There are elements of branding that can be expanded upon at all levels of business management, from simple things like designing a logo and printing it on your shopping bags if you are a retail store, to establishing a sophisticated online presence to dialogue with consumers.

There is one thing that all of the most successful businesses have in common (well, actually, there are a few billion things a lot of them have in common, but that’s another story…) and that thing is that they are all recognisable brands. They’re recognisable in part because they have been so successful and widely used that we’ve become familiar with them, but it is also largely due to clever branding and marketing on their part. Think of Google, Apple, Microsoft and Virgin, just to name a few. Not only are these names we’re all familiar with, they are companies that, if asked, we could describe facts about their ‘personality’. The fact is, the majority of the population knows very little about what goes on inside their boardrooms, but we still make assumptions (mostly fed to us by the companies themselves) about the ‘feel’ of the brand.

For example, we think of Google as powerful, creative, trendy and a little bit cheeky. We think of Apple as creative, innovative, cutting-edge in terms of technology and very hot in terms of popular culture. With companies like Microsoft and Virgin we are more likely to identify the brand with its founder, because they have received so much press–Microsoft is seen as powerful, intelligent, wealthy and sophisticated like its owner, Bill Gates, whereas Virgin is seen as fun, fresh, cheeky and a little quirky. These are all very successful examples of how branding has been used to cultivate a relationship with the public, therefore improving trust and familiarity as well as a position in the front of people’s minds. There are elements of branding that can be expanded upon at all levels of business management, from simple things like designing a logo and printing it on your shopping bags if you are a retail store, to establishing a sophisticated online presence to dialogue with consumers.

Branding can take hundreds of different forms, but the best way to approach it is to think of your business as a separate entity with a personality of its own. The first step is to establish what kind of personality your business has, based on your industry, your strategies and your target market. A big part of branding is often evaluating where you’d like your target market to be, and striving towards cultivating that kind of image. Branding is primarily about relationship management with the consumer, so things like exposure (things like custom packaging that will have customers remembering you), reputation management (dealing professionally and swiftly with consumer complaints so that you build a trustworthy reputation) and market analysis and response (identifying growth areas or things you could improve upon and acting on this intel) all contribute to building your business’s brand, and with it, your success.

Continued here: Branding Your Business

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In the United States there are a good amount of small businesses. Most of us Americans refer to these as Mom and Pop shops. I am going to discuss how, why, and approximately how much it is to set up your small businesses with a web presence using a web site on the Internet. As a small business owner myself and an IT professional, I know first hand how important advertising is. Most small business have money budgeted for advertising. Some more than others. But one thing that small business owners overlook is the power of a lot of low cost or free advertising on the Internet.

A web site for your small business is a must, along with signing up for Google places. Signing up on Yahoo as well is a good idea. Today most of us use and have access to the Internet at home or via our smart phones. When we need something we pop open Google and search for it. For example, you need a virus removed from your laptop. You go to Google and do a search for computer repair or virus removal in your area. The search engine results are shown, and then you start making some calls from the list of businesses that are relevant.

This is a powerful way for you to receive calls to your business, and the cost is very minimal. It’s usually around $2000 to get a good website set up for you, it’s $12 a year for the domain name, and then hosting is around $60.00 per year. If you add all that up and then divide by 5 years, your total cost of advertising with your web site is $39 a month. You can’t touch that price per month for advertising with any other advertiser for 24/hr per day advertising and showing up on the worlds number one search engine.

Now just getting your web site set up isn’t the last stop. You’ll have to Search Engine Optimize (SEO for short) your site, otherwise your search engine results won’t get you the business you desire. The explanation is when you first set up your web site, it first has to be submitted to Google for indexing. After indexed, you have to use strategic methods to raise your search ranking for certain keywords. Otherwise, you will never reach the first page of results for the keyword your targeting. I suggest hiring a SEO company to do this for you. In most cases, they can do it for you in 3 months for fees ranging from $750-$1000.

If you add that fee in with the previous fees, your total cost of advertising for your website would be?$56?a month for a five year period. Obviously I’m on?using 5 years as a baseline, if you factor in?a longer period of time,?your cost will go down. It is very small price to pay to have a good chance to increase your monthly sales when done properly. With the new age of technology, and the way we use the Internet to find products and services on the Internet, it would be in your best interest to use this tool to your businesses advantage.

View original post here: Small Business and Web Sites

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Today, having a good internet presence can go a long way in giving your organization that little edge you’ve been looking for in the competitive environment. And in order to do that, you need to have a website design that is user-friendly, looks trendy having an adequate number of functionalities, yet has a professional look that motivates people to peruse your website.

On an average, 15 seconds is all it takes for a person on the Internet to judge your website designing and he/she should spend more time exploring your website. So, it is highly recommended that your web designing should be attractive enough to make a good first impression on your potential investors and customers.

