Category: Branding

Article Contributed by Valerie J. Wilson

Remember your reputation in Junior High School? Yes, it seemed to matter then, right?

You’re in the big leagues now: More than ever, your company’s reputation is readily available for all to see, all in the matter of a couple of clicks. Think about it: Is your brand being taken seriously? You want to know this. You need to know this. And the results matter.

When business is going well, everyone is relaxed and happy, right? But let’s talk the talk: You CAN be proactive, and you CAN see when a tidal wave is building – if you choose to.

Truly – it is a choice. Online reputation management companies are popping up by the dozens, and there is a very strong reason why: Companies need them.

What are the top five reasons to keep an eye on your online rep? Read on:

People Search Your Company – A Lot.

Every single solitary day. People search for the product or service you are selling. And where do they turn? News alert: They do not head to the Yellow Pages anymore.  (Are those poor people still employed?)

As it turns out, a lot of people care about your reputation, so it makes sense that you should, too. The bottom line can and will be effected by how others rate your business’s performance, how your customer service runs, the return policy (if applicable), your ethics, and your ability to “make it right” if something goes wrong.

Stay Off This List:

If you’re still under the impression that online reputation protection doesn’t matter, consider the following:

ü  Exxon Mobil

ü  BP

ü  Delta Airlines

ü  Comcast

What do they all have in common? They want to get off the list of Top Companies with the Worst Reputations. What a PR nightmare!

But here’s the thing: you can be absolutely guaranteed that there are people getting paid a lot of money to work around the clock to manage the damage control, to attain stronger online reputation protection, and to lower the blood pressure of the CEOs and shareholders of those companies.

3.     Strive to Get on This List:

You know the ones:

“Most Admired Companies”

“Companies with the Best Reputations”

“Best Companies to Work for”

Over and over, you’ll see the same names:

ü  Google

ü  Apple

ü  Coca-Cola

ü  Whole Foods

ü  Tide

ü  Sony

You want to get some of that same vibe, energy, and results.

Striving to be known for the goodness that your company brings to life is the goal. By monitoring your online searches, commentary, reactions, reviews, and results, you will much more empowered to see what’s working – and what’s not.

4.     You Want to Attract the Best Talent:

The best of the best want to work for — the best. Your future employees will be researching your business very thoroughly. If you want to draw from the strongest pool of talent, you’re going to want to keep a clean character, as well. What’s worse than a disgruntled employee posting a negative tweet or responding to a rating of your company with less-than-glowing commentary about the workplace vibe? Until recently, there really wasn’t an efficient and easy way to manage that kind of negativity. And now there is.

Consider the many online reputation management organization that are offering their services to guide your customers in the most positive way possible. As you watch your bottom line soar, you’ll be glad that you did!

About the Author

Valerie J. Wilson is a freelance writer who enjoys investigating issues connected to business, marketing, and education.

Article Contributed by Darcie Hewitt-Dudding

While you don’t want to over step the mark and get too big for your boots, looking and acting professional can really make your business more visible, more credible, and more likely to generate leads for more business. It will affect everyone who interacts with your business as well as the way you feel about it too.

The Office Space

If you can afford office space, then you should definitely invest. Not only will having a business address look good from the outside, but you will feel more like a business if you have to travel to work every day, have somewhere to take meetings and take phone calls without the awkwardness of a home office.

That said, if you can’t afford a proper office space then there are still options. All over the country there are office incubation spaces that offer subsidised, shared office space that allow you to bounce ideas off other people, get help and advice and capitalise on potential collaborations.

If a home office is the only option for you, make sure that you have a dedicated space that you treat the same way as rented office space. Make it your first goal to get your own office.

The Website

This is probably the first point of contact for most of your potential customers, so make it good. Own your own domain and purchase a starter website that’s easy to customise so you can make it look professional.

The Email   

A business email should end with the business email, and not a free email account. Set up a professional mailbox with the same name as your website. Make sure you create a signature with your full name, business title, company name, and logo and contact details.

