I attended a presentation last week by Clara Shih from Salesforce.com. Clara just released her new book, called The Facebook Era, about how businesses are networking, marketing and selling more stuff through social networking applications. We do a fair amount of social media marketing here at VerticalResponse and we definitely believe in its value for small business. While it’s not a replacement for other online marketing programs, it does augment those programs more virally at little to no cost.

Social marketing is more the responsibility of the employees today than the employer. Why? Because any company or business owner can set up a Group, Page, or Cause on Facebook and invite current customers to become fans or members, but it’s the employees (or friends of the company) that already have the established social networks online. Without a few individuals taking the time to create posts, add links, and invite their friends to become fans, too, it will become a stale community. Leverage is the key to driving adoption.

Three easy steps to get you started with social media marketing:

1) Create a Company Page or persona, like Jack Box on MySpace, that is fun and interactive. Get your employees or friends to dedicate a minute or two a day to help get things going, update their own Facebook status’ mentioning your brand, Twitter about the page or something new they posted, and include a link in your email newsletters to increase traffic and membership.

2) Search Twitter for your company’s industry or topics that relate to your business and start to follow a few other industry experts. Your own list of followers will quickly grow. As it grows, keep tweeting about industry news, press you received, or even that you’ve just completed your latest email newsletter (this is a little list-building tip). Add links in every tweet to drive them to your site, group, blog, or opt-in form.

3) Measure your success. After all, if you can’t measure it, why are you doing it? Use tools like:

• Facebook Lexicon – to see the frequency of your topic being mentioned.
• TweetDeck – to review all the twitter feeds and break them down into manageable views.
• Andiamo Systems- (our choice at VerticalResponse) to manage all of your social media activity. We track not only our own online “buzz” but our competitors’ to compare.

Obviously there is a lot more you can do with social networking, leveraging sites like LinkedIn, Classmates.com, and others. But I wanted to make your first steps into social media easy and fun. Remember, social media networking is just another way to keep your business top of mind with customers and prospects. You are bringing your message to a highly targeted audience online and making your business or service easy to find for your customers.

About the Author
As Director of Marketing at VerticalResponse since 2007, Erin is responsible for evangelizing the benefits of email marketing to emerging companies. With over 14 years experience managing global marketing campaigns for technology companies large and small, Erin now shares her Lead Generation and Email Marketing insights with the small business community, helping them increase sales and promote their business online as cost-effectively as possible.

Nothing saddens me more when I’m out at an event or opening my mail than seeing BRUTAL (that’s right, BRUTAL) promotional material. Let me describe it. First, like something out of a horror movie, I find myself staring at a home made business card or worse, the tri-fold brochure (start the creepy music). At the top is what can only be described as an abhoration (spell-check doesn’t like this word, but I do) that is supposed to be a logo (enter the hallowing scream), that was obviously developed by a 5 year old (correction a 5 year old could probably have done better). Next I see so many fonts and sizes on the page that I find myself getting dizzy and usually there is not a photo in sight….or worse…..I find myself looking face to face with the scariest creature of all – CLIP ART!

Most small businesses will say, “but Cidnee, I can’t afford the thousands it takes for a professional logo and superior design. I only produce small quantities and it is just cost-prohibitive.” WRONG! There are so many amazing resources out there to produce KILLER copy on a budget that there are just no more excuses for CREEPY hand-made tri-fold brochures.

IT’S YOUR BRAND – Remember you are creating an image every time you go out, you say something, you write something and/or you design something. A home-made tacky black and white brochure says – “I’m home-made, tacky and have no money. In fact, I may not be around tomorrow, so please spare me some change.” Is this really what you want people to see you as?

SOME SECRET WEAPONS – I have put together a list of some of my favourite secret weapons for creating killer copy. Here is how I decide which route I’m going to go on a piece. How much time do I have vs. how much money, and how important is this piece to my overall business? Obviously if you are starting out or you are producing a low priority piece, you can opt for more of the do-it-yourself approach. But when it comes down to the crunch, OR the piece you are developing is going to be a key piece for your business, it’s time to open up your wallet and bring in some of the big guns!

