Posted on January 9th, 2008 by Adam in
Branding A Brand is a series of perceptions in the minds of consumers
A brand or corporate identity is the cornerstone of virtually every business, or at least it should be. It should express the companies’ values and what it stands for. Or put in simple terms. It needs to look great.
Brand Development
The development of a brand is a key area of design management, dealing with the preservation of your companys most important values. Strong, established brands have often achieved a state of harmony between the actual product or service being offered (Brand identity), the customers experience with that product or service (Brand image), and the wider public perception of the company and/or brand (brand profile). Any further brand development must allow for the need to maintaining control over the image and profile in particular.
Your brand is your most valuable asset!
Without a strong brand and consistent brand strategy and identity, you risk becoming just another shade of grey in the consumer consciousness. As competition intensifies, it becomes more difficult to stand out in a crowd. But to thrive in an increasingly competitive environment, a brand needs to be nurtured.
Customers will invariably find your website through using a Search Engine, such as Google, MSN, or Yahoo. Submission is basically the process of getting your website listed in such search engines.
Google, Yahoo and MSN account for over 85% of the searches in the UK – with Google taking around 50%. If a listed website links to your website then your website will be found automatically… eventually. By entering your website URL (the full address including the http://) into the submission page you can speed that process up greatly. Simple eh?
For more information, take a look at
Google.co.uk - http://www.google.com/addurl/
MSN.co.uk - http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx
Yahoo.co.uk - http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
What else can I do?
Submit your website to the Open Directory Project http://www.dmoz.org. This not only improves your ranking in Google but feeds many other search engines and directories although you must be careful not to submit to the ODP too often (every 3 months at the most), as this may actually impact on your listing.
Why network?
Business is fundamentally about building relationships with people… in building a business you need to make your relationships productive.
Networking, whether on or offline, is finding and establishing relationships with people and it can be a powerful opportunity for you to find more business contacts and therefore, ultimately, to do more business and do it better.
Organised networking events are a simple way of meeting new people and making new contacts but there are some Do’s and Don’ts you should be aware of:
Do
- Attend a group at least twice as a visitor and establish if that group is right for you before deciding to join - and certainly before parting with any of your valuable marketing budget!
- Join different groups to fulfill different purposes.
- Welcome newcomers after becoming a member of a group. Remember what it was like for you to walk into a room not knowing anyone.
- Drop the “What’s in it for me?” attitude.
- Thank the person who gave you a referral, and follow it up within 24 hours.
Don’t
- Enter a room and just hand out your business card to people who you don’t know.
- Try to be all things to all people or your message will be lost.
- Think you will come out with a sale.
- Force the conversation to you all the time.
Here are some UK Networking groups you may be interested in:
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