The Phone

Whether you’ve got a home office or a rented space, a private phone line is essential. You don’t want your five year old answering the phone to a potential client. Ensure that your answer machine message is clear and professional too, stating who you are and what details they need to leave and how long it might take you to get back to them. When you answer the phone, don’t be chewing, eating or drinking and be aware of your phone voice and professionalism. The same guidelines go for Skype or video call meetings.

The Stationary

Business cards are essential, but if you’re going to give someone a bent, stained, badly designed piece of card then you might as well have given that potential client or collaborator nothing at all. If design isn’t your thing, hire someone whose thing it is and get them to design an eye-catching business card that will make want people get in contact with you. Make sure your contact details are checked and checked again for accuracy.

If you’re sending out letters, such as invoices or any other correspondence, make sure that it is sent on a company letterhead with up to date contact details.

About the Author

Darcie Hewitt-Dudding writes on behalf of Microcare Systems, a telecoms company dedicated to bringing you the best in communication technology.

Article Contributed by Scott Quinlan

As an entrepreneur trying to grow and expand the business, it is very easy to get so deeply involved in running the show and tending to your customers that you can take your eye of the ball when it comes to maintaining a good first impression for your business.

First Impressions Count

As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression” and this is especially true if you are operating a retail business in particular. How you present your store front will determine who decides to walk through the door and become a customer. It is very easy to lose sight of the great effort and detail you went to when the store opened to make it look as appealing and exciting as possible in order to attract customers. Take a step back on a regular basis and ask yourself if you were a customer walking by, would you want to go in that store?  This is even more important if you are combining bricks and mortar with clicks and mortar as you chance to make an impression with customers online is a matter of seconds before they click away from your web page.

Keep it Fresh

Think about changing the layout and content as regularly as possible to keep it fresh, without losing the original appeal that drew customers to you in the first place. Sites such as http://www.bigcommerce.com are a good source of ideas and inspiration as to how to present your e-commerce side of the business.

Every Business is a People Business

Even if you have a real killer product or service to offer, if your attitude or the staff who are fronting your business do not make the effort to treat each visitor to the store or office as someone they value and want a business relationship with, you are not only making it harder to get a sale, you are also damaging the long term prospects of keeping them as a client or customer. Think about how you and your staff are presenting themselves and remember that the impression you give is a reflection of the business and people like dealing with people that they make a connection with, meaning that a good and loyal customer relationship will hopefully follow as a result of your efforts. Take a look at http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/seventips.htm as a good pointer and reminder for you and your staff that people skills are a vital part of giving a good impression for your business.

Smarten up your Office

If you are running a service business and have customers come and see you in your office then you also want to make sure that the environment you are working in looks well organised and efficient. A well designed and well laid out office will not only make the staff working there feel happier and more motivated, that enthusiasm and positive vibe will transmit itself to any visitors who come calling. Showing that you care about how any staff are treated creates a strong impression and a tidy office shows that you are on top of your paperwork and running an efficient operation. Take a look at http://www.learnvest.com/2012/02/the-easy-way-to-earn-more-4-tweaks-to-improve-your-office-space/ for some ideas on how to make the most of your office space.

The important message is to never become complacent no matter how well the business is doing and always have the mindset to treat every customer that walks through the door as a potential new client even when they already do business with you. That way you are demonstrating that you want their business and are keen to develop a long term relationship, which can only be good for the bottom line.

About the Author

Scott Quinlan is a business consultant. He enjoys sharing his ideas on various business blogs about how businesses can use simple methods to get the edge on their competitors. Visit Impact Signs.com to see the difference they can make to your business.

 

Article Contributed by Guy Ascher

Successful businesses have built a certain level of trust between themselves and their customers. That trust played a vital role in propelling them toward their current state of success, but they were not always a trusted company in the eye of their customers. A trust earned should be a trust that is kept, and this is a lesson all new businesses must learn. Startups that are new to a marketplace have a unique challenge of building credibility. It is especially challenging when the business enters a crowded field. We will use this post to discuss how startups can build credibility through a website. 