Logos
It is usually a very scary thing when people develop their own logo. Check out these sites for some budget options for logo development. Biggest tip – don’t dictate what MUST go into the logo, but communicate what you want the logo to represent. It makes for a much better logo!

Quick and Dirty Logos – From a graphic designer’s cutting room floor, these logos are very inexpensive, IF they fit your company and the message you are trying to portray.

Logoworks – Built from scratch and using multiple designers, this is a slick outfit that produces some great logos for a fraction of normal design costs (starts at $299).

Graphic Design
From clever Word templates, to stock design, there are a number of options here for very little investment if you have the time to play with them. If you don’t have the time, then a good graphic designer is worth their weight in gold. They usually charge around $60 – $70/hour and can complete miracles on a simple one-pager in 3 – 4 hours! I have become hooked on outsourcing this component of my biz.

Word Templates - Definitely the cheapest, but most time consuming option. There are some great designs however. If you can only afford this “do-it-yourself” option, please make sure that you maintain colours and fonts, logos, and key messages throughout ALL of your promotional pieces to build a strong and consistent brand.

StockLayouts – This is a great site for graphic design. They can produce material in a variety of medium depending if the end use is for print, email or online. Have a look. It’s a great middle ground for professional looking pieces.

Professional Images
A picture says a thousand words. So if you are developing your own pieces, make sure to have at least one strong photo that portrays the key message of your piece. People love to see pictures of people so, where possible, try to include at least one live body.

Please, please DON’T steal images from the internet. It is illegal and will be very embarrassing if you get caught. 

iStockPhoto – I love iStockPhoto. In fact the picture I used today is from their site. I find it easy to search, easy to download and this pic cost me a whole $1 and I can now use it as much as I want. It’s a no brainer!

The Perfect Words
It’s important to spend time and money on your copy. It is usually the part that delays the project or can cause the piece to be the least effective. Spend some money here unless this is a talent of yours. Remember to watch where your talent comes from. If you are marketing from Canada to the States or vice versa there are subtle spelling differences such as colour to color or center to centre that your writer needs to be cognisant of.

Elance – Elance is an interesting American site. You can find writers with varying skill sets and also see their earnings to date (from the site). 

Local Talent – I also recommend searching locally for copywriters. I find it is great to have more than one as some are strong at web writing, while others write great sales letters or are gifted in creating the perfect advertorial copy.

Professional Copywriting – This is a Canadian site, with prices all laid out for you for various types of copy requirements.

Printing on a Budget
With digital printing, gone are the days of mandatory high volume printing. Consider designing and printing nice templates and then running them through your own colour inkjet or laser to give you flexibility on copy. Use colour…even if it is just one colour, and use high quality paper. Remember your image!

Shop locally for a good printer that offers both digital and offset printing – it will save you the time it takes for freight and delivery, but also look at some of the online houses that have some eye-popping prices.

PrintingforLess – Based in the States, this online powerhouse has great pricing. Quality is “nice” not exceptional, but a great budget option. They will also deliver to Canada.

VistaPrint – Available in both Canada and the USA – www.vistaprint.com or www.vistaprint.ca. This is another “nice” not exceptional online service.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

The key with social media is a bit like your holidays vs. work days. A nice balance can make a world of difference. Too much will keep you hiding behind a computer and too little – well chances are you won’t know what you are missing out on!

As a marketer, I find this topic overwhelms and confuses many business owners. Quite frankly, even in the marketing world – the jury is still out on the trends. But rest assured – social media is not going away. As our children grow up and take over corporate North America, the names of the tools may change, but the overall usage will only become more and more in use.

To start, let’s look at what Social Media really is. According to Wikipedia (which is itself a social media tool, by the way):

Social Media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate:    

Technology + Human interaction = the construction of ideas (text), pictures (graphics), videos and/or audio.

• There is shared meanings and collaboration.
• Social media is not finite – there is not a set number of pages or hours.
• Several formats can be mixed.
• Social media is typically available via feeds, enabling users to subscribe via feed readers, and allowing other publishers to create what are called “mashups”.

