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Branding Tips - Simplify Your Brand Remember the saying.."First impression counts"? Well, if you want to create that good first impression, you must ascertain that your brand promise is simple, precise, eye catching and very quick to understand. It's not about been creative with your image but CLARITY! Ensure the image you are exposing has a meaning. There are good gifted graphic designers out there that understand how to put one or two things together to communicate your brand promise message. I hope you have found the above branding tips helpful. Now, if you have not already done so, please take some time and work out the unique brand promise you can make to your prospect. For your businesses brand to grow exponentially over time, you must keep your brand authentic, targeted and simple. Regards Gerald Crawford Webcraft.ws Stellenbosch PO BOX 12216 Die Boord 7613 Stellenbosch South Africa Website: http://www.webcraft.ws E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws Yahoo: webcraftguru@yaho...

Branding Tips - Invest In Your Brand Image Allow me to shed some light on your Image.Brand Image is what the public sees, it is the image they have of you - their perception; which can be either good or bad. Therefore, regardless of the age of your business, if you are in online business today, you already have a brand image ecause you have a pressence online. Now that we've clarified what brand image is you will agree with me that you don't have to spend a great deal of money in creating a brand image. When I said invest in your Brand Image, I wasn't just referring to money but mainly time. If you want your business to be unique and stand out amongst all others, you need to invest a lot of time creating your brand image. Remember it is not only your business that is online, there are countless others and you need to stand out. You should take time to structure your promise to your prospects. Remember, your brand image should convey what makes you stand out (different) from...

Branding Tips - Know Your Target Market Feel free to read an article I wrote about Target Market Here. It is very important that you know your ideal customer and aim to market to your prospect. If you aim your marketing at vague customers, your branding will come out vague and you will become relevant to no one. Knowing your target market will render your marketing and communications more relevant and on-target. Regards Gerald Crawford Webcraft.ws Stellenbosch PO BOX 12216 Die Boord 7613 Stellenbosch South Africa Website: http://www.webcraft.ws E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws Yahoo: webcraftguru@yahoo.co.za Blog: http://webcraftws.blogspot.com/ Twitter: WebcraftGuru Facebook: Webcraft Guru This e-mail (and any attachments) contains information which is confidential and may be legally privileged and protected from disclosure. It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and others authorised to receive it. If you are not the intended recipient of thi...

Branding Tips - Be Authentic Never make promises you cannot keep, you must ensure you are able to deliver on your brand promise. If you claim to have quality product, you must make sure your goods are top-notch all the time and not only when you are able to. Be consistently reliable and refrain from just playing lip service as not delivering will damage your reputation ecause no one likes to be lied to. Avoid falling into the same trap as some marketers that think they can say anything online..it can be very costly! Regards Gerald Crawford Webcraft.ws Stellenbosch PO BOX 12216 Die Boord 7613 Stellenbosch South Africa Website: http://www.webcraft.ws E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws Yahoo: webcraftguru@yahoo.co.za Blog: http://webcraftws.blogspot.com/ Twitter: WebcraftGuru Facebook: Webcraft Guru This e-mail (and any attachments) contains information which is confidential and may be legally privileged and protected from disclosure. It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity...

People latch on to something they can understand and appreciate. If you're trying to be everything to everybody, chances are you'll attract no one. If you think it's too controversial to choose a niche, remember the power of being seen as an expert. Experts are not good at everything, they're awesome at one thing. This allows you to better position yourself and charge more for your services. People seek out experts, not generalists.

I know it may sound like common sense, but one of the primary drivers of brand loyalty is a consistent experience. If you say you're going to have the photographs ready on a set day, be sure they are ready. Nothing leaves a bad taste in someone's mouth like missed expectations. Positive experiences lead to good feelings which lead to telling their friends. But don't forget that bad experiences spread much faster and are harder to overcome - if you get a chance at all.

And by participate, I mean be on a committee. Just showing up at events is great, but you're just a face in the crowd. Ask to be on one of the committees. Believe it or not, it's as simple as just asking most of time. Groups are looking for volunteer help and it's a great way to elevate your status and visibility among the entire organization.