1. Find and Interact With Your Customers in Social Media 

You may have heard this many times, but your customers are very active on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. You need to go where your customers are hanging out and interacting with each other. Become a member of the social sites and add their symbol to your page. This will allow your customers to know they can connect with you on those platforms. As a startup, being on social media will present you with many opportunities to promote your products, and engage your customers in a discussion about them (the products). An intelligent use of these platforms could see you creating a dialogue with your customers. This will convey to them the level of passion you have about your products and your willingness to use their feedback to meet their needs. Customers are drawn to companies who show that they care beyond making a sale. 

2. Videos 

It is has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth just as much and even more for your online business. Use a video to introduce and demonstrate how your products work. This is especially useful for e-commerce web sites, as videos build and enhance trust in many ways. Videos can be used to: 

* Demonstrate how your products work. 

* Give a tour of your bricks-and-mortar store. 

* Provide testimonials.

 * Add a human face to your company or store.

 Your aim is to get the people to feel comfortable with you and you can accomplish this by sharing a bit about you with those who visit your web site. When people are comfortable with you they are more likely to make a purchase. 

3. Emphasize Secure Purchasing 

People are very particular about who they do business with online and rightly so. Ensure that your site facilitates safe transactions. When customers visit web sites such as the Lenstore.co.uk website and see the big name brand contact lenses they sell, the next thing they are likely to do is look for a symbol to indicate it is safe for them to conduct a financial transaction with the site. The inclusion of the VeriSign seal on the web page gives the customers this guarantee. Use the Verisign seal or some other reputable trust seals on your web site. It is also best to use it in your search results (or people will not click on your link) and on all your web pages that transactions will be done from.

These are all actionable steps that you can employ immediately to help you build trust and credibility for your startup. 

About the Author

Guy Ascher has been extensively involved as a website marketing consultant. He enjoys sharing his website design tips and insights on various blogs.

Brand Loyalty is one of the buzz phrases thrown around marketing departments and is considered powerful enough to have commissioned thousands of psychological and academic studies, but what is the mechanism going on inside your brain when you reach for that familiar brand and is there really such a thing as brand loyalty?

Brand Loyalty or Brand Habit?

According to Psychology Today brand loyalty is nothing more than “brand habit”.  We choose a brand according to whether it feels the most comfortable.  We may have always been given certain toothpaste throughout childhood, so in adulthood will always feel most comfortable when picking up this brand.  Likewise psychology today reports that a brand which sounds familiar i.e. has part of your name in it, or sounds reminiscent of a place you have close emotional ties with, will always be your first choice.  Once you start to cultivate an unconscious, emotional response to a certain brand you’ll continue to pick that brand for the long-haul.  Rather than creatures of loyalty then, we are much more creatures of habit.  But of course, the report of the habitual tendencies inevitably begs the question of what makes us pick up certain products in the first place?  After all not everybody has “coke” written into their name.

Cult Branding 

A 2002 study called “The Power of Cult Branding”, now a module at Harvard Business School, claims that a certain kind of branding, known as “cult branding” ignites the consumers’ imaginations and loyalty like no other.  The “seven rules of cult branding” are said to win those first initial customers and keep them coming back for more.  These are:

• Create a Social Group
• Have Courage
• Make it Fun
• Cater to Human Needs
• Allow Customers to Contribute
• Be Open and Inclusive
• Encourage Personal Freedom

One of the key facets of cult branding is creating something simple and memorable which at the same time is bold enough to catch the eye and do things a little differently.  But cult branding goes beyond just supermarket products.

Get Noticed

Whatever your service is you need to get it noticed in the right fields by the right people whether this be during business presentations, conferences or any other relevant event.  Think about everything you take with you; a branded conference folder or promotional folder not only makes your name visible, but adds professionalism.

You can brand pretty much any item of stationary you can think of from pens and pencils right up to conference boxes and business presentation folders.  Making sure all your equipment is consistent and ordered demonstrates that you mean business, whilst also getting your name out there.

Choosing a particular service or product is normally more of an unconscious decision than a conscious one, and a huge part to play in this is the frequency with which a person sees your logo or slogan.  Think of huge brands like McDonalds or Coca Cola; part of their secret is having their name everywhere (including, at one time, in the Himalayas).  Bespoke stationary is a great way to start getting your company into the unconscious of those relevant clients and customers.