Posts filed under 'Thoughts on Design'
Back to School, Back to Work
5 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Business Today
October… The kids are back to the grindstone of schoolwork. Football is starting and baseball is ending. Yes, the 4th quarter has begun. And as the seasons change we are reminded that the new year is not far off.
What does that mean as a business owner? Summer’s over… it’s time to get back to work.
It’s also time to evaluate this years performance and consider what needs to be done in the new one. Whether you had a good year or bad, now is the time to build on your success or examine the challenges you experienced and move on.
Here are 5 things you can do right now to improve your business
- Reach out and touch someone, or everyone. Thank every customer or referral source you worked with this year for their business and remind them of your capabilities. Don’t wait for the holidays and be lost in the shuffle. Be proactive and get them thinking about next year as well.
- Change is good, really. Especially for Web sites, so change yours. The more stale the site, the less likely customers will use it and the more invisible you become to search engines. The easiest thing you can do you can do to improve your site rankings, is update your site regularly. Small tweaks or a major overhaul, either way, take a look now and set a course of action. Here are a few questions to consider: When was the last time you examined your site statistics? Has your traffic increased? Decreased? How may clicks have you received from referral sites? Has your online advertising been successful? Is your content current? How old are the photos?
- Make some new friends. Spend the end of this year creating an exciting online promotion. Take advantage of your social media network to drive customers to your site and collect their data and set a goal to increase your database by 15% by the end of the year. To do this, you will need to create some pretty exciting promotions, so consider developing a new promotion partner.
- Commit to a cause, and brag about it. Customers like working with partners who care. Ask your staff to select a non-profit they are interested in and commit 1% of your profits to them. Or champion an internal change, such as transforming your office into a “green machine” or challenging your staff to become more physically active. Whatever you choose, make sure you have the enthusiasm to stick with it. Most importantly, tell the world what you are doing – and why – in every way possible, through social media, PR and of course your Web site. You’ll feel better, your staff will feel better and your business will be better for it.
- Celebrate success. Regardless of the year you had, you are one of the lucky ones. If your doors are still open, that’s something to celebrate, considering the economic climate we are in, so be proud. Treat yourself and your staff to a nice lunch or event (movie days are great morale boosters – close for half a Friday and see what happens). Schedule a staff retreat and listen to your employees. Start making a big deal out of birthdays in the office. Energized and enthusiastic employees work harder and when they see how their hard work translates to the bottom line, there is no telling what they will do for you.
Prepping for the new year does not necessarily take a lot of work. A little imagination can go a long way. So get busy and get back to work, working on your business.
October 21st, 2011
Many clients, after evaluating their existing materials, come to the conclusion that their core identity – logo and stationery – are outdated and ineffective. Perhaps their business model has changed, or their vision has been updated, or maybe it’s been 25 years since they looked – really looked – at their logo. In any case, what they are using as a logo no longer fairly represents the essence of their company. So before they spend a lot of time and money on a new Web site, collateral or sales materials, the decision is made to rethink their identity.
Successful business owners understand that their logo is the foundation upon which everything else is built. Whether it’s on a business card, signage or Web site, your logo is often the first contact a customer has with your business. It is, in fact, your corporate identity. And in marketing, like most things, image is everything and first impressions count.
As such, it is imperative you research and hire a professional agency to handle the development of your new identity. This is not the time to think you are creative or an opportunity to give your cousin’s art school daughter her big break, or explore online $100 options. If you have a limited budget to spend on marketing, here is where to spend it. There are plenty of ways to build inexpensive Web sites and PR campaigns. But there is no cheap way to build your identity. And why should there be? Second to your strategy, this is your single most important marketing tool. And since you will most likely use it for the next 10 years or more, dollar for dollar it’s the wisest investment you will make.
It takes to time to properly research your industry, develop exciting concepts, explore appropriate fonts and color options and put it all together to create a memorable – and lasting – logo and/or trademark. For example, our preliminary conversation prior to starting any creative on a new identity, covers over 30 points of interest – just as a starting point – and touches on topics such as the company’s short and long term goals, current audience makeup and top competitors.
If you’re looking at redeveloping your identity system, take the time to do it right and watch it pay off in dividends over the long haul.
July 27th, 2010
The question of what is marketing, or, how do you define marketing – seems to come up a lot, especially these days.
Many people consider marketing to be selling, or tools to assist in selling such as advertising. In fact, in a recent online discussion with hundreds of professionals, including designers, writers, marketing experts and business owners of all types, “selling” came up a lot. There were so many responses defining “marketing” as about building an image or enticing a consumer to purchase a product, it raised of the questions “Has marketing really devolved to glorified selling? How did we get there?” Selling and image are certainly parts of the equation, but there is much more to it.
Briefly, “From product conception through customer satisfaction, marketing is the process to successfully facilitate an exchange between a business and its customers.”
This is commonly defined as the 4 P’s; Product, Price, Placement, Promotion. In order for a product or service to be successful, it has to be well conceived, well positioned and well received. Marketing is the process to facilitate this. I like the simplicity of this example (submitted by one of the participants in the discussion mentioned above):
A man has an apple tree.
He realizes he has more apples than he can eat
He decides to sell them
He puts them in a cart and takes them to the market
He starts shouting “apples for sale”
He Sells his apples and makes money
When he gets home he starts thinking about selling more apples
At what point is he Marketing (with a capital M)?
Marketing enters the picture between steps 2 and 3, when he realizes there may be an audience for his apples (Product). Should he trade them? Give them away? Sell them? (Price) He takes them to market (Placement) and shouts “apples for sale” (Promotion). There you have it. The 4 “P”s. ALL of that is marketing.
Since the advertising and selling aspects are the most visible stages in marketing, it’s no surprise that’s what so many people equate with marketing. But business owners would do well to back up their marketing plan to include the stages before – and after – the selling process. Only by completely understanding the entire process, can a successful marketing strategy be developed.
June 10th, 2010
With Spring just around the corner and the first quarter coming to a close, this is a great time to take stock of your business. I’d like to hear from our friends how their year is starting and what your plans are for the next quarter – stay the course or make changes?
February 27th, 2010