The internet is literally brimming with web services to help a person in need of efficient business solutions. A study conducted by a popular web design company shows that a user settles for a maximum of 17 searches on Google to zero in to his preferred search result. In such a case, it is even more important that your website has a good look & feel to it.

To create an analogy, picture the Internet as a really huge shopping mall and the web designing of your new business as one of the numerous stores craving for customers to come in and purchase your product. If the store doesn’t have a good electric signboard, has a shabby appearance from the inside, you as the owner will be forced to make some restructuring done!

The same applies for your new business’s website. There are various steps by which you can market your new organization through your web designing. Without a doubt, the content goes right on top of the priority list. No matter how good the website designing is, if the content if flimsy, your web designing is counting its days until your competitor offers more helpful or satisfying information.

That being said, the next crucial step is to make the design of your new business’s website appealing. Care should be taken not to go overboard with the glossy graphic designs, yet, settling for something as simple as FrontPage should also be avoided. Hire the expert web design services of an expert website design company to get optimum result.

At the end of all, its all about how your customer feels when he interacts with your website. The design should be in such a way that the user feels at home; simple, comfortable and last but not the least, satisfied.

Read more: Why a Good Website Design Is Important for Your New Business

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There are four marketing ideas to get more exposure, drive traffic and visitors to your new business. While there are many different ways to get your business out there, these will help you get noticed quickly.

1. Write a press release announcing your new business. What is a press release? It’s a written announcement to draw media attention about a company, product, service or event. All press releases are written in the third person. Headlines are very important as they grab the reader’s attention. Avoid long sentences or paragraphs and leave out the hype. To write a proper press release, follow the 5 W’s. Who, what, where, when and why and don’t forget how. Press releases are normally one page so aim for that.

2. Put your knowledge on video. Whether it’s business tips you want to share, a technique you want to teach or a product you want to demonstrate, video is a good platform. No one should expect you to give away your top trade secrets for free, but when you share what isn’t considered common knowledge that will build trust and make people think hey, it isn’t always about the money. It’s always good to give away something for free so your business can benefit in the long haul.

3. Product review and giveaway sites can draw a lot of traffic from different people. There are a lot of product review and giveaway blogs. When marketing a new business giving away something for free is a sure-fire way to get a good jump start from the starting blocks, get the exposure and get your business in front of as many people as possible. These sites are promoted heavily by the host and by the people who enter the giveaways.

4. Add your business to Google Local Shopping. Google Local Shopping is a service for small business owners to list their products so online shoppers can find you easily within their area. In order to be listed, you first have to create a Google Merchant Center account and you can do so by logging into your existing Gmail account or create a Google account.

You will need to provide your website, business, contact (for product inquiries) and private contact information. Then you’ll have to create an online product data listing feed and upload it to your merchant center. There are a series of steps to go through and it shouldn’t be difficult. You can find all the details at the Google Merchant Center help page.

These are four quick marketing ideas to jump start your new business so you can start seeing almost immediate results, get on the high and ride the momentum to start growing your business.

Link: 4 Free Quick Marketing Ideas To Jump Start Your New Business

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You’ve got your idea in place, you have done all the paperwork and your new business is launched. So what do you do to get it promoted to the world? This article will present three quick marketing techniques. These strategies apply whether you are a brick and mortar business at the local mall or a home based business. The power of the internet works as an equal opportunity employer.

Number 1 – Social Networking This is probably the simplest and the most familiar. We all know the power of referrals. Use your Facebook account to introduce your business to your world. Now you don’t want to come out and be a blatant advertisement. Start a conversation with a close friend about your excitement of starting your own business. Allow the conversation to evolve including products or services that you provide.

While in Facebook, accumulate more friends and join groups of like minded individuals. Join as many groups as you have interests which would include business or personal or maybe environmental. Start connecting with people outside your own social circle.

Number 2- ads While you are starting your business, your budget may be squeezed a little bit tight. If this is the case, there are many places to advertise for free. Craigslist is one of them, but you need to be very careful and examine all of their rules. There are other sites such as USFreeAds, InetGiant and more. As your business grows, you can then expand your Ads into paid ads. Take the time to look at Google AdWords. You may not be ready at this point, but it is an area that eventually you will want to incorporate into your advertising strategy and budget.

Number 3 – video marketing We all love to watch the videos on YouTube. Why not use that for your own business? If you are a little bit of a ham, video marketing will come easily. You may think that what you recording is goofy, but go for it. Try doing a search on Google for a product or service. The chances are great that on the first page of the Google search, there will be some sort of video. Videos rank very high in the search engines.

View post: Are You Using These 3 Marketing Ideas in Your New Business?

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Today’s Guests:

Joseph
Engo, Systems Manager, Mevio

Rob
Enderle, President, The Enderle Group

Tim
Bajarin, Principal Strategist, Creative Strategies

The Topics:

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The Future of Kinect

Did Steve Jobs Kill The Magic of the iPhone?

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