools you should be using to gauge your business impact are:
When was the last time you asked your customer what they thought and felt about your business? What did they say?
What can you do RIGHT NOW to find out how your business is doing?
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Tags: blog, brand, brand message, branding, bulletin boards, business, business impact, commenters, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, consensus, core message, core values, customer service surveys, different story, exact message, failure, feelings, generalities, lifestyle, making money, media, media networks, mindspace, network, networked, networking, productivity, relevance, selling, social, thoughtfulness, type of fish, Value, when was the last time, word of mouth, words
Posted in business, featured | 3 Comments »