This one pager will be vital as a leave behind when you meet a prospect. Use short sentences in short paragraphs - people like to read quickly. Also make it very conversational; it's not a white paper. Your one page overview should include your value proposition, target audience benefits, previous audience experience and a mini-case study - and don't forget your contact information.

Blogs help your business on multiple levels. First off, valuable content on a consistent basis will make you look like an expert. People are looking for experts, not apprentices. The software that powers blogs has multiple advantages. It's very easy to publish. It's a database driven environment where style is separate from content so you will not need to go back to your web design agency for every little change. And use of tags and sitemaps make basic search engine optimization easy. But the real reason blogs are great is that they enable conversation. Two-way dialog is much more valuable than a company that just dumps messaging and collateral on their customers. Blogs are good, but they're just one tool. A blog should not be your sole marketing strategy. You should have a comprehensive multi-touch marketing plan to get your value proposition in front of your target audience. This can take many forms. You can launch a direct mail campaign, email campaign, host a webinar, s...

It's not just good enough to just have a website, you must reflect your brand image. If your known as a top notch photographer, the last thing you want is a website designed 10 years ago. It doesn't reflect well on you. Everyone, yes everyone, uses the web today to check references. If someone recommends your service, you can almost guarantee that they will go online to look for you. Your website design should be updated at least every two years to stay current.

When you engage in social media, be honest, care about your customers-and do the right thing. This is Business 101. Social media, with its new - school technologies, has ushered in a return to old-school business practices. I love that. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it. Offer to fix it - and then, do it. It's not good for business; it's great for business. Bring "old school" to "new media." Shakespeare aptly summed up effective brand monitoring and reputation management: "Mind your speech a little lest you should mar your fortunes." An effective online reputation management strategy is not something you can put off until tomorrow, because guess what? An army of empowered consumers are defining your brand. Today.

Gone are the days when you can issue a press release to respond to crises and be done with it. "Corporate statements" are now not only largely ineffective, they can be counterproductive. If I were advising Bank of America amidst their debit-card-distaster, I would have said, point-blank: "Look, you were being greedy. R5 a month to use a debit card? Come on. Consumers are already spitting-angry with banks. So, do something unprecedented. Set a new standard for banks: admit it. Apologize (and mean it). And, commit to not nickle-diming customers anymore. If you do that, you will win the hearts of millions. If you keep doing business-as-usual, you will continue to get pummeled - with increasingly devasting blows." You can turn your most vitriolic critic into your most vocal evangelist if you have humility and listen. Remember: social media is not a media. It's not marketing. It's a human relationship. Treat it as such, and your brand management strategy will be ...

You cannot control the conversation, but you can be part of it. If someone posts something negative about your brand, even if it's not accurate, others will pile on in a mob-like fashion. For every moment you allow that to continue, you risk permanent damage to your brand. But, you cannot barge in. Again: you may work for a 50 million rands corporation, but guess what? You come to the social media table with one vote, just like everyone else. Engage like a person, not a corporation - lest you merely fan the flames of public discontent.

Put your ear to the ground and start listening to what people are saying. Not doing this because you are "afraid of what you'll find" could be the death knell of your business. To move from good to great, you must face brutal facts and improve that which needs improving. Be unwavering on this. Perform searches for your company on the main social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIN. What are people saying? Is it accurate? Don't get defensive if you find something negative. In fact, those can be valuable business insights. If a blogger flames your company, don't ask: "How can we get rid of this post? Ask: "Are they right? What can we do to fix it?" Then fix it and let them know you're fixing it. I also advise against leaning too heavily on technologies for online reputation defense and "sentiment analysis." I speak from personal experience: At the time of this writing, even the very best technologies miss critical po...

You may have spent untold amounts on branding, website design and corporate communications, but these efforts pale next to the hundreds of millions of people sharing ideas and opinions in social media. They are talking in public about companies - and in doing so, they are defining brands. You need to accept this reality - and not cavalierly disregard "brand management" as a "nice to have." It's a "gotta have. Right now."