2 Key Ways Social Media can help your business.
 
1. So people can find you and your business more readily on the internet. Such optimization includes adding links to services such as Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us so that pages can be easily ’saved and submitted’  to and for these services.
 
2. To position yourself and/or your company as an expert or leader in your industry. This includes writing content that is remarkable, unique, and newsworthy. This content can then be marketed by popularizing it or even by creating a “viral” video on YouTube and other video sites.

Examples of Social Media

Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few. Examples of social media applications are Google Groups (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), Youmeo (social network aggregation), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube  (social networking and video sharing), Avatars United (social networking), Second Life (virtual reality), Flickr (photo sharing), Twitter (social networking and microblogging) and other microblogs such as Jaiku and Pownce. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo.

Beginner Steps #1  

Set up a LinkedIn account and possibly a Facebook account. LinkedIn is a social site geared to business. Facebook tends to be more personal, though some people have certainly used it for business as well. It is free to set up both accounts. At a bare minimum, include your company web address and contact details. Try to use key search terms in your descriptions. 

Invite Your Existing and Ongoing Prospects to link up with you.   

Bigger Steps #1   

LinkedIn has an Answers function where you can ask and answer questions. Answer at least one question a week in your area of expertise. When your answer is chosen by the questioner it helps you to earn Expert status in your industry.   

Start Your Own Groups.

About the Author…
Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations. Subscribe for Free to her bi-weekly marketing tips for small businesses and also receive a special report on the 7 Steps of Marketing Success.

From the moment we wake in the morning, until our heads hit the pillow at night, we are surrounded by logos. They are on the products we use, the clothes we wear, and the cars we drive. Even the communities we live in feature logos on street signs and marquees. One expert has estimated we are exposed to more than 5,000 logos every day.

So how do you make your logo standout?

Unfortunately, many companies make serious mistakes when they design their logos. These are good businesses with bright futures, but they often end up with logos that are less than ideal, or even poorly designed. And getting customers to notice or remember a bad logo is a very difficult thing to do.

When you set out to create your new logo, be sure to avoid these five critical mistakes:

Critical Mistake #1: Drawing Your Logo Yourself

Many bad logos happen because a business owner tries to do it all themselves. They need something fast, so they create it themselves or ask a friend to do it. And while they plan on doing it the right way eventually, they seldom get the chance.

That’s what happened to Upgrades, Etc., a small but growing computer repair business. The owner designed the original logo because he needed it fast. Customers tolerated the bad logo because they appreciated the high-quality service they received. However, new customers didn’t take the company seriously.

Happily, the story ends well. Upgrades, Etc. contacted the professional logo designers at Logoworks.com for a new logo, including an icon that customers could recognize. They also updated the font and added color to catch the attention of new customers.

Not all bad logo stories end up as happily. An unprofessional logo can destroy trust among potential customers and keep customers from buying your products. And it takes very deep pockets for a business to survive a lack of customers.

Critical Mistake #2: Forgetting About Your Customer

Many business owners choose a logo based on their tastes. They select colors, icons and fonts that appeal to them. The problem is, they are often not their ideal customers. Before designing your logo, find out as much as you can about your customers. Are they men or women? Single or married? Young or old? Are they looking for a trustworthy image, or something more playful? The more you know about your customer’s likes and dislikes, the more easily you can develop an image that will appeal to them.

Critical Mistake #3: Looking Too Much Like Your Competitors

This is an easy mistake to make. After all, your competitors are successful, so why not do what they do? When your competitors zig, you should zag.

Ever notice that while Coca-Cola’s primary color is red, Pepsi’s dominant color is blue? Rather than copying the market leader’s color like most store brands, Pepsi intentionally uses a different color to claim a unique space in the consumer’s mind. The same is true for just about any product category.

Don’t mimic your competition. Choose colors, shapes, icons and fonts that set your business apart. By contrasting your logo and brand image to your competition, you’ll help customers easily identify your business and products. When your logo resembles everyone else’s, you’ll lose customers who confuse your product with the competition.

