Archive for December, 2009

As we begin to enter in to the New Year, many business owners are setting out to complete their business plans to prepare them for the upcoming year and for future success.  The planning process is such a critical component in business, I am amazed at how many business owners do not take the time to not only think about their business, but to put pen to paper and develop a solid business plan. 

A successful strategic plan needs to address the following areas:

• Brand
• People
• Strategies
• Actions
• Results

Putting together a strategic plan is very similar to setting your personal goals for the upcoming year.  So if everyone is planning why do most business owners fail at meeting their goals? 

Today, I am going to focus on your brand.

Your brand is represented by the emotional connection you have made with your customer and the perception they have of your business in their minds and is the strongest asset any business can own.  Successful brands have a strong brand promise and have built customer loyalty by managing their brand.  .

Here are some terms to know:

• Brand Promise:  What is the unique promise that you make to your customers that they can depend upon every time they engage your business.
• Brand Identity:  What is the outward appearance you portray to the world – your logos, your trademarks, tag lines etc..
• Brand Personality:  What is the personality of your business?  What emotion do you invoke in people when they purchase your products and services?
• Brand Positioning:  How is your brand or business positioned in the marketplace?  Where do you stand to your competitors?

 To create a powerful brand, you must first define the specifics of your brand and the customer experience you desire for your customers. When planning your brand strategy there are 6 critical questions you must answer.

1.  What is the perception you want your customers and potential customers to have of you?

How do you want your customer and employees to think about your business?  Great brands such as Disney and Apple leave a lasting impression on its community and you can do the same.

2.  What are the core values of your brand? 

Values are what will guide your organization’s behaviors and actions.  They are guiding principles that drive our decision making and how we treat our business peers.  Strong brands have strong values and never waiver from them.

3.     Why are you unique?  What is different from your competition?

There are things about you that stand apart from the competition in a crowded market.  Look for all points of difference in your products, service delivery, values, solutions and everything in-between.

4.       What is the identity of your business?

How do you want the outside world to know you?  Think about your colors, your logo, taglines, trademarks, characters and every piece of your organization that touches the outside world.

5.      What is your promise to your customers and target market?

Think about a promise you can make to your customers that you can deliver on every time they engage with your company.  This promise is reflected in every touch point, action and process and drives decisions for long term growth.

6.       What are your standards for performance – the driving force behind your employee, customer, operational and financial scorecards?

Companies that have clearly defined standards for performance and consistently measure the organization against those standards increase their ability to deliver on their brand promise. 

In today’s struggling economy, many businesses are being tested for their creativity and their endurance.  Some will suffer or even go out of business while others will rise to the occasion and become smarter, leaner and more adaptive.  Which one are you?

Through a brand promise, a company commits to its customer a certain experience each and every time the customer interacts with that business.  When a customer enters a bricks and mortar store and makes a purchase the experience is complete when the sales associate remembers to say “thank you, please come again” so shouldn’t the experience be the same if you make a purchase online?   

Many online retailers and marketers make a big mistake in not leveraging this simple tool.  The customer finds your website, takes the time to surf around reviewing your products and decides to make a purchase, sign up for a whitepaper or register for a seminar only to be met with a simple and unbranded default thank you page that doesn’t complete the entire customer experience. 

1.        Reassure

After your customer makes a purchase or signs up for additional information, your thank you page is a great place to reassure your visitor that you did received their information or request, that the product, price and deliver is in order and what they should expect next from you. This could include information about shipping including links to track delivery or how to download whitepaper, or call in information for your seminar.

2.       Re-engage

Your thank you page is also a great place to re-engage your customers by offering them additional products to add on to their orders or to entice them to return back to your website with a coupon for a future offer.  Once the customer is already familiar with you enough to make a purchase, here is an opportunity to introduce them to another product they may be interested in at a compelling discount.  This is a place to also inform your customers of upcoming specials, events or contests you might be offering and to provide them with a link so they can participate.

3.       Reinforce

 Similar to a bricks and mortar store, your thank you page is a great way to reinforce your brand.  Depending upon what your brand promise or commitment is, you can use your thank you page for marketing messages, education and commitment to your customers.  For example, if you sell widgets, you can include a “how to guide” to educate your customer on how to use the widget.  Another example is to provide your customer with a free gift.  Similar to the “Free gift with purchase” concept at a department store, you can immediately increase the perception of value by offering a free gift on your thank you page. 

Your thank you page is just one of many ways your customers experience your company and should have the sole purpose of creating a lasting impression on your customers.  Make it really special and make it support your brand.  Too many companies put up a really great website, supply it with strong content and build in incentives for people to sign up, yet they use a very poor thank you page.  This is a great opportunity to stand apart from your competition and leave a powerful impression on your customers. 

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?

You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D’Andrea is the creator of the Build a Better Ezine System and publishes “The Marketing Edge” a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Interesting in starting your own business, sign up for a FREE mini course “The Empowered Entrepreneur” and learn how not to make the 23 Common Mistakes Most Entrepreneurs make with a FREE report offered at www.kelliedandrea.com.

Did you ever wonder how somebody becomes an expert?  Is there a governing body with a magic wand that deems people as experts in their fields or is this something that the average business owner can do?  These are questions that many business owners ask and the answer to all is that positioning yourself as an expert in your industry is much easier than most think.  By simply taking advantage of these three tips, you too can become an expert in your field.

