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How A Strong Brand Identity Helps Overcome Customer Reluctance Many small businesses, especially one-person businesses, don't see the point in investing the time, work and money in creating a brand identity. After all, they're very good at whatever it is that they do, and they should be able to make more than "just a living" by simply putting up a website, being themselves, and delivering a high-quality service, right? Rebranding Is an Excuse to Party in Your Business Once the redesign is done, many small businesses launch it silently. They change their logos, business cards, and websites one day—sometimes without so much as an announcement or a "By the way... " to their customers. Not only are they potentially confusing and alienating them, but they're also missing out on a great excuse to party! Search Engine Optimization: It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You Just as with prom queens, your small business's website's search engine ranking results are about popularity. It's not the links on your site that contribute to raising your ranking but the links coming into your site from other sites that help you to rank better. The Domino Effect of Changing Your Logo It's a rainy afternoon and you've got a hot cup of tea and a box of dominoes. You set them up on end, one next to the other in a snaking line across your dining room table. Then you bump the first domino and watch as the rest fall down, one after the other. The Building Blocks of Visual Vocabulary: Flexibility Just like the sidekicks help out a superhero, your Visual Vocabulary together with your logo helps put the kapow into your brand identity. These Visual Vocabulary "sidekicks" are the graphics, font styles, colors, and layouts you use in your materials, and even the type of paper you print your materials on. One of the best features of a Visual Vocabulary is its flexibility. Why Entrepreneurs Divorce Their Logos (And Why It's A Bad Idea) Remember how excited you were when you first designed your logo? How beautiful you thought it was, and how you couldn't wait to get your first batch of business cards printed so you could show it off? How you excitedly described its meaning and subtleties to your mom (and your clients?) And the rush to the trademark office to get your new love "made official"—what excitement when the papers finally arrived! Signs It's Time To Redesign Your Website Designing your first website is a stressful undertaking. It requires you to dig deep into your business in order to write the copy for your site. You need to work with a designer and go through the process of creating a site that looks unique and works well. And finally, after all that, you're finished and it's time for the site to go live. Unfortunately, websites don't last forever. 13 Tips for Finding a Graphic Designer Are you ready to hire someone to design your logo, collaterals, or artwork for your website? Well, here's just the information you need to get the best results from hiring your first (or your first successful) graphic designer. To assure that we begin on the same page, a graphic designer designs your marketing materials — the print- and web-ready art which are then turned over to a printer or coded for the web for the final outcome. The Layers of Your Brand Branding is a hot topic in marketing these days, but it's defined in different ways and looked at from different angles. There are many components that make up a brand, and we call each component a Brand Layer. The Great Two-Sided Business Card Debate A business card is one of the most important marketing pieces that you'll develop for your company, since it is typically the first piece of your marketing materials that a new client will see. One of the most debated points in business card design is whether to print information on just one side of the card or to use both sides. There are many views on this controversy, and here are some that we frequently hear. The Art of Website Maintenance Now that you've designed and launched your website, you have a powerful marketing tool for your business. But, your website is only as useful as the content is current. The process of keeping the content on your site current is called website maintenance, and it's important to keep both visitors and search engines supplied with new information. Good Design Doesn't Get Done In A Day: Part 1 of 2 Lead time is one of the most often overlooked aspects of a design project. For some projects it's not a huge concern — you just need to get your designs reasonably quickly so you can start marketing. You should expect quick service from any designer. Designing Your Email Newsletter Another commonly-asked question is how to design the newsletter to make it the most effective. This breaks down into several questions and considerations: A Logo Without Your Name... Can Be A Big Branding Pain! Why a small business shouldn't design a logo that's only a symbol (like Nike's swoosh). Why You Need To Get An Email Newsletter Service An email newsletter is one of the most convenient and easy ways to keep in touch with your clients and prospects. So you've made the decision to design an email newsletter to use as your follow up tool in your brand design toolkit? The next decision is how to manage the newsletter from a technical perspective. Define Your Difference To Stand Out and Make Your Business Shine Thoughtfully defining your business—and your differentiation—will help you to understand who you are, what you do, and what makes you different. Not many small businesses take the time to answer those core questions about their business, but those answers are essential to creating a strong brand identity, focused messaging, and effective marketing materials. Focus Your Definition You have so much important information that soon all of your marketing materials are crammed full of text and information. Most small business owners have this problem. They are so excited about their business and everything they can do for their clients. They make the mistake of putting it all into their marketing materials. Marketing Tips General graphic design and marketing tips for small businesses The 9 Advantages to Using a Visual Vocabulary in Brand Identity Design Visual elements are a major part of your business's brand identity design. The keystone of that design is the logo, but in many cases, the logo isn't enough to convey all of your brand attributes. A visual vocabulary is a way to reinforce and add to the messaging that is contained in your logo. Attract More Clients With A Brand Identity How A Logo Impacts The Know-Like-Trust Factor Logo Files: Versions of your logo that you should own Your logo is the most important graphic element in which you will invest for your business. You should own the logo in many file formats. Having a library of logo files will enable you to send vendors the types of files they need (for example, other designers, printers, or other service providers). 