Critical Mistake #4: Thinking That Colors and Fonts Don’t Matter

Does your company need to convey freshness? Consider using greens, which suggest health and prosperity. Want to grab a customer’s attention? Reds are impossible to ignore and convey boldness, power, strength and excitement. No wonder many leading brands use red as their primary color. Maybe your logo needs to convey trust. Blues represent authority, dependability, and responsibility. That’s why you’ll see blues in life insurance and investment firm branding.

But be careful. Too many colors make a logo difficult and expensive to print or embroider. Virtually all of the world’s most recognized logos are made up of just one or two colors. Keep it simple.

The same principle applies to fonts. You want your logo to be readable, but not ordinary. Times New Roman and Ariel may be popular fonts for word processing—but you won’t find either of these in truly good logos. They just don’t feel original. There are literally thousands of fonts to choose from—some elegant, others bold, still others traditional, and so on. The font you choose should support the product or business it represents. But don’t get too trendy, or you may find yourself with a dated logo a few years from now.

Critical Mistake #5: Trying to Communicate Too Much With Your Logo

Small business owners often make the mistake of creating a logo that says so much that they end up communicating nothing at all. I’ve seen the logo of a data storage company that included a baby, a bride and groom, a coffin, an engagement ring, a paper document, a CD, and a computer surrounded by an outline of the state where they are based. The result was impossible to decipher. What’s worse, that logo would be difficult (and expensive) to embroider on shirts, print on signs, or even business cards.

Instead of putting everything in your logo, focus on a single image that your customer can remember. The designer working on a logo for Fixations, an Orlando restaurant, combined a table setting icon with a simple font to create a logo that instantly communicates the idea of a formal dinner. Similarly, Mio Sushi, an Oregon-based eatery, chose an illustration of its most popular product to represent the business. Both restaurants serve a variety of menu items, but represent the business with a single image and a simple, memorable font.

On the other side of the spectrum, some businesses create logos that are too simple or don’t stand for anything. Think of the myriad of logos with swooshes, hoops, orbits, and swirls. These logos are so nondescript that they simply don’t help brand the company. Instead, choose an icon and logotype that help customers easily understand your business and identify your products.

Additionally, many small businesses also make the mistake of adding words like Inc, Corp, or LLC to their logos. Often they do this to look bigger or more official. But in reality, it just makes the logo busy and hard to remember. Think of your five favorite brands. Do any of them include the words Inc. or Corp. in their logos? Do any of them include taglines?

A Mistake-Free Process

Don’t make any of these business-killing mistakes when you are ready to design your logo. Your business is simply too important to risk! Logoworks by HP can help you make sure you get 4-12 professionally designed logo concepts based on the specific needs of your business. The expert logo designers at Logoworks by HP will provide your concepts in just three business days and your satisfaction is guaranteed! Take the time to do it right and you’ll have a logo your customers will instantly recognize whenever they see it.

———————————

Jonathan Munk
Senior Marketing Manager, Logoworks by HP
http://manizesto.com/

About the author:

Jonathan Munk is a Senior Marketing Manager at Logoworks by HP, a company specializing in marketing services for small businesses, where he runs the customer relationship marketing program. Before becoming an online marketing specialist, Jonathan managed many of the Public Relations programs at Logoworks. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Communications. Jonathan also writes a marketing blog, Manizesto Innovative Marketing, and you can follow him on Twitter here: Twitter.com/jmunk.

Chad Miller followed his dream when he decided to open a photography studio in Clearfield, Utah. He started his business with just the bare necessities to get his company off the ground and keep it running. A company logo and “brand” were low on his list of priorities, but Miller knew he needed something to represent his new studio, In Focus Photography. So, like many small business owners, he decided to design a logo himself using his home computer. The logo wasn’t fantastic but it was better than nothing, so Miller continued using it.

As the studio grew, and his company drew more attention, In Focus’ logo went unchanged. After years of using the logo he designed in college, Miller began to wonder if it wasn’t time for an update. He, like many business owners, wanted to keep his logo looking fresh and professional without alienating the customers who had come to have a positive association with his current logo, even if it was time for a facelift. Was updating his logo the right thing to do?

Many entrepreneurs face this same question as their companies grow and mature. So how do you know if you should update your company’s logo?

Many graphic designers will say a high quality logo design should never need to be updated or changed because if the design is sound, it will be timeless and will never look out of date. While this may be true to some degree, there are times when an update is warranted. Here are some things to think about that may help you decide whether or not a renovation is in order.

Was Your Logo Designed By a Professional?
Many entrepreneurs design their company’s logo themselves because they feel they don’t have the budget to hire a professional designer. These logos may or may not look nice, but it never hurts to have a professional set of eyes pick apart and tighten your logo design.

Does Your Logo Look Dated?
Almost all logos will begin to show their age with time. Certain color combinations, fonts and shapes can become obsolete and make your logo look old and stuffy; and that can make your company seem out of style or obsolete as well. Keep in mind you can make a few updating changes and still retain the original feeling of your logo. This is what Apple Computers did. They changed the logo’s colors from including the six colors of the rainbow to a one-color logo that still has the original shape.

Has Your Company Experienced a Big Change?
When major changes take place within a company, it can be the perfect time to change the logo as well. A logo change may be in order when:

• 1) A company merger occurs (think FedEx Kinko’s)
• 2) The company makes a major change in direction, like expanding or contracting it’s offerings.
• 3) You’re expanding into new territories and need a more universal logo.
• 4) The company name changes

Do You Need to Keep Up With New Competition?
The global economy is making for very stiff competition, even on the local level. As large corporations move in, it’s important for small business owners to recognize the competition and be able to keep their brand strong and positive in their customers’ minds. An updated, fresh logo design can help your customers remember you when the competition moves in next door.

With minimal updates, a logo can once again look fresh, can grab the attention of a distracted customer, can keep the competition at bay and can set a positive precedent for potential clients. This has been the result for Miller, who decided to go ahead with an update.

“The new logo is nice and clean, and it gives us an exciting play on our old logo,” said Miller. “It has also helped us with our company image.”

——————-

Logoworks

Let’s face it: we make judgments about people based on first impressions all the time.

You’d probably pass up an interview with a job candidate, for example, if the resume were written on a stained, wrinkled bar napkin. In fact, chances are, no matter how qualified or sincere the applicant may be, you’ll probably choose to interview applicants with professional looking resumes instead. The jobseeker may also wonder why he has trouble finding a job when he interviews well, has plenty of experience and more than his share of skills.

The same principles apply to the first impression your business gives to potential customers, suppliers and business partners. They will make quick judgments about whether or not to do business with you based partly on how professional you appear to them initially. Just as a business owner would pass on the bar napkin applicant, so will customers move on and do business with someone else if they don’t trust you initially, no matter how qualified you actually are.

But having a good logo is about more than just making a good first impression. It can have a lasting impact on your company. Here are some more reasons why having a good logo is essential:

1) Build Initial Trust
Before a customer walks in your store or logs on to your website, they have developed a first impression of your company, partly by your logo. If your logo is professional, you’re more likely to help customers feel like your business is a professional one too.

2) Attract New Customers.
An effective, memorable logo can inspire customers to do business with you or remember you when the time is right. Make sure your business puts its best face forward by looking great on the outside.

3) Stand Out From Competitors.
Flip through the phone book and you’ll see a myriad of forgettable companies. Differentiating yourself from competitors with a logo is critical to winning over potential customers. After scoping out your competition, make sure you choose a logo design that will help you stand out.

4) Keep Loyal Customers.
Don’t let competitors tempt away your best customers. If your brand and your logo are solid, your customers will be less likely to try the new guy around the corner who have a spiffy image.

5) Build Trust With Professionalism.
A professional logo will tell customers you’re good at what you do. But a sloppy, boring or poorly executed logo conveys lack of ability and know-how, which destroys trust and makes people feel less confident in your products or services.

———————-

Rob Kirby
Creative Director, Logoworks
http://www.logoworks.com

About the author:

Rob Kirby is the Creative Director at Logoworks.com, the world leader in graphic design services for small businesses. Rob earned a BFA in Illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1992, and has served as a senior designer and art director for a number of companies including Nature’s Sunshine, Studeo Interactive Direct and ContentWatch. In his spare time Rob enjoys painting and playing the drums.