Be Visible and Strut Your Stuff.

Experts are seen everywhere.  They are master networkers and implementers and available to answer questions openly in their area of expertise.  Be seen in social media forums and discussion boards, write articles, write a book and call into talk radio.

Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout history, fortunes have been made by people whose first big break came from a friend of a friend or a close contact.  Long before computers and the internet, there was another way to make business connections – networking.  By networking with others, you have the ability to open opportunities and   make connections that could lead to your ultimate success. 

Business is an art based upon human connection and emotion and to effectively develop meaningful relationships, you need to get out from behind your computer and engage in meaningful conversations, support and introductions.

Here are some tips for effective networking:

• Openly engage with others:  Be proud of what you do and don’t hesitate to talk to others about yourself and your business but do not focus on yourself.  Master your elevator pitch and get involved in conversations and allow the other person to talk about what they do as well.  Once you find a commonality, leverage it for additional conversation.

•   Be visible:  Join meetings, groups, functions, and forums.  Any venue that brings together groups of likeminded people that allows you to network with others.  Trade associations, chamber of commerce and local business support groups are a great way to get involved.  Be sure to participate and to be active in your groups.  Get out there, get involved and meet people.

• Become an expert in your field:  Positioning yourself as an expert in your field will allow your reputation to flourish.  Networking will be easier because others will seek you out simply for your expertise on a particular subject matter.

• Give and you shall receive:  These are the BLAST marketing words of wisdom.  Offer free advice, suggestions and help to others looking for it.  Write articles, whitepapers and blog posts to support your credibility as an expert and give your information away freely.

• Keep a contact file:  Networking is about developing systems.  You should have a system for keeping information on the contacts you meet including contact information, discussion, personal information and what they do.

• Develop a follow up system:  Follow up is critical in networking.  Be sure to create a system that automates your follow up.   The key is to develop relationships so follow up is an essential piece of networking and allows you to set up subsequent meetings and discussions to help further your objective.

• Connect others together:  A master networking taps into his or her networks and makes connections for others to come together and do business together.  Take a look at your network and identify needs and challenges and make introductions to others in your network for the sole purpose of helping someone else with no expectation of an outcome.

Networking is essential to good business and has proven over and over again to be the catalyst for many successful deals.  Become a networking rockstar and continue to act in the service of others and to be genuine in your connections with others.  People will see right through you if you are phony and self serving but if you truly enjoy what you do and are authentic, you will become a successful networker.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?

You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D’Andrea is the creator of BLAST Marketing System  and publishes “The Marketing Edge” a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. Interesting  in learning more, sign up for FREE Marketing Classes “Marketing Mondays” and learn how to position your business for success.  www.kelliedandrea.com.

Too many business owners fish in the widest and deepest pools– trying to be all things to all people.  Offering a broad range of products and services to a broad audience and never really create the waves that lead to tremendous profits.  By positioning yourself at the top of a smaller, well defined pool (or niche) you will set your business apart from the competition and create a profitable business.  Here are five proven ways to create a profitable niche business.

1.       Define Your Market

Research the needs and challenges of your target audience and capitalize on those needs.  Understand the community and develop solutions that appeal to a specific group.  For example – Understanding Social media in Small Business is a need of the small business community, a niche market would be to develop a product or service that teach small business owners how to use social media in their business.

2.      Create Your Product or Service

Based upon the needs of your target audience, you want to create a product or offer a service that addresses those needs.  Many start with developing their products first without researching if there is a market for it.  First define your audience and establish there is a demand for a new product and then develop it.

3.      Create Your Brand Promise

The brand promise is a statement of what your customers can expect every time they engage with your company and is the center of your business. When a brand stands out with a strong promise that deliver value consistently, the value of your offering increases and customers will be willing to whip out their wallets and pay for your products.

4.      Become the Expert

Position yourself as an expert in your niche and become the “go to guy” for this product of service. Showcase your knowledge and expertise by writing articles, participating in forums and providing tips, techniques and strategies in short, succinct messages via popular social networking sites. 

5.      Create specific messages direct to your niche

Business is conducted on an emotional level.  Now that you have identified your market, built a community around your offering, you must communicate with your target market frequently.  Develop specific messages targeted towards your niche market appealing to their emotions and demonstrating your benefits.  It takes 7 times before somebody is comfortable enough with you and your expertise to buy from you so be specific, be credible and offer extraordinary value.

No matter if you are a retailer, service professional, internet marketer or mom and pop shop, you stand for something.  There is a reason that you went into business and a reason why you want your business run a certain way.  Building a brand starts with defining what is your core purpose and the inherent promise you are making to your customers and delivering value every time.  Isolating your niche in your area of expertise and bringing solutions to a targeted group will keep the cash registers ringing every time.

©Kellie D’Andrea & Associates

Want to use this article in your newsletter or web site?

You can, just include this complete blurb with it: Kellie D’Andrea is the creator of the BLAST Marketing System and publishes “The Marketing Edge” a FREE award winning ezine for small business owners who want to gain the competitive edge with strategic marketing and branding techniques that actually work. She offers FREE marketing classes during Marketing Mondays and a  FREE mini course “The Empowered Entrepreneur” and at www.kelliedandrea.com.