9 Keys to an Effective Website Many small companies choose not to invest in a professionally designed website, although a well-designed Web site may raise the company's level of professionalism and exposure – AND drive business and sales! Pages To Include In Your Website Building a Website may appear to be very complex, but it's really an easy process. The best way to start is by developing a map of the pages and content that you want to include. This depends upon the type of business you have, and how informative you want your Website to be. Below is a list of sample pages for you to review while you plan out your site. Color Part 2: Formats and Systems There are several color formats and systems available for mixing and specifying colors. Here, we explain three of the most common systems: RGB, CMYK, and Pantone colors. Color Part 1: Accuracy Color is one of the most difficult parts of a design to show accurately to a client. Color perception can be affected by many factors, including: 9 Keys to Building a Stand-Out Brand Identity Brand identity is the combined effect of visual elements in your marketing materials. A basic brand identity kit consists of a logo, business card, letterhead, and branded envelope. This basic set of materials can be extended to include a website, brochure, folder, flyer, or any other professionally designed pieces. Planning Ahead For Visual Consistency:Information your designer should give you for future reference While we recommend that you contract with the same designer or design team while creating your brand identity materials as possible, we know that this scenario is not always possible. Whenever you work with a designer other than the original who created your logo, stationery and marketing materials, we suggest a few practices that will prove invaluable for ensuring a consistent look and feel across all of your marketing communications. Splitting a Brand Design Project Between Two Design Firms Splitting a branding project typically results in a lack of consistency between pieces in your marketing kit. All of your brand materials should have similar design elements. When a project is split among different design firms, often those firms don't have a similar style, and you can wind up with print collateral, for example, that looks dramatically different from your website. To Tag Or Not To Tag? A tagline is a succinct phrase that communicates some of the basics of your brand. Ideally, your tagline is also memorable and helps your target audience relate to your business. If used correctly, a tagline can be a powerful part of your marketing strategy. Four Brand Identity Myths That Will Hurt A Small Business Having a brand identity is extremely important to your business's success. However, many business owners have misconceptions about brand identities that can damage their businesses. All About Visual Vocabulary and how it can help your small business Think of your logo as the "superhero" of your brand, and the Visual Vocabulary elements as its "sidekicks"; in many design applications and finished materials, your logo won't appear by itself. It will have the help of all of these Visual Vocabulary elements to accomplish its job of communicating and connecting with your target market. Choosing the Right Color Palette For Your Brand Identity Color is a highly personal experience—everyone has favorite colors, and other colors that they absolutely don't like. So, how do you determine which colors that will work for your business identity, and that will send the right message to your potential clients. Contact Information To Include On Your Business Card The logo and graphic elements that you include on your business card are quite important, but having the right text and contact information on the card is equally important. Here are my tips about the elements to include: The Building Blocks of Visual Vocabulary: Consistency Your Visual Vocabulary consists of the secondary design elements that are used in conjunction with your logo to form your brand identity. Your Visual Vocabulary is composed of the graphics, font styles, colors, and even the type of paper you choose. Once you have determined the elements to use in your Visual Vocabulary, it is important to use those elements consistently throughout all of your marketing materials. Digital Printing vs. Press Printingâ€”A Comparison Guide When it comes time to print your brand identity materials, there's one overarching question for you to consider—whether to print the resulting materials on a digital printer or traditional press. There are many differences between the two processes, some of which are outlined below. A Logo Isn't A Tattoo! Why Your Personal Tastes Have Nothing To Do With Your Logo As a business owner, one of the most important business decisions you'll make is choosing the design of your logo. Many business owners make the mistake of basing their logo choices on their personal preferences. But your 'likes' should have very little to do with your logo design. Create Your Marketing Machine to Plan for Marketing Success The answer to push-and-pray marketing is to plan your marketing in advance: to sit down and create a Marketing Machine so that your marketing runs smoothly and effortlessly all year long. Creating a year-round plan for marketing can really improve the number of sales that you'll be able to make, and keep a steady stream of clients and income coming in. There are several things to consider when creating your Marketing Machine: Connecting With Your Customers Through Your Brand Identity Your logo and marketing materials have many jobs, but one of the things that they can do really well for you is to introduce you to new clients and to help those potential customers feel a connection with you and your business. Alas, many small business owners overlook this valuable role for their materials when designing them, and so any connection often happens by accident alone. The Truth About Your Competition There's more to identifying The Competition than just finding other businesses that offer similar services to yours. The Great Fear of Niching... and Why You Need to Get Over It! Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, I recommend that you try niching your services. It will help your clients to focus on and identify the services that you offer, and it will help you to develop deep expertise in a single area... and niching will help you to raise your rates and create a profitable business.

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