• Make a Good Impression. Before a customer walks in they have developed a first impression of your company by what your logo says about your business.
• Attract New Customers. An effective, memorable logo can inspire customers to do business with you or remember you when the time is right.
• Stand out from Competitors. Flip through the phone book and you’ll see a myriad of forgettable companies. Differentiating yourself from competitors with a logo is critical to winning over potential customers.
• Keep Loyal Customers. Don’t let competitors tempt away your best customers. If your brand and your logo are solid, your customers will be less likely to try the new guy around the corner.
• Build Trust with Professionalism. A professional logo will tell customers you’re good at what you do. A sloppy, boring or poorly executed logo conveys lack of ability and know-how.
• Tell Customers Who You Are. Every company has an emphasis, specialty or distinct quality that separates it from other businesses. The right logo will help customers decide if your company is right for them.
• Provide a Visual Association. Logos are the visual representation of a company’s brand—that is, their services, products and image in the customer’s mind. No logo means there’s nothing to help customers think of your business.
• Back Up Your Business. Most companies work hard to provide the best products or services in their industry, and a good logo can reinforce your efforts.
• Help People Remember You. Along with standing out, a professional logo will make it easier for customers to think of you when they have a need.
• Build Employee Morale. Employees who are proud of their company and their image will work harder, talk about the company more and help build a positive company image.

————————–

Noelle Bates
VP of Corporate Communications
http://www.logoworks.com

About the author:

Noelle Bates joined Logoworks as VP of Corporate Communications in September of 2004. Prior to Logoworks, Noelle was the Director of Corporate Communications for Melaleuca, a direct sales company that did over $600 million in sales in 2004. Noelle has worked for two different for hi-tech focused public relations agencies in Utah and San Francisco where she worked on dozens of accounts, from multinational software companies to Internet security start-ups, and has public relations experience in the software, pharmaceutical, consumer, and health and nutrition industries.

Grass, a tree, and solid block lettering—these elements make up the vast majority of landscaping logos. If your logo looks like everyone else’s—how will your customers remember you? And how will new customers find you?

A good logo is critical for a successful business—especially in a trade as competitive as landscaping. Here are five ways an outstanding corporate identity will help your company succeed.

1. Great Logos Make Great First Impressions
Before your sales person knocks on the door, before your truck pulls up, and even before they call you, potential customers consider your logo when they decide whom to trust.

Wayne Stuetz, founder of The Sodfather Landscaping in White Plains, New York, understands how that first impression gives them an edge. “People are always asking for a t-shirt with my logo on it. My logo is very memorable, and once a person has seen it, it’s hard to forget.”

When people can easily remember your logo, you have a competitive edge.

2. Attract New Customers
Your customers see hundreds of logos a day—and they know a good logo when they see one. By sending the right message to potential customers, your logo helps them choose you over the competition.

The Lawn Rangers, in Pearland, Texas, have seen the fruits of a good logo. “When customers initially see the logo on our estimate sheets, trucks and website, they feel good about us,” said co-owner Aaron O’Donley. “And unless there’s something you can show potential customers to convince them their expectations will be met, they will turn to the competition. Our logo helps us persuade them.”

3. Stand Out from Your Competition
Flip through the phone book and you’ll quickly see that potential customers have plenty of landscaping company choices. You’ll also notice very few logos stand out from the crowd. Differentiating yourself from your competition is critical in winning the battle for customers.

The Lawn Rangers do that with color. Instead of the usual greens and blues, they use a warmer color combination that stands out. Original uses of colors, words, shapes, and fonts can set your logo apart from the rest.

4. Keep Loyal Customers
Good service is the key to keeping your customers. But what happens when a competitor moves in with shiny trucks, clean-cut employees, a professional look and promises to match your service? If your company image isn’t as good, your customers may be tempted to try the competition.

Don’t put your business in that position. “A great logo convinces high-end customers who look for a loyal, long-term relationship to choose you over the next guy, who is probably waiting around the corner,” adds Stuetz.

5. Earn Trust with Professionalism
What convinces people to choose an established landscaping business over a couple kids with lawnmowers? Often it’s the professionalism of the business.

“People see our professional logo, and see that we’re here from year to year, and that builds trust,” said Tina Zoltan, owner of Oak Leaf Landscape in Groveland Florida. “If we can send the message of professionalism through our logo, a lot of the work is done for us.”

—————————

Rob Marsh
Vice President of Creative Services
http://www.logoworks.com

About the author:

Rob Marsh is the Vice President of Creative Services at Logoworks.com, the world’s leading logo design company. He has more than 15 years of experience creating corporate identities, advertising, websites, copy, and direct marketing for a diverse range of clients including American Express, the Olympics, United HealthCare, Hoovers.com, and PETsMART.

Your competitive analysis

A good competitive analysis varies according to what industry you’re in and your specific marketing plan and situation. A comprehensive competitive analysis does have some common themes.

Begin by explaining the general nature of competition in your type of business, and how customers seem to choose one provider over another. What might make customers decide? Price or billing rates, reputation, or image and visibility? Are brand names important? How influential is word of mouth in providing long-term satisfied customers?

For example, competition in the restaurant business might depend on reputation and trends in one part of the market and on location and parking in another. For the Internet and Internet service providers, busy signals for dial-up customers might be important. A purchase decision for an automobile may be based on style, or speed, or reputation for reliability.

For many professional service practices, the nature of competition depends on word of mouth because advertising is not completely accepted and therefore not as influential. Is there price competition between accountants, doctors, and lawyers?

How do people choose travel agencies or florists for weddings? Why does someone hire one landscape architect over another? Why would a customer choose Starbucks, a national brand, over the local coffee house? Why select a Dell computer instead of one from H-P or Gateway? What factors make the most difference for your business? Why? This type of information is invaluable in understanding the nature of competition.

Compare your product or service in the light of those factors of competition. How do you stack up against the others? For example:

• As a travel agent, your agency might offer better airline ticketing than others, or perhaps it is located next to a major university and caters to student traffic. Other travel agents might offer better service, better selection, or better connections.
• The computer you sell is faster and better, or perhaps comes in fruity colors. Other computers offer better price or service.
• Your graphic design business might be mid-range in price, but well known for proficiency in creative technical skills.
• Your automobile is safer, or faster, or more economical.
• Your management consulting business is a one-person home office business, but enjoys excellent relationships with major personal computer manufacturers who call on you for work in a vertical market in which you specialize.

In other words, you should know how you are positioned in the market. Why do people buy your product or services instead of the others offered in the same general categories? What benefits do you offer at what price, to whom, and how does your mix compare to others? Think about specific kinds of benefits, features, and market groups, comparing where you think you can show the difference.

Describe each of your major competitors in terms of those same factors. This may include their size, the market share they command, their comparative product quality, their growth, available capital and resources, image, marketing strategy, target markets, or whatever else you consider important.

Make sure you specifically describe the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor, and compare them to your own. Consider their service, pricing, reputation, management, financial position, brand awareness, business development, technology, or other factors that you feel are important. In what segments of the market do they operate? What seems to be their strategy? How much do they impact your business, and what threats and opportunities do they represent?

Finding information on competitors

You can find an amazing wealth of market data on the Internet. The hard part, of course, is sorting through it and knowing what to stress.

Your access to competitive information will vary, depending on where you are and who the competition is. Competitors that are publicly traded may have a significant amount of information available, as regular financial reporting is a requirement of every serious stock market in the world. Wherever your target is listed for public trading, it has to report data.

Competitive information may be limited in situations where your competitors are privately held. If possible, you may want to take on the task of playing the role of a potential customer and gain information from that perspective.

Industry associations, industry publications, media coverage, information from the financial community, and their own marketing materials and websites may be good resources to identify these factors and “rate” the performance and position of each competitor.

This reminds me, brilliantly, of how important it is to understand . . .

1. You need customers. The first thing you need to start a business, maybe even the only thing you really need, is customers. It all starts with at least one customer.
2. Who is your target customer. In detail. Not just generalities and demographics, not even just psychographics, but who is this person, what drives her, what does she really want from you, what does she like to read, eat, watch? Where does he live, and with whom? What does he drive?
3. Who isn’t your customer. Sometimes the secret to success is who isn’t your customer.

I was in a panel presentation not long ago alongside an expert in customer service. At one point, after she’d dizzied us with stories of Nordstrom retail clerks changing customers’ tires and taking as returns products that Nordstrom had never carried, somebody asked, with just a hint of exasperation, “But how does a company stay in business like that? How do they make money? Who pays for all that?”

At which point, after a beautifully-timed pause, the expert said: “Yes, that is the question, isn’t it . . . and pay attention, because this is the most important thing I’ll say all night . . . you have to understand that not everybody is a customer.”

John Jantsch, in Duct Tape Marketing, recommends that you start by profiling your ideal customer. Focus for a while on one person, whether he or she is your customer directly or the decision-maker for a business customer. Give that person age, gender, income level, likes, dislikes, favorite movies, songs, magazines, restaurants. Know that person.

If you’ve been in business, you can think of that customer fairly easily. Maybe it’s a composite of several real customers.

A clear example of knowing who is and who isn’t your customer can be found in the automobile industry. In theory, everyone who is over 16 years old and has a valid driver’s license could be considered the target customer. But, if you take time to appreciate the ads for different vehicles you’ll see that the marketing efforts are precisely pitched to narrow target markets.

For instance, the rich, deep, saturated colors, focus on high-quality features and refined accessories, the calm and quiet voice, and the sense of genteel conviviality of the Lincoln Town Car speaks directly to the well-heeled buyer. On the other hand, the spinning tires, clouds of smoke, screaming engine and 150 images a minute visual stimulation of an 800 horsepower, street-legal hot-rod TV spot is crafted especially for the hyper-active, quadruple-shot-enhanced-caffeine-energy-drink-quaffing youth.

Other industries segment their target markets. Some restaurants appeal to people in a hurry, or people on a budget, or people looking for a romantic rendezvous, or people who appreciate and seek out the taste treats presented by culinary masters. Every successful restaurant has carefully decided who their target customers are, and who they are not, and then manage their marketing efforts accordingly.

Whole Foods Market and PC Market of Choice are both grocery stores which specialize in organic prepared foods and locally grown organic fruits and vegetables. Their target market customers choose to spend more when buying groceries to get the benefits from healthier foods. Safeway or Kroger or Publix stores on the other hand focus on selling national brands, and target a different, often budget conscious, segment of the population.

Consider the Trunk Club, Joanna Van Vleck’s interesting startup described in “Startup Success Story: The Trunk Club” in Up and Running at upandrunning.entrepreneur.com. How important is it that she understands who isn’t her customer? She told me this herself:

• I realized that although I thought my target was women, women are normally closer to style. In general. So they aren’t as likely to pay money for style consulting.
• Men have less ego invested. Some, in fact, pride themselves on not knowing style. In general.
• The metrosexual man is not my customer. He loves his own style and spends his own time and effort finding it.
• The man whose partner in a relationship likes to shop for his clothes is not my customer. She wants to do it. She doesn’t want me to.
• The younger men on a budget aren’t my customer. They can’t afford me.

Notice how the “isn’t my customer” routine helps define and position your marketing better.

A fast-food restaurant knows that the relatively well-to-do baby boomer empty nesters aren’t their customers. On average. The sushi restaurant knows that the construction worker driving a pickup truck who eats at the Texas barbecue drive-through isn’t its customer.

Consider Jolt cola. All the sugar and twice the caffeine. How important is understanding who isn’t the customer.

Your blog, if you’re doing a blog as a business, needs a focus. People don’t care about your inner angst, but there are specialty niche areas all over the place. Old Volkswagen maintenance. Arranging dry flowers. The narrower you cut it the better. Sure there are some general blogs that work, but they started years before you did. Nowadays you need to focus.

It is imperative that you know your customers, and do adequate market research.

Ask yourself: Who is my customer? Who isn’t my customer? Then focus your marketing efforts to reach your target customers most effectively.

–Includes, excerpts from upandrunning.entrepreneur.com, and Plan-As-You-Go